Surgery ?

We met with the Dr. who showed us the MRI. All the discs except the second one from the bottom are sharp and crisp, just as they should be. But the second disc is fuzzy mush. Even to the untrained eye it is obvious that it is not right.

The doctor says his disc has degenerated a lot from last year when Richard first went to see him. He gave him three options; to do nothing, have a series of ESIs (Epidural Steroid Injection) to reduce the inflammation and help with the pain, and/or do surgery. Dr. Powell said he can do a minimally invasive procedure to fix the disc.

Obviously, doing nothing, is not the answer. He's to go in for his first ESI this morning and wants the surgery for a permanent fix. Richard told him he doesn't want to come back every six months to a year for injections and have to baby his back in between. If there's a fix he wants it done. And he wants it done while we've still got company insurance. So, depending on how many injections, how often (once a week or every two weeks depending on the relief he gets) and when the doctor can get approval from the insurance company he's looking at surgery, probably, after the first of the year.