[dshobbies]

Yesterday was my 2 year anniversary of my 3 level Prodisc. (I went to an art show, an event I love but found it too difficult until last year). The first question is would I do it again. The simple answer is yes but often, there is no simple answer and my circumstances present just that case.

Prior to my surgery I basically had no life. Unable to even sit at the dinner table with my family, today I am able to cook dinner. Unable to paint, my beloved hobby and calming influence of 20+ years, I’m happy to report that I just delivered a portrait wedding gift, albeit 5 years later (fortunately, they’re still together with 2 children). I could only watch my family grow from the sidelines, Today, I can play with my precious grandchildren. I had lost a desire to do most things and worst of all, lost touch with many friends. Desperate for the return of some normalcy I jumped at this chance for relief, making my decision to go forth with the surgery an easy one. Though still petrified, I really had no other choice except fusion, which was not on my table. Fortunately I found Mark who steered me to Dr. B and the rest as they say, is history. The story of my recovery is long and convoluted… and we’ll leave it at that.

However, for me there is also a down side. If I cook my family’s dinner, I’m pretty much done, leaving the clean up for everyone else. While that’s not so bad, it makes me feel ‘less’. I can only paint for half a day because I can’t sit for more than 3-4 hours. My floor play with my grandchildren is limited to just a few minutes – not so bad for my 4 year old but not great for my 1 year old. I’m beginning to reconnect with friends but am finding some of them reluctant.

My surgery left me with two problems. Though I had four bad levels, my discogram revealed that L2/3 was not a pain generator and as discussed in this forum, discs are not replaced preemptively. Well L2/3 has become a pain generator and causes the above mentioned limitations. I’m not sure what I will do about it. With my Dr.’s permission, I resumed my decompression therapy which has already helped quite a bit and have found some relief with acupuncture.

Also, during my surgery the nerve root to my left leg was ‘irritated’ leaving me with a dead leg. It has been quite slow in coming back (it may never fully heal) and is not only painful for which I must take Lyrica, Celebrex and Soma daily, but also causes extreme limitations. Walking is difficult and my leg is basically weak. Due to my leg, I still consider myself disabled. This week I will be discussing with my pm any advantages to switching to pain relief only. Had Dr. B not been my surgeon I would be second guessing the inevitability of my condition but I know I had the best and this distraction damage was unavoidable. The positive side, after a nerve test, the neurologist found my nerves to still be alive and recovery is possible… up to 3 years. My pm suggested acupuncture with which I’ve found remarkable improvement. However I started it after 1½ years. I was told the results would have been better had I started after 6 months, so for those of you finding yourselves in similar situations, keep this in mind.

As you can see, I can go from grateful to angry, bitter or resolved in the span of less than a minute. But the short version is I AM better off today than before my ADR surgery and yes, I AM glad that I went to Germany.

My best to all, both pre and post and even on the fence,
Dale