I tell you this because I think there are some of you who genuinely care about these back problems I have (some of you are just moderately interested, and that’s totally okay, and then there are those who don’t care at all, and I understand that too!), although talking about these things, especially bringing up something like surgery is going to leave me with approximately 227 comments from people telling me that I am making the wrong choice.

Today the Dr. informed me that I have the back of someone who is 33. Maybe even 43. I was given a bad hand genetically, and I can blame all of this on my parents/ancestors (thanks a lot mom and dad!). Back pain is just going to be a part of my life. I’m going to have the surgery now to give my nerves some room to breath. The jelly from my disc (what I like to call a donut now, thanks to a previous commenter), is pushing on that poor little nerve causing me so much pain. I need some space and so the Dr. is going to go in there and give me some.

Feel free to voice your opposition, as always you are free to voice your opinion, but I’ll still be going under the knife sometime in May (hopefully the 12th), as my husband and I have decided that this is the best possible option for us (me, us, it’s all the same). Chiropracty, acupuncture, physical therapy, decropmession therapy, traction therapy, positive thinking, etc are not what we are going to do.

Below are the credentials of my surgeon. If your credentials outweigh his, I will consider your reasons for pursuing a different course. Otherwise it’s all just personal opinion from a whole bunch of people who have the same amount of orthaepedic background as myself. You understand right?

Born and raised in Fresno, California, Dr. Carmody received both his baccalaureate, medical degree and orthopedic training from the University of California at Irvine where he graduated in the top 5% of his class. He completed a full, one year Fellowship scholarship devoted exclusively to spinal reconstructive surgery, which included state-of-the-art techniques of minimally- invasive spinal surgery.

Dr. Carmody was awarded the prestigious U.C. Regents Scholarship in medical school and is a member of AOA. He has authored and co-authored numerous scientific presentations and publications.

drcarmody

Editors Note: Since some of you have mentioned it in the comments, this is actually my third opinion! First Dr. Straus, then Dr. Manning, and finally Dr. Carmody. The first two brought up surgery, and the reason I switched to Dr. Carmody is that he is supposed to be one of the best back surgeons in Dallas.

Interestingly enough, before my MRI, Dr. Straus told me surgery was entirely too drastic and that PT was the way to go. After he saw my MRI results, there was no more talk of of PT, just epidural steroid injections or surgery.

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