The Slipped Vertebra: Spondylolisthesis Stories

Inside this volume

Fifty first-person accounts describe spondylolisthesis, a vertebra in the spine that has slipped forward over the one below. Some found it by accident on a shoulder X-ray; others were sent by cramping calves, a foot that would not lift, or eight years of calling it a bad back. Writers include a ward nurse, a bus driver of thirty-one years, a gymnast diagnosed at fifteen, a fast bowler in a brace, a hairdresser, a jeweller at his bench, farmers in Minnesota and Saskatchewan, a yoga teacher, two brothers with the same slip, and the parents of a twelve-year-old runner. They write from Denver to Dunedin, Lagos to Vienna. Treatments include physiotherapy, braces, injections, decompression and fusion, water therapy, weight loss, walking and watchful monitoring, and several chose not to operate. Pregnancy, night shifts, grandchildren, a two-year waiting list and surgery faced alone all shape daily life. Some returned slowly to the pitch or walked the Camino; others gave up contact rugby, running or bricklaying. Not every outcome is tidy: one fusion did not take and needed a second operation, a new slip appeared above an earlier fusion, and one man spent two years being told nothing was wrong.

Who it's for

For anyone newly told they have a slipped vertebra, parents of young athletes with back pain, people weighing up spinal surgery, and the partners and families who end up doing the lifting.

Format · Instant download · PDF & EPUB · Fifty first-person accounts · PDF: 239 pages

A collection of personal testimony, offered as companion reading — not medical advice.

• 50 single-author testimonies from real people
• A short, plain-language introduction to the topic
• Editor's note, contents page, and curated resource list
• Professional interior typesetting and an original cover

Every purchase includes a print-quality PDF (best for desktop, tablet, and printing) and a reflowable EPUB (best for Kindle, Apple Books, Kobo, and phones). Files are DRM-free. You can download both instantly from the order-confirmation screen, and we email them to your inbox as well, so your books are always within reach.