Anyone have anything new to report? MC - hows PT? Any progress? Woodland and Sockoni - how are the orthotics working out? Shaunna - did you get your MRI? Have you thought about chronic compression syndrom? I dont think you have it, but its another idea to throw out and maybe read about and see if it soudns like you.... I dont feel like I have made any progress in the past couple weeks. I was at the gym last night and I ended up going home and crying because I am so fed up and dont know what to do at this point. I know everything is weak, but at least most of the muscles are stronger than when I got sent to PT in Feb (ie the exercises that I was given were more difficult then), but then again I could use the elliptical without too much pain. And walking is more painful then it was then (though better than January when I first started to have trouble.) I feel really whiney, but I am also totally frustrated. I also still wonder if some of my pain is from the rod - I know its unlocked (ie there are 2 screws in the top but none on the lower part) and I wonder if I feel it rotating or something because I get weird thigh pain which I didnt have before. I was working in the general surgery clinic yesterday and we had a lot of patients come in with "gall-bladder problems" wanthing them out. While there are many good reasons to take it out, none of these patients had symptoms which it sounds like are directly related to their gallbladder. (I'm sorry, your constant nausea and diarrhea do not sound typical of gallstones. 80% of people with gallstones have no symptoms so just because you have a couple stones on ultrasound does not mean you should have your gallbladder out!) I wanted to point out to these folks that the only thing thats worse than hurting is having surgery and still hurting. (Not to mention the chance of complications and hurting more in the long run.) I know I am in a different category, but I just wanted to scream at some of them. I just need to keep reminding myself that my goal was to get off crutches and anything else was icing on the cake. I think if I hadnt discussed the other advantages (like getting back to running and not hurting) I might not be so frustrated if I only got the cake and no icing. I also keep reminding myself that the fact that I am still hurting now makes me think even more that it was a good choice because I would probably still be on crutches otherwise and going (already gone!) insane. Of course, my parents point out that it clearly didnt "help" since I am still hurting and it was unnecessary, but I guess we are just back to our same original discussion about whether or not I should have had it which is too late at this point and I should stop second guessing. Hope everyone else is having a better week!!! If so, send some bone-healing vibes my way!!!

Shaunna - did you get your MRI? Have you thought about chronic compression syndrom? I dont think you have it, but its another idea to throw out and maybe read about and see if it soudns like you.... I wanted to point out to these folks that the only thing thats worse than hurting is having surgery and still hurting. (Not to mention the chance of complications and hurting more in the long run.) I know I am in a different category, but I just wanted to scream at some of them.

I haven't had the MRI yet, I saw the doctor again, and since I am feeling some relief when swimming and running and the only pain trigger seems to be biking, he wants me to try to only do short bikes 1-2 times a week for the next two weeks and see if there is any improvement, so maybe we won't need an MRI. He thought maybe it was a tendonitis that just needed the 6 months to heal on it's own ( I am sceptical on that one). I am thrilled that I am running pain-free again, but the intense pain that comes on after 30-35 mintues of biking is still troublesome and causes pain lasting through the next day. I have a feeling I will be calling him Thursday (the 2 week point) and asking him to prescribe that MRI. Thanks for the info on the compression syndrome. I couldn't find a ton of info on it (most was way too techinical to follow in journals), but I guess it is possible. The only thing is they say there is immediate relief upon stopping the activity, and I have immediate relief of the intense pain, but the tingling and aching lasts continuously. Perhaps there is a nerve being compressed in there causing those symptoms? I will definitely have to ask next time I see the doctor. I am so sorry that you are frusterated. It's hard to get your hopes up and not have them all come true. It is a great thing that you are off crutches now though. Can you ask your doctor about the possibility of the thigh pain being caused by the rod? I really hope things start looking up for you soon. I feel bad even complaining about my chronic pains on here since I am able to run. I do want to be able to bike again so I can train well for triathlons, but if all I get back for now is running, I will still be happy with it.

