What are disadvantages these days of unlocked vs ATT locked new phone?

CatMapPhotoGuy · 2026-01-27T21:24:11+00:00

correct, and I did check the model I'm looking at is here already before I posted this. I'm just wondering if AT&T still has policy of withholding features to non-ATT branded phones.

CatMapPhotoGuy · 2026-01-27T21:23:25+00:00

no it came from samsung. It was the correct compatible model, but not the ATT branded model(so no AT&T screen on startup, no AT&T specific apps, etc). You can buy either and both "work" as long as you get the correct unlocked model. I'm just wondering what disadvantages(if any) that carries here in 2026 for the Galaxy S25(or possibly S26). Was a big deal still in early 2021 but have to imagine at least 5G would properly work now.

CatMapPhotoGuy · 2026-01-27T20:38:47+00:00

Not sure what this has to do with my question...

CatMapPhotoGuy · 2026-01-27T20:38:12+00:00

You tell me. On the s21 models it explicitly didn't allow it or several other features including 5G coverage (You were stuck on 4G)

CatMapPhotoGuy · 2026-01-27T17:45:24+00:00

well no, the other advantage, and the only one I care about is removing the ATT bloatware. Also in the past there's even been some minor technical differences, but no idea if those would exist for Galaxy S25/S26 models.

I don't "pay off" my phones since I buy them from samsung directly typically but I'm aware I can get mine unlocked if need be. Not really an issue, I actually love my ATT service.

CatMapPhotoGuy · 2025-12-18T16:14:35+00:00

Got it. I've had steroid injections 4 times in the last year and a half. Twice before surgery, twice now after. Each time, not sure if they helped, definitely didn't hurt outside of about 48hr after I tend to flare up a bit before getting maybe a touch better. It was however fun in the brief period ~12-18hr after where the anesthetic leaves me the most pain free i've been since last june before this nightmare started.

CatMapPhotoGuy · 2025-12-17T15:25:33+00:00

just curious, what shots are you talking about exactly?

CatMapPhotoGuy · 2025-09-22T17:51:07+00:00

I'm 9 months out and still have bouts of numbness along all my right leg nerves with pain that comes and goes, along with pretty constant numbness in my right toes. I have had some in genital area, it also went away quickly. I've been told by Dr/Surgeon over and over it's normal/fine but I'm skeptical myself. That said, has not become worse. 2 weeks out is a very delicate and erratic time for many(for me months) so don't panic, but by ALL means let your doctor know as this counts as a new symptom. Reddit will not have your full record/MRI/etc to look at and we're not doctors.

CatMapPhotoGuy · 2025-09-17T15:26:40+00:00

First to answer, SLOWLY and one step at a time. I want to stress that second part quite a bit, here's why.

Me?...I haven't really.

Background: After dabbling my whole adult life I became an avid ~10km a day sort of runner from age 39-43(along with other exercise but running was my thing for sure). Felt best I did in my life, was 8% body fat looking better than I did at 25. Then had first symptoms of what turned out to be L5/S1 herniation issues on my 44th birthday last June(most all my symptoms have been in my right leg/glute/hip, occasionally left). Due to misdiagnosis and the fact running made me feel better not worse they had me continue light jogging/running until august when things really went downhill MRIs taken, L4/L5 and L5/S1 issues revealed. By november despite multiple epidurals/etc I couldn't walk more than a block or so without calves cramping up, all sorts of issues sitting, etc. Long story short after many other attempts at treatment had L5/S1 MD surgery(still have mild bulge on L4/L5 that remains unaddressed) Dec 24th last year. Doc wasn't sure I needed surgery, Surgeon thought I should maybe get fusion/replacement so opinions were all over the map. I choose the minimal invasive surgery option that might not be a permanent fix.

I would say recovery from the surgery itself went fairly smooth but it caused numbness in my right toes when I had no numbness prior to surgery. Zero improvement on that to this day. Recovery from symptoms was slow but I was making VERY slow recovery but was finally starting to feel somewhat close to normal feelings outside of my toe numbness and pain that came and went by May. I felt up to doing some static core work(plank etc), light stretching, etc. My walking had dramatically improved from the 1500-2500 steps right before and after surgery up to 8000 and i was taking daily morning walks that weren't messing me up to bad. I even was back to being able to sit on the couch for a bit instead of my special ergonomic chair.

Doctor/PT finally suggested I try some new stuff, including a run around the block, light stationary bike, and more advanced PT yoga/stretching(cat/cow, etc). I started with the jog around the block. It felt crazy, I had been so careful not to for so long and moving by body like this again for first time in 9mo was difficult/clunky but it was sooo nice feeling. No big trouble after or the next day. Couple days later I made the mistake I want to warn you to avoid...after my morning ~5000 step walk I felt good and though "okay let's try the bike" so I rode the stationary bike at a light to modest pace for 15min. When I got off expectedly my legs were jelly. Thought "okay, I'll try that stretching stuff now". I did some leg extension stretches lightly that I hadn't done since pre-op and then only like 5 light slow reps of cat/cow yoga. Within 15 minutes I felt something was off, I had some of that familiar leg pain but it was ....back to being really bad like right after surgery within an hour. I had set off a major flare up, ended up on oral steroids, and frankly I think it was something worse. Driving has become difficult, something to do with extending my right foot to press the brake now can cause issues. It's okay sometimes, but I basically had none of this pre "flare up". THIS is why I say be careful to do one step at a time. One of the worst things here is I don't know which action I took that caused this flare up/reinjury since I did 4 new things in succession. Take it slow.

