Success story for L4-5 ProDisc in USA

letteski · #1 (**permalink**) 11-11-2006, 06:42 AM

Michelle

I am so glad you are doing well and taking the time to share it with us here. I went snorkeling in Hawaii at 7 weeks, snow skied at 3.5 months and went back to work as a PE teacher for children with disabilities at 5 months, all while doing PT. I am now 14+ months post op and doing ski conditioning classes that consist of impact anaerobic exercises like jumping, running and agility movements as well as balance drills and core strengthening exercises. I mountain biked all summer and will be making my big come back on the slopes this winter. So you have a lot to look forward to. I worked my way into all of this and I know you will too. Enjoy your new life you deserve it.

Michelle · #2 (**permalink**) 11-14-2006, 11:20 PM

Well, tomorrow is 8 weeks! I'm tired and sore after a long pilates PT session yesterday. I'm trying again to not take the last 30 mg of Avinza (long-acting morphine). It only lasted 2 1\2 days last time I tried. With a couple extra breakthrough meds, I'm hoping to be done with the Avinza. We'll see! My goal is to have another kid by 2008, so getting off these meds are important to me! I also hope to teach my 3 (almost 4) year old son to ski soon! So, I have a lot of incentive to get moving! Work is getting easier, and I'll got up to 6-8 hour days next week, then back to 10's the week after. I found it still hurts when I have to bend down to draw a patient's blood, like it did before surgery, but hopefully that'll get better. Anyway, I'm very glad I did the surgery, and every day gets a little better!

dshobbies · #3 (**permalink**) 11-15-2006, 12:55 AM

Everyone is different and you may find no difficulties as you heal, but after 1 year post-op, leaning forward is still difficult. For instance, I find making the bed in the morning exhausting. I'm not expecting this to get much better either, but we'll see.

Dale

Michelle · #4 (**permalink**) 12-12-2006, 02:26 AM

Today I drove through a snowstorm to Denver for my 12 week post-op follow-up. X-rays (flexion/extension/lateral bending) were all good. They even gave me a few of the films (they couldn't put them on disc) so I could show my hubby-he's never seen anything but pics of the implant. We talked about my small amount of continued pain and agreed it seems to be the facets. I remember a few years ago a trial facet block was done and I was supposed to be scheduled for a Rhizo, but ended up getting pregnant. It was such a small part of the problem then that I didn't pursue it after my son's birth. Now it seems to be the only problem!! I'm very hopeful that they can take away or greatly help this last bit of pain, but even if not I'm happy. We talked about the constrained vs unconstrained designs of discs, and I learned a lot. She (the PA) said that the ProDisc does not restore full natural range of motion, only close, which I didn't know. That's okay, I have more movement now than I did with 4 mm of disc, and a lot more than with my other option--fusion. She said that I didn't have to worry about the implant slipping apart or breaking even with a large impact like a ski crash. They can't even hardly get them apart outside of someones body with a pry bar apparently. Anyway, it's always nice to see that metal in the right spot on the films, and see how happy they are with my recovery. It's a slow proccess to me, but for them it seems great.