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February 9, 2012 - 10:19am
Doctors attention
I know that we are not athletes and there is no money vested in our bodies ability to come back from injury, but over years I hear of the miraculous come backs from injury that pro/college athletes have made. And in reading about them to see the amount of rehab time with professionals, doctor face to face, it seemed unfair but I was thinking is it really that diff. than when we go to PT, doctor etc.
Well I went to a chiro and he does New Orleans saints, I was told he spends upward of an hour each player each visit and works on them till they feel better. I get a 5 min. adjustment and set on way.
I bring this up cause say in my case for ex. I made 100000+ year before injury, then off work on LTD for 8 yrs.
Well say I got SSDI and never returned, that is about 30k a year in taxes that get paid out also whatever SSDI pays me out gov. money. What if I had recieved that kind of treatment, rehab, and returned to work after couple years, say 27, that is around 1 million in taxes that go out instead of being lost or having to actually pay me.
Now I am not saying it would work for everyone but at a rate like that I u returned 10% to work you would have alot of taxes you would have otherwise lost. To support my writing I was reading about Peyton Manning and a study on 100 NFL players, around 85% returned to playing football after fusion. That is small study but if 85 returned to play prof. football I would assume some of the 15 remaining got good releif and choose not to return. That is a better stat than I have ever seen regarding fusions.
Just some food for thought I was thinking about.
_____________
Herniated T6-7 impinging on cord. Annular tears in T5-6 and T7-8, DDD and smorls nodes throughout thoracic. Small herniation in C2-3 and buldge at L 4-5.
"A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove . . . . but the world maybe different because I was important in the life of a child."
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To clear up: The doctor actually spends the hour, its not icing and stim, that is doctor time. Sorry it is around 80% return to playing football.
Herniated T6-7 impinging on cord. Annular tears in T5-6 and T7-8, DDD and smorls nodes throughout thoracic. Small herniation in C2-3 and buldge at L 4-5.
"A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove . . . . but the world maybe different because I was important in the life of a child."
Yes, I am sure that the 'extra' time a medical professional can work with an athlete helps improve recovery time.
But there are two other factors that need to be inserted into this equation:
1 - The physical condition of the person PRIOR to a surgery. Face it, not many of us are in the best physical condition as today's professional athletes are. So since their bodies are in better shape, they can recover quicker and perhaps better than most others.
2 - The effort that these professionals put into recovery. Spending 4 to 6 hours a day 7 days a week in constant rehab, pushing themselves to improve.
I think even if a medical professional was to spend hours and hours working on me after any of my surgeries, I would bounce back and recovery like many athletes do.
Ron DiLauro
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Sad, but true. And Ron brought up a couple of very good points. I definitely was not in the best physical shape prior to my injury and subsequent surgery, and afterwards there was no way I was doing 4-6 hours a day/7 days a week of rehab...not with 3 kids at home, anyway.
--Kim-- (age 30)
<> Multiple T-spine herniations and DDD = two-level thoracic discectomy (posterior) done 7/6/11
<> Dx'd with Ankylosing Spondylitis (AS) - Nov. 2011. Current treatment: Humira, Diclofenac, Prednisone, Oxycodone, and Flexeril.
Just to throw in my 2 cents, please remember this. Athletes are young, in the best of condition,and have access to the best medical and physical rehab means available. They have been working toward their goal from the time they could walk. Their bodies continue to stay in prime coondition, as long as they keep training. Should an injury occur, their bodies respond to treatment (dependeing upon the situation, of course) probably better that the average person. Oh, did I mention the $$$ factor for the pros? Can't compare us to the college and pro athletes. They both have their own reconditioning and rehab people as part of their programs, too. If only we all could get in line, hey? Anyway, best to all.
Rassy
Rassy's Story
Under House Arrest Without the Ankle Bracelet
The remarks I make are strictly my own based on my personal experiences.
Many people can improve there recovery and get back in to playing sports after a fusion, Its not always about that they have more money to spend on beter dr,s and beter rehab people,
Even without the expensive machines they use anyone can reach same results working out in there basement and not invest in anything expensive,
Even when a person is in prison and they take the person and have a back fusion and prisoner gets tossed back in to a prison population only motivation they have is work out and even they recover well,
They get so strong in prison from working out they get out and kill someone with there bare hands again,
Point being it has nothing to do with expensive dr,s and pt people,
Its motivation to push and build your muscles up to a point where pain is no longer an issue, I have nerve damage and i still work out, Nerve damage already damaged and i cant damage it any more because level is fused,
The fusion pain aint nothing usualy as long as there is no nerve damage complications,
As long as a person has no mechanical spine issues and spine is stable working out is the answer and nothing will help more then dailey exercise and sticking with it,
Only reason i dont work out every day is when nerve drops me to the ground and i am chewing on my dogs chew toy untill nerve flare up passes,
Once you lose total muscle tone all you will feel is the pain, then life just becomes meds and more meds,
L4 L5 disc replacement in 2004=causing nerve damage'Flexicore disc. 2006 fusion same level leaving adr in. Fusion did nothing to releive the nerve pain.Pain clinic=every injection procedure avalable inc,razadamy, ablation, nerve stimulater trial,morphine pump trial all failed. Pain can be described as burning pain in lower spine penetrating in to left buttock,down left leg. Refuse to take lyrica or nuorontin do to its side effect,Leaving me with norco,valume,and flexiril at night.Which these medications only help with the muscle aches and stiffnes does nothing for the nerve pain from the nerve damage sustained from the adr surgery.Coming up nov.19th 2009 Lami, and hardware removal from fusion,for hardware just causing more pain in other areas.Hardware block comfirmed hardware is also causing pain in diferent area aside from the severe nerve pain on left side.Emg showed some posible problem above surgery are at L3 L4.
