Greetings,
I have been a checking out this board since October, when I had my 2 level IDET w/ Nucleoplasty. I am now exactly 16 weeks post procedure. I am having some setbacks from therapy , but am slowly getting stronger, even though the pain level is not decreasing very much. My question to you "post-ideters" (idet-ites?) is, what exactly were your doctor's instructions regarding sedentary work and sitting. Mine were originally to return to work at 2 1/2 weeks with restrictions on bending, lifting, and sitting for longer than 30 min. at a time. (get up, walk around, etc.) Now, my doctor tells me that I should not have returned to work until much later.......and that is why I'm having trouble. Wish he would have said something back then!!!! My opinion is that this might be a way of putting all blame back on the patient, but who knows!!???. So, what have all of you been instructed to do? Everything I have researched indicates vastly different opinions on this topic. This has been a very stressful ordeal for my wife and I, as I am sure it has been tough on your families as well.
Thanks,
deal4

Hi deal4 and welcome to the boards http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wave.gif

Many of us have had IDET here, and would be interested in hearing your story and sharing our information.

My doc told me to expect to stay off work 3 months!

Successtory (who also had IDET) posted a set of instructions from her doctor which were identical to mine. Let me see if I can find the thread...

here it is: "response to dshull's Kali M-IDET"
http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/Forum14/HTML/003127.html

Scroll down to successtory's post on
IDET LUMBAR PROTOCOL

I am 9.5 weeks post-IDET and still in worse pain than pre-IDET. Sitting and driving flare me up like crazy.

Oh, I have to go... my son is calling. Talk to you later.

Good luck! Please keep us posted on how you're doing.
http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/heart.gif Telzey



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4 years of back pain
Annular tear L5-S1 diagnosed 3/02 via MRI
IDET 12/2/02
Still worse pain than pre-op, am told to wait 3-6 months for improvement

Thanks Telzey, I appreciate the help.
My back problems go back about 7 years. No specific trauma or injury (I was very active in sports for many years; motocross, running, skiing, mountain biking, etc.)just one day my back "went out" and I've had worsening problems ever since. I have had every conceivable form of physical therapy, Feldenkrais,etc. Spine surgeons have told me that, because I have several degenerating discs, fusion is not a viable option. I have considered going to the Alpha Klinik in Munich for help, as they perform a few procedures that are not done here in the US., and the doctors there have freely given me advice and help by mail and email. That is a last resort, as I will have to finance the whole endeavor without insurance help due to it being out of the country. Anyway.....that's my story in "short form". I guess I went with the idet because of the limited downside, but I had no idea that my life (and my wife and kids'lives) would be turned upside down for so many months. I was bad off before surgery, and am still hurting. I saw the doctor today, and was made to feel that the lack of success is somehow my fault!!! I picked up the IDET brochure on my way out for laughs......it makes it sound like a walk in the park! Back to sedentary work in a week!!!??? Yeah, right!
I'm rambling.........sorry.
I still would like to know why doctors are all over the map on recovery protocol.
deal4

Hi Deal4 http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wave.gif

Take a look at my signature block...did you have the nucleoplasty done on L5/S1 with the IDET on L5/S1 and L4/L3? Did you also have intradiscal injections? If so....you are looking at being off work for 3-6 months. Sitting is my BIGGEST problem and anything "going up". So driving still hurts (and I'm post-IDET almost 1 year) and going up stairs can be done only once a day (hehe-so I'd better make sure I've got everything while I'm there!). I STILL cannot function real well past 4 hours and only then if I use a TENS unit. If my TENS is not available, my timeframe for being useful is 2 hours. Then I have to rest for up to an hour in bed. Then I'm good for 2 hours, etc. I CAN push myself and go for 4 or more hours...but I pay for it. I am paying right now for the length of time I spent sitting/standing and walking yesterday. But there was traffic and I spent an hour behind the wheel, then an hour with a friend, then 2 and a half hours at a school, then another 40 minutes driving home. OUCH! I did it to myself. It is stuff like this we must be aware of (I knew this was going to happen which is why I had ZERO on my calendar for today!)hehe....didn't get out of bed until noon (after dropping my son off to school).

