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  #1  
Old 05-27-2018, 01:34 PM
SpinalAttackL3-L5 SpinalAttackL3-L5 is offline
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Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 8
Default New to Forum - Dual ADR Surgery Scheduled

Hello folks,

First off I want to say this forum is incredible for so many reasons. Thank you all for the forum and for sharing your opinions, facts, information, stories and true suffering etc. Being with folks who understand what your going through really helps ease the pain and mind. I don't feel suffering as their are so so many people are truly suffering with other larger ailments, I walk, I run slowly, bike at times with, cut my grass at night, pull weeds and take my kids sometimes out to frolic, all with a knife in my spine pressing downward toward my gluts. I thank God I am able to do what I do in pain still and thankful for all of you contributing information about your life and experiences. Thanks!

Here is my journey for those still reading or interested:

I've been working since I was seven delivering newspapers, always been working since than, I've always had a job, I'm 48 now. By the time I was 14 my love for music and the arts got me into sharing music with the masses and became a mobile Disc Jockey. At 15 I took out a loan with my mom to buy seriously large, heavy powerful speakers to use for my DJ business. Each one of these Peavey FH1 speakers weighs in at 140 lbs. I dead lifted these for basically 7 years working. My parents split when I was 13 and mom always needed help with our family as my dad moved on. By the time I graduated college at 22 I was still doing mobile sets along with resident work across Chicago land small to medium size clubs. Come October 1992 biking 80-100 miles on weekends, lifting weights now in a small gym CFC on Clark St. for four years I was in a hurry and did not rest between large sets of heavy Lat pull downs and proceeded to heavy bent over rows, completed the sets and still did not rest stripping wight in a hurry, bent over slightly at a 30 degree slightly cocked on an angle(very wrong) position and stripped 45 lb plates, the last plate was it, I felt and heard my L5-L4 and L4-L3 discs pop, bulge, I was floored at that moment with immediate sciatica and spasms, crawled out of the gym and into my car. It eventually got better however never normal from this point on with all the regular things, xrays, mris, 800 mg ibuprofren, PT, etc.

My case is a slow impacting to my lumbar area over decades.

Fast forward by 1997 I was doing Cortizone shots, PT, living on Ibuprofren, the pain was so excruciating I had ended up having my first surgery, Chemonucleosis. Yes this was till being done to people. Bad, very bad choice in the big picture of things in retrospect. These Chymopapain shots actually worked but worked to good and continue to degenerate and accelerate degeneration of my discs at L3-L4-L5 to this day in 2018 according to multiple doctors telling me this.

By 1999 simply putting on some boxers ironically in that same position form 7 years before and the same happened but in subtle way, progressively the back got worst from that point on. PT, MRIs, XRAYS, PT, back shots. Could not take the sciatica and knives for months straight, I had to get relief and underwent Dual Partial Laminectomy-Discetomies at L3-L4-L5 in Feb 2000. Woke to immediate pain relief inside the spinal lumabr area but ofcourse entry would and pain. By April 2000 I moved and was working in Brazil, 3 months later.

Basically till 2010 its been bearable, still PT, Cortizone shots, Vicodin, Ibuprofen, etc.. By 2011 I have been getting up in massive pain spasmed for 6 hours everyday cocked at that same point 30 degrees to the right until the back relaxes pain subsides to a tolerable point and live semi pain free till the next morning where it starts over. The cycle of pain is progressively getting worst though, knocking is getting louder and spasm relief is taking longer, spanning more of my day as time goes on, I am partially bone on bone at Chymopapain injections sites on my discs with severe bulging into may spinal canal, see images. Attached MRIs from 2015 and 2017. One thing I noticed recently over the last few years is concentrated dairy creams (icing on cakes, creamer for coffees, anything with cream) makes me spasm way way more the next day in major ways. Something in the dairy I still have not been able to find which chemical is doing that to me, I simply stay away from dairy creams. I live in pain and just want the pain to go away, so I can do more things with my kids.

Been investigating ADR for years now and was deciding between Bertagnoli, Lang, or Clavel. Decided on Lang for experience and just the pure amount of people with positive outcomes I see in videos sharing thier experience. Plus the M6L so it was mainly at the end between Clavel and Lang.

I scheduled surgery with Dr. Ritter-Lang for June 2018, next month. I am nervous, going to Germany by myself and praying all goes well with dual Lumbar ADRs with the M6L and Dr. Ritter-Lang.

Please queue me in your prayers, if I may ask, I need all the prayers I can get.

Thank you folks and I pray you all are well or will be well soon.

Thank you
Attached Images
File Type: jpg MRI-2017.JPG (69.3 KB, 40 views)
File Type: jpg MRI-2015.JPG (69.3 KB, 27 views)
File Type: jpg MRI-2017-2.JPG (34.2 KB, 24 views)
File Type: jpg MRI-2017-3.JPG (42.3 KB, 27 views)
File Type: jpg FH1.jpg (59.1 KB, 22 views)
__________________
1984-1991 As a DJ dead lifted huge speakers
10-1992 Weight lifting accident in 1992
10-97 Chemonucleosis L3-L4-L5
2-2000 Dual Partial Discectomies L3-L4-L5
1997-Present Acceleration of DDD from Chmymopapain
Wake to massive back spasms for 6 hours now for 5 years
Scheduled Dual ADR with Ritter-Lang June 2018
6 months post OP and Wow thanking God everyday on how I feel. I left the pain back in Germany in June 2018.

