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Too Many Spine Issues

Posted: Jun 10th 2014 By: Mick Foley

Seeing Dr Maroon on WWE Monday Night Raw, talking about Daniel Bryan's neck surgery brought back some tough memories for me. About three years ago, I thought there was a surgical procedure that might bring me some relief, especially from the sciatic nerve pain that has been a constant part of my life for the past several years. Dr Maroon was set to perform the minimaly invasive surgery, and I had high hopes as I headed to Pittsburgh for my final pre-op appointment. But it was there, in Pittsburgh, that Dr Maroon, one of the top surgeons in the country spelled out the facts as he saw them. I'll never forget his words, "you've just got too many issues" - meaning that even with surgery, the other problems brought on by my particular style of wrestling were too numerous and complex for any one specialist to solve.

I wish I'd done everything I could to get healthy while I was still under contrract with WWE. The company was certainly willing to help me. But after the one-two punch of being told by two top brain specialists that I should never wrestle again, and Dr Maroon telling me that even neuro-surgery wasn't likely to be a cure for all that ailed me, I just kind of gave up. I just stopped believing that there was any hope I'd live a normal life.

Instead, I threw myself into becoming a performer of stories onstage, and began looking forward to my December visits as St Mick all year long. I don't escape from the pain in traditional ways like alcohol and pills. I escape every night when I have a chance to step onstage and share my stories with a crowd. It really doesn't matter if there are 100 people there, or 100,000; as long as I'm connecting with an audience and creating reactions, I feel like I'm back in MSG with 20,000 in the palm of my hand. And December is only 6 months away! Plus, I've got a choiropractor (Don Moore, formerly Dr Porter in FCW) who has both my legs almost the same length again, and I'm going to aswer the call of DDP Yoga one of these days! I may walk slowly, but I walk down my own path, to the beat of my own drummer..and enjoy the sights and smells of that less-travelled path.

To see if I'll be walking a path near your home, check out my EVENTS tab, right here on Facebook.