Anyway....doctors vary so widely in their decisions to sending IDET patients back to work because this medicine is just too new (and who knew?). My surgeon has done the most IDETs in the country (whether that is good or not :confused http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif..his instructions were "EXPECT TO BE OFF WORK FOR UP TO 3 MONTHS". When you do go back to work, you go back part time...and work your way back to full time. You will have to take into consideration your commute time, and how much of a flare-up driving costs you. Physical Therapy doesn't even start until you are in your 2nd month or 3rd month! If you haven't had therapy yet, there is no way you could be strong enough to go to work 5 days a week for 4 or more hours a day (and never miss a day by calling in due to pain). It just won't happen until you hit 6 months (give or take a month). From there...if you have done everything you are supposed to (workouts and rest)..water therapy BTW is WONDERFUL!!!!....you could be ready to start back to work around the 6 or 7th month (again...very slowly, may 2-4 hours/day at first and working up).

Just depends on your symptoms. I find it intollerable to hear a doctor has the gall to say someone can be back to work after 2 or 3 weeks post-IDET. It isn't until post-IDET 6-8 weeks that the IDET is healing (it first has to heal from the surgery trauma post-IDET up to 4 weeks)...then there is the 2-4 weeks your body has to get used to the idea that the pain is not coming from the same place ... if at all (if the pain was there for years)...it's going to take many weeks or possibly months to re-train your brain that the messages aren't there anymore!

An example of re-training your brain. My injury was due to repetitive stress while sitting. My hernia was inverted so it felt like I was sitting on a golf ball. NOW...I STILL cringe when I see a chair that I have to sit in that is like a bench or a folding chair or something scary like that. So I still have my special cut-out pillow I sit on, and can deal with sitting for a little bit (up to 5 min.) on a hard surface-20 min. driving. After that....problems start arising. So I am still working on my 'sitting' problem (ahem). hehe



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successtory
Oct 2000: Repetitive Stress Injury-Inverted Hernia
Feb 2001: MRI. Shows only slight bulge at L4-L5
Dec 2001: Discogram/CT scan shows Inverted Hernia at L5-S1. L4-L5 & L5-S1 ruptured in all 4 quadrants. Unable to walk.
Feb 2002: IDET, Nucleoplasty, Intra-Discal Injections
Sept 2002: Rated in the top 10% for successful patients. Retraining for new career.

Hi deal and success http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wave.gif
Success, I am REALLY sorry that you are still in such pain after over a year.

Today I drove for 1/2 hour and flared up... but then I lay down for an hour and did my hamstring stretch, and felt better.

But I'm still worse than I was before I had the IDET. At least then I could SIT and drive. Today I still can't pick up my children from school.

All I have now is to wait and have patience that someday I will heal again. That is my only hope.

http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/heart.gif Telzey

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4 years of back pain
Annular tear L5-S1 diagnosed 3/02 via MRI
IDET 12/2/02
Still worse pain than pre-op, am told to wait 3-6 months for improvement

[This message has been edited by Telzey (edited 02-09-2003).]

Hi deal http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wave.gif
Are you still there? I am feeling much more cheerful today because I think I have learned how to avoid or minimize a flare. Successtory also posted some great tips for IDETers on another thread.

I overdid it walking again, but this time instead of sitting, I lay down, iced my back, and took 2 ibuprofen. And guess what? I ended up a little sore but not flared, and felt better the next day.

So for me, the best thing to do is avoid sitting or anything that flexes (rounds) my lower back.

Do you have sedentary work? How much sitting do you have to do? And, how do you feel right now? Are you in worse pain than pre-IDET, or about the same?

Thanks, and hope you're doing well!
http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/heart.gif Telzey

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4 years of back pain
Annular tear L5-S1 diagnosed 3/02 via MRI
IDET 12/2/02
Still worse pain than pre-op, am told to wait 3-6 months for improvement

