Sad day

sleepy wrote:
Keep looking until you find the "McKinsey trained PT."

You'll have better luck searching for a McKenzie trained PT. Some will also be OCS(Orthopedic Clinical Specialist).

Hey DJ! Sorry to hear you are headed for the body & fender shop. Just remember, the JD is for medicinal purposes, and the red cups are for discretion. ;)

Feel free to drop us a line when you are in the PDX area. Take Care!
-Eric & Lisa

DJ - on a optimistic note. . .
Pain drove me to a couple of information seminars by spine surgeons.

During one of the seminar question & answer sessions, an old codger stood to speak.
He claimed to have had extensive back surgery involving many rods and screws.
He said that he was in good condition and could do all the things that he wanted to do.
(I don't know what he was doing there as everyone else was in pain - I guess that he was very happy with the surgeons work.)

Anyway, his claim, while scary, was encouraging.
Hopefully, you will be able to say the same and heading out on the open road next summer.

Thanks so much everyone!!!!

A little history on my back. In 1972 I was run over by a truck that among many other things broke my back in 4 places. L2,3, 4 and 5. I was on my 2nd enlistment in the Marines. Navy truck, Navy base, Sailor driving. He swore it was an accident. Yeah SURE!!!!!! "I didn't mean to run over that MP"!!!!! :R

I've had 2 previous surgeries, 02 and 08, both just discectomies and laminectomies. Now this portion of my back has deteriorated so much that my spine is bulging to the left.

I agree 100%, PT works wonders and I have done it since the accident. But it is no longer keeping up with the pain, Over the last year I got 3 different spinal injections from the VA but did no good.

I have an appt with a VA surgeon in Portland in Nov. I'm at least going to wait and see what he has to say.

In the meantime I will search for a McKinsey PT person!!!

Thanks again!!!

A physical therapist that has an extra years training specifically for the spine in called "McKinsey Trained"

That training really increases your odds of sucessful recovery without surgery.

The first thing that you'll be told is... do not bend forward at the waist. The second thing will be "don't bend forward at the waist" and they'll tell that everytime they catch you... (I know)

You will do excersizes that avoid the forward bend. They were hard to do but doing them 2 times a week for a month took away the pain of several years.

His last words... Lose excess weight, continue the exercizes, and walk everyday. Work on your posture.

Keep looking until you find the "McKinsey trained PT."

Best of luck... you have my phone number and email address.

sleepy (and Janet)

I had a spinal fusion L5/S1 in 1996. I talked to 3 different doctors, picked the one I liked best, also was highly recommended. My surgery was a "Ray Cage" took bone graft off my hip bone.

6 months is likely not going to be the full time of limited activity, Mine took about a year to fully heal. That is what they told me too, but it was much longer. But you don't want to mess up an expensive surgery trying to do too much too soon.

Make sure you vet your doctor. get input from others that have done this, go online and do some research.

If they can go through your front/stomach adomenal (sp?) side instead of the back side it may be better. many people with fusions have pain from the scar tissue that develops putting pressure on the spinal nerves.

Other things to consider is that doing three levels of fusion will put more stress on the discs that are not damaged now.

I am glad I did mine, gave me a better life, but it is scary and the recovery is long. I wish you luck with your decision. If you want to talk to me call my office 360-693-1621 ask for dave g, I am on the Pacific coast.

I know the pain you must be enduring. I injured my L-1 Disk and had an inwardly protruding bulge. The pain was incredible for three months. I could not stand and got around slowly and painfully on all fours. I could not even sit without intense pain. Imagine the joy of using the bathroom. 20 to 30 seconds maximum sitting time then lay on floor and recover, repeat.
I was about to get the surgery performed but the surgeon insisted that I give PT a try since I had not tried that yet. I went to PT and had a very capable therapist that looked at the MRI images and came up with a plan for me. I did it for about a month with no apparent results. I was starting to talk to the surgeon again to find out what he thought would be my best fix. It was right at that time, about 6 weeks of PT that I began to experience a marked and sudden improvement. Two weeks later I was able to walk, in pain, but well enough to take care of myself and not rely so much on family to help me. This happened in the early nineties and I have kept up the exercise regimen ever since. It is the difference between walking or not walking. If I lay off the exercise, I begin to get sensitive again. With exercise, I have no pain at all now. As long as I keep doing the exercise I'm fine but I do have to be careful of certain motions like working overhead, pushing a wheelbarrow, working on all fours, twisting with force. Any of these motions places pressure on the L-1 and will create a few days or more of pain for me but usually gets better with rest. I had a month of relapse once from working on all fours in a crawl space. You droop your back when on all fours and that strains the L-1.
I would recommend you find an experienced, established PT and get on an exercise regimen for a couple months and stick with it diligently. If in a couple months you get results, good, you saved yourself from a surgery and limited motion the rest of your life. If it doesn't help, then perhaps surgery may be your option.
So far, I'm doing fine with few limitations. I do my exercises daily. I do suspect when I hit my late 60's and 70's, I may start having trouble due to age. We'll see.

Best wishes for your health DJ and hang in there.

Sorry to hear about your back troubles. I wish you all the best. I have had chronic neck pain for last 10 years. 2 neck surgeries, no fusion, and countless treatments have only given me minimal relief. Have had back issues too but epidurals have helped my back at least 90%. I am doing Botox injections now with a neurologist. Have had 2 series and another in October. Took early retirement at 54 due to injury. I will not let it stop me from the TC life though. One Surgeon wants to fuse 3 discs in my neck but another said no. Get as many opinions as you can. Wish you all the best and speedy recovery.

~DJ~ wrote:
Winterized the TC and tucked it away for the winter. I know, pretty early but it is in anticipation of extensive back surgery. Two surgeons have now told me I need a fusion on L2,3,4 and 5.

It will have to be done with clamps, rods and grafts from my hip bone. 6 month recovery time!!!

I am still not fully convinced to do this. A good part of me is saying to wait until I can not stand the pain anymore. Seems these type surgeries are just the beginning of many more down the road. :(

DJ, did you have the spinal shots first?
Only ten percent of people wanting spinal surgery are qualified for it according to a spinal surgeon at a information lecture I went to.

My GP doc said that I was one of the ten percent and qualified for spinal fusion.
But first I tried the lumbar shots followed by a routine of physical exercises and it was of tremendous help.
Now GP doc says that I'm not qualified for spinal surgery and I agree.

Hi DJ,

Whatever you decide to do with your back Sally and I wish you the best of luck and hope you can get a solution to the back problems soon.

Steve.