Update on the back situation

Ok. We've seen the specialist again, and there has been no improvement from the nerve block injection that Mark had. So the next step is surgery.

We've been advised that the surgery will almost completely fix the pain that Mark experiences down his leg, but may not do much for the actaul back pain. This is because the back pain is more of a deflated disc issue - sort of like a dodgy shock absorber! The disc is really only half the height it should be so it doesn't flex as much as a good disc should. But this pain may very well be manageable when the leg pain is removed from the equation. Or not. Which means that down the track, other treatment may be required.

So the rundown we have been given is that surgery will mean 3 days in hospital, discharge by ambulance to home because he won't be able to sit for long distances in the car, 4 weeks of no activity, next 4 weeks would be starting to get back into it, the 4 weeks after that would be moderate activity and then by the 12th week, he should be right. If the surgery happens around the middle of November, this will set Mark up for some of the fire season (because let's face it....it really doesn't get hot and horrible until mid February), and also the start of baseball season (!).

We'll see.......