Hi everyone. My name is Iva, and I am 21 years old. I was a college soccer player, played for an NCAA D1 program and was a member of the Olympic development team as well as ranked #1 in the NCAA in saves as a goalkeeper one year. I am also a pre-vet major hoping to get over this back injury and be able to return to school and finish the courses I need to get into vet school. 

I first injured my back 5 years ago and had servere pain for a week and have had pain off and on until January. In January I was rehabbing my knee that I had reconstructed for the second time on the stairmaster. After I got off I knew something was wrong with my back. I had severe pain after that and soon found out that I had ruptured a disc (l5-S1) and had fragments in my spinal cord. I also found out I had DDD in that level and in L4-L5 and a protruding disc in that level too.

I had a disectomy/laminectomy in June, which cured my leg pain, and actually I was practically painfree for about a week after my surgical pain was almost gone. Then boom, I started having all my old pain plus more. Since that happened I have had 2 MRI's a Gallium scan, 2 epidurals, and a disc biopsy. Finally it has been decided that I have a rare condition called diskitis caused by my surgery. After farther testing they determined that it is being caused by the fact that my disc can not take the stress being put on it because of removed pieces. Nothing has worked so far and I am in a corset as a last chance to see if things will get better before a fusion is done. 
~Iva

Update:

Well, the corset didn't help me at all, I was put on duragesic patches to help control pain but they just made me really tired all the time. I was put on Roxanol, a liquid morphine which has helped my pain immensely and I actually feel almost normal again :) My doctor has said now that unless I want to be on narcotics all my life I have to have a fusion. So I agreed with him (i hate being on meds) and I am having a discogram to decide if I will need a one or two level fusion, then I am going to schedule it asap. I have been told that I have a 75% chance of being totally healed and even being able to play soccer again after the fusion. Well, that's it up till now :) Please e-mail me if you have any questions o want to chat :) 

Update:

On November 16th 1999 I had an Anterior L5-S1 fusion with BAK cages. I had some problems in the hospital, mainly because of the NG tube but after everything was out I started feeling "normal" again. Since than I have been improving steadily with very few setbacks except for increased pain when I overdo things still. I am starting school again in January and hopefully will be fused within a few weeks :)

Iva has been kind enough to offer anyone interested to e-mail her..

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