What does that mean? How Does that effect you?

It effects me in a great number of ways, some big and some small but there are a few I'd like to point out.

- I am in varying levels of pain 24/7 365 ranging from general discomfort to straight agony to the point I can't leave bed.
- I can still DO a lot of the things I could before I was considered disabled, however it puts me at great risk of further exaggerating the injury, and if nothing else causes me a great deal of pain in response to what I do outside of my recommended regime.
- I constantly switch between states of chronic fatigue, and insomnia. Being constantly in pain has weird effects on a person. Some days I sleep 12-18 hours, likely because the fatigue alone of being in pain is enough to wear my body out. Some days I sleep 0-4 hours, because if I'm in enough pain, sleep doesn't come
- I've lost some nerve response/function in my legs. While I can still walk (most of the time) I will occasionally limp or be otherwise off balance. I will forever be a fall risk.
- I will likely lose most if not all function in my legs at some point in my life, and I hope its later rather than sooner.

But it's only ONE disc, that's not enough to do all you're describing right?

Normally, you'd be "more" correct in assuming that, however due to the unfortunate nature of the care I was given by workman's comp, I wasn't given proper treatment for my injury for 8 months ~ 1 year after sustaining the injury, and in that time the injury was likely further exaggerated as no imaging was done, nor was it advised I "take it easy" and in fact was actually allowed to return to work within the following week because it was just labeled "Minor muscle strain". So unfortunately within that time it became chronic, and there wasn't much my Neurologist could do for me at that point (that the workman's comp insurance would pay for) other than adding a "spinal cage" and spinal fusion, and considering my age, my Neurologist HIGHLY advised against it and suggested pain management instead. In addition, after 3 years if care upon my final imaging appointment, my Neurologist in his words described it as "basically being devoid of an L5-S1 Disc entirely" and workman's comp court ruled it to be a permeant disabling injury.

All of that being said however, I don't let it keep me down. And this section was created PURELY for informational purposes. Sympathy, Guilt, or otherwise is not what I'm after. I get these questions a lot, genuinely and I'd rather have them in a public space rather than having to repeat the same stories over and over again.