Update:
Well it seems I will have to have surgery to repair the worse disc between R4 & R5.
He wants to try a steroid injection into the area of R4 & R5 first.
I am an overweight man and he really does not like to perform surgery on an overweight person. All the equipment is made for normal weight people. There is a greater risk of heart attack during the procedure for someone who is overweight.
He gives normal weight people odds of 1% for something to go wrong and for overweight 2%. The incisions he makes have to be larger for a big person. Hopefully I will get the steroid shot next week. The doctor says I should know within 72 hours if it reduces the swelling and the pain. He didn’t say so, but my wife says (she is a nurse), the shot is just a temporary relief measure.
Surgery will be coming, but before that he will send me to a cardiac doctor to make sure my heart is healthy. He also said more surgeries would be coming also as I get older; I would still have 2 bad disks left.
He said to stop going for Therapy, it would be a waste of time. The damage is done and only surgery will help at this point. The disks are about as damaged as they can get, so I am beyond Therapy.
I will have to stay in vicodin happy land for a while yet.