I had back surgery at the ripe young age of twenty one. The back problems started when I was nineteen, seemingly out of nowhere. I still can’t pinpoint any event that could have triggered these issues.

The pain started as a sort of shooting soreness that ran down my leg whenever I stood up from a sitting position. After walking for a few minutes, the pain would subside. Over time the pain level and the amount of time the pain lasted increased to the point where I ended up with no where to go except the Emergency Room.

There was not much they could do, and the Emergency Room staff sent me home with a small script for painkillers and a referral to a back surgeon. At first the back surgeon and I thought it was sciatica, but an unsuccessful dose of steroids and an MRI later, it was discovered that I had a herniated disc pressing against my sciatic nerve.

I put off surgery for almost two years, clinging instead to Vicodin. It just wasn’t the right time in my life for surgery. And the pain, while annoying, was somehow bearable. (The doctor later told me that my herniation was so severe he was surprised I was even walking)

The scar on my back starts at around the bottom point on the photo above, and extends only about two inches upwards. Due to a post-operative infection, the scar tissue is slightly recessed rather than any sort of protrusion.

The doctor told me that there’s a fairly good chance that the same problem will happen again somewhere down the line. The first herniation occurred when I was so young, with seemingly no outside prompting or other health ailments. No reason why it wouldn’t randomly happen again.

All this picture makes me think of is vicodin.

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