I've rented a dump truck and a steam roller, so let's see what happens next!

Just a little bit about me and what I've been through in the last few years..

In November of 2004, I took one of my fat cats to the vet and later that day, I started having pain in my lower back. It took 7 months to get a doctor to take my pain seriously enough to do an MRI, which showed a massive disc herniation. I had my first discectomy at L4/L5 in June 2005 and I thought it was a ...

I've rented a dump truck and a steam roller, so let's see what happens next!

Just a little bit about me and what I've been through in the last few years..

In November of 2004, I took one of my fat cats to the vet and later that day, I started having pain in my lower back. It took 7 months to get a doctor to take my pain seriously enough to do an MRI, which showed a massive disc herniation. I had my first discectomy at L4/L5 in June 2005 and I thought it was a miracle! The pain was gone immediately and I was thrilled!

After that surgery, my neurosurgeon told me I needed to lose weight so that he wouldn't be seeing me in the future. I took his advice to heart, started eating healthy and exercising, which resulted in 60 pounds lost in about 7 months.

I spontaneously re-herniated the disk in June of 2006, just 3 days before the 1 year anniversary of my surgery. I tried PT, conservative approaches, and continued weight loss hoping it would pop back into place as spontaneously as it herniated. It didn't.

In November of 2006, I had a second discectomy at L4/L5. During that surgery, my neurosurgeon had to remove more of the disk than he expected, but still felt it was worth trying to save the disc. Just passed 4 weeks post-op, the remaining disk collapsed into bits; 8 weeks later, I had a TLIF at L4/L5 with an interbody implant, 2 plates, and 4 screws.

My fusion was successful, but the rupture permanently damaged the nerve roots and I was left in excruciating pain. For weeks, all I could think was that the fusion was the biggest mistake I ever made. Since there was nothing left to pursue surgically, I was referred to a Pain Management specialist in August of 2007.

As it turns out, the first Pain Management specialist was really the biggest mistake I ever made. At my first appointment, everything seemed wonderful. At my second appointment, I was given information about the Spinal Cord Stimulator and I decided a couple of weeks later to go forward with that.

Over the next 9 months, the doctor claimed he was putting the insurance pre-authorizations through, but he wasn't really doing anything. After, he tried to extort several thousand dollars from me and I refused to pay, he became verbally and emotionally abusive, telling me nobody cared about me or my pain and that he was the only one that could stop my pain, but only if I paid the price.

I returned to my neurosurgeon, told him what had happened, and he referred me to my current pain management specialist. After several months' wait, I was finally seen in March of 2008. In April of I had a spinal cord stimulator trial, which was an absolute success! In June, I got my permanent SCS implant.

For 2 years, I was nearly bed ridden as a result of my pain. During that time, I gained back all the weight I had previously lost, plus more. I also lost most of my muscle mass. Although it's taking longer than I'd like to rebuild my body, I'm sticking with it and working hard.

Read More About MEMRYLAPS (Updated January 1)

Member Comments Page (29 total):  123Next >Last >>