This last week or so, I've had something of a setback. There is some minor low back pain, but that is not the issue. That has come and gone since the surgery (9/20/02). There is also an minor increase in some of the radicular symptoms that have come and gone since the surgery. They are not serious and I still expect ups and downs.

What bothers me is the appearance of some radicular symptoms that I haven't seen since the surgery. The recurring symptoms were clearly L5-S1 symptoms. Prior to the surgery, I had horrible L5-S1 symptoms, so some lingering problems are expected. The symptoms that give me pause are clearly L4-5. Some tingling across the top of my foot and some pain down my hamstring, just above my knee. I haven't experienced these symptoms in a long, long time. Upping the amplitude on L5-S1 includes some heel/foot pain that I haven't seen in months and.... this is what bugs me... it is effecting my gait. I haven't dragged my foot at all since the surgery. I occasionally stumble over my left foot again and I get that heavy leg feeling when I walk up stairs or get tired from walking or standing too long. (Remember that too long now means hours, not just a few minutes.)

None of this amounts to anything compared to where I was before the surgery. I can't really point to anything that is obvious as the cause of the new problems. I did try adding some overhead presses to my workout... that is the most likely thing I can think of. I don't know how the machines plates compare to real weight, but I think I was only pressing about 70 or 80 pounds... I'm still quite weak after my long disability. Another suspect was the change from Bextra to Voltaren. I tried the switch only because of the cost. I switched back to Bextra after just a couple of days on the Voltaren. I don't think the med is the problem. The last potential issue was my first strenuous tennis match. (I beat my 19 year old son 6-4, 6-4. He played varsity tennis in high school.)

None of this things gave me pause or even remotely seemed like they were a problem. Maybe none of them were. My likely suspect was the weights. That's easy enough for me to knock off... I don't even like lifting!

One thing of note is that usually, activity induced symptoms are alleviated with a good nights sleep. Recently, even after a day of rest and a good nights sleep, I wake up with my 2nd and 3rd toes numb.

Again, I'm still light years ahead of where I was. I still haven't had a narcotic or AD in 4 months. I still get to live my life and participate like a normal human.

I don't want to alarm anyone, but since so many are watching my progress, I feel compelled to post too much detail... good, bad or whatever.

Pain-free vibes out in all directions... love to all,

Mark

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See my new website:

http://home.earthlink.net/~mmglobal1/index.html

*** L4-5 and L5-S1 Disc Replacement (SB Charite III) 9/20/02 by Dr. Zeegers, AlphaKlinik, Munich, Germany ***

2/25/00 Microdiscectomy/laminotomy L4-5, 10x15x7 mm left paracentral protrusion

9/23/00 CANCELED L4-S1 360 fusion CANCELED

9/15/01 emergency microdiscectomy L5-S1, 14x13x10 mm left paracentral protrusion

Both discectomies helped with hip/leg/foot symptoms, but left the underlying back pain. Residual left foot pain and numbness. Lost axial reflex (left ankle).

*** The AlphaKlinik was wonderful. My expectations were high, but the clinic, it's staff, and Dr. Zeegers far exceeded them!!!

Your nerves are probably waking up and you over did yourself.

Speaking of, how much instability do you think ADR's can take? Are some models better than others? Just wondering if you knew since my OSS already told me that's his fear with putting one in me. I know I'm shifty in the spine because I can feel it move at times.

Hey, didn't I ever tell you that my hubby was weight lifting last year when he detached over 50% of his retina? Surgery saved him from blindness in that eye but he has many life restrictions to hopefully prevent further detachment. My point is, weight lifting is just not the benign passive conditioning sport we may believe it to be. Not at our age or state of health anyway. Cardio training will increase your stamina so you can run like crazy if somebody is after you.

Like you, I hate the price of Bextra but I keep on taking it. I gave it up once and ended up going back.

One other thing I wanted to mention about your numb toes. I used to wake up with numb hands every morning until we bought a new mattress for my lumbar area. The Simmons BackCare (no $$ interest here) mattress fixed my cervical numbness, go figure. That's not to say that my toes don't go numb, they just do it when I'm sitting, bent over, or wearing my back brace. I wonder why I have to be bent at the waist for my toes to go numb?

You know another thing I hate about radicular pain? Do you remember the shock of a cold hard toilet seat on the back of your aching thighs first thing in the morning? I guess you males that stand to whiz have the advantage on that one. I bet you have some reference point though. Boy, it sucks on a cold winter morning.