Thanks success and Telzey,
I had a the idet at L2-3 AND L3-4 with nucleoplasty at both levels as well. I went back to work full time at 3 weeks. The doctor said at that time that it was OK to do so. The pamphlate that Oratec (manufacturer of IDET surgical catheter) puts out says one week!!!! It was tough, but when Iwas home, I was on ice and in bed. I was told that this could not interfere with the healing, just that it would be painful so I toughed it out. Well, here I am at 4 months post-op, and now the doctor says that it looks like my outcome has been compromised by going back to work too early. ...Of course I can't change the past, but i am hoping that the truth of the matter is that I simply prolonged the recovery period, not that i permanently messed up the disc healing process. If the doctor would have said to take off work for a few months, I could have worked something out possibly, even though I am trying to put my daughter through college and need the good old paycheck. So here I am.........I'm trying out on the Med-x machine for the second try tonight at therapy. The first time was 2-1/2 weeks ago and it set me back significantly.....I could barely walk and the pain was excruciating.
Later,
Deal4

Telzey,
Oops...I forgot to answer your questions:
A typical work day for me involves working 8-9 hours, mostly at my computer. I try to get up every 30-45 minutes to walk around. I wear a big neoprene wrap that hooks up to a machine that circulates ice water around my back, which I use when sitting. I go to therapy 3 times per week........2 times for excercise and once for muscle manipulation, stim, etc. I have a very bad piriformas muscle/sciatic thing going on which is helped by muscle manipulation therapy. I go to church every Sunday and Wednesday, otherwise when I'm home I am in bed....even for most meals.
I live 3 miles from work and about 7 miles from therapy, so driving is minimal.
deal4

Hi Deal4--

Yes, I agree, it seems like every doctor has a different opinion. I am now 14 weeks post-IDET. I was told I could return to work after 10 days. I realized as 10 days approached, that I would not be able to sit for that long. So I went half days for 2 weeks, then the Thanksgiving holiday gave me a few days off. So I was back FT in 3.5 weeks. It was manageable, but also hard because I sit at a desk most of the day. I am fortunate in that my work was very flexible (I work at a university).

My doctor said that sometimes being more active can slow down your recovery time period, but that after a few days, it would be pretty hard to re-tear the disk. I had a few episodes where I thought I had torn it again but they reassured me that I most likely did not. So I know it does not help at all, but hang in there!!

I am now 14 weeks post-IDET and have good days and bad days. Yesterday and today have been AWESOME!! I mean I don't feel 100% better but much much better than before. Not sure what it is attributed to--but I have learned that one good day does not mean I can run around all day, I still need to take it easy.

If the doctor allows it, may I recommend swimming? I went three times last week and it was GREAT!! I am a terrible swimmer and a few times it looked like the lifeguard was wondering whether she needed to jump in to save me http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif But, just the feeling of being in the water and feeling no pain was wonderful. It is so quiet in the water, just me and my thoughts. I would highly recommend it if the doctor OKs it.

Best of luck, and I hope to be able to post in a few days that I am still feeling good!

Hi All... http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wave.gif

I truly AMAZES me that there are so many doctors willing to send an IDET patient back to full time work after only 2 weeks post-IDET. I do not mean to belittle ANY doctor...for I am SURE they are much smarter than me when it comes to medical stuff. But they haven't been there. Period. They have no clue.
Literally! This is such new technology...there isn't anyone ... well... there are a handful of doctors in the United States that can be termed as knowledgeable in the protocol(s) for nucleoplasty and IDET surgeries. The Saal brothers (creators of the IDET) are probably your BEST resource to get protocol for IDET patients. I know my doctor is good, but was told by a patient with another doctor that he has done the most IDETs in the nation and is one of the best. I don't know...although I AM a success, so maybe? I don't take anything for granted....so I have done a TON of research for the IDET and nucleoplasty procedures. Nucleoplasty is even newer than the IDET. I had the coblation nucleoplasty using the Perc-D wand (if that is any different from the nucleoplasty you had deal4).

Do you have the report from your surgeon? All of you should have a "blow-by-blow" description of exactly every minute thing they did to you in that surgery room (mine had details of temperatures and minutes and that I was talking to them and what I said and.....). This will give you an idea of what has been done to you. They all have to do this....ask for a copy. This is also great to have to not only assuage your curiosity, but to utilize for work, insurance, etc. This report is very graphic (not for everyone). Fax your request (to the front office person or to your surgeons assistant) to have a copy of the surgeons detailed report of your surgery mailed to your home (and to your lawyer, or your work, or your insurance company--supply them with full address/contact details). There should be no problem with this request, it is your legal right to have a copy. Get it.

