Well, this is something I know all too well about. Thanks to a rear exit in 5th gear at Pismo, I F'd up 4 disks and fractured my sacrum. I herniated L1/L2, L3/L4 and ruptured L4/L5 and L5/S1. I had surgery to repair the two ruptured disks only. It was a very long recovery process for me but everyone is different. I did not have any fusions, they only removed large portions of the disk and the pieces that had protruded into my spinal cavity. To make things worse on my healing, I gained 40 lbs due to lack of exercise. I had surgery 6 years ago and it wasn't until about 1 year ago that I can say I achieved about 95% of where I was before the accident. I still get shooting pains and tingles and have resonating nerve issues. I personally would not get a fusion. Just to give you an idea of where I was before my surgery........ I could only walk about 40 feet at a time and had to sit down. Any longer and the pain was too severe to tolerate. During the time from when I injured myself to when I had surgery there were three occurrences when I moved the wrong way and became temporarily paralyzed. If you have not had the pleasure of losing all control of your lower extremities, the only way I could describe it would be to imagine the worst possible panic attack you could ever have..... then triple that. When I finally had my first MRI, it revealed that approximately 90% of my spinal cord was pinched at L4/L5. The doctor was baffled that I was walking at all. After the disceptomy was performed, the immediate pain was gone but the muscles that they had to cut through to get in there were horribly painful. I would do it again in a heartbeat.
On the recovery side or in your case pre-surgery. I would recommend one thing to you....... Inversion Table such as Teeter Hang-ups or the cheap one from Big5. I am 6'1" and 240 lbs. It is uncomfortable on my ankles but manageable. You won't get immediate results, it takes your body a while to adjust. Hanging upside down is not natural and your body knows it. You have to condition yourself to the feeling of being upside down. I would suggest wearing work boots that are taller than your ankle to aid in the joint stress. So after the mental and physical challenges, you will find yourself able to extend closer and closer to a full vertical inversion. This is when you will start to get results in your back. Remember to take it slow, don't hang for too long of a period at first. It is better to go up and down repeatedly rather than hang for too long. You will start to feel stronger in your lower back and have less nerve issues. I mean I value my inversion table almost as much as my wife. Consult with your doctor but I know several other people who were able to avoid surgery by using inversion therapy. As my back has gotten stronger I have been able to reduce that amount that I use my table. I always over-do things though and my back still tells me when I do then I'm back on my table for a week or two.
For whatever it is worth, just my $.02
