Dennis’ Extreme Obstacle Course Races Post Fusion

Back Story:

I am an athlete and my training routine would include things to maintain strength and flexibility. But as my issue was structural, there was only so much I could do. The pain was persistent and it affected my activities; I simply learned to cope. I would have periods where the pain would become bad enough to lay me up for a couple days and as I got into my late 30s and 40s, it gradually started affecting more of my day-to-day activities.

Treatment & Recovery

“He had evidence of severe spinal stenosis at C4/C5, C5/C6, and C6/C7. The stenosis was clearly bad enough to flatten his spinal cord, give him imbalance and loss of dexterity, and even cause progressive loss of strength. The arthritis and the compression of the spinal cord were clearly worse on the right side. He received anterior cervical fusion with decompression of the spinal cord and exiting nerve roots at C4/C5, C5/C6, and C6/C7.

Today

I remember waking up in recovery and noticing right away that all the neural pressure and pain were gone. I spent three days in the hospital recovering and instantly began adjusting to being pain-free. After 90 days, I was cleared to begin normal activities with caution. At six months out, I was back to weight training, running, and riding. I plan to run another series of Tough Mudder and OCR races this summer with my son and daughter.

Read Dennis’ full story.