I have been checked to see if they could remove the hardware recently and around 10 years ago. They told me there was nothing they could do and it might make it worse. Even though the bottom of the rods move in me at least 4mm between flexion and extension, they said the fusion was stable. If they went in it would probably cause more damage to the tissues and may not help enough to be worth it. Trust me, it would feel better with them gone but to get them out might cause other issues. I also have two vertebrate out of place and three degenerative discs outside the fusion. They said that since I have so many other issues outside the fused area that they didn't feel it would be a good decision to do surgery. When my parachute collapsed around 70-90 feet, I hit the ground so hard the impact went from my spine through my ribs and broken my sternum. Every once in a while it will feel like I'm being stabbed in the chest and the knifes being twisted. Of course the VA won't acknowledge there's a problem with my sternum since they can't see anything in the imagery but you can grab my sternum and bend it around and freely move. it.
I worry less about the juice inside a melon and the water they use than I would drinking a cup of water from the tap with fluoride and chlorine. Plants will filter many things out but you do have to be careful with pesticides and chemicals. I don't eat anything that I don't make from scratch and the water from where I get my melons from is far less of a concern than that of anything that comes in a box. Try reading the ingredients on a package of food and I'll be amazed if most people even knew what 10% of the ingredients are.
I haven't met anyone that has put as much research into living with spinal injuries and pain as I have. There's been people that specialize in certain areas and know a great deal within that subject but not as open minded and willing to do what ever it takes to be as pain free and functional as possible. I do an hour of exercises for my back each day to keep my joints flexible and loose which makes a huge difference. I know the specific types of exercise that will benefit and hinder, the exercises I do are not recommended by my physical therapists but I know by how it makes me feel that it's beneficial. I'm willing to eat however makes me feel the best and give up anything that doesn't. I monitor my activity and make sure I don't over work myself causing more injuries and take time to recover when I need to. I don't take any pills at all and let my food be thy medicine. I use an assortment of back braces and have different ones for different things. I also use some other modalities depending on the occasion including cupping, Dolphin Micro Current Stimulation pin point(not a TENS), H-Wave electrical stimulation patches (not a TENS), Cannabis for extreme pain only vaped not smoked, and a lotion made from cannabis that will melt away just about any pain you can imagine with no psychological effects, and the latest thing I'm looking into is cold lasers. I've also looked into stem cells and know some quadriplegic ladies that have had treatments and can now walk with assistance for short durations and starting to gain slight movement back in there hands.
DSix36 I would suggest looking into stem cell treatments. They can harvest stem cells from your fat and bone marrow and then inject it back into the system to repair any damage within the body. I don't know as much about this other than I've seen the results from some people I met at the VA wheel chair games and the results were impressive.
The bottom screws are supposed to be connected to the rods just like the top screws are connected. they are 1/2" away from where they should be.
