the back story

from an e-mail to a friend:

The back story....well, I think it all started about 6-7 years ago when I helped a friend move. Tried to lift up on a piano and just hit the floor. Somehow drove myself home and could barely move for 3 days. The pain was so intense that I had to literally crawl across the floor to the refrigerator and the bathroom. I think I must have ruptured a disc in my lower back at that time, but I never saw a doctor because I was good-as-new after a few days. Had a recurrence about a year later but again was better after 3 days, so never got it checked out.

Fast forward to about 2+ years ago when I began to notice that my lower back was basically hurting all the time. At first I thought it was just soreness from surfing so much (almost every day), but after seeing me try to stretch out my back for the umpteenth time, my girlfriend at the time finally convinced me to go see a doctor. I was with an HMO (Kaiser), and they made me do two rounds of physical therapy (at a couple months each) before I finally got to see a real doctor. After nine months, I finally was able to get an MRI and talk to a specialist which led to a diagnosis of severe degenerative disc disease.

Since that time, I've tried more physical therapy, yoga, chiropractics, acupuncture, traction, epidural steroid injections, etc. Nothing seems to help. My options are to live with constant pain or have spine surgery. The two main surgical options are vertebral fusion or disc replacement. Unfortunately there are no guarantees of success with either procedure. From my research and conversations with at least half-a-dozen different orthopedic spine surgeons, I've decided to get a disc replacement. Unfortunately since the procedure is fairly new (FDA approval in 2005), my insurance company has denied coverage, and I am currently appealing this decision. My surgery is scheduled for November 4th, and I am hopeful that I do not have to pay for it out-of-pocket!