Rearranging body parts

For the past six years I have been increasingly suffering from hip and leg pain caused by pressure on the lateral nerves where they pass through my spine at L4-L5.  The condition - spinal stinosis - is fairly common. This was further aggravated by a ruptured disk at the same location. For a guy who would like to fly fish rivers, hunt birds, run dogs, or ride a horse at a field trial, this is a significant limitation.

After attempts at relief, including physical therapy, flexing exercises, steroid injections, and acupuncture, the only relief I could get was from pain killers, which I become increasingly dependent upon for daily functioning. My excursions into the bird field were almost zero this season.

So, on November 12th, I checked into the Stanford Spine Center to undergo surgery - a "bilateral micro decompression" - by Dr. Todd Alamin. Surgery took about an hour and a half. I awoke and immediately realized that the pain in my hips and legs was gone. I am recovering from the small incision in my back and expect to be healed completely by year end. I am walking 5.5 miles every other day and in physical therapy to recover my former level of fitness.

Life is good again.