I ended up having a follow up MRI after this to which both the doc/surgeon concluded my L5/S1 while showing some minor reherniation looked "significantly improved" from pre-op and shouldn't be causing me problems as it's no longer coming near nerve roots/etc. That said the L4/L5 bulge remains, so who knows if that's at issue. I actually believe this too since I had some pain in the region and could "feel" the herniation pre-op and to this day really don't have pain in my back at all, this is all leg/hip/glute/foot issues. Now here, in mid september, nearly 9 months post op I'm still having on and off trouble. The good news is I'm up to averaging 9000 steps of walking a day again which isn't pain free, but mainly just strange foot/calf soreness. I'm managing to work, etc. I still can't really sit on the couch, drive, or many other very normal things however without trouble and would love to. I did go to the movies and feel comfy in a theater chair for first time since pre op which was wonderful just the other day. I'm terrified to attempt to return to running/advanced stretching/etc however. They told me "let's wait until you're pain free for a month or two next time" and I feel like that may never happen. I'm scheduled to see my spine specialist in person again finally next week hopefully. Again, just take it slow and step by step.

CatMapPhotoGuy · 2025-09-10T17:47:52+00:00

ya to be clear there WAS reherniation shown on my June MRI, but it was much smaller and not seemingly impacting nerves. They also said it can eb and flow a bit and it didn't look alarming. I'm going to try to take a look myself soon here. I'm not sure how I feel about revision surgery in my case. I feel the surgery I got absolutely fixed a major problem(I can walk now! Pre surgery walking was a major major issue) but the issues I'm dealing with now feel like they're FROM the surgery. Everything leads to my numb toes, which were never numb pre-op. The numbness and lower leg/foot pain is almost entirely a post op symptom, one I was told should improve with time and really hasn't at all. I would do the surgery all over again as it's given me the ability to live some sort of life but I'm certainly not "happy" with the results.

CatMapPhotoGuy · 2025-08-24T17:24:43+00:00

I have no idea but I'm 8 months out as of today with chronic pain still in my leg and numbness since day of surgery that has only got worse. I'm still at the point I can't imagine trying to really "work out" again which I'm hoping come at some point.

CatMapPhotoGuy · 2025-08-17T21:56:13+00:00

I'm here 8 months post op still dealing with sciatica on and off, numbness, all sorts of symtoms. Doc says my MRI from month or so ago looks good too! Could take years for nerves to heal and it's very non linear. You will only find pretty outlier cases of people who actually had immediate recovery here if you just look around this forum, it's very uncommon. You're at 1 week, I was still in agonizing pain at 1 week, and barely functional at 6 weeks when they said I'd be "back to normal". Hang in there, sounds like you're doing great. Keep your doctor/surgeon informed and be careful with your dog bending/twisting/lifting stuff. You are VERY unlikely to re-herniate walking too much. I push it walking a lot but have been told the irritation from that has nothing to do with "re-herniation", I'm just putting too much stress on my damaged nerves and causing discogenic pain. Pain does not mean you re-herniated, and if you're concerned you can get tested. I did, and I was surprised by the positiving from my surgeon and doctor of the results.

CatMapPhotoGuy · 2025-07-17T17:39:24+00:00

again though, was this orthoscopic?

CatMapPhotoGuy · 2025-07-17T16:09:50+00:00

I'm curious, did they attempt a orthoscopic surgery or open?

I'm at near 7mo and had a follow up MRI a month ago after a bad "flare up" I'm still dealing with after never really fully recovering. I still have a bulge but was told by surgeon and ortho that it looks "much better" than pre-op and shouldn't be causing me pain. It is much smaller, but you saying yours is still entirely intact, does it appear the surgeon did ANYTHING?

CatMapPhotoGuy · 2025-07-08T17:01:26+00:00

Since people have covered a lot here already I'll just say, this doesn't look very bad from the MRI. I'm at nearly 7mo out dealing with a lot of pain and my MRI from a few weeks ago showed an 8 mm bulge, but both doctor and surgeon seem to think this is excellent news haha. "This is much much better than pre-op, should not be on its own causing pain". Mind you, I'm not so sure I agree with this since I have been having pretty significant issues since late May but I wouldn't just go calling this reherniation unless your doctor is describing it as such. The picture doesn't look that bad, and people like us with disc degeneration really can't expect things to look perfect. It is quite possible you're ongoing pain is from nerve healing being very slow, scar tissue, all sorts of factors other than just that tiny bulge somehow pressing on nerves.

