By the way, Curtis, he won't be using a neck brace. Unlike your operation, his was done at the other end of the spine. Alex suffered a broken vertebrae (pars fractures) in his lower back while playing football in the sixth grade. At the time the doctors had hoped that, with rest, the breaks would fuse on their own, but this didn't happen and continuing pain (compounded by a herniated disk) finally made the surgery a necessity.

The good news is that the surgeon said that spinal fusion surgery with this type of injury has a 95% likelihood of success, with only a minor reduction in flexibility.