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Bill, YGPM
Maface--
My brother had surgery for this almost 20 years ago, and recovered nicely--I don't remember how long his recovery took; I'll ask him if you would like me to--however I don't know if his experience is relevant since it was so long ago. Unfortunately I have also talked with people who weren't helped by it; however I haven't spoken with anyone who has had this surgery recently, and I'm sure it has greatly improved over the years.
I went through a similar crisis back in 1986. When I was 18, I was in a bad bicycle wreck, and it made my back crooked (one hip higher than the other). Well I went around like that for the next 14 years or so, in fairly constant pain from sciatica. I saw a bunch of doctors, but all they did was give me pills.
Of course it just got worse as the years passed. In 1986, I was a grad student and was teaching a freshman writing course. For several months I was in such pain that I couldn't sit down at all; I would go to school and stand up for eight hours, with occasional stints of lying on the floor. I finally saw a doctor who said I needed to lie down for two weeks and than come back. After doing so, I couldn't walk!! He then said I needed immediate surgery.
Well, this freaked me out. My first husband (bless him!!) said, "Don't worry, we'll find an alternative". Little did I know that my entire life was about to change!
I started a combination of acupuncture with a terrific doctor, and bodywork by a truly gifted man who lives here in San Diego. It took 6 months before I was able to walk fully upright again; it was probably two years before I was fully cured, but my back is still strong and, as long as I do exercises to keep it so, I have no more real problems with it.
The surgeon called me about five months into my recovery and asked me why I hadn't come in for the surgery. I told him I had found someone who pushed my disk back into place, and that I was well on my way to making a full recovery. He said that that was physically impossible, given how messed up I was; and I said that that may be true, but it happened anyway!
I don't know what resources there are in your area, Maface, and it is true that you have to be very careful about who you let mess around with your back. But there are alternatives to surgery! Not to suggest that surgery isn't the right alternative for you.
Having to drop out of graduate school and give up my teaching job seemed, at the time, to be the most horrible thing in the world. It turned out to be one of the best things that ever happened to me!! My life took a whole new direction. I was very unhappy in my graduate work, and I was so caught up in the rush of things that I didn't even recognize how miserable I was making myself. Six months on the floor gave me a truly new perspective on life.
The best of luck to both of you!!
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back pain
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