Re: [RC] herniated discs (long) - Jim FerrisAbout 20 years ago, I had a lot of lower back pain. I consulted with a Neurosurgeon and he did an MRI and diagnosed as having a grade 1 spondelothesis (sp?). Essentially what this meant was that I had a vertebra that was slipping underneath the vertebra above it. His advice at that time was to delay any thought of surgery until I couldn't stand the pain any more. His reasoning was that back surgery was only about a 50% chance of recovery at that time and that the longer I put it off, the better the surgical techniques would become. About 2 1/2 years ago, I couldn't take it any longer. I could not stand up for more than 5 minutes at a time and, after a full days ride (NATRC Open Division), it was difficult to properly take care of my horse. I had a lot of sciatic pain which got worse whenever I stood up. I could ride all day and sit all day with little problem, but try to stand up and even sleep became difficult. So I consulted a different neurosurgeon and he found that L5 was not only slipping forward above S1 but was starting to slip forward underneath L4. So I went in for surgery 12/2000. I had 3 vertebra fused, L4/L5/S1. The surgery took 8+ hours, but when I woke up I was in no pain at all except from the surgical incision. I did spend the next 11 months without ever riding my horses. But I did go back to riding in 11/2001. I competed in NATRC Open Division in 2002 and am planning to do so again this year. I have had no problems at all and I wonder why I waited so long to have the surgery. All I can say is find a good surgeon and do get a second opinion and only then consider surgery. A lot depends on what kind of problem you have, but, for me, surgery was the right choice. For the record, I live in Northern California in the Bay area (San Jose specifically). I had my surgery at Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose. The neurosurgeon that did the surgery was recommended by the neurologist I had at the time. -- Best regards, Jim Ferris =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Ridecamp is a service of Endurance Net, http://www.endurance.net. Information, Policy, Disclaimer: http://www.endurance.net/Ridecamp Subscribe/Unsubscribe http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/logon.asp Ride Long and Ride Safe!! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
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