[JohnnyD]

So far, so good. I was extremely fortunate to participate in this study.

Surgery at L5-S1.
Diagnosed: Degenerative Disc Disease: I had bone on bone, no material left to speak of. The discs above were beginning to bulge, perhaps a prelude to more problems.

I had surgery on July 1st at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago.
The surgeon was Dr. Harel Deutsch, a member of the neurosurgery faculty at Rush.

Thanks to the Doctor's persistence I got the Activ-L in place. Later he explained that the study comparison device, the Charite, would have been too tall for me and he would have had to resort to fusion.
I've got an approx. 5" vertical incision running down from my navel. I go Wednesday 7/16 for staple removal.

I was in hospital for 3 days total. Surgical pain was moderate. I was weaned off the morphine drip by the evening of July 2nd and went home with oral meds on the the 3rd.

Doctor didn't prescribe any formal PT, he just wants me to walk as much as possible - something I'm very happy about.

After 28 years of dealing with this condition, I feel I've got a great chance to stabilize the rest of my spine and break the cycle of pain and rehab.

Regards,
John