do not have back fusion surgery until you have exhusted every single option you have.

i have been through two back surgeries from degenerative disc disease, the pain never went away it was greatly reduced and my life continued.as the years went by the pain,

the spasms started to become worst than ever before.i was told i needed back fusion

surgery.L3-L4,L4-L5,L5-S1. i wanted a second opinion and went to another surgeon and

was told the same thing.i know people who had back fusion and they all said don't let them do it, try everything you can before the back fusion.i went back to pain meds,had pain blockers injected into my spine.started physical therapy,three bilateral upidural spinal

steroid injections and the pain and spasms got so bad i could not get dressed without

screaming from the pain and my left leg could not handle my weight 148 lbs.and started limping.my pain meds were increased hrdrocodone 5mg to 10 mg plus oxycotin 20 mg and

i was still screaming in pain and could only sleep for 2-4 hours a night.then i read in the

rocky mountain news about a breakthrough in reducing back pain. it was called spinal

decompression an a machine called the drx 9000 and has worked wonders for some people.i went in and talked with the doctor and the people in there to see if it really works and was told it really has made a big difference in there lifes and they did not need

there pain meds anymore. so i gave it a try. let me tell you when i was straped in and

they started streching me the pain was reduced by 75% it lasted 4 hours and everything

started returning. i was told this is normal.i started dec.-4-06 three to four times a week

right up to april 2007 then i became deathly sick, fever 101,sweets, chills,hot and cold

whole body aches and very weak.they gave me antibiotics finished the whole bottle and

was getting worse, went back this time my head felt like i was hit with a baseball bat.

my doctor took seven big tubes of blood and i had to sign papers to have these tests

done three days latter the tests came back and was told i have acute west nile virus and

 there is no cure for it.we are now in may-2007. i felt like i was going to die. between the

 back pain and the west nile virus i could not sleep,could not walk,eat food or hold the food down.then in october 2007 not any better my left leg was getting numb pins and

 needles they took me for a mri with injection and a ct scan and was told i needed surgery right now, still sick from west nile virus they took me to the hospital and they did

the back fusion surgery. L3-L4-L4-L5,L5-S1. it is now october 13-2008 and the west nile

 virus or the effects of west nile virus is still driving me crazy and my back is still killing me twice as bad and now both of my legs are throbbing with pain, burning like they are on fire and spasms from my lower back down to my toes.they increased the oxycotin to

40mg twice a day they put me on lyrica which did nothing, then on requip which did nothing,then on mirapex same thing nothing. i have the tens unit external which helps a little. they want to cut me again to put in a temporay internal tens unit to see if it will help and if it does they cut me again to put it in permanent.one of my friends had that