Bad Back Blog - Herniated Disc

Well I’m still alive, everything is going along as it always has.

The MRI just taken compared to almost 18 months ago still shows the herniated disc.

The doctor said it’s the same if not worse than what it was originally… although we both knew that it got much worse after the first MRI, so who knows how bad it actually was to compared to what it is now.

I’ve also had upper back pain since I was a teenager, so in the last MRI I got them to do my thorasic spine as well (which is middle to upper part of your back).

It turns out (and unrelated to the herniated disc) that when I was young I had/got Scheuermann’s disease (also know as Sherman’s disease).

Basically it’s where the discs rupture, but instead of bulging outwards into the spinal canal they bulge into the vertebrae.. so basically it doesn’t affect the nerves, just the bone.. technically there really isn’t any pain associated with that, but what it does do is curve the spine, and in some people really severely, this then causes fatigue in your back muscles which gives the dull ache, which is what I’ve got… after the age of 20 or so (and I’m almost 30) it’s basically all over.. it doesn’t get worse or better.. and theres no real treatment for it (except for the usual get fit, be health, don’t smoke).

So back to the herniated disc at L4-5… There is no difference, and the crux of the whole thing is this:

I can have the operation and the surgeon thinks a successful outcome sits in the vicinity of about 90-95%. However the 10-5% is bad… things like lose of bladder control, nerve damage, nerve scarring etc etc.

So the question you have to ask yourself is: can I live like this for ever, or have I 100% absolutely had enough, and I won’t regret the operation even if it turns out badly… that’s it.

So now I’ve got to decide if my current issues/problems are enough to say “you know what, I’ve honestly had enough of this entire frigging thing, I want out”, or “you know what, this is bad, but honestly I can live through it and deal with it, and frankly many have it worse, and I should be grateful for what I’ve got and can do”.

At the moment I’m leaning towards the operation but it changes every other day. I’ve set a date for Feb 08 for the operation, which gives me a bit more time to think about my options.

If I have the operation I’ll be out of work for 3 - 8 weeks.. and it’s basically personal preference how long I have off… i need at least 3 weeks, and if I want to build my muscle core back up and go back to work better than when I left I should give myself the 8 weeks.

So that’s it.

I’ll scan in the MRI when I’m near a decent scanner in the next few days/weeks.. it’s interesting to see the actual bulge, and the other issues in my upper back.

I’ve also got more reading material on the operation, and the issues that can arise, so when I get a chance I’ll transcribe those down.. you can compare notes with what your surgeon gives you.

Cheers
Matt

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 13th, 2007 at 10:06 pm and is filed under More Herniated Discs. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.