[madmmac]

Man this is all too familiar.

Got fired from a desk job in my early 20's from what they said was due to a birth defect in my back. Union fought it but since I could not pass the entrance physical, there was not much they could do about it.

20 years a United Steelworker and the last 12 years as a software developer my lower back has always hurt. Some days a lot worse than others. A couple of months ago it was hurting a lot more than normal and it was just not getting better like it usually did after taking it easy for a while.

Took my yearly physical and told the Doc, he ordered some x rays and sure enough a couple of fractures. He called it Spondylolisthesis. 2 vertebrae are rotated forward and down. 1, way worse than the other. Still doing the physical therapy 2x a week and my back has settled back to where the pain level is normally at. That is a good thing, normal pain.

I really think I did it in Junior High when I went up to block a shot on a fast break and my hand got stuck in the net for a second and my feet flew out from under me and I landed on my a$$ and head at same time. They were more concerned with my head because I was knocked out for a little bit. But my back started to hurt after that.

I'll be watching this and see if you go the surgery route. I have not made that decision yet but may start leaning that way if I hear some positive results.....Best of Luck.