I started (my journey) in February when I went to the Orthopedic Institute Urgent Care. They did x-rays and then ordered an MRI. It was determined that I had sciatica and degenerative disc disease. Within three weeks they scheduled me for surgery to perform a laminectomy to remove two discs to replace with cadaver disc with a fusion and hardware.
In search of a second opinion I contacted the Laser Spine Institute who uses state-of-the-art medical equipment. I was in St. Louis for three days when they (Laser Spine Institute) determined the depth of my tissue in my lower back was too thick to perform the surgery with the Davinci robotic equipment. It was said that the Davinci could not get in as deep as it needed to perform the laser surgery. I then contacted a surgeon in Cape Girardeau, Missouri who then sent me to pain management.
I received an injection in my lower back that helped for maybe a month. He then also determined that he could not perform the surgery through my back so he referred me to a vascular specialist in St. Louis to determine if they could perform the surgery by going through my stomach. The vascular doctor determined, in his professional medical opinion, that my stomach was too big to perform the surgery so he would not take the risk of opening me up from the “front” to do the back surgery.
It is now July and I have been off work since March 16, 2018 have not had surgery and had no resolution to my sliding disc and collapse disc. I have 4 sets of x-rays, 3 MRI’s and a CT scan. I also have a substantial amount of arthritis in my spine – I was told 80%. My sciatic nerve is trapped under the collapsed disc and the disc that is sliding keeps striking across my nerve.
I have been to 5 specialists, and other than medication I have not been able to get any relief with the discomfort and pain I been experiencing.
I walked to Synergy on July 24 and they were able to make my 1st session of therapy at 3:30 PM that day. I also did another session the following day that included deep tissue laser therapy and I have been pain free for almost a week already. I have other pain (not related) on the left side and back pain that I have been experiencing since February. In one session, that pain also went away.