Back to the issue of returning to full-duty 14 days after your disk(s) have been scrambled, sucked out, plumped up, and burned....my brain just refuses to believe this! I am NOT calling anyone a fibber here, what I mean by that statement is I simply cannot comprehend what is going through a doctors mind when they make the statement of "you can return to work after 2 weeks." No problem. No problem. huh. not one eh?

Forget the fact you have been suffering for (fill in # here) years with a lot of PAIN that THEY "couldn't" find until you prolly begged for them to do something.... Then the time you had to suffer while your insurance OK'd the procedure.... Then for the time you had to suffer while you waited for an OPEN DATE to have the surgery done..... and they have the NERVE to say you can return to 8 hours/day (not to mention your commute AND lunch hour) 5 days a week job. OOOOOOOOOOOOOO http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/mad.gif It really gets my goat. grrrrrrrr

Why can't we say "Hey DOC....why don't YOU have the surgery and come back in 14 days?" NO? Why not? You have sedentary job too, Doc. You're not required to lifting anything, you stand most of your day, you may slightly bend a little at the waist while you do surgery on all those other bodies, and may have to sit for less than an hour while doing reports. So what's the difference? The difference folks....is a sedentary job is exactly what we CANNOT do anymore! Sitting is painful. Period. After 20 minutes, a healthy individual begins to feel ... well, feel like they need to move their leg or foot, or stretch an arm or something. Our bodies physically cannot sit still for longer than 20 minutes at a time (for an average healthy person). Interesting.....20 minutes is MY threshold for sitting, and I am post-IDET ONE YEAR (tomorrow). I can double that by using my TENS unit, but still have to move something by 20 minutes. After (20 or 40) minutes, I must get up and walk for 5 min. I can repeat this 2 maybe 3 times before I should lay down to rest for anywhere from 5 min. to 2 hours with ice. Just depends on what I do and how often...bla bla bla bla. Of course, real life...doesn't really work this way (it is my own personal ideal). We need to work, we need to be useful, we need to get back into the swing of things....we need to be once again, "alive". I am sure you all understand what I am saying here. Stuff happens....emergencies arise... obligations must be met... promises need fulfilling... our perfect world, just isn't. But of course, we already knew this...didn't we?

OK...so now we know our world isn't perfect. darn. Now where did I put those rose-tinted glasses? hehe Sorry I spouted my anger at you all, it wasn't at you. It was for you. It is just that they are the professionals...we (tend to) trust them because they are in the know. We all must realize this is new stuff to them too...and mistakes are being made. This technology fits our world...it is not perfect. But it is the best we can do right now. Our only defense is to arm ourselves with as much knowledge as 'humanly' possible. If you read all the studies out there and reports, etc....you would not have been able to find anything stating you can return to work 2 weeks after an IDET or combo-IDET procedured. I tried. Really. The soonest I saw was 4 weeks. There was ONE study done (I think by the Saal brothers) where they stated a (very small) percentage had returned to work after 2 weeks post-IDET (I want to say it was 2 or 3 patients out of 65....but don't quote me on that one). Of the (2 or 3) returned to work patients...only one was able to return full-time. That one had no problems with sitting...and that WAS their job. One out of 65. That isn't very good odds. A slightly higher percentage returned after 4 weeks, higher for 6...and so on. The highest percentage was at 2.5-3 months returning to full-duty.

These jobs were also flexible and non-stressing on the back. There wasn't one article I could find that stated PT should be started before 6 weeks post-IDET. What I don't get is....how can you return to a "normal life" (returning to an 8 hr/day job seems pretty normal to me) if you haven't even had the PT to strengthen your muscles and stuff after you had surgery? Huh? The numbers....they just don't jive. The 2-3 month timeframe sounds MUCH more realistic to me. You know...after your perfect surgery... you have 6 weeks to mend perfectly before you are allowed to exercise... and it would be perfect if you could have at least 2 weeks of PT under your belt before returning to work. Wow...look at that. Eight Weeks, 2 months (just like that). Ooops...sorry, forgot-- we don't live in a perfect world. darn again.

