Edward’s Treatment

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ContributorEdward, 50Read Full Bio

Biography

Edward, 50, is married with two kids in college. He works in the Spanish Language Media. Besides playing football, rugby, and volleyball in high school and college, Edward’s family had a history of back pain. He had episodes of debilitating back spasms which started to happen more and more frequently. At age 29, Edward’s doctor discovered a significant herniation in his L4, L5 region. He had a microdiscectomy and felt immediate relief. When his back pain returned his social life and basic mobility was not what it used to be. You must ask yourself whether or not you are willing to live with this pain, Edward advises. He told his friends that if, hypothetically, he were in a building on fire he would not be able to make it down the stairs in time.

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ContributorEdward, 50Read Full Bio

Biography

Edward, 50, is married with two kids in college. He works in the Spanish Language Media. Besides playing football, rugby, and volleyball in high school and college, Edward’s family had a history of back pain. He had episodes of debilitating back spasms which started to happen more and more frequently. At age 29, Edward’s doctor discovered a significant herniation in his L4, L5 region. He had a microdiscectomy and felt immediate relief. When his back pain returned his social life and basic mobility was not what it used to be. You must ask yourself whether or not you are willing to live with this pain, Edward advises. He told his friends that if, hypothetically, he were in a building on fire he would not be able to make it down the stairs in time.

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After testing, Edward learned that his discs had herniated at L3/4 & L4/5. He had a second microdiscectomy but during recovery-- even after physical therapy—Edward knew something “wasn’t right.” Edward’s doctor felt they needed to be more aggressive; Edward would have a two level fusion. Just the word “fusion” scared him. After doing his own research, Edward admits he hadn’t understood the medical advancements and the benefits of fusion surgeries. On the same day of his own fusion, he was surprised that he was able to walk. He can already feel a difference though hasn’t started the physical therapy process.

I went in and they did a micro discectomy and they removed a herniated portion. Unfortunately this time around, I didn't have that same exact sense of relief that I did 20 years ago. Chalked it up to the fact I'm older, but after two and a half months of physical therapy, I could tell it just wasn't right.

When I went back to see my doctor, we decided that maybe we had gone too conservative. We decided to go and have a, uh, two level fusion which is a little scary. You know, when they first mention fusions, it sounds serious and a lot of people it really kind of scares them off. But, the more I looked into it, and the more I talked to the doctor and his team, it seemed like it was the best route to go. The-my best chance to get back to some type of normal type of living. It took a while to really get my arms wrapped around the whole thought of a fusion and what it means and I think there's a lot of misperceptions about what fusion’s all about. Certainly technology's come a long way, and you wanna make sure that you're-that you really need it.

We all knew that this was probably gonna be my best chance, no guarantees. But, we felt pretty good about what the chances would be and what the potential outcomes might be.

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