Alex
I disagree. While I had no fusion I was in great shape of life when injured . Worked out everyday 1-2 hrs, yoga, pilates, etc and even though body in optimal shape never felt any better. Only injection worked. I promise if I was told 6 hrs day get u better I would for sure as I'm sure everyone would if possible. I got a few exercises in pt u could read in any book. U can't tell me they receive same. They are being stretched, massaged, treated everyday which to me only help and the sense of urgency they are treated with is the biggest factor to me
Herniated T6-7 impinging on cord. Annular tears in T5-6 and T7-8, DDD and smorls nodes throughout thoracic. Small herniation in C2-3 and buldge at L 4-5.
"A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove . . . . but the world maybe different because I was important in the life of a child."
I don't remember the exact numbers, but I read something similar about pro baseball players who return to playing baseball after fusions. Even pitchers who put an incredible amount of stress on their backs! I was AMAZED to hear the percentage that successfully returned - and most in well under a year! I agree...if we could just figure out what exactly the process is for them and then find a way to recreate a similar process for the rest of us, I think many more people could find help/relief. I can only speak from my son's experience - he was young and in FANTASTIC shape when he injured his back lifting weights - just an example of someone who got hurt despite being very healthy and hasn't found ANYTHING to help despite years of trying including months and months of deligent physical therapy.
18-year-old son with lumbar back/spine pain since 2008 due to sports-related injury. Have tried: Epidurals, facet joint injections, acupuncture, various chiropractic interventions, NUMEROUS medications, massage therapy, 10 months of physical therapy, rhizotomy, and now in pain management program. Have had 3 MRI's, 3 CT scans, a bone scan, many x-rays which show: retrolisthesis, osteoarthritis, bone spurs. Latest spine specialist strongly suspects annular tears/internal disc disruption.
What is your injury again? I dont see it under your name,
What surgery have you had?
L4 L5 disc replacement in 2004=causing nerve damage'Flexicore disc. 2006 fusion same level leaving adr in. Fusion did nothing to releive the nerve pain.Pain clinic=every injection procedure avalable inc,razadamy, ablation, nerve stimulater trial,morphine pump trial all failed. Pain can be described as burning pain in lower spine penetrating in to left buttock,down left leg. Refuse to take lyrica or nuorontin do to its side effect,Leaving me with norco,valume,and flexiril at night.Which these medications only help with the muscle aches and stiffnes does nothing for the nerve pain from the nerve damage sustained from the adr surgery.Coming up nov.19th 2009 Lami, and hardware removal from fusion,for hardware just causing more pain in other areas.Hardware block comfirmed hardware is also causing pain in diferent area aside from the severe nerve pain on left side.Emg showed some posible problem above surgery are at L3 L4.
My injury is thoracic disc herniation and tears and more recent cervical herniationa and lumbar buldging disc. I have not had surgury so all the work I put in should have worked even more on me.
But the exercise, yoga, pilates didnt do much in way of long term releif.
How do you add symptoms? I need to try and do that
Herniated T6-7 impinging on cord. Annular tears in T5-6 and T7-8, DDD and smorls nodes throughout thoracic. Small herniation in C2-3 and buldge at L 4-5.
"A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove . . . . but the world maybe different because I was important in the life of a child."
Why is neither part of your spine they cant do surgery thats causing the most problem?
If thorasic disc has a tear and needed fusion why nothing has been done?
I am not sure what is the bigest reason for your pain but usualy they can at least try to fix the bigest issue,
Most of the time the other things such as buldge on other levels that shows up on mri are not significant and are common for many,
Most people never have issue even when mri shows other issues and is never a concern unless it gets severe,
9 out of 10 people will have slight buldge with age and never feel any pain from it so i would only be worried about the main pain generator,
I have slight buldge from my ass to my neck but only l4l5 became a major issue,
I guess my question is why nothing been done in your case with surgery so after recovery the rest my resolve itself with exercise and pt,?