I guess I am done harping now (sorry again, guys)... it does feel good to just boof it out sometimes, eh? hehe I hope you all have a pain-free and happy week. I am still smiling! http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/biggrin.gif




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successtory
Oct 2000: Repetitive Stress Injury-Inverted Hernia
Feb 2001: MRI. Shows only slight bulge at L4-L5
Dec 2001: Discogram/CT scan shows Inverted Hernia at L5-S1. L4-L5 & L5-S1 ruptured in all 4 quadrants. Unable to walk.
Feb 2002: IDET, Nucleoplasty, Intra-Discal Injections
Sept 2002: Rated in the top 10% for successful patients. Retraining for new career.

successtory,
Well, you hit a bunch of issues right on the head. My frustration is: I sat in my doctor's office at the 2 week post appointment and listened to him tell me that I could return to work the next week if I wanted to. He also said I could quit wearing my brace immediately! I questioned him repeatedly about whether or not this could hinder the healing, as I definitely wanted to do everything right. I had the papers ready to apply for temporary disability if needed. I was told that as long as I could tolerate the work, didn't bend, didn't lift, limited my sitting to 30 minutes at a time, I would not be interfering with the healing process. Now, 16 weeks later, he tells me that the reason I'm making slow progress is that I went back to work too early!!! I asked if it would do any good to stop working right now. "N0", was the answer. I then asked if he felt that by working too early, did I permenantly hinder the healing process, or did i simply prolong the healing process. I received no answer. For the record, right now I am just about where I was pre-IDET,
Deal4

Hi deal4, Telzey, and Success http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wave.gif

May I just say one thing from reading this post... WOW http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/bang.gif

Oh my goodness deal4, I am 8 weeks post op from the IDET, and am extremely physically fit (prior to injury to L4/5 disc) and there is no way in h-e-double tooth picks that I could have gone back to work 2 weeks after the IDET. I would like to think I am somewhat intelligent, and from the experience I have had, and researched on the IDET I do not believe there is any physical way possible to go back to work 2 weeks post op.

I think you should get a Lawyer and consider going after your doctor. What he/she has done is not good at all http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/nono.gif

To be honest, my job is sitting for 8 hours with strict rules on not leaving your desk. I am probably going to be out 6 months if that be the case. Our health is much more important.

Telzey, and Success, goodness... I wonder if we will ever be the same. This whole ordeal is not looking too good. If I am like you Success, I will not be able to return to my job at all, because of the strict rules of having to sit almost the entire 8 hours I am there. I am not kidding, the place treats everyone like they are in Kindergarten.

Telzey, my dear chum, what do you think of all this info?? I am freaking out http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/eek.gif Everyone I have been in contact with that had the IDET still gets tremendous flares. It is no wonder Insurance companies won't approve the IDET procedure.

Success, what is a TENS unit? Sorry to hear you are still having a rough go of it.

Well, isn't there something we can all come up with that could help here??? Perhaps we should write our Congressman.

Sad stuff *sniff*

Well, my IDET buddies, don't despair. Let us raise our eyes to the sky for the answer http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/angel.gif

And in the meantime help each other out with as much information we have as possible. I see my doc next Tuesday, so I will let you all know what transpires. I really do think my doctor knows what he is doing.

God Bless you all. And HANG IN THERE!!!!!

http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/heart.gif cj

Hey CJ....

Yep....TODAY IS MY ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY post-IDET. We broke out the champagne (hehe). It is really OK with me the limitations I have now. Granted...I used to be able to horseback ride (I trained, taught kids to ride and went to horse shows), go out dancing, play softball, go bowling, play tennis and the list just keeps going on. When I was injured...I eventually could no longer walk. My hubby had to carry me into the shower and hold me while I stood to pee and wash off (sorry for the graphics), anything else was done with screaming. It was ugly.

