a broken soldier's introduction (ruptured L4/L5 & L5/S1)

[jeanie]

Wow, what big life changes for you! I am having 3 fusions L5/S1, 2,3 on 12-27-10 and I will let you know how it goes! I have hope.

Jeanie
And yes, thanks for your service and dedication to yoour job.

[Cindylou]

Forgot to mention....Todd, great pic of you! You look well.

From your signature xnatex, you must be from Texas, yes? Whereabouts? We lived in Texas for alot of years. All 3 of my sons were born there, and my Mom is still living in the North Dallas area. Univ. of Texas @ Austin is my alma mater. Hook 'em horns! Let us know if we can do anything else for you. Cindylou

[xnatex]

thanks for the kind words everyone, means heaps to find people who can relate to back conditions.
From what ive read up alot of people wait till they are in quite a large amount of pain before getting surgery, so i think im kind of lucky to not be dealing with the same types of constant pain.

Ive decided im going to hold off for abit till the condition worsens, hopefully they develop some new technologies in the coming years!

Cindylou, im actually Australian haha. But i injured myself in Afghanistan supporting our American allies so I guess i can still take credit for all your supportive service comments hahah

[Hooch]

Gday mate, didn't realise you were Aussie.

If you can hold off that's great, the technology is improving steadily.

If you're ex-army you've probably already done the core activation program, TA, multifidus etc, gluteal dominance, maintaining neutral spine through motion if possible blah blah.

If you haven't google the 'bounceback' program and do that through a physio.

Good luck.

[Cindylou]

Another Aussie! (I was way off...haha) I love it. Hooch....more company for you. You still get big kudos and congrats for being a soldier and an ally xnatex! Yes, definitely, wait if you can. Technology is improving all the time. My best to you, CL

[New-disc]

Ive decided im going to hold off for abit till the condition worsens, hopefully they develop some new technologies in the coming years!

I held off for almost 7 years.... due to not wanting to risck the surgery... and not being able to find a good option for surgery.

Due to walking with a limp for most of these years, I now have other joint problems. Hip / Knee

Taking lots of pills over the years will also catch up with me @ some point. Yikes!!

Please keep us posted!!

Cindylou,

Thanks.... I continue to push myself .... walking / hiking

[Katie]

Just a comment on your decision to wait longer for new technology. It can be both good and bad. If I had gone ahead with the ADRs I desperately wanted almost five years ago, it would have been a disaster. At the time, I didn't know I was highly allergic to them, so it was a very good thing that my prayers were NOT answered at the time.

However, my surgeon said that waiting too long can cause long term problems. Sometimes the nerves will not stop firing if they are in pain for years. They can go into memory mode like with a 'phantom limb', is my understanding. Or more damage can be done by subjecting the tissues/spinal cord to prolonged compression etc. I was told that my neurological damage most likely would not be reversed; that surgery would just stop the damage from getting worse. Thankfully in my case, that was wrong. I'm almost back to normal...as normal as that can be

Just a heads up that toughing it out isn't always the best way. But everyone has to make their own decisions based on personal circumstances.

[KBear]

I completely agree with Todd & Katie- waiting presents it's own problems. It's such a fine balance of not jumping the gun and not waiting past the point of no return. I went 3 years before surgery (not really by choice though). Anyhow, I think that is one of the reasons it took me so long to heal. There's also the opposite problem of going into surgery before trying all conservative treatments, so I wouldn't do that either.

[Justin]

I completely agree with Todd & Katie- waiting presents it's own problems. It's such a fine balance of not jumping the gun and not waiting past the point of no return.

There's also the opposite problem of going into surgery before trying all conservative treatments, so I wouldn't do that either.

Both very good points, Kathy.