Back Pain Forum - laser surgery for herniated disc

Ok I just wanted to share my story with others who may be in a similar predicament. I am not advocating laser surgery over other methods; but simply giving an account of my experiences. A little bit about myself; my name is Scott. I am a 33 year old male, 5'11" tall, 173 pounds, and was an officer in the Air Force up until six months ago. Now I am a student pilot learning to fly helicopters.

The first time I noticed any pain was around early January '07 (although not from any specific event that I am aware of). When I would bend over to tie my shoes I would get a flash of pain in my back. Nothing too bad though and I didn't think too much of it. After about two months however the pain was still present (but totally manageable). I talked to my flight surgeon who concluded I had a pulled muscle in my back and that it would heal on it's own over time. I separated from a Air Force about two months later and continued doing the stretching and exercises they had shown me but the pain never went away.

In late September '07 I moved to Louisiana to attend my flight school and my dad and I moved all my things up to a second story apartment. I believe this was the "straw" that broke the camel's back. A few days after moving in I began to experience pain radiating down my left leg and the pain in my back began to get much worse. I talked to a doctor and he informed me that I most likely had a herniated disc. An MRI confirmed a herniation of the L4-L5 disc. I went to my local Veterans Affairs office to see if I could get help seeing as this was a preexisting condition before I left the service. After dealing with them for several weeks all I will say is that the entire VA system is totally and forever messed up beyond all help. At this point I felt totally screwed. I do not have medical insurance and by this time my pain was so severe I couldn't attend school anymore. The clinic doctor told me I would need surgery because the pain hadn't gone away after two months of physical therapy. I started looking for a cheaper alternative to traditional back surgery (which would probably take up all of my remaining school money) and settled on trying laser spinal surgery at Microspine located in the Florida panhandle.

After scheduling my surgery with Microspine I got a date that was about 7 weeks out. Most of this time waiting was spent on my back at my parents house; I had pretty much lost the ability to care for myself at this point. Microspine appointments work like this: It is a four day procedure and costs 16,900.

Day One = In-processing and MRI/Xray consulation. Dr. Mork examined me and informed me that I did indeed have a "moderately" herniated disc at the L4-L5. I shudder to think what unthinkable agony a person with a "severe" herniation would have to endure.

Day Two = From what I saw it involved a very uncomfortable day of poking and prodding so that the doctors can fully understand the extent of the problems. However, I was informed by Dr. Mork on Day One that studies of my MRI were totally obvious as to what the problem was and that diagnotic testing would not be required in my case. This was an unexpected bonus for me as it shaved about 3,300 dollars off my bill.

Day Three = Surgery Day! You get to put on one of those goofy gowns and get an IV stuck into your hand. Then they carted me off to the operating room. So they tell me that the sedation they are giving me won't completely put me to sleep. I suppose this is so you can talk to the doctors during the procedure and inform them of any progress/problems. For me, when they injected that stuff into my IV, I felt a burning sensation in my hand and the next thing I remember was waking up in the recovery room with my dad. I immediately felt nauseous and the nurse quickly gave me a shot of something into my IV which made me feel a lot better almost immediately. Later that night at the hotel I wasn't feeling too good at all. I woke up in the middle of the night with my back just shrieking in pain. But after taking two Oxycodones I felt much better.

Day Four = Post surgery analysis. I was still hurting a bit from the incision although my leg pain was totally gone. They gave me a epidural shot of something through my tail bone and nearly all the remaining pain went away. Jumped into the car with my dad and drove six hours home mostly pain free.

Within a week after the surgery almost all my back pain I had before was gone so I decided to stop taking the Oxycodone they gave me. Here is a word of warning, DO NOT stop taking your pain meds all at once like I did. You will feel B-A-D. Flu-like symptoms, total loss of appetite; basically feels like someone took a baseball bat and beat the hell out of you.

It is now been three weeks since the surgery and my pain level is effectively at zero. My total costs were around 13,600 dollars which is far less than any other company was able to quote me. I am totally satisfied with my outcome and if this blasted rain will stop I can get back to flying tomorrow. Sorry if this is a long read. If anyone has any questions please email or post a question here...

Scott