From Herniated Disk to Disc Golf: A Return to Strength

Transcript

Welcome & Nyx’s Backstory

SPEAKER_03 0:00

My physical therapist uh uh decided that since I like to play disc golf, he could include like some exercises and stuff that would tie into that. And he gave me the green light to like start playing, not serious, but to just slowly start to ease into it um after like four weeks.

SPEAKER_02 0:19

Four weeks to start playing disc golf?

SPEAKER_00 0:22

Welcome to Bed Back and Beyond, sharing positive stories of recovery from serious back or neck injury. Your host is CK, a fellow champion who draws on her own experience with perniated disc surgery. Join her as she talks with others who have overcome the physical and emotional trauma of a painful injury. And discover for yourself how you can find hope and encouragement in recovery.

SPEAKER_02 0:51

Hi, Nyx. Thank you so much for joining me on this episode of Bed Back and Beyond. Before we dive into your injury story, how about you tell us a little bit about yourself?

SPEAKER_03 1:01

So I'm 44 years old. I've had surgery about two years ago. I had microdysquectomy and a laminectomy at L5S1. So I'm not really sure what I did. It had been an ongoing problem for I mean, I can remember my first back spasm in my early 20s. Uh and at the time, you know, I was like back in the gym in a day, you know?

SPEAKER_01 1:28

Yeah. Uh-huh.

Years of Spasms and First MRI

SPEAKER_03 1:29

Back. And uh, and then towards my late 20s, I started coming more and more frequently, uh, about like once a month, late 20s, early 30s. And um yeah, and it just kind of it was just sort of like a fact of life for me for such a long time. And I just thought, no way, I'm never getting surgery, I'll be fine, I'll be fine. And then in 2023, I'm not sure exactly what I did to cause it. Uh I did something to injure it and make it worse. And uh I couldn't, uh the only thing I could do was lay flat on my back for like what I had to I had to wait nine weeks to get into surgery, and it was it was miserable. I could, I mean, I was probably getting like maybe a thousand steps a day, and I'm a really active person.

SPEAKER_02 2:20

So when you were younger and you were having the back spasms, was it just your back or was it also down your legs?

SPEAKER_03 2:28

Uh yeah, I mean the the sciatica would accompany the back spasms pretty much every time.

SPEAKER_02 2:35

Oh, okay. So even that far back.

SPEAKER_03 2:37

Yeah, I'm sure it wasn't as pronounced as it was, you know, later on. Um I'm I'm sure it was just progressively getting worse. I used to be really into weightlifting and like bodybuilding and stuff like that. Um, when I was younger, probably around 19, I got really into working out. And then I mean, I kept doing that until really until the surgery. I was I would still go to the gym when I could and lift weights, but uh, had gotten to the point where I couldn't really squat with anything on my back or like really do a lot of leg exercises. And I I don't know what initially caused it. I have an idea. I think it happened when I was 15 in a skateboarding accident. I remember falling on my tailbone really hard, doing a I was doing a rail slide, and my my back came down like really hard on a concrete block, and I had a big bruise on my lower back for for a c a couple weeks, and I was walking kind of funny, like kind of like how you walk when you have a backspasm, you know, where your tailbone is sucked in, and so I think that might have been the initial injury, but I didn't really have any, like you know, when you're a teenager, you just kind of like snap right back and you're fine in a couple days. Um but I'm not I'm not really sure what caused it initially. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 3:55

At what point did you get an MRI to find out you actually had a herniated disc?

Fear of Surgery to Full Commitment

SPEAKER_03 4:00

Uh well in 2015, no, 2016, I got into a car accident. I definitely, you know, I had back spasm before that, but I hadn't had one for a while. And then I got into the car wreck, and then the very next day I had a really bad backspasm. I had to call into work for like a week or whatever. Guy who hit me, it was his fault. Ended up being a lawsuit. Um, I had a friend and his little baby was in the backseat uh when it happened. Um, luckily, they they weren't hurt too bad or anything because of the lawsuit. I had to go and get an MRI, I had to get an epidural, and it was like a big thing. Well, I got the MRI done then in 2016, and they said, Yeah, you've got a herniated disc, you know, you're surgical. And at the time, I was just like, No way, I'm not getting surgery.

SPEAKER_02 4:59

What made you feel that way about surgery?

SPEAKER_03 5:01

Um, I guess I didn't know anyone who had gotten the surgery, and uh just just scared, I guess. I I mean terrified of the of the thought of going under the knife, you know.

