Help Others With Back Pain

Another fellow “spiney” had an anterior fusion last week and by all accounts it was a complete success. I talked to him on the phone the day after his surgery and he sounded great, considering he had just had a disc removed and two vertebrae fused. We had talked about his surgery for a few months prior to it taking place and I know he was nervous about it. I’m really happy it worked out for him.

Check out the site…it will give you a ton of info:

http://www.backpainsupportgroup.com

...is going to see his fourth surgeon next week. He finally decided he’d have to go to a bigger city to find a neurosurgeon willing to operate on him. His back is absolutely killing him and I know it’s affecting his personal and professional life. I’m really hoping this will be the one. Good luck Rick!

He is still in a lot of pain and can not find a surgeon who will help him. Apparently, the surgeons in his area do not operate “just to relieve pain”. WTF is with that? Why else would you want to have back surgery and go through all this hell? If my back hadn’t been killing me, I would have never gotten an operation to begin with. I told him he needs to look outside of his city and find a doctor who is willing to act.

A friend of mine from the Support Group was approved for an L4/L5 ALIF fusion the week of July 7th. Like everyone who goes through back surgery, she is both excited and terrified at the same time. She only lives a couple of hours away, so I may drive up and see her in the hospital if I feel like my own back is up to it.

One of my friends from my online Back Pain Support Group is having terrible pain right now. He is a police officer in Oregon and he hurt his back the same way I did: power lifting. He waited weeks to go see a neurosurgeon and then the doctor said “there is nothing wrong with your back”. Boy, did I hear that line of bullshit a few times. I’ll bet if his doctor could feel his pain for one day, my buddy would be in the O.R. tomorrow. Let me tell you folks: a negative MRI does NOT mean there is nothing wrong with your spine! I really feel bad for my friend. I know what the pain is like. I wish I could beat his neurosurgeon with my cane. “Hey doc, does that hurt? There’s nothing wrong with your skull. Your MRI is fine!“

If you have never had a spinal injury, you can not possibly comprehend the level of pain involved. It wares on you physically and psychologically, and it is both constant and unrelenting. It tears at you both day and night, robs you of sleep, destroys your ambitions, limits your potential, and ultimately takes away your hope.
After nine years of terrible pain, I was finally delivered by a neurosurgeon who removed my L4/L5 disc. Within hours, the pain I had suffered with for so long was gone. For the first time in nine years, I was pain free. I have joined an online Back Pain Support Group to help others who still suffer what I endured for so many years. Some people have questions about surgical procedures, others want help understanding the many complexities of insurance coverage. Still others just want someone to cry too when no one else will listen. I want to be there in any capacity I can to help these people deal with their pain, to show them there are cures, to help give them hope.