[Blairsara]

Hey everyone
It's been a while hasnt it. Well, I have great news. I went to the doctor this week and found out that I am completely fused!!!! He said the xrays looked great!!! It's such a relief especially after having a failed surgery. Now I just have to work on getting off the medication. I decided to go the detox route. I've been on some sort of pain medication for at least 6 years, with a few breaks. But i think it's the safest decision. The plan is to start the program with my pain management doctor mid-November.

I've been weaning off my medication since October. Now I'm down to 120 mg from 180. And let me tell you, one week feels like a month. But I want to know the pain that I actually am in and considering I can't be evaluated while on Morphine... well that means time to get off and then see where to go from there.

Dr. Regan said that I'm always going to have pain. I knew this going in to my second surgery. I think if I heard that a few years ago I would have been really upset. But now, I feel like I've come to terms with that. It's absolutely amazing how one small moment in time can change the rest of your life forever. But I finally feel like I'm getting my life back after all of these years. In physical therapy I did an exercise that I havent done since before my first surgery!!!

It's been such a long road, and that hope that I have been holding onto for all of these years is finally here. More and more people are having facet problems from their ADR. It sucks. But for those who have this same problem, if there is anything that I can do I'm here. I can finally say I had a successful back surgery!!! FINALLY!!!!!!

Blair