Sidelined.....AGAIN! ;(

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snowbear1005
snowbear1005 Posts: 79 Member
in Motivation and Support
I’ve been having problems with my lower back and numbness in my legs for several months and since I started back at the gym after the holidays, it’s only gotten worse. I’ve had 2 surgeries – one to repair a ruptured disc and one to destroy a nerve root after it became entrapped in a bone spur a few years later. I also have Lupus which causes chronic inflammation and I really thought the spinal nerves were just irritated and that a steroid injection and a little physical therapy might fix me right up.

WRONG!! I saw the orthopedic doctor today and the x-ray shows my lumbar spine has collapsed at L5-S1. The disc above it doesn’t look too good either and there’s a fairly severe dislocation on top of it all. The only permanent fix is major surgery – an operation (fusion) I don’t particularly care to have. EVER. So, I agreed to a steroid injection and month of PT and see how it goes. Doc says many people can live with this for years without surgery, just depends on how much pain, instability, and weakness I can live with.

I just want to cry. I was sick from the lupus and gastrointestinal problems for most of last year and I was just starting to feel good enough again to get back into working out. But I can’t run, can’t lift weights, and I’ll be d@mned if I’m going to resign myself to pool exercise at my age.

Replies

  • chopper_pilot
    chopper_pilot Posts: 191 Member
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    I had to :(

    four years of physical therapy and I had to do water aerobics to work up to walking.

    but now im doing tough mudders.

    if my broken body can come back, anyone can make a comeback with doctor's guidance!
  • RonnieLodge
    RonnieLodge Posts: 665 Member
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    But I can’t run, can’t lift weights, and I’ll be d@mned if I’m going to resign myself to pool exercise at my age.

    Damn, sorry to hear of your ill health.

    But what is so bad about pool exercise?

    I quite like aqua aerobics and am a couple of decades younger. Got any friends you can convince to go with you?
  • snowbear1005
    snowbear1005 Posts: 79 Member
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    chopper_pilot: what happened to you, if you don't mind my asking?

    RonnieLodge: there's nothing wrong with aqua exercise IF that's what you want to do. Honestly, the people I've known of or seen in the pool groups are either very heavy or older with mobility issues. I guess it's a mental thing. I've given up aerobics, kickboxing, dance, and any other workout that involves quick and/or twisting movements since my back problems began. I don't want to give up anything more.
  • chopper_pilot
    chopper_pilot Posts: 191 Member
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    plane crash
  • lise1212
    lise1212 Posts: 11
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    Swimming is great!!! Also, my mom had the back fusion surgery for her four ruptured/deteriorated discs in lower back. . . it's amazing! she can stand up straight now and walks/does yoga (she's 78) before she was in so much pain she couldnt do anything. . . . research it and find a good doctor with good track record. . . her's was a Kaiser doctor in San Diego.. . . don't give up!
  • navyrigger46
    navyrigger46 Posts: 1,301 Member
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    I had a major herniation of the discs from L5-S1 in 2005, the steroid injections did nothing and eventually I had the surgery. All was well until I developed scar tissue which encased the sciatic nerve, my options at that point were pretty limited, I could stick with the high doses of pain killers I was on which at 25 didn't sound too appealing, I could stick with the pain killers and have surgery every couple of years to remove the scar tissue, or the third option which at the time was experimental. Needless to say, I now have a spinal cord stimulator implanted on three sides of my spine and a battery in my butt cheek. It's amazing by the way, and my wife gets to joke that she has a battery operated husband.

    I highly recommend the surgery, fusions are not that big of a deal, I was still young enough that they didn't do a fusion, they reconstructed the discs and removed the herniation's, so I'm lucky there. Keep in mind, many athletes, and SO team guys have had fusions, it's really a pretty good option.

    Rigger

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