Hi HD, I couldn't respond to your message for some reason through an IM. I hurt my back about 4 years ago helping a friend move on a cold February night. He was living in a dump due to life's circumstances and had a chance to move out. The dump had a roof with no gutter draining onto the stairs. There was snow that was melting on the roof during the day and I got there at night when it had started to ice up the stairs. I took a twisting fall and landed on my right side very hard. If I had hit my head I would be home with the Lord right now. I tried over the next few weeks to walk off the pain. Didn't work. I saw my doctor and she sent me to physical therapy. It just aggravated it. I tried pool therapy and it was great in the pool but not climbing out of the pool. I've had two seperate steroid treatments done by two different doctors. Same deal. I've been seeing a chiropractor and that helps on some cramping I get in my upper right back. The disk that is seeping is my lumbar 4, right by the belt line. I am now very limited, not so much in what I can do, but in how long I can do something. I am still strong but can only do things in short spurts. I used to canoe and go on long canoe camping trips. I'm in agony after about a half hour now. I used to hike up in the mountains of NH. Now I can only walk for 15 minutes or so. You get the idea. I'm not able to do carpentry for too long anymore. I can do a small project that takes an hour or two and then I have severe pain the rest of the week. Right now I weigh about 360. That is a problem. No one around here wants to operate on it yet because I am so heavy. With exercise I can keep weight off and even lose a couple pounds a week. But with my back in pain I can't do the kind of exercise I need to lose. I'm doing well most weeks to stay the same. I hope yours clears up. I'm pursuing the landlord's insurance and they haven't coughed up a dime. I hope we can come to a settlement so I can maybe get into excavation or something like that. PS It's one the reasons I got the Polaris. It has the most comfortable ride out there in my mind. Riding is the one thing I can do and still enjoy. I think the combination of sitting and moving around to balance the quad works pretty good. Just sitting, or standing, or laying down for any length of time causes it to spasm. I get pains down my legs that make them feel like the leg isn't there sometimes. Hope this helps and I hope yours heals up.

 

sorry to hear about that Moosehenden, have you tried a Good back brace?there are alot of back braces out there, but the Good ones have big support ribs in them that add support to take the weight off your pinched nerve in your disk.when i get shooting pains in the legs i know i'm messed up, put on the back support and it helps alot.it has to have the big ribs in it.sportmart............

 

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll look into it.

 

Moose I feel for you. Low back injuries suck! I found out about 7 years ago when I fell from the top of a helicopter,although my injury wasn't as serious as yours It took 2 years of therapy,chiro visits and a Tempur-pedic matress to get mostly back to normal. It still bothers me sometimes,mostly on long drives or if I sleep in a bad position. For most of those 2 years I was literally miserable most of the time. Couldn't stand too long,couldn't sit too long without pain. I have always lived an active lifestlye and stayed in good shape. I am no stranger to injuring myself but the other injuries I had would always heal. Not so with my lowerback,I had never had chronic pain before that and didn't realize how much it can suck. Now I am dealing with chronic shoulder pain...looks like the wear and tear is catching up with me. I worked out alot when I was younger and lifted real heavy,I was strong and looked to be in great shape so i thought it must be good for me...I regret lifting so heavy now. Joints don't last forever.

 

Yep, I was also very active. Now very inactive. I'm hoping my doctors will go ahead with this someday. I'd like to get on with life. But, I'm thankful I didn't hit my head. Brains still work. (Some might differ with my opinion on that)

 

In the same boat Moose. Sitting here reading right now with the dr.s card in my lap waiting to make the call. I have 2 herniated discs pressing on the sciatica nerve. It seems no matter what I do I hurt whether I sit around all day or stay active. I hurt either way. Did the whole therapy, decompression, injections conservative ordeal and now I'm down to the slicing. I'm nervous as hell never had any kind of surgery before in my life I don't even go to the doctor unless I feel like I'm dying, which is pretty much never. However I'm sick of my leg burning and my back hurting all the time so I hope this damn surgery works. I feel for ya, and hope you get some help with the bills cause they add up fast! Good luck man!

 

Moose,
Where are you from? My wife went through 3 fusion surgeries since 2000. The first was in Duluth, the 2nd at Mayo (Rochester) and the third (finally successful) in Mpls. I can not recommend the Twin Cities Spine Center enough. They where finally able fix her spine (neck C4-C7) and she no longer has any pain.

 

Thanks a lot for getting back with me Moose. I'm really sorry to hear you're having so much trouble. My L5-S1 was herniated and pressing against my sciatic nerve causing SEVERE hip and leg pain! I was only comfortable laying on my stomach anything else would almost put me in tears. The surgery helped me a ALOT but I'm really worried about re-hurting myself. I'm just kinda wondering how limited I'm going to be.
I go back to see my surgeon on the 16th for my follow up so maybe he'll be able to shed some light on my questions,not sure though it seems like the doctors are afraid to say when it comes to back trouble. It's like they don't want to be liable for things they do or don't say. I'm not complaining about my surgeon though, he was able to relieve my pain and put me back on my feet.
Anyway Moose, I really hope you can get to the bottom of your trouble and get it taken care of. If in the future the doctors recommend surgery I'd say go for it. I said I would NEVER get surgery, I was scared to death but it was worth it.....simply amazing how fast the pain went away. I still get sore and have weird sensations but it's NOTHING compared to before.
Thanks again,
Mike

 

Rowe if your problem is the same as mine don't be afraid of the surgery. I'm just like you when it comes to going to the doc. All I can say is if I can make it through then so can you. I went into pre-op at 5:30 am,surgery began at 7:00 am and ended at 10:15 am. I was in my room by noon and eating pizza shortly after. They sent me home at about 8:00 pm!
Heck man the nurses where cute and the drugs where outta this world...LOL!
Seriously though the anesthesia is the only thing that really kinda scared me,thats some powerful stuff,I had a fear of not waking up! As you can see though I'm awake...or..uh...am I dreaming?
My incision is only 'bout 2 1/2" long so it's not like they lay you wide open. Anyway I hope you get yours fixed too! If you have any questions about surgery or whatever, give me a holler.[img]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/img]

 

Thanks HD. What did you have done. He's calling mine a microdiscectomy.?? He said he was gonna have to trim my L4-L5, L3-L4. Did they tell you that you were gonna go home that night right from the get go? He told me I'd have to stay over night and that is definitely something I don't wanna do. It's not holding me back but it just sucks. Also did it eleviate your back pain or just your leg pain? I have a lot of back pain with mine and he said it should help but it's more for the leg pain. Were you able to walk around and o.k afterward, and how did you feel the following day? I may schedule it just before the holidays so that I can get it done soon and get it all over with and behind me. How long did they say you'd be off your wheeler? I was supposed to schedule today but held off again. I better do it tommorrow or my wife will kill me. LOL Thanks for everything man, I feel better knowing one of my fellow Polaris Brothers is saying it's O.K