Legend = The Dark one is my bad disc! 😉

Stuff I’ve done:

1) Rest

2) Antinflammatories

3) Core Exercises, swimming

4) Waited 5 months (6 months of pain usually means it won’t get any better)

5) Spoken with my GP,  physiotherapist, chiropractor, naturopathic doctor and a sports doctor

6) Inversion table

So far, there has been no real change for me.  Pain gets worse with activity, though walking helps tremendously.  It’s mostly forward/flexion and twists that are doing me in.   I tried a light Ashtanga practice a few weeks back and was in quite a bit of pain until I took some anti-inflammatories.

Stuff I’m working on:

1) An appointment with my local spine specialists at Caleo

2) Entertaining the idea of participating in an FDA phase II clinical trial of MPC stem cell injections into my disc in Denver (Mesoblast).  The trial is still awaiting FDA approval and I might not even be a viable candidate.

3) I’ve forwarded my MRI and Xray results on to the top spine surgeons in Spain, Germany and the UK that do artificial disc replacements.  It’s an expensive procedure that has a high success rate, but I’d like to avoid surgery if possible.  It is not covered by Alberta Healthcare as far as I can tell and I might not even be a viable candidate.

4) I’ve forwarded the same data on to The Celling Treatment Center in the US… they do a hybrid approach to disc repair with laser surgery and stem cells.  Very experimental, but it might work.  We’ll see what their assessment is.

That’s about it.  It is now a waiting game now.  Luckily I stumbled upon Mike F’s blog while researching online and he’s been a great help.  Keep up the good posts, Mike! (his back problems were very close to what I’m going through now and he went with the Spinal Kinetics M6-L after extensive research)

-Brett

It’s taken a month to get my referral and I’ve booked an appointment with my local specialists for April 8th, 2011.   It’s going to cost money too -$150.00- seems a little weird here in Canuckistan to pay for healthcare.  In the time it’s taken them to contact and book me in, I’ve exchanged emails with a number of  leading spine surgeons in Europe.  Interestingly, I could probably have ADR(artificial disc replacement) surgery booked and completed in Spain or the UK before I even get a chance to talk to a Canadian specialist.  Is there something wrong with our system?   Seriously… I have to seek a second opinion because my GP can’t be bothered, and when my trusted sports doctor helps me as much as he can, I have to wait over 3 months for an appointment with a local spine specialist?

How did this happen?  I’ve royally messed my back up at the L4-5 level as of January 15, 2011 (according to the MRI), but it has been a long time coming.  As I look back on the years, there are definitely a few injuries that have contributed to where I am at today.

First, a little about me.  My name is Brett and I’m a 33 year old father, husband and overlord to our cocker spaniel.  I’m an avid practitioner of Ashtanga Yoga, play a great deal of ice hockey as a goaltender and really enjoy the outdoors with my young family.  I’m 6′ tall, 165 pounds and in the best shape of my life.  My diagnosis of Disc Degeneration at L4-5 with stenosis, really caught me out of left field.  I’ve been unable to do any of the activities I love for 5 months and I’m worried about the problem degenerating further as discs are unable to repair themselves.  It’s been a tough time adjusting to my new reality, but I’ve accepted the fact and have been reading a great deal online to learn about my condition.

My official diagnosis:

L4-5:  There is mild disc space narrowing, desiccation and a combination of fatty and edematous endplate signal changes.  No paraspinal soft tissue swelling.  There may be very minimal enhancement of the disc and adjacent vertebral bodies but this is quite subtle.  There is a mild disc bulge identified, eccentric to the left along with a central annular fissure.  Mild to moderate degenerative facet joint changes are seen bilaterally with mild thickening of the ligamentum flavum resulting in mild acquired central spinal stenosis and left lateral recess stenosis.  There is moderate left and severe right foraminal stenosis predominantly related to encroaching facet degenerative change.

Awesome.

After a visit to my physiotherapist, she essentially told me there was nothing I could really do but strengthen my core and pick up Thai Chi.  She implied it would likely get worse and that I’m probably not a candidate for any surgeries.  My GP wouldn’t even order me an MRI, called my issue mechanical and basically to suck it up.  Only after a visit to an MD that I trust and who specializes in sports injuries, was I able to really get a handle on my condition.  I’ve been referred to our local specialists here in Calgary at Caleo.  The appointment is set for April 8^th  and I have no idea what they’re going to tell me.

Here is a short chronology of back injuries that have gotten me to the crippled point I’m at today.

1996 – Touch football game in college between faculties.  I take down the head of the comp sci faculty and as we both fall, I end up in the monkey splits and injure my back.

2002 – I re-injure myself after gaining some significant weight and stopping sports (200 ish pounds) and packing up our apartment  to move to Australia.  Sciatica returns and I’m diagnosed with a bulging disc.

2003 – Injured while doing manual labour in Australia… moving booze in a warehouse.  Dream job, really. 😉

2004 – Injured while riding a bike uphill in Australia (I don’t think it ever healed properly from 2002).

2007 – flare ups, but nothing too serious as I slim down to 165 pounds.  Xrays show nothing out of the ordinary.

2010 – July.  My cocker spaniel inadvertently trips me going down the stairs with a plate of sushi.  As I writhe in pain at the base of the stairwell, I remember him polishing off my plate of sushi and licking the soy sauce off my head.  My back is still bruised and L4-5 hasn’t been the same since.

2011 – the dreaded MRI, though I had stopped all sports/activity back in September.

Feb 2011 – Here I am, looking for a “cure”

-Brett