Hey guys,
I've been reading these forums for a while and thought I might try to solicit feedback.
A little about me and my diagnosis:
I’m a 33 year old father, husband and overlord to our cocker spaniel. I’m an avid practitioner of Ashtanga Yoga, play a great deal of ice hockey as a goaltender and really enjoy the outdoors with my young family. I’m 6′ tall, 165 pounds and in the best shape of my life. My diagnosis of Disc Degeneration at L4-5 with stenosis, really caught me out of left field. I’ve been unable to do any of the activities I love for 6 months and I’m worried about the problem degenerating further as I've learned that discs can't repair themselves.
Like everyone else here, I turned to the internet and have been reading feverishly for any help or information about the condition and have found a few resources that really help (this being one of them).
I'm in Canada and still waiting for an apointment with my local spine specialists, but I'm worried they might end up being as unhelpful as my GP and physiotherapist have been (suck it up and change your life). I've read so many forums and blogs espousing both the benefits and documenting some horrific outcomes of spinal surgeries and ADR. Talk about confusing and overwhelming.
My diagnosis:
L4-5: There is mild disc space narrowing, desiccation and a combination of fatty and edematous endplate signal changes. No paraspinal soft tissue swelling. There may be very minimal enhancement of the disc and adjacent vertebral bodies but this is quite subtle. There is a mild disc bulge identified, eccentric to the left along with a central annular fissure. Mild to moderate degenerative facet joint changes are seen bilaterally with mild thickening of the ligamentum flavum resulting in mild acquired central spinal stenosis and left lateral recess stenosis. There is moderate left and severe right foraminal stenosis predominantly related to encroaching facet degenerative change.
L3-4 show some mild facet degeneration, but nothing else really going on.
I've had one consulation with Mr. Nick Boeree in the UK that went very well regarding ADR, but I'm still waffling on surgery. My L4-5 has been problematic(bulges/sciatica) for about 10 years, but only recently began to degenerate and throw the rest of my lower back and activity levels into disaray.
I'm not sure what to do or where I'm even going with this post.
I'm just looking for some next steps.