Hello everyone. I'm happy to announce that I took my first jog 3 days ago. 5 whole minutes running at 6 miles/hr on a treadmill with a 3 degree incline. I was absolutely painless. I didn't feel any pressure on my back during or after. It felt great!!! I'm planning on doing 10 minutes tomorrow and gradually up to 20.
Someone asked me if I would do this operation again.. Hands down, YES. If I ever have any issues with any other levels I wouldn't hesitate for one second.
My pain levels range from 0 to 1/10.. but mostly 0/10. Sitting tolerance is about 2 hours before I need to take a walk or lie down for 2 minutes.
I've started doing weightlifting. I'm not doing free-weights yet but I am doing general body work like legs, chest, arms, and back on standing machines. I WILL NOT be doing squats. All my muscles are sore and it couldn't feel better! I missed this feeling.
I've also been partying just about every weekend without any consequences the day after.
Good luck to everyone having surgeries!
Mike, that's absolutely fantastic news!!! Well done and good for you!! Keep it up! I'm really interested in how you get along with the training now.
ReplyDeleteBy-the-way, have you had any awkward twists or knocks to the body yet whilst partying hard and thought, ..UH, OH, hows that going to effect me?.. but thankfully only to find that you were fine?
Thanks!
ReplyDeleteNo those awkward twists or knocks were reserved for the first 8 weeks post-op.. I would think oh crap what did I do, only to find that nothing happened and i was fine a couple of hours later.
Ultimately my back is solid, a one-piece organ flowing naturally and gracefully down the dance floor lol.
I agree with the above poster and agree about the "NO SQUATS",...ever. I really think that exercise is horrible for the spine. I used to do them when I trained for football, but now I would find other leg exercises that don't compromise the back. Machine leg presses, reverse leg curls etc. Glad to hear the running seems to be okay so far. Maybe don't bump it up so fast though. 6-8 minutes may be long enough for awhile. Know what I mean? Thanks for continuing your blog even though you feel normal again. People usually disappear on the forums when they get better.
ReplyDelete~Kevin
Im so happy for you...nice blog and indeed it is rare that someone stays on after feeling better.
ReplyDeleteI wanted to ask you - you mentioned Dr Boree implants the Prodisc L as well. Did you consider this device before settling on the M6-L?
He USED to work with the prodisc but switched to the M6 for its vastly superior properties. My advice: stay away from the prodisc, adjacent levels will fail after 10 years and it causes facet degeneration.
ReplyDeleteMike is right, according to my research. The Prodisc has a fixed center of rotation that is too far anterior because engineers are finding out that the rotation is actually more posterior in the disc, thus the facets take on more stress with the Prodisc. At least that is what I understand. The M6 can "mold" to whatever rotation point that is needed because it has no fixed rotation and is much more like a human disc. Right Mike?
ReplyDelete~Kevin
Indeed. The physics behind it is a little hard to explain, but look at it this way.. your spine is held together by the discs and acts like a snake's body when curving. What the prodisc does is it essentially SNAPS the spine by creating a completely unnatural pivot point with a dangerously free range of motion. What the M6 has, on top of the cushioning effect that a natural disc possesses, is 'graded resistance' which avoids this. Basically, when you curve your spine, the disc acts against that curvature, thus the 'resistance', to bring your spine back to its natural position.
ReplyDeleteI'm sure the doctor can explain this a whole lot better than I can.
how do we lobby for the FDA to allow M6 clinical trials in the USA?
ReplyDeleteI believe they're already starting clinical trials, but for the cervical version of the disc only.
ReplyDeleteI spoke with a physicaian in my area (a branch of the Texas Back Institute is here)and he seems to think the M6L clinical trials are a long ways off ("years" he said).
ReplyDeleteCan it be so hard to get something at least into the clinical trials phase if there is a pent up consumer demand for it? Especially if there are physicians who are willing to participate?
You can't disregard that there might be some play coming from the prodisc makers in trying to delay this.
ReplyDeleteIt is sad to say this but, I believe the whole reason we don't have a choice is that the prodisc has lobbied FDA to keep the M6-L out of the USA. What else explains that after 6 years of use over seas with out any major problem we can not even get a clinical trails started. Herniated L4/L5 and DDD L5/S1
ReplyDelete