Last edited by SpinalAttackL3-L5; 05-28-2018 at 12:16 PM.
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  #2  
Old 05-27-2018, 09:50 PM
CYN9060 CYN9060 is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 14
Default

seriously only dual? To me it looks like you have at least 3 levels in need. But I'm no doctor, just been looking at an awful lot of MRIs recently. I have 4 levels Cervical in need of replacement but luckily I am in very manageable pain.
__________________
Cyn (the other one!)
2016 MRI for headaches - meningioma discovered
Watch and wait on M - subsequent MRI showed cord compression in Cervical spine
2018 - cervical MRI - 4 level cord compression and massive foraminal stenosis
present - researching options for a non-fusion solution
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  #3  
Old 05-28-2018, 12:19 PM
SpinalAttackL3-L5 SpinalAttackL3-L5 is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 8
Default

I'm not sure I'm a candidate yet for tri-ADR. Three surgeons have responded equally. I hope I am never a candidate for a situation like that. The L2-L3 is looking bad though.
__________________
1984-1991 As a DJ dead lifted huge speakers
10-1992 Weight lifting accident in 1992
10-97 Chemonucleosis L3-L4-L5
2-2000 Dual Partial Discectomies L3-L4-L5
1997-Present Acceleration of DDD from Chmymopapain
Wake to massive back spasms for 6 hours now for 5 years
Scheduled Dual ADR with Ritter-Lang June 2018
6 months post OP and Wow thanking God everyday on how I feel. I left the pain back in Germany in June 2018.
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  #4  
Old 05-28-2018, 01:04 PM
annapurna annapurna is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2004
Posts: 1,668
Default

I'll admit that I didn't check your MRIs so this might not be useful but Bertagnoli used to perform ACDT, autologous chondrocyte discal therapy. Basically, if it works for you, he'd draw out the intradiscal fluid out of one of the disks he was replacing when you got your 2 level, culture those cells, and reinject them into L23 at a later date. Laura had that done with two other disks when she had her second cervical ADR surgery and it worked out well. She's been going for nearly a decade on the injected disks with no problems noted.
__________________
Laura - L5S1 Charitee
C5/6 and 6/7 Prodisc C
Facet problems L4-S1
General joint hypermobility

Jim - C4/5, C5/6, L4/5 disk bulges and facet damage, L4/5 disk tears, currently using regenerative medicine to address

"There are many Annapurnas in the lives of men" Maurice Herzog
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  #5  
Old 12-29-2018, 02:14 AM
SpinalAttackL3-L5 SpinalAttackL3-L5 is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 8
Default 6 Months Post Op Ritter-Lang and feel incredible. L3-L4-L5 M6L

I am now 6 months post OP and Wow thanking God everyday on how I feel. I left the pain back in Germany in June 2018. Once in a while I get some piriformis discomfort, however some needed stretching and walking clears the discomfort. I am preparing to meet with my primary doctor to get my 6 month Xray taken so I can send it off to Dr. Ritter-Lang for a check up. I have to say this is the, the best investment I have made in my life in terms of spending money and health decisions. I thank God every day I sleep and wake with NO PAIN. I spring out of bed now since August as I did in my 20s.If anyone has questions please respond, privat message and ask. I had a Dual L3-L4 L4-L5 surgery with two M6L devices installed.
__________________
1984-1991 As a DJ dead lifted huge speakers
10-1992 Weight lifting accident in 1992
10-97 Chemonucleosis L3-L4-L5
2-2000 Dual Partial Discectomies L3-L4-L5
1997-Present Acceleration of DDD from Chmymopapain
Wake to massive back spasms for 6 hours now for 5 years
Scheduled Dual ADR with Ritter-Lang June 2018
6 months post OP and Wow thanking God everyday on how I feel. I left the pain back in Germany in June 2018.
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  #6  
Old 12-30-2018, 07:47 PM
GKTM300 GKTM300 is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Dec 2015
Posts: 273
Default Bertagnoli

Im 2 plus years out n 100 percent thank God
__________________
12/22/04 blew L4-5 and L5-S1 out lifting wrong
4/1/05 back to work thanks to Oxy
11/11/13 hurt back lifting again
6/6/15 last of many MRI L4-5 medium paracentral bulge with juice leaking and mid to left bulge on L5-S1
No invasive procedures except steroid shots that did nothing n hurt wicked bad
9/24/2016 Adr surgery Bertagnoli>1 year doing great
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  #7  
Old 12-30-2018, 09:00 PM
SpinalAttackL3-L5 SpinalAttackL3-L5 is offline
Junior Member
 
Join Date: May 2018
Posts: 8
Default

Excellent! Are your devices Spinal Kinetics M6Ls?
__________________
1984-1991 As a DJ dead lifted huge speakers
10-1992 Weight lifting accident in 1992
10-97 Chemonucleosis L3-L4-L5
2-2000 Dual Partial Discectomies L3-L4-L5
1997-Present Acceleration of DDD from Chmymopapain
Wake to massive back spasms for 6 hours now for 5 years
Scheduled Dual ADR with Ritter-Lang June 2018
6 months post OP and Wow thanking God everyday on how I feel. I left the pain back in Germany in June 2018.
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