hello ,i hope that some of you might be able to me some advice on my back trouble. on march 23 2009 i hurt my back at work i have lower back pain and right leg pain the stops above the knee i was told that i had a displaced disk and
fractured l/5 s1 vertbra pedicles so far i had 3 epridural injections 6 months of p/t which did not really help last month workmans comp sent me to a spine surgeon he told me that the only way to fix my back is to fuse the s1
l5 this really shook me up i heard a lot of bad things about these fusions i am worried that i will be not able to return to work i do a lot of climbing and lifting i heard about facet joint injections and nerve burning treatments that i want to try before surgey i just spoke with workmans comp rep and told her my feelings she has to get back to me
i know that this is a lot of rambling but i have never been
thur any thing like this thanks in advance for any help iam just scared and confused
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I think that you are thinking along the right track. It is always best to try all conservative treatments before moving on to surgery. If it does come down to surgery it is always best to get as many opinions as you can from different docs. There are no guarantees with surgery and some folks actually do have more pain post op than pre op. There are also success stories. You might want to check out the surgery section as you will find many folks there that have had this type of surgery. Good luck to you and keep us posted.
I am in no way associated with the medical field. Anything that I post comes from personal experience only.
DDD, Facet Arthropathy, DJD,Collapsed Disc, Sleep Apnea
PT, Epidurals, Facet Blocks,Medial Branch Block, Rhizotomy,Discogram,Annular Tare L3/L4 Endoscopic MicroD and PLDD,
Methadone, Percocet, Baclofen, Welbutrin
after all conservative treatments have been exhusted. Please keep in mind that possibly without surgery your pain increase and you won't be able to work, climb and lift as you mentioned in your post. ONLY you can decide on having surgery. Is your pain is manageable and bearable? ARe you working now?
Are you taking pain meds now? Have gotten a 2nd opinion?
Looking forward to hearing about your progress!
S~
hi and welcome to the forum!
we are here to offer you support and answer what questions we can. you have alot to learn about and have come to a great place for info from both friends and doctors.. do your homework and be prepared with questions for your doctors. 
learn what is going to happen to you. learn all your options both conservative and surgical. good luck. 
Jenny 
be impeccable with your word..