Case Summary  |  Lifetime of Pain Leads to Trouble

I'm a man who has been very active all his life. I use to work in a coal mine and I did a lot of physical labor there. I was always on my feet and the job was very tough. I did this work for 30 years until I finally retired.

As so, I've always had pain in my back. It was never anything serious but it would cause great discomfort. I had trouble sleeping because of the pain during all my years working as a coal miner. In the mid 1990's, as I began to get older, the pain was getting more severe. I would notice the back pain when I walked and it would even travel through my hips and thighs. It was agonizing and I had no idea what the problem was. For several years I shrugged it off even though the pain was very intense.

In November of 2003 I finally decided it was enough and decided to go see a doctor to see if there was anything I could be given to ease the pain. I didn't think it would be anything serious and that I'd just get a prescription and be done. Boy was I wrong...

After an X-Ray I was diagnosed with having Degenerative disc disease. From what I gathered it was a nasty little disease that does a lot of very bad things to your spine. The doctor told me it was normal but that I was really bad off and would need surgery. I was a bit upset because I never had to have surgery before, so I was a bit scared. I was an older man and the thought of going through surgery at my age was frightening. There could be a whole lot of complications and I wasn't exactly ready for it.

Two weeks later I found myself in a hospital, recovering from a Laminectomy. This surgery was to remove a part of my spine in order to relieve pressure. I was in the hospital for about two weeks before the doctor finally decided to release me. I was given a medicine prescription for a generic anti-inflammatory medicine in order to relieve the pain.

Today, I still have back pain, but it is no where near intense as it once was. I am still on an anti-inflammatory medication. I am very happy that the surgery helped my pain because I am able to live a better life. I am an older man and I just want to live the rest of my life out with my life, happily together, free of massive pains. I am happy to say I am able to do that now.