Originally Posted by
RonH
Seems the doctors were a bit premature with their diagnosis about osteopenia. The bone density scan showed that the numbers are within normal limits for my age. I finally had an MRI last Thursday. The doctor called this morning and said I have spinal stenosis. I'll be seeing an ortho doc later in the week for whatever he has planned. I looked up spinal stenosis and it says that aerobic exercise
such as bicycling is good for it.
Went to the spine doc today. He looked at the MRI and suggested pain management rater than surgery. He said I'm in good shape for my age.
He said the surgery would not fix the problem. It would probably have to be done again in 3-5 years. He said I could do the pain management for 5 years or more. Then when I'm "old" and not as active as I am now we could talk about the surgery.
I was glad to learn that he is a cyclist. He has a Trek Madone carbon (don't know which model). He asked what bikes I had. He said the Litespeed, because it's titanium, is an excellent bike with a very comfortable ride and easier on the back and spine. He said the Cannondale isn't as comfortable and is harder on the back and spine. He said he did LOTS of research on bikes before selecting the Trek. Of course his budget is much larger than mine. I was looking at Trek prices. His bike was probably $6000+. My Cannondale was only $2200.
I told my wife and she said, "What else do we need to spend our money on." I've never been a fan of Trek. I always considered Trek to be like a Chevy. Everybody has one so there's nothing special about it. But I'll be thinking about it.
Anyway, I'll start the pain management and cross my fingers and ride my bikes.
Life is still good!!!