oh man, sorry to hear that we're all still here. Thanks for thinking of me I was doing walking in my orthotics, and now I'm trying the intervals again - my feet still feel a little wierd - as in a little sore through the instep when I initially start running, I have no idea if it's the orthotics and my still getting adjusted to them or if I need to get fitted for yet another pair of shoes (I put the orthotics in a new pair of the same model of shoes as I was running in). I still also get some pains in my ankles that first appeared during the course of PT. I've been continuing with my exercises and trying not to get too frustrated with low HR training - it appears I'm really lacking aerobic fitness as I'm havign a very hard time keeping my HR low.... so I'll probably still be hanging around in here for a while anyhow

Well, I'm a bit of a skeptic myself, but a friend of mine used low HR training to improve his marathon time by many minutes - this past yr he qualified for Boston after incorporating low HR training. One problem I seemed to be having is before I was injured I never really ran a long slow run or an easy run - all of my runs, no matter the length, were tempo runs. I'm using low HR to try to to force myself into developing better aerobic fitness. There's a small group of Low HR trainers and a bunch of links are posted there for reading.

Shauna, I don't feel bad complaining. I do feel bad that you have to hear about it. Same thing goes to you, Abby! I'm sorry that you're not getting any better. It totally sucks. Could it be that it just takes more time? I came back from the first real PT session today. She got hold of a copy of the MRI report. It was worse than I thought. I don't remember much of the exact wording. L4-L5 has moderate slippage while L5-S1 has significant protrusion and is sitting on the L5 nerve leading to the left leg. That is the exact location that hurts like the dickens if you push on it. It's too early to tell how much improvements I will get. Right now, anything is better than nothing since my behind hurts and my legs go numb on their own. My advice to you guys at this point, don't get old!

a Sorry to hear that ... a few ideas from my perspective as having been there recently. I didn't have a protrusion, I had a L4/5 disc tear and herniation. In the initial phase - NO RUNNING. That sucks and it sounds horrible. But I already had muscle weakness in my right leg, numbness, tingling and burning. No running for about 4 months. No running for 4 months is not as bad as no running ever again. Ask your PT about anything "McKenzie". This is a method aimed at resolving all the nerve symptoms - the tingling, the burning etc. Then core strengthening, very important. Strengthening only once you have no more nerve symptoms. Try Yoga, this has been a saver for me. Whenever I don't have time to go to Yoga a few weeks in a row, I am hurting and starting to get tingling ... Yoga does wonders for the stretching and the muscular balance. Hope you get better!

Mhhm, now that you mention it, when I did run I didn't have pain either. Just bending and lifting = squeezing out more disc. www.spine-health.com/topics/conserv/mckenzie/mck01.html see this link for short explanation on McKenzie. One part of McKenzie my PT had me do is almost like the Yoga pose "sphinx/cobra" www.sunandmoonstudio.com/Poses/sphinx.shtml. When most of the symptoms from my legs were centralized, she also had me do "childs pose" www.yoga.org.nz/postures/childs_yoga_instruction.htm. Both felt very good at the time and I still use them. Hope you get better!

I really think you can get back to normal. Right now my back is not what it was before, but it is good. No sciatica anymore. Sitting for a long time sucks. I just came back from a week-long training class. Sitting for 9 hours a day ... I am still paying for that. I feel the occasional lower back "tightness" and sometimes some burning in my lower back. I guess that sounded more negative ... I am very happy with where I am at right now. My injury was September 06. My PT told me that I should view my back as "weak" for about a year. By then everything should have scarred over and healed. I heard about a study one time where the final outcome for a back patient is looked at after 2 years - this seems to be the magic number. When did your symptoms start? Yoga is definitely a saver for me. And I'll have to keep up with the core strengthening. Freestyle swimming feels really good as well. Good luck to you! There is a light at the end of the tunnel and it's not a train! PS: Do you know if you also have spinal stenosis or issues with the facette joints?