Past year 1 mark

I had my 1 year check up with my surgeon about a month ago.  Nothing new to report other than I still feel great.  He had x-rays taken which still show the disc moving as it should.  He said from now on, I'll probably just need to follow up with him once per year, and didn't think he would even take x-rays next time.  I still have zero pain in my back.  I have gotten myself back into close to as good of physical shape as I have been in a long time.  I use my elliptical machine several times per week, do a couple of strength workouts with my resistance bands and I've been biking a lot.  I've worked by distance up to about 60 miles in one go on my old, heavy, mountain bike which takes me around 4.5 hours.  My back is a bit tired afterwards, but no pain.  I was looking into getting a road bike as I've really been enjoying biking, but after trying out a couple, I find that the more forward riding position does make my back feel a little weird so I think I'll stick to a mountain bike or maybe some sort of flat bar road bike.  I've felt completely recovered for quite some time now, but I am mindful of my back, and the memories of what it was like to be in constant pain are never far from my mind so I am pretty cautious and think I always will be.  I may not make very many posts as things seem to have been pretty constant for the last several months.  I will be sure to make updates if something changes, but if there are no more posts, you can assume all is well.

9+ Months

It has been just over 9 months since I had my ADR surgery and I'm happy to report that I still feel great.  I am pain free and my back feels pretty much like it did before surgery (although I'm still cautious and don't do some of the extreme bends, lifts, etc. I used to).  I have been  biking 25-32 miles on the weekends for that past 4 or so weeks thanks to the early spring here in Minnesota.  This past weekend I biked 31 fast miles on both Saturday and Sunday on my old, heavy, big tired mountain bike and my back felt fine.  It got a little tired towards the end, but not any more than before I had the surgery.  It actually was a little less tired, probably because of the core circuit of physical therapy exercises I still do every once and a while.  The slight pain I had in my right hip which was only present when bending from the waist or raising my right leg has now disappeared finally as I'm guessing the nerve has slowly healed.  The minor leg sweating I experienced before is now almost completely gone.  I think the fact that I still had pretty good disc height at the time of my surgery, and that I got a really good fitting disc according to Mr. Boeree, along with following my physical therapy regimen and being careful has helped me have such a good recovery.  The fortunate feeling of having a pain free back has still not worn off and I am very thankful every day for it.  I am really excited for this summer so that I can finally do a lot of the things I couldn't before (sailing, more biking, taking trips that involve sitting for extended periods, etc.).  Let's just hope that the disc lasts me the rest of my life!

Mr. Nick Boeree - Killed in Motorcycle Crash

I just learned that the surgeon who did my artificial disc surgery in England was tragically killed in a motorcycle accident this week.  Link to article  Another Link I can hardly express my profound shock and sadness at this terrible loss.  Mr. Boeree was an excellent surgeon and one of the most kind and friendly doctors I ever had the pleasure of meeting.  Everyone that I have ever met that had an encounter with him also said the same.  He literally gave me my life back after nearly two years of pain and other failed treatments/surgeries.  I can't help but think of his friends, family, co-workers, and his other patients and how they must feel about this sad loss of such a great man who helped so many.  My heart goes out to all of them.  Thank you, Nick, for all you did for me.

Email from Mr. Boeree

Here is the email response I got from my surgeon in the UK, Mr Boeree after he viewed my 6 month xrays:

Your X-rays look really good.   You can see that you have good movement through the disc replacement (flick between the flexion and extension views).  The implant is clearly completely bonded to the bone now and is essentially part of you.   It is working well and remains in an excellent position.

 

There aren't really any additional restrictions over and above those that I suggested at the outset.   I am pleased to say as well that I have not seen any problems with the M6-L and I simply get more enthusiastic about the implant the more I use it and the more we see really good outcomes such as yours.

From this point, my surgeon in the US wanted a follow up in 6 months and then probably only once a year after that.  

 

At this point, I feel really good, although I think I will always be extra cautious with my back.  I avoid extreme movements with my back like bending forward and exerting pressure to try and see how far I could bend, or extreme twisting.  Normal bending and twisting are fine, but I don't try to force my range of motion past what comes naturally.  I used to twist to crack my lower back and I do not do that at all anymore.  I used to do yoga that involved lots of bending and twisting, which I no longer do just to be safe.  I'm also cautious about lifting very heavy objects (think 50lbs or more) and will probably try to avoid moving furniture up stairs from now on.  Perhaps my new disc could handle all of this, but the risk of finding out that it couldn't is not worth it to me knowing what would be on the other side if something went wrong.  I'm waiting for spring to try some jogging, although I feel like I could try it now if the weather was nicer.

 

I'm still probably a little gun shy after all I've gone through, but at this point I'm very glad I had the surgery and very happy with the results.  I don't think my back will ever be as good as it was before the injury, but it is light years ahead of where it was before the surgery.

6 months = all good

I have reached the 6 month post-op milestone and am still doing great.  No major problems to report.  I still have some minor leg sweating from time to time, but it is less than it was.  I can sit for as long as I want without pain, but after a long day of sitting all day, I sometimes notice some slight decrease sensitivity/numbness in the outside part of the soles of my feet, but it is very very minor and goes away after laying down for a little while.  Not an issue at all, just something I noticed.  I have not tried any jogging as it is winter here and I figure it best to wait until all the ice is gone, but I feel like I could if needed.  Although, I have switched to using an elliptical for my cardio as I figure it would save on the repeated impacts the disc would have to endure.  I don't need to go back for xrays again for another 6 months and then just once per year after that.  Here are the 6 month xrays:

5+ months

Just a quick note to say all is still good.  No problems.  I've been able to make it through long days of work consisting of sitting all day with little to no discomfort.  After a long day of sitting for work, I sometimes notice some very slight numbness/decrease in sensitivity along the outside edge of the bottoms of my feet, although this goes away after laying down for a short time and does not cause my any problems or discomfort.  I have not taken any painkillers for my back since my post surgery healing phase.  I've been exercising using my elliptical machine, resistance bands, and my physical therapy circuit which seem to be fine.  Let's hope it stays this way for a long time.