Newbie Firefighter

[mikemcmanus57]

I am a 42 year old carrer FF from MN. I was in your exact position. I suffered a back injury at a bldg explosion and so began the journey. I had a fusion at L5 S1 ans an ADR at L4 L5. I went back to work with no restrictions 6 months later and have not looked BACK ( pun intended). feel free to contact me if you have any questions I may be able to help you with.

mikemcmanus57 at yahoo dot com

[mslizzy]

Mike -
What a great ending to your story. I'm glad that you are doing well, and how awesome is it that you are back to work?!

To all-
I saw Dr. Bruce McCormick in SF in July. I was informed that I am not a candidate for ADR and he doesn't really recommend anything other than
conservative treatments, as I have the complication of a previous fracture at L2. It is his belief that I will experience no relief, and have possibly greater pain if I try to go some surgical route at this point.

My compression fracture at L2 happened in '89, and I was lucky and recovered quickly. Since that time, my back has been distributing weight improperly, the forces always being weighted toward the inside, pushing outward. I have several vertibrae that protrude (think Aliens) where they should not.
Somehow I didn't really quite notice this change, as it happened so slowly, but it has gotten much worse since I became a firefighter, with the heavy weight we must carry and lift consistently.
What Dr. McCormick said was very enlightenening to me, and helped me to understand WHY my back is so stubbornly refusing to progress to the level I had hoped. I see now that my spinal system is dysfuctional, not just my L5/S1.

Currently I am trying acupuncture from a very skilled practitioner. Western medicine was not very successful for me, so I am happy to try something else.
I have not given up hope of change and progress, but I am coming to a better place of acceptance to my new normal. The stress was eating me up, so letting go, just a bit, has been a blessing.

Thanks for all your support.

MsL