Let us know what transpires as you drop the weight routine. I hope you find that to be your culprit.

Hugs,
Vic

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47 y/o Female, History of MVA's w/spinal & airbag related injuries;
Cervical spondylosis;
4/01/02 Large HNP L5-S1
Partial discectomy and laminectomy on 9/17/02
Radiculopathy remains; holding out for ADR late 2003 or early 2004

Thank you for keeping us up to date with the details of your recovery. It is very meaningful to me. You are a great role model for those of us facing surgery.

I forget which post said it, but the weight lifting places an enormous stress on the spine. I was an avid bodybuider before my spine went kaput. I will not resume much lifting after my surgery; 10lbs will be the limit for me. Form and function are also important. So, when you were benching, did you have your butt on the bench? Are you a 100% sure? Did you have a spotter, when you were lifting?

Mark, I wish you continued good health and that you continue to recover the spinal function that you once had. Take care.

Like you, I was doing things I haven't done in a long while. I chased my female rat terrior (who is in heat) for a couple of miles, crossing creeks, fences (mostly barbed wire, some electrified), and roads while she hunted for a mate. I also worked on my tractor and had to carry a 75 pound floor jack a short distance and back. I was up and down several times, sitting on the ground and getting up again every time I needed a different tool.

My plan is to ease off and rest up for a couple of days. It's fairly mild pain--certainly not nearly enough to make me take and meds. I'm fairly sure the pain will ease up and I'll be back to my new self in a day or two.

Question: What does Bextra and Voltaren do for you? Never heard of them.

Thanks,
Tony

Remember your body has been used to an easy lifestyle I imagine the years you were not well so to be well all of a sudden physically...give your body a chance to catch up to the new Bionic man equipment!!

Let's hope that as Rockhound and some of the other poster have mentioned that it is indeed the weight lifting and not the return of previous issues.

I am glad that you are posting about your progress and it has been progress.

I would think that the weights are the culprit and all I can say is that you know how lucky you are to even be able to carry on most of your normal routine.

Given the second chance I wouldn’t do anything that could remotely cause problems, I feel that I must do everything I can to avoid surgery; when I do something as simple as bend over a table to sort out bills or anything that must have taken me all of 4 minutes and I go from normal pain to agony for a couple of days, relief only comes with an extra pain pill and a few hours of sitting.

I am just so worried about something sudden like a slip and I find myself in an emergency situation and a rushed surgery that leaves my baseline pain after surgery like what I call my worst pain today if that makes any sense.

I have the hamstring pain and for so long I thought that it was from trying to stretch my legs and they were just tight, I used to be able to kick above my head and I was stuck at 4 feet slowly stretching in water but I gave that up when I developed what must have been SI pain, knowing that immobilizing the pelvic area is good but the most difficult thing to accomplish to allow healing I did as little that causes hip movement as possible for 4 weeks and it went away then I resumed my water activities accordingly.

I gave up the weights after a few weeks of joining the Y as it was so easy to do too much even when I am as careful as I can be, the maximum I could leg press was 450 but I could do reps at 250 without causing back pain right where I have it now so I wonder if that could be part of the reason for my back condition, 180 is all I could ever work with while doing bench presses but I was never after bulking up I wanted stamina.

Darn it when we are young and healthy I believe we can overdo it for no other reason than competing against our partner but we have our false pride to train to be our best, I know I used to do a baseline shot for hours so I wouldn’t miss as many, kids practiced I worked on my weaknesses.

No HS game or sport is worth being in this mess this young and we were taught that getting into good condition would make us stronger but I believe we put to much pressure on youngsters to be better by repetition, great idea if we only plan on living 45 years but the next 40 years of our life expectancy can be 40 years too long.

My favorite life long coach saw me about 18 months ago and he couldn’t hide his shock at my condition I was embarrassed, Mr. Davis started with me when I was in the 3rd grade and he was involved in all of our sports programs and when I see someone from my old town they ask if I was in a car accident, what can I say that makes sense?

I continue to get into the pool and it is a rare day that I don’t spend an hour doing anything I can think of to break the monotony, I must be careful not to raise my arms like I would if I was swimming, I don’t know if I have shoulder injuries or if that is part of my C-spine problems.

I will soon have Medicaid again so I can at least get medical opinions and with Medicaid I can be driven out of town to Drs appointments by the transport services, last summer when I got a modest settlement I lost my benefits but I did get a nice Buick and other things I needed most when I had no income, I believed I could drive to the west coast and fulfill a dream of seeing the US above I-70 but it was wishful thinking and more than I could do.