SPEAKER_02 5:16

Yeah, I remember when I was considering surgery for myself, so many people wanted to come up to me and say, Don't do it, you'll regret it. Like, oh god, leave me alone.

Early PT and Tailored Disc Golf Rehab

SPEAKER_03 5:25

Yeah, um, I don't regret it. Yeah, no, I don't regret it at all. I honestly wish I would have gotten it done sooner.

SPEAKER_02 5:32

A lot of people say that.

SPEAKER_03 5:34

Uh, because the recovery time, I mean, I took I took extra time off. They only wanted to give me six weeks off of work. I'm an aircraft mechanic, and um, and I told them that I wanted more time off and had to argue with them a little bit, but I started PT about three weeks after surgery.

SPEAKER_02 5:54

Oh, that's early.

SPEAKER_03 5:56

Yeah, I mean, I was like day one, I was walking. I remember I walked down to my stop sign and back uh uh in my neighborhood day one after surgery. I was I I've always been really active. I'm not scared to like get in there and do it. I just wanted to get started. And I knew that if they if they had a six-week timeline, um the doctor, then I knew that I had to start as soon as I could. And I talked to the I talked to the um physical therapist that I was referred to um by a previous physical therapist that I had seen that she kind of got out of taking insurance. Uh, she referred me to someone that did, and I talked to him on the phone and he said, you know, you can come in tomorrow if you want. So I decided to I just wanted to get started. And physical therapy went went really good. Uh he actually, my physical therapist, uh uh decided that since I like to play disc golf, he could include like some exercises and stuff that would tie into that. And he gave me the green light to like start playing, not serious, but to just slowly start to ease into it um after like four weeks.

SPEAKER_02 7:08

Four weeks to start playing disc golf?

SPEAKER_03 7:11

Yeah, like I wasn't um it was more just going out and hiking with my friends while they played and with a pack with a pack on, and I wasn't able to do a lot of backhand throwing, uh, but I could do like just forehand, which is more like a baseball throw.

SPEAKER_02 7:33

Yeah. Um do you mind just explaining what disc golf is for anyone who might not know?

Disc Golf 101: Gear and Technique

SPEAKER_03 7:38

Yeah. Um so disc golf is similar to ball golf. Um, so you there's uh there's a par on every hole, so you try to get under par on every hole. Um par par is usually in uh maybe I should I don't know. I I assume everyone knows what par means, but yeah number of shots you're supposed to get it in. Right. Um uh and instead of using uh clubs to drive the ball, you use um there's discs that are similar to frisbees, but they're it's kind of a misconception calling it frisbee golf.

SPEAKER_02 8:21

Like oh yeah, I was assuming it was a frisbee. It's not a frisbee.

SPEAKER_03 8:24

Well, it's made of plastic and it's shaped similar to a frisbee. They come in different weights, and there are essentially four different types of discs. There's a putter, which putters can be shaped, they're the most similar to a frisbee in shape. A putter is, and then there's a mid-range, which uh usually flies a little further than a putter, and then there's a fairway driver, which uh uh which has a sharper more uh angle on the rim. The putter is the closest thing to uh frisbee, it has kind of a um like a flat rim around it, and then um there are uh mid-range, uh which is kind of like a modified putter that flies further, and then there's a fairway driver, which has kind of a sharper rim on it, and then a distance driver, which has a really sharp, steep angle on it, and a um like a sharp rim. And like if you were to catch a distance driver like a frisbee, it would really hurt your hand, it would probably bruise it if someone threw at full speed and you caught it. Uh so and instead of throwing towards a hole like you would with a ball in golf, uh, you throw at a metal basket uh that has chains around it or on it that hang from it, um, and you try to get the disc into the basket.

SPEAKER_02 9:53

So is it essentially that same twist and throw like frisbee?

SPEAKER_03 9:59

Uh it's a lit it's a little different than uh so I played Ultimate Frisbee when I was younger and I thought I was okay at it, but um I when I first started playing disc golf, it was like embarrassing how uh I I couldn't throw it at all. So if you watch the pros, they kind of make it look really easy, but it's not easy at all. It's sort of um so if you're right-handed, you throw with your right hand, which would be kind of the opposite of like if you're golfing or throw swinging a baseball bat, you would lead with your left hand. When you throw a frisbee, you lead with your right hand. But it's the same motion, everything it's all in your hips and your legs and your lower body, and your arm is just or your hand is just holding the disc, and your arm is like releasing the disc, but your arm isn't really you're not using your arm to throw the disc, if that makes sense.

