Feeling Like A Hamster On A Wheel

For the next several months, I felt like a hamster on a wheel. I was prescribed one medication after another, tried physical therapy which made my problem worse, and as each week went by, my life changed more and more. Chronic pain takes its toll on your not just physically, but mentally and emotionally as well. Each day I would wake up and wonder if I had the energy to get through the day. I never knew from one day to the next if my back pain would be such that I could not work or take care of my family. To say I was frustrated and angry is an understatement! I had worked in nursing for over 15 years prior to becoming a massage therapist and I was truly saddened to see how medical care had become what I considered a farce in most cases. Doctors want to pat you on the head, tell you it will be OK and hand you a pill, hoping you will not come back! When you do, its lets try this test or that, only to be told there is no hope for you other than major back surgery that you do not want to have. And, who could blame me after my previous experience? Chronic pain management seems to be almost nonexistent here in the U.S. and even the programs that are available are not the best.
I did hours and hours of research to find that there are more people in the same situation. Many suffering with chronic back pain, more than I would have ever dreamed of. I found support groups and information on new treatments that I would have never found if I had not taken a proactive approach to my own medical care!
One of the most important and absolutely fantastic support groups for people with chronic back pain and considering surgery is The ADR Support Group. I met many people there who were just like me. Sick and tired of crappy treatment at the hands of surgeons who either were not knowledgable of the new treatments for spine care or just did not care. Unfortunately, most surgeons seem to have the bedside manner of a toad so if you are looking for someone to be caring, this is not the place to find it!!!
I also found out about a new surgery that looked very promising for those suffering chronic back pain called Artificial Disk Replacement. This type of surgery had been done for over 20 years in Europe with very promising results. The beauty behind this type of surgery was that it required much less recuperation time than a lumbar fusion did. Lumbar fusion is the "standard" here in the US for problems like mine.
ADR as it is called does not place stress on adjacent disc levels that can cause them to herniate or degenerate in the future like fusion can. ADR has been successful according to the studies done in Europe when doing multiple levels. The success rate of fusion goes from 80% at one level to a less than 25% success rate when doing multiple levels.
So, armed with this knowledge I approach my family physician about this new surgery. Luckily for me, her brother was an engineer and had actually worked with the artificial discs development in this country. She told me that if I wanted to pursue this she was OK with it.
I found a surgeon in a well known and reputable spine center in Texas that had worked in clinical studies doing over 100 of these procedures and made an appointment for consultation. Now I am in Tennessee, so we braved a 12 hour car ride to go see this surgeon. Before I went that far I had called my insurance company to be told this procedure was "covered". Otherwise I would have never made the trip!
Image courtesy of redbaron at Stockexchange.com

My journey continues tomorrow!