And now? I can walk again....and do everything else except for all the fun stuff I mentioned above. So everything I loved to do....can no longer be done (by my choice). I have a 4 and 6 year old and I want to go to my son's baseball games and my daughters dance recitals (when they start)--and I WILL be able to do that as long as I take care of my back. Life changes ... and not for the better a lot of times. I am taking this hit as a blessing. Because now I can concentrate on something I have been interested in for years.....the Alternative Medical Arts. Things happen for a reason, maybe I was just "doing" too much (I tend to do that) http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/biggrin.gif and this was life's way of telling me to sloooooowwwww doooowwwwwwnnnnn. hehe

Now for the TENS unit. Have you gotten ice and "stim" from the PT yet? It is the "stim" part. The TENS unit produces electrical charges (very, very small ones) that either misdirect the pain signals and/or stimulate the muscles there so your back doesn't tire so easily. Ask your surgeon or doctor about it and ask them to get one for you....they are made for post-op people (NOT pre-op). Especially if you are still going through muscle spasms! yikes! YOU would be a very good candidate for the TENS....talk to your doctor about it because you DO need a prescription for it.

I hope that answers your question. Take care all.



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successtory
Oct 2000: Repetitive Stress Injury-Inverted Hernia
Feb 2001: MRI. Shows only slight bulge at L4-L5
Dec 2001: Discogram/CT scan shows Inverted Hernia at L5-S1. L4-L5 & L5-S1 ruptured in all 4 quadrants. Unable to walk.
Feb 2002: IDET, Nucleoplasty, Intra-Discal Injections
Sept 2002: Rated in the top 10% for successful patients. Retraining for new career.

Hello fellow IDET-ers! http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wave.gif

Deal4, my doctor told me that for the first 6-8 weeks I needed to just rest and do nothing but a little walking, wear my brace all the time, definitely don't drive.

Well guess what. I followed all his instructions to the letter. 8 weeks came and went and I was STILL worse than pre-IDET. I listened to the tape I made of the appointment with him, and he was telling me that I would be back to pre-IDET (baseline) pain by 6-8 weeks.

It's 10 weeks post-op for me now, and I am SIGNIFICANTLY worse than pre-IDET. I can't sit for more than a few seconds, I can only walk short distances without flaring up my disk.

I guess what I'm saying is, even if you'd stayed home from work, Deal4, you might still be in pain, so don't feel TOO bad!!!

Dshull and CJ,
Do you know of ANYONE who is back to normal functioning after the IDET??? It's scary to hear all these stories. Even successtory sounds like she's worse off than I was pre-IDET. Also, if I had known I would be down for so long after the IDET, I would never have had it. It's causing such problems for my husband and kids. I am praying it's not forever.

At this point I am really looking forward to just being back at baseline. My doctor told me that 2/3 of the IDET patients got better, and the other 1/3 stayed the same, and almost nobody was worse afterwards. I just hope he was telling the truth! http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/rolleyes.gif

Oh well. I guess we have to move on from here. I did find a couple of great back products that I mentioned on another thread, and the GOOD NEWS is that I was able to sit for a FULL 30 MINUTES this evening at dinner, using "The Back Seat". http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/dance.gif

Maybe that means I can drive to work someday.

Sending you all wishes for healing,
http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/heart.gif Telzey

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4 years of back pain
Annular tear L5-S1 diagnosed 3/02 via MRI
IDET 12/2/02
Still worse pain than pre-op, am told to wait 3-6 months for improvement

Thanks everyone for the information and help. I think sharing our "war stories" will be of benefit to all of us, and we can also help to bear each other's burdens a bit.
The facility where I go for therapy is overseen by a therapist who specializes in post-IDET rehab. It is his opinion on this matter that my early return to work is making my rehab take somewhat longer, but that there is almost no way that it could have actually injured the discs permanently. I hope that is true...........I really am trying to do everything right.
deal4

Hi Deal4, http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/wave.gif
You are so right... it's by sharing our information and personal stories that we learn. I have learned so much from the others on this board.

I was wearing the "Back Seat" this morning while sitting at my desk... and I think I pulled it too tight or something. I developed a muscle cramp under the right side of my rib cage, pretty intense. I had to loosen the vest and stand up to get rid of it. Now I'm a little nervous about driving, because I sure wouldn't want to get a cramp like that while I was behind the wheel.

I'll have to test it out a little more at home before I take it out on the road. http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/smile.gif

Best to all,
http://www.healthboards.com/ubb/heart.gif Telzey

------------------
4 years of back pain
Annular tear L5-S1 diagnosed 3/02 via MRI
IDET 12/2/02
Still worse pain than pre-op, am told to wait 3-6 months for improvement