Medical Endeavors w/ my Herniated and Degenerative Lumbar Disc

Alrighty guys. It's been a while, 1.63 years since my L4/5 M6 surgery with Nicholas Boeree, may his soul rest in peace. So it seems the issue with tightness in my back has been my facets all along. I opted for a Facet Block a few months ago. That stopped working after 2 weeks. I then got another one, which, again, lasted only 2 weeks. A month ago I opted for a facet denervation. I thought this would do the job, but again, only worked for 2 weeks. I'll be getting a booster denervation next month, but i'm already looking at surgical options here. It's getting unbearable. I wake up with my facets flared up, EVERY MORNING. My lower back muscles are constantly tight and I was forced to buy a Precor Stretch Trainer, which I now have at home and use constantly. I asked Dr. Jose Joy, an orthopedic surgeon that fused my mom's back 6 weeks ago. He said i'm looking at a fusion in the future. But then again, I REFUSE TO FUSE. I'm looking at alternatives, of wh...

I can't believe this. Mr. Boeree was involved in a motorcycle accident and has passed away. I feel honored to have had his wonderful work improve my life. There's just nothing more I can say. I have no words.

Hello my fellow followers. Bow down to your guinea pig! lol There's a few things I want to cover with this post. But first I wanted to apologize for not updating more often. It's been 1 year, 4 months, and 10 days. 496 days with my M6-L at L4/5. I've been in contact with Mr. Boeree every so often, updating him on my status and condition, notifying him of pain episodes and following his recommendations. I started having pain a few months ago. Boeree suspected facet pain. And surely, it was! The facet block 4 months ago got rid of it 100% for a few days. It came back very slightly with muscle tension alongside the two main lower back muscles to the vertical sides of the spine. Bear in mind, it came back VERY SLIGHTLY. And so, I decided i'd go to brazil for carnaval. I'll tell you this, i've NEVER had a more physically strenuous trip in my life. 5 days and I drank 4 liters of alcohol and walked 20km, whilst jumping and screaming and falling and what not. When I...

Hello everyone. I'm really really enjoying my time pain free! I'm a whole different person. What really makes me comfortable is the fact that my disc is fine, and since i've had it for over a year, I think it's safe to assume that the endplates are permanently fused with my bones. Couple this mentality with no pain, and you have a guy in a great mood! Except this time, i'm conscious of what it means to be pain free and the need to keep it that way (there's nothing worse than feeling pain free and then falling back). So I got a reply from Mr. Boeree: Thank you for keeping me posted.  I am delighted to hear that the facet joint injections have been so helpful. I think it very worth while bearing in mind that there is an important difference between degenerative facets and painful and inflamed facets.  Essentially when we remove a degenerative and damaged disc this motion segment (that is to say one vertebra, its neighbour, together with the discs and the t...

Wow. This is what it felt like from month 3-6 post-op. Pristine, strong, pain-free! My facets have finally calmed down. There's one very important thing to note about this, that because only my facets were treated, the surgical site is absolutely pain free. The disc is doing a great job. What i'm wondering is why the facets started flaring up. Is it disc related? This didn't start happening until after the 6th month post-op. I hadn't had any sort of heavy activity for years until I started this restaurant. And the disc IS supposed to prevent facet degeneration by having constrained motion. So i'm left wondering, what caused this? I don't want to jump to any conclusions yet.. but I will ask Boeree his opinion. I'll let you know what he has to say. Cheers everyone! Now lets hope I stay pain-less!

I got my facet injections today! I had levels L4/5 and L5/S1 done. Initially I was only getting L4/5 done but mid through the procedure the doctor decided to do L5/S1 free of charge. I figured I don't want to go through another round of injections in case L5/S1 was the culprit. I'll be keeping a pain diary and i'll post an update in 2 weeks. Wish me luck!

So I went to see the sports medicine doctor. He wanted to use ultrasound to see my facets but the machine got scrambled signals because of the disc. We're gonna have to see another doctor that specializes in the spine to check them out. My appointment isn't until November 21st. My spine has settled down, pain is down, and i'm feeling a lot better despite the increased work load. So, everything's fine right now but I do want to get those injections. Good luck to everyone!