SPEAKER_02 10:52

Yeah, so far, so how long after surgery before you started doing the full movement again?

SPEAKER_03 10:58

Oh, maybe four months, five months.

SPEAKER_02 11:00

Holy cow, yeah. Did was it what did you have a mental block at all, or were you like were you still a little bit, a little bit at first?

SPEAKER_03 11:08

Um, and about seven weeks post op, I actually did have a pretty bad flare-up, and I thought that I re-herniated, and I was I was like really upset, and it wasn't uh from playing disc golf. Uh, I honestly have no idea what I did, and I it it was awful. And then we tried all different exercises, nothing was helping. Um, and we decided to try uh dry needling, and after two sessions of dry needling, it was like someone flipped a switch and I was back to back to normal. Yeah, and uh my my recovery progressed from there, and it was I was back to work in I think I took altogether because I had to wait nine weeks to get into surgery, it was about five and a half months off of work, so the recovery was about just under three and a half months. Um okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 12:07

I hear it all the time.

SPEAKER_03 12:10

I really wanted to take my time because I I have a fairly physical job at times because I'm an aircraft mechanic, so um, I can be in some pretty weird positions sometimes for a long time and right have to lift heavy stuff now and again.

SPEAKER_02 12:25

I hear it all the time. People have major flares at like the two-week mark. But then I don't know if you've noticed on the Reddit group, I'm seven to eight weeks after surgery and I feel terrible. I I have no idea what it is. Eight weeks after people are still still getting these random flares.

SPEAKER_03 12:41

Yeah, I you know what? Knock on wood, uh I haven't had a backspasm since then.

SPEAKER_02 12:47

Okay. And remind me when was your surgery?

SPEAKER_03 12:50

It was August of 2023. Okay. So it's been over two years.

SPEAKER_02 12:55

Two years, yeah. Any any other sports besides disc golf, or is that your main, usually just that.

Work Demands and PT for Return-to-Lift

SPEAKER_03 13:02

Uh depends on if I'm working overtime that week or not, but usually I I try to play at least three days a week.

SPEAKER_02 13:09

Okay. Wow.

SPEAKER_03 13:11

Yeah, uh, you know, I carry a backpack. Um full it usually I have about 20 discs in the backpack.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

And how much does that weigh?

SPEAKER_03 13:20

Uh well, it usually has like a 32-ounce water bottle full of water in it, and then some other accessories and stuff, and I don't know, maybe 10 pounds. They're it's fairly light. Uh well, it probably takes it probably weighs a little more than 10 pounds, but maybe maybe 15. Um it's not super light, it's kind of big too. You know, it has to be kind of clunky to hold hold the discs.

SPEAKER_02 13:47

So if somebody came to you and said, I don't want to get surgery because I'll never get back to doing the things I love.

SPEAKER_03 13:53

Yeah, I would definitely say uh surgery is the way to go. Um I'm actually um I am I I actually have a herniated disc at C7 in my neck, and I've been dealing with that for years, and it's just recently gotten to the point where I am uh I'm gonna get a disc replacement.

SPEAKER_02 14:16

Okay. Oh, all right.

SPEAKER_03 14:17

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 14:18

So can I have you back on once you get to this?

SPEAKER_03 14:21

Sure. Yeah, uh, yeah, no, I I'm happy I'd be happy to. Uh I I've a friend at work had two disc replacements in his neck at the same time, same surgery.

SPEAKER_01 14:31

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 14:31

And his recovery went really well.

SPEAKER_02 14:34

Okay, send him my way.

SPEAKER_03 14:36

Uh I will, I will. I'll uh let him know.

SPEAKER_02 14:39

Is that do you think that's from the the mechanical work that you do?

Neck Issues, Injections, and Next Steps

SPEAKER_03 14:43

I think that's part of it. I think uh I think it's been that's another one that just uh looking back, uh I realized that um I have I've had problems with it in the past and I just didn't realize that's what it was from. Um and it's um it's been like an ongoing thing, and I I just I had uh I actually had a neck spasm uh a couple months ago and it was like the first time that's ever happened. Um that's a terrible feeling. Uh it's not quite as bad as the lower back, but it's it's pretty bad.

