Success story for L4-5 ProDisc in USA

[chasswen]

GOOD DEAL
remember take it easy and most importantly is listen to your body.
chuck

[dshobbies]

Congratulations on the road traveled and your successful surgery. Be careful not to get ahead of yourself. Healing is a slow process and feeling great can tend to overdoing. Just take it nice and slow and pamper yourself when called for. I'm betting you'll do great.

Best wishes, Dale

[Michelle]

You know what the hardest part is-I've been in pain so long, that I actually have to consiously tell my brain-'hey, relax that muscle, it doesn't hurt there anymore'. I can actually reduce my pain a lot just by doing that, which gives me a lot of hope that all the structural probs are gone! You wouldn't think my brain would be my last obstacle to being pain-free, but I guess it adapts to anything! Muscle relaxants and the occasional pain med when I overdo something gets me down to almost no back pain, except for those occasional catches that only hurt for half a second. The leg pain diminishes every day, and is almost gone with the Neurontin. I'm taking it easy, trying not to run around like I feel like I should be able to do. I keep trying to remind myself that at this point post-op after my lami, I was only awake about 6 hours a day. I will return to work in just over a week, so that ain't bad! Thanks for all the well-wishes!

[mmglobal]

Michelle, it's great to (finally) hear stories about WC patients (finally) getting what they need. For too long, the battle has just been an exercise in tilting at windmills. It's a shame that it took so long... hopefully, those that follow will have access to the care they need without the long battles. Folks like you have led the way and your positive outcome will help so many others.

I also don't have the stamina a 27 year old should have! It'll come back... unless you aren't 27!

Mark

[Michelle]

Well, I just got home from my 6 week post-op appointment with Dr. Janssen. He was so thrilled with my recovery, he wouldn’t stop going on and on to the doctor from the UK that was there with him learning to do ADRs. He hugged me twice, and actually kissed my cheek once! He released me from all restrictions, aside from ‘if it hurts, don’t do it’, including the brace (oh, I can’t go bungee-jumping or skydiving for a year). He said I could ski, have a kid, go back to full days at work as of the 6th, whatever I wanted to do. I’m supposed to start PT with a Pilates or Yoga program, with no restriction on movements I can do. One thing I thought was interesting was something he said to his ‘student’ (and I’m paraphrasing) “The disc implant itself isn’t what restores movement in the area. That’s our job, during the surgery. We have to mobilize all the structures surrounding the disc or it won’t restore movement.” I thought that was quite interesting. He said I’d gained an inch of height. I was down to 4 mm of disc, and came out with 25mm (does that come out to an inch? I can’t remember the conversion). No wonder my legs hurt! He said the sharp pain I have at that level, near the skin, is the facet joints like I’d thought. They now have a lot more movement than they’ve had in 8 years. He said they’ll get used to it and the pain should pass. Oddly, they said there was no problem using my TENS unit, which is something that I’d heard was definitely off-limits, and that no antibiotics were necessary before dental procedures. He did give me a card to carry in my wallet about the implant, the nurse said it was for the airport. I asked if it would set off the metal-detectors, but was told probably not. It was really just for records, and in case of an accident or something. But I had to give it back, as they’d put the wrong level on it. Needless to say, despite the 4 hour drive to get there, I feel great after such a glowing report!! Now to figure out how not to go from 0 to 10 hour days in one shot. 4 hour days anyone??

[chasswen]

good deal michelle
please remember slow and steady.
chuck

[Maria]

Michelle,
It must feel so wonderful to feel so good and have it all validated by your doctor~ even tho you could feel good w/o his/her validation but it's just that little icing on the cake.. that person who is a doctor agreeing w/you that all is well in your universe because of the surgery~ so great!!!!!
Don't ask me how to slow your jets since whenever I get an ESI and think my back is normal again I act it... never learn..
Best wishes with your new spine, cherish and enjoy your new life~ may it always be so~

[Michelle]

Monday was my first day back to work, for a 4 hour day. And it was pretty good. It was the first time I'd really noticed how much more movement I have in my lower back. It was kind of disconcerting, and a little painful, but it seems to be getting better already. I'm glad I'm only doing 4 hour days for the first 2 weeks, because it's very tiring. My workmates are very good about telling me to sit down when I get too ambitious. I draw blood at a hospital lab, and then sit down and do computer work for a few minutes, so it's a perfect mix of position changes. The pain I feel is definately different from before surgery, and slowly decreasing. I think the PT I started Monday too was rough to do the same day. It made my SI joints hurt for a while. I haven't been as diligent about doing the exercises as I should be, but it's hard to convince myself that it won't make my pain continually worse as it did before. I'm giving myself a few days to get used to work, then I'll get after the exercises again. One of these first days, we'd like to celebrate our 8 year wedding anniversary that passed yesterday with barely a mention. Besides all this happening with me, my hubby split his finger open at work (11 stitches), so it's been a great week! I'm just glad returning to work wasn't as hard as I'd expected, despite having a cold.