Pcad, its funny, the doc used the term 'blown disc' but did not use the term ruptured. He is not doing any imaging until nest week, because he said it would be more useful then, and said I probably wouldn't be able to lay still long enough for an MRI right now, given the pain I'm in.
He seemed to think it was the nerve endings around the outside of the disc being irritated that is causing the pain. He doubt's surgery will be necessary or useful, as people who have surgery usually do no better than those who don't. I think the surgery in this case would be reserved for a situation to prevent damage to the nerves.
He seems like a very knowledgeable and good orthopedist. He listened carefully, understood everything I told him about my profession and gear, and he understood the road biking very well. He inquired what model road bike I was riding, mileage, etc.
He seemed confident I will be road biking again, but said this is a condition I will always have to manage in my life. I asked if being a road bike position will a problem and he said no.
He made it clear that if I lay in bed for six months I would still be hurting, but if I exercise and keep it active it will heal much more quickly, so he is an advocate for mobility, as much as possible, as soon as possible, so I think we are on the same page. He said 2.7 days is the average before people start rehabbing, and suggested as soon as I am ready to start walking the neighborhood with my walker, respecting the pain.
I am hoping that the pain will start fading rapidly during the first week, but right now I look like, and feel like, a cripple.
I have been very tight and inflexible over the last couple years, and my upper body is not nearly as strong as my lower body. Therefore, my goal is to work a lot more at my flexibility, and to strengthen my upper body much more so I have a more balanced muscular-skeletal structure. I am going to start using dumbells in the house, when I am able to, and then graduate to some other resistance training later on.
I will definitely ask him about an inversion table and whatnot, and when I get to the PT phase of my recovery, I will seek out the best sports medicine PT people I can find.
I am just hoping that I don't get any real bad news from the imaging next week. I don't want to be in pain in my typical road bike position, and I will do everything I can to get to that point.
Thanks for the well wishes, all of you. I am really bummed and deflated about this and it does make me feel a lot better to hear your encouragement.
(BTW, the slightly bulging disc that had given me some problems in the past was L5-S1. I was also told by two different PT's that I have a slightly immobile sacrum, so in th past they have had me work on that flexibility. My though is the stiff sacrum contributed the the irritation of that disc, and this one feels like it is in the same region...probably the same disc.)