Conditions + Treatments
Degenerative Disc Disease
I suffered with chronic back pain for nearly 20 years. I served a number of years in the U.S. Army, and when I left the military I went to work for the railroad.
My typical workday includes driving 2 hours to and from work, and spending 13+ hours sitting while I perform my job at the railroad. So altogether, I spend close to 17 hours every day just sitting. Over time my back pain went from being an irritation to very painful and debilitating.
Around 2 years ago, I my pain started getting much worse. It got so bad and to the point where I had a hard time tying my own shoe. The pain in my lower back and left leg was simply unbearable, so I decided to see someone about it.
I scheduled an appointment with Dr. Andrew Cordover in late August, 2018. I didn’t want to mask the pain I was feeling with medicine, therapy or anything else. I knew I wanted surgery because I no longer wanted this pain.
After meeting with and being examined by Dr. Cordover, he told me I had a degenerative disk between lumbar 5 and sacral 1. He offered other treatment plans besides surgery, such as spine blocks or chiropractic care, but my symptoms were too troublesome to just live with. I had been living with it for close to 20 years and I simply didn’t want to anymore.
After discussing the various treatment options, Dr. Cordover and I decided to proceed with ALIF surgery. Dr. Cordover explained to me that he would remove the degenerated disk between L5 and S1, put a wedge in between them and fuse them together.
On September 17, 2018, I went into surgery and here I am now, 3 weeks post-op and I feel amazing. I am already starting back into the gym (slowly but surely) and trying to push myself the best I can.
Dr. Cordover and his team did an incredible job and I can’t thank them enough for what they did for me!