Please keep us informed on how you are doing and what causes problems as these forums are the best place for information outside of the packaged information that is often too complex or has such a narrow focus, to often trips to a Dr leads to the frozen mouth syndrome where I need to warm up my mind but the visit is over far to soon.

Thanks,

I reserve the right to edit this stuff later if it turns out that I'm off base or the info I'm posting is incorrect. I'm posting now in the effort to remain brutally honest and to keep everyone up to date on anything significant.

Yesterday, my symptoms kicked up a notch. More foot pain. Some tingling turned into very sharp jabbing for just a few minutes. A deep pain BELOW my lumbar spine has reappeared. I used to call it my sacral or coccyx pain. Much of this has faded. My foot still hurts though.

I saw my local OS today to get more x-rays for Zeegers. At first glance, it looks like the prostheses remain in perfect position. After I got home, I took another look and noticed something that may or may not be significant. As before, the lower three plates are all lined up so the front cleats obscure the rear cleats. However, on the uppermost plate, you can now see all 6 cleats. I can't tell if the plate has rotated or if the superior vertebra has shifted. I think that my alignment looks better than in the early films. Maybe that's because of my better shape. I will not draw any conclusions. I'm still not worried, I'll just ride this out.

The local OS thinks that I should expect some strange nerve goings-on for mabe a year or even two. A lot has happened in my spine and it's still trying to rearrange itself.

You can see the sequence of films at the link below. You can see that everything was straight in November. In December it had started to move. In February, it had already shifted. In my mind, that means the shift is not related to the increased symptoms.

http://home.earthlink.net/~mmglobal1/MDW/x-ray-sequence.htm

EDIT: I'll leave all the discussion in. I don't think that rotation of the plates is an issue at all. See my update on the second page of this thread. The reason I'm so nervous about the discussion is because one of the purported advantages of the ProDisc is the resistance of rotational forces by the keel. I have contended that if rotational forces are not a problem with the Charite, this issue is irrelevant. I'll continue to post if I learn any more about this.

We'll see what happens. I'll keep you all up to date as much as possible.

Mark

file:///C|/My%20Documents/Web%20Pictures/x-rays/021104%20Ext.JPG

The pics that worked are more like

Yes, your 4 months along, oh very good indeed, "but" still "not" that far along and again, I'm hoping it's just your body saying, O.K., Mark, easy does it, my man for a while longer

Time will tell, you have come a long way Mark, but your wise and intelligent enough to know, you still have to be very conservative in many areas.

Lori, yes, I can dial back my activities. Since I already kicked my son's butt, I can retire a winner! As always, thanks for your support.

Vic, I don't know the answer about how much instability. One of the ADR failures I know had a pars defect, but did ADR anyway. He's slowly getting better... I think he's a year post op now, but is still in a lot of pain. Maybe Jacob will give us an update soon. I think he still follows my posts.

Thanks for answering my question about instability and ADR's. It must be the $64K one. I ask because my L5-S1 is so loose I can feel it slip back and forth. It's not spontaneous but I can move a certain way depending on what activity I'm doing at the time and feel my lower back bones shift. Did you feel this before you had the prosthesis implanted? It does seem like the slippage puts my radicular symptoms in the highest gear for a day or two. I go Monday to see a new PM doc and get started on a PT routine. I'm hoping the PT will help stabilize me!!

I have an off the wall question for you regarding your return of spinal related symptoms? Is your body fighting any other illnesses or infections? I've noticed my spinal symtoms flare like a big dog when I have other illnesses going on. It's like they have to chime in and whine the loudest. Just a thought...

Have a great weekend,
Vic

I began managing the Gibson Bluegrass Showcase in Nashville, the retail end of it. It has been a lot of work and lots of time on my feet. Lots of standing and lots of walking. My back has had plenty of spasms. The first couple of days I was a bit worried until I realized it was just muscle spasms and not joint problems. It is getting stronger and I can do things now I could not do for some time before my surgeries. I know the next couple months will be very hard on me till the muscles get stronger, but the fact I can do this at all is beyond my wildest imagination.

Joe!!!! It's great to hear that you are back to work. Yes, those sore feelings can be annoying, but it's a good sore! I thought it was great to hurt from doing something... just like it used to before I was a spiney. Thanks for the note... It's great to hear from you.

Take care, talk to you soon.