Well I am a younger guy (32) with a lot of back problems. Problems I never expected to deal with at this age. I am at a point where they are really flaring up again, so I am going to use my blog as a pain journal. I am scheduled for surgery on May 14th, so this will also catalog the events leading up to the big day and the experience of post-op.

I read a lot of message boards/forums with people who are going through back troubles and often the information is discouraging. I have a theory there are more people whose experiences have been negative are posting than people whose situations have worked out. Now, there are certainly a lot of good people out there who I have gleaned a lot of great info from, but I often get depressed reading these forums. I think the people whose situation have worked out move on with their lives after their surgeries and aren’t heard from again. A few common types of postings I see:

“It’s been [number] weeks/months/years since my [fill in blank] surgery and the pain in my leg/back/hip is worse than ever.”

Or

“I’ve tried everything and I just give up, so I take x drug x times a day and live with it.”

I feel for these people. A lot of them have been dealing with problems for a long time and are in a much worse situation than I am. I read a lot about people going in for spinal fusions being fused at multiple levels. Ouch.

Anyhow, I’ve joined a back pain support message forum and I am seeing a lot of great advice from them. I hope to stay involved with that community and post a lot more information here about my situation.