Michael’s Treatment

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ContributorMichael, 29Read Full Bio

Biography

Michael, 30, started having back pain at age 19, but he has never really figured out why he had back pain. He had an ankle injury that never healed properly and that along with playing golf every day wore out his lower back. Mike didn’t know he needed to stretch and weight train to help protect his back from the repetitive movements of golf. Around 22 he began to suffer severe pain down his legs, and it got to a point where he needed a walker. When he finally met with surgeons he was frustrated because he wanted a surgical solution right away. He had an artificial disc implanted from L4 to L5 and L5 to S1 fused.

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ContributorMichael, 29Read Full Bio

Biography

Michael, 30, started having back pain at age 19, but he has never really figured out why he had back pain. He had an ankle injury that never healed properly and that along with playing golf every day wore out his lower back. Mike didn’t know he needed to stretch and weight train to help protect his back from the repetitive movements of golf. Around 22 he began to suffer severe pain down his legs, and it got to a point where he needed a walker. When he finally met with surgeons he was frustrated because he wanted a surgical solution right away. He had an artificial disc implanted from L4 to L5 and L5 to S1 fused.

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Mike was so ready when it came time for surgery. The procedure went as expected, and when he woke up the shooting pain he had in his legs for years was gone. He walked the same day as his surgery and stayed in the hospital for two days. Mike went to a post-op center with 24/7 care for two weeks. He was then ready to start physical therapy.

Gettin' poked and prodded and getting' blood drawn-I had to go deposit semen at a sperm bank because they didn't know what the potential side effects were after the surgery. Like this is all very humiliating and tiring and taxing, not only on myself, but on my mom. You know, she pretty much had to drop everything she was doing to take care of me. I was just ready. I was ready.

I had an artificial disc put in from L4 to L5 and then they fused L5 to S1. So, as you know, L5 to S1 doesn't really move as is. They talked about the idea of fusing both discs-the space between both discs, but given my age and my youth and everything that I wanted to do after surgery, I opted for the artificial disc which also runs a pretty big risk because you may have to get it replaced down the road, but the trade was worth it for me.

The procedure went fine. I had a little fever afterward, but the first thing I remember when I woke up was that the pain-the shooting pain that I had had in my legs for a couple years was gone.

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