SPEAKER_01 15:24

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 15:25

Um, I was actually at the end uh last four holes of a tournament, a disc golf tournament, and I don't even know what I did. I I went to reach over and pick up my backpack and sling it over my back, and I was like, oh my god, what was that? You know, yeah. But uh I feel better than I did when it first happened. Um, and I'm I'm getting an epidural later this week. So hopefully that helps.

SPEAKER_02 15:50

Okay, did you have one of those for your back?

SPEAKER_03 15:53

I had yes, I did. I had one for my back back in 2016, and I felt like it made it worse actually.

SPEAKER_02 16:01

I I've heard that for some for some people, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 16:04

Yeah, I had one in my neck back in like June, and it seemed to help. It took like a week to really start to kick in, but I really felt like it was helping for about six weeks, and then it was just like nothing.

SPEAKER_02 16:20

Yeah, I had one for my lower back, and it only worked for about two weeks.

SPEAKER_03 16:25

Oh, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 16:25

And that was like I need surgery.

SPEAKER_03 16:27

The uh the waiting for surgery, that was the worst, the worst time of my life, I think. For nine weeks.

SPEAKER_02 16:33

Can you uh do you mind sharing where do you live? Where are you from or what area?

SPEAKER_03 16:37

Um I uh I'm not from here, but I live outside of Louisville, Kentucky. Uh okay. The the native Louisvilleans would it's they it's pronounced Louisville.

unknown 16:49

Yes.

SPEAKER_03 16:50

Uh but I'm I actually grew up right outside of Cincinnati. In Kentucky, but right outside of Cincinnati is where I grew up. Um I just moved here for work. So okay.

SPEAKER_02 17:00

And why did it take so long to get surgery? Nine-week wait, you said?

SPEAKER_03 17:04

I don't know. I uh so there's all there are only like two hospitals near me that that I knew of at the time that were um like the two big hospitals. One of them is Norton Healthcare, and they have an it's called Norton Leatherman Spine Institute. And and that's where I ended up going. I called another hospital that we have in the area named it was like Baptist Health, and just to talk to a doctor, just to have an appointment with them was three months.

SPEAKER_02 17:39

Oh wow.

SPEAKER_03 17:40

Uh so I was able to get in in a few weeks. I was able to talk to a doctor at Norton, and I really liked him, and I think he did a good job. I mean, I'm happy with the remote.

SPEAKER_01 17:52

Sounds like it.

SPEAKER_03 17:53

Yeah, and um, and I talked to him, but he had a big wait list. I mean, and he was he was the I mean, I I got in to see him earlier than I could see anyone else in that um in that hospital system.

Surgeon Access, Waiting, and Relief

SPEAKER_02 18:08

Um was he neuro or orthopedic?

SPEAKER_03 18:12

Uh he was uh neuro, sorry.

SPEAKER_01 18:16

Okay, that's okay.

SPEAKER_03 18:18

Yeah, he he was a uh neurosurgeon, I believe.

SPEAKER_01 18:22

Okay.

SPEAKER_03 18:22

Uh yeah, his name is Dr. Charles Crawford. I don't know if uh you're allowed to say that or not. He did a he did a good job. So yeah, but I'm actually I'm going to a different doctor for my neck. So I'm just referral from a coworker, so and he doesn't do that anyway.

SPEAKER_02 18:42

So yeah. When I picked my surgeon, I went with Who Can See Me Fastest.

SPEAKER_03 18:46

I didn't know I was absolutely miserable. I I will I talked to the other hospital and they said it would be three months, and I was like, forget about it. And yeah. Um, but yeah, I couldn't work. I uh it was it was absolutely the worst. I'm I mean, I couldn't sit upright for nine weeks. Um ride home from surgery was the first time in over two months that I was able to sit upright in a in a chair. Um, you know, granted, I was on a lot of like drugs or whatever that they gave me after the surgery, but um just being able to sit upright was amazing, you know. Yeah, I I mean I would if we had to go somewhere, I would literally have to lean my chair flat. Like I would get into the passenger side with my wife, and if I had to drive somewhere, it was just excruciating the whole time. I was just yeah in so much pain. I mean, there was nothing I could do, like no position I could sit in that would make it go away.

SPEAKER_02 19:43

Yeah, it's it's absolutely the worst experience.

SPEAKER_03 19:47

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:47

Um, when you returned to work, uh so you were out of work for five months, is that what you said?

SPEAKER_03 19:53

About five and a half, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 19:55

Five and a half. Were you able to dive right back back in, or did you have to modify how you worked on the engines for a little while?

