Get another opinion or two, I've had 2 herniated disk since bad landing on flight deck of a supply ship in the Med in summer of '89.

I do have to be careful though, but 3 of the best doctors in the country said go till I can't walk then try surgry, because success rate is under 10% and about 70% chance I would never walk again or have any feeling below the beltline.

Must say that I do have a walker in the house for those times when I move wrong and I can't walk unaided for awhile. One time it was almost a month before I could walk without walker. Stepped in a mole hole in the yard stumbled and fell down.

Now days the arthritis bothers me much more then the back. Doctors tell me I'll be in wheelchair for that before I'm 65, but I'm going to prove them wrong.

__________________
'10 Chrysler T&C Stow-N-Go White. Grandpa's ride.

'13 Chrysler 200 Touring Candy Red. Grandma's ride.

Age and cunning will always over come youth and vigor.

Oldnavy:
Do you know why the doctors think the odds of success of an operation are so small? Cervical fusions on the whole are pretty successful in resolving compressed cords. I've been to a couple of doctors and talked to a neurologist friend. They all think surgery will remove my risks of serious injury. I have very few symptoms, none of which are painful, but the MRI shows my cord severly compressed.

__________________
1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

Fusions seem to almost always fail within five years from what I was ever able to find out. My last attempt was about 4 years ago to see a specialist at Barns Jewish Hospital in St Louis. Part of my problem is advanced spinal stanious (sp?) and arthritis that make me an even worse canidate for surgery. I need new knee's also.

Part of the problem for failure may be people re-injure them selves by doing the wrong things, such as using riding lawnmowers or hard landings after skydiving.

__________________
'10 Chrysler T&C Stow-N-Go White. Grandpa's ride.

'13 Chrysler 200 Touring Candy Red. Grandma's ride.

Age and cunning will always over come youth and vigor.