I'm only 33, but I've had back problems for a while. Probably doesn't help that I am 6'6" as many of you know. And my old man has had 6 back surgeries, including his last one about 3 weeks ago.

I starting having nerve pain down the legs about 3-4 months ago. I was hoping physical therapy would help, but it actually made it worse. 5 weeks worth. But my insurance won't even cover an MRI without PT first.

So I figured it was time to get an MRI and I wanted it read by a really good neurosurgeon. I sell medical malpractice insurance (so I know a lot of docs and what to look for) and my old man has had two of his surgeries by a doc (Dr. Wirt) in Fort Collins. This doc has done well over 10,000 back surgeries.

I called on Tuesday of this week to see when I could get an appointment. Got lucky as they had a cancellation for the next day. So I talked to the doc for 10 minutes and he says, "Yep, seems like a disc issue, but we need an MRI to see what condition your back is in." He got my MRI scheduled for only an hour later. Called me yesterday and says, yep, you've got a pretty significantly ruptured disc (L5/S1). At this point, surgery is really the only option. Already got surgery scheduled for this upcoming Wednesday.

From what I understand, the procedure takes only about 20 minutes and the doc says I will hurt more on the ride up to Ft Collins than I will on the way home. I should have almost instant relief (which would be awesome)! He said I could get back in the gym in a week.

Getting tired of hurting like hell every time I pick up my 5-month old son. Wife is getting tired of having to pick up the slack too. And living on pain killers is no way to go. And this $hit keeps getting worse too!

I'm crossing my fingers it goes as well as it sounds like it will! Wish me luck.