I think you have to log in to your account and fill out symptoms and medication on your condition so it can be seen with each post,
L4 L5 disc replacement in 2004=causing nerve damage'Flexicore disc. 2006 fusion same level leaving adr in. Fusion did nothing to releive the nerve pain.Pain clinic=every injection procedure avalable inc,razadamy, ablation, nerve stimulater trial,morphine pump trial all failed. Pain can be described as burning pain in lower spine penetrating in to left buttock,down left leg. Refuse to take lyrica or nuorontin do to its side effect,Leaving me with norco,valume,and flexiril at night.Which these medications only help with the muscle aches and stiffnes does nothing for the nerve pain from the nerve damage sustained from the adr surgery.Coming up nov.19th 2009 Lami, and hardware removal from fusion,for hardware just causing more pain in other areas.Hardware block comfirmed hardware is also causing pain in diferent area aside from the severe nerve pain on left side.Emg showed some posible problem above surgery are at L3 L4.
My thoracic is an entirly different animal than the cervical or lumbar. I am glad I did not do surgury on thoracic right now as it has gotten better when school ended and with shots, but at least I have option now and may reschedule surgury on it I had planned for July.
But as for cerv/lumbar it is a fairly recent injury so I am still in the long, drawn out diagnosis phase. I could save alot of money, had injury this is the result instead of trying to eliminate a million different things. I have been through this before and it all came back to result of injury.
I have MRI of entire spine from past and buldge in lumbar and herniation in cervical were not there pre-new injury. Are they the cause, I do not know but something is giving me more pain than I ever had. Enough that I had to use Ron's suicide hotline for the first time in 9 damn years. I cannot be on pain meds with work and I cannot be off work cause I need to reach a year before LTD will kick in. But my god is the pain worse than ever, this weakness in legs and shaking is driving me mad.
Nerve conduction done today, next step is Rhem. to see if I have inflammatory problems cause small buldge/herniation causes massive pain for me. I went through it for thoracic and answer was no, but I guess got to do it again. Time is my enemy.
Herniated T6-7 impinging on cord. Annular tears in T5-6 and T7-8, DDD and smorls nodes throughout thoracic. Small herniation in C2-3 and buldge at L 4-5.
"A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove . . . . but the world maybe different because I was important in the life of a child."
I tried to go into account and there was no space to enter details.
????
Herniated T6-7 impinging on cord. Annular tears in T5-6 and T7-8, DDD and smorls nodes throughout thoracic. Small herniation in C2-3 and buldge at L 4-5.
"A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove . . . . but the world maybe different because I was important in the life of a child."
Hmmmmm i am not sure then enelsen, You might have to ask Ron or someone who knows where its at, Its been so long when i did it i cant remember,
L4 L5 disc replacement in 2004=causing nerve damage'Flexicore disc. 2006 fusion same level leaving adr in. Fusion did nothing to releive the nerve pain.Pain clinic=every injection procedure avalable inc,razadamy, ablation, nerve stimulater trial,morphine pump trial all failed. Pain can be described as burning pain in lower spine penetrating in to left buttock,down left leg. Refuse to take lyrica or nuorontin do to its side effect,Leaving me with norco,valume,and flexiril at night.Which these medications only help with the muscle aches and stiffnes does nothing for the nerve pain from the nerve damage sustained from the adr surgery.Coming up nov.19th 2009 Lami, and hardware removal from fusion,for hardware just causing more pain in other areas.Hardware block comfirmed hardware is also causing pain in diferent area aside from the severe nerve pain on left side.Emg showed some posible problem above surgery are at L3 L4.
When you've logged on and you're on the main subject headings for the forum
Click on "My account" on the top third of the page
Click on "Edit" on the right hand side (it's printed very small)
and you should be able to add your history
and further down add your "signature" - this is what will show at the bottom of each post you make.
Hope this helps, if not, then I've forgotten too!!!!
SUE
June & July 2005 - Microdisectomy (twice) on L5-S1. Over the years I have also tried: Facet Joint Injections, Epidurals, Radio Frequency Ablations, Discogram, Physio & Hydro therapy, Chiropractic sessions, Pain Management , TENS, Heat/ice treatment, numerous different pain medications, bought specialist equipment, MBT shoes + losing weight etc!!! July 2010 - 2-level PLIF (L4-L5, L5-S1). 26 May 2011 – Had 2 further spine injections for ongoing back pain. Unfortunately I am now back on weekly Butrans patches and Morphine Oral Solution when I need it – I was on these meds before the fusion. UPDATE - had revision surgery (4th) on 22 December 2011 - I had 3 screws and all the hardware replaced. However, I'm still experiencing ongoing back/r buttock pain as before and it's confirmed that I now have Sacro-iliac dysfunction + now awaiting steroid S.I. injection. I still WON'T GIVE UP/IN, but don't ever want spine surgery again, EVER!!!!
Think I got it. Thanks it was the small edit button that I did not see.
Herniated T6-7 impinging on cord. Annular tears in T5-6 and T7-8, DDD and smorls nodes throughout thoracic. Small herniation in C2-3 and buldge at L 4-5.
"A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove . . . . but the world maybe different because I was important in the life of a child."