Daily Maintenance, Functional Training, and Mindset

SPEAKER_03 20:01

Um so they don't they don't allow us to have any sort of um like light duty. You have to be you have to be ready to go, you have to be able to lift uh one of the uh prerequisites is being able to lift at least 60 pounds above your waist. So that was part of my PT um program. He he had set up like these wooden boxes and he would slowly add weight like every week, like a couple pounds every week, and I would have to lift it up off the ground and put it on a shelf. Like, you know, at first it was waist height and then it was kind of chest tight, and then it was like above and and till I could get it like above my shoulders on a shelf. Um so I thought that was really good, real, really good, like tailored um program.

SPEAKER_02 20:56

Program, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 20:57

Yeah, and he had me do a lot of other things too, but that that one was definitely uh really helpful. That exercise, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:05

I think you're gonna surprise a lot of people back to disc off and lifting over 50 pounds.

SPEAKER_03 21:11

Oh, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 21:12

Short after surgery.

SPEAKER_03 21:14

We have to uh so we work on everything on the airplane, anything that breaks, we have to fix. Um doesn't matter what it is, and then we actually like when the planes land and they come they taxi into the gates. Um when they when they pull into the gate, we have to we have to plug the airplane in so that they can turn the the engines off and turn off the uh APU, the auxiliary power unit. Um and there's a there's a receptacle on the side of the airplane, it's it's by the nose gear, and we have to plug this big giant heavy cord. We drag it over from the the power station, and then we have to plug it into the the aircraft, and they weigh they probably weigh, I mean, the whole cord weighs a a lot, but just the part that we're like up, it's really heavy, and we have to get it up above like above our heads.

SPEAKER_02 22:13

Um I feel like I've seen that on space balls. Oh yeah, yeah, a giant plug that people are trying to plug in.

SPEAKER_03 22:21

Yeah, uh it's really hard to plug in. I mean, it's hard on hard on your neck and your shoulders, and it's so that was uh that's probably the one thing that like the one repetitive thing that we do at work that I was definitely like not looking forward to going back to doing, but it's been fine. Um yeah, other than the you know the problem with my neck, which is not related to right, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 22:46

So do you do any kind of um exercises now to just maintain a healthy spine?

Closing Thoughts & Listener Invitation

SPEAKER_03 22:52

Yeah, um, so there's there are a number of um exercises that my physical therapist gave me, and then there I I just kind of I'm you know, I'm not a qualified uh uh exercise scientist or anything, but um I found some exercises online and like kind of talked to my physical therapist about it. Like, do you think this would be good? Or you know, what about this exercise? And he might say, Well, do this instead. Um, and I've got a whole list of it's essentially like a yoga calisthenics kind of routine that I go through, like like a yoga sequence with some calisthenics mixed in there. And uh, I try to do that at least three to five days a week, and um definitely on days when I'm I know I'm gonna play disc golf, I've noticed that I play a lot better if I do that before I go. Yeah, um, it it just really limbers me up and like gets me moving a lot better. Um, and it's I I mean it's I wish that I would have been doing these exercises before instead of just like trying to go go to the gym and boost my ego and uh you know set personal records for uh you know, you do a lot of things when you're younger that you regret. Uh but I definitely don't know. I I think I might get back into to going to the gym, it just won't be like it used to be, you know. Yeah, I used to wait less function, yeah. Yeah, more function over uh form form, I guess, so to speak. You know, like I don't I don't care so much about the uh aesthetics and the pleasing my ego as much as I care about like just being able to function as a as a as a human being, especially the older I get, like just being able to do the things that I want to do, and you know that's awesome.

SPEAKER_02 24:57

Nick, I really appreciate you taking the time out to talk to me and share your story. I know there's gonna be people who really appreciate listening to you about uh getting back into sports, especially.

SPEAKER_03 25:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 25:08

Yeah, I see a lot of people like tennis, and I want to play tennis and golf, but they're scared to. And you jump right back in.

SPEAKER_03 25:16

Yeah, I mean, you know what? I've got another friend at work. I'll I'll see if he wants to um to do the the chat with you. He he got a disc replacement at L5S1.

SPEAKER_02 25:26

Oh, I would love to. I haven't had a disc replacement person on here yet.

SPEAKER_03 25:30

Okay. Yeah, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 25:32

All right. If you are a person with a positive story of recovery from a herdiated disc, head over to Edbackbeyond.com and click share your story. I would love to include your voice on the show. Once again, it was a real pleasure meeting you.

SPEAKER_03 25:47

Thank you.