My name is Jim, and I was injured on the job seven months ago, I ruptured the S1 disc between L4 and L5. I am bieng covered by workmans comp. at this time, and they have sent me to several differrent doctors, and a couple of back specialists, and seven months of PT. I'm told that I have a severe back injury, and its my decision to have more pt., surgery, or to try to live with the pain. I'm only 39 years old and have a young child and a wife that I'm resopnsible for, I'm afraid of making the wrong decision on my back and on my and my familys future. I am happy with all the different doctors and workmans comp. and I trust them, but I can't seem to get the information that I need to make this important decision. The Information I'm looking for is what are the realistic risks of not having surgury, or having a fusion performed, or replacing the disc. When I ask the specialists and doctors about which way is the safest and best for me they tell me its my decision to make. I'm not a doctor and don't know much about this type of injury, I have looked into it on the internet, and I start to get lost because I don;t understand the complicated language used by the people in this proffesion. Can someone please help me understand what the ramifications for each scenario and in language that I can understand on this decision? Thank you,
Jimken