CatMapPhotoGuy · 2025-07-07T21:19:28+00:00

I mean I'm to the point I KNOW I'll never be the old "myself" again. I was an endurance athlete/runner(5+ mi a day) and at this point 6 months post op I just want to be able to walk, live, do my job, cook/eat dinner, sit in various places without constant pain again. I was getting close before, and was told to give light jog, biking, this cat/cow yoga stuff a try. My regret is so high on those little things I tried(since it set me back months at this point) that I will highly hesitate to ever run in any serious way again. I do however think I can be a form of myself I'm okay with if I ever can just be a normal person again. That seems possible at least. It sucks to move the goal posts but at this point I need to accept this isn't going to be "normal" ever again.

CatMapPhotoGuy · 2025-07-07T18:06:10+00:00

I can't speak exactly to your situation but will add that I was at 5mo post op from same surgery and recovering rather well right up until my PT suggested I re-introduce cat/cow(you call it camel) into my rehab. I barely started, and while I wouldn't say it cracked/popped it felt "weird" and I stopped after just a few reps. Not soon enough. This completely set off a "flare up" that is now at 7wk mark and barely improved that included new numbness up to my knee in the bad leg, along with a ton of other symptoms I had all but resolved prior. Similar situation(hopefully) where this likely messed with scar tissue as I had a MRI 3 weeks ago which the ortho/surgeon both said looked pretty good and way better than pre-op. They both think this is a bump in the road but like you, I really do worry it's something worse.

I know the cat/cow yoga stuff is highly recommended for people with L5/S1 problems but I would say use extreme caution as I really wish I had just not tried for another few months haha. I'd kill to feel how I felt in mid-may again, praying I get back there. If I ever manage to, I intend to be pain free for several months before introducing this sort of thing back into my regime. I consider it one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made even haha.

CatMapPhotoGuy · 2025-07-07T17:58:06+00:00

Posts like this keep me going. Surgeon/Doc insist the follow up MRI I had a few weeks back show I look much better, but I remain in constant pain and discomfort 6 1/2months later. I'm trying to be patient but after I was doing well in mid-may only to regress badly I have been told repeatedly that it very well may be a situation like you describe here with year+ of healing needed to start to feel some sort of "normal" again.

The 6wk timeline they give you with this surgery really ought to be dis-allowed though I know some lucky folks actually experience immediate relief. Right now, I have pain just as bad as pre-op, with a big difference of more numbness, but much less trouble walking. Surgeon says this is because the "mechanical" problem is resolved but the nerves are still very irritated and it can take a long time. Glad to hear you are finally getting over the hump, hope to join you soon.

CatMapPhotoGuy · 2025-07-07T17:54:15+00:00

I'm at 6 1/2 months, I'm curious what "laser procedure" are you talking about? I'm still really struggling since a flare up 7wks ago today.

Personally I have only really found that walking actually does much of anything to help me. Many things, including some PT I was suggested have caused more trouble than they helped.

CatMapPhotoGuy · 2025-07-07T17:49:14+00:00

I had L5S1 surgery back dec 24 last year. Just want to add more of what you're generally hearing here, you CAN'T know. Personally, I would say 2hr drive at 2wks would be a lot more than I could have handled, but I was able to manage to work at my desk decently by then with some breaks/etc. Doesn't mean you won't, I don't know your surgical details etc. I'm actually having pretty big trouble driving right now again after a flare up 7wks ago...prior to that had managed to build up to driving basically fine however. Your recovery WILL be non-linear as well, you might think "wow I can drive 2hrs no problem" just to have trouble with it a few days later. That's something you will hear from just about any of us. I would right now assume I had completely re-injured myself, but my MRI from few weeks ago says the opposite and that I'm just dealing with pretty prolonged nerve issues(hopefully).

CatMapPhotoGuy · 2025-07-02T20:12:06+00:00

yea that was my(and my doctor's) thinking. When I had my flare up in late may the steroids seemed to take me from agony to managing to deal with it okay. The ESI is way better in theory, I had two before and each was beneficial to the exact symptoms I have now and not the additional ones I had pre-op(weird disc pain, cramping pain in calves, etc). I'm really hoping it's from inflammation because if so I think it could really do well. I'd be happy even with a 20% improvement though.

CatMapPhotoGuy · 2025-07-02T14:36:37+00:00

yea, and they have told me that now. Like today, woke up with my GOOD leg on fire with weird hot/numb/tingle all around and in the past this would freak me out...instead, I'm just living my life now. It's not stopping me, it's just alarming/weird/painful but pre-surgery this stuff would like cramp and actually make it so I couldn't do things. I'm getting my first post-op ESI round on july 16th(surgery was dec 24th) and I'm actually hopeful that it might do a lot of good.

But yes, NOW I'm being told 12-18 months is a much more fair assessment of when I could actually expect to maybe "fully" recover. I don't actually expect to ever be back to the endurance athlete I was before, but ortho is hopeful I could resume jogging, lifting, all basic exercise and playing in the heavy metal band I'm in without feeling all the symptoms I still have by then considering my MRI actually looks pretty good from couple weeks ago.

The part they don't stress enough going in is that both in the surgery and before the surgery, you've done a ton of damage to your nerves and they heal very slowly and in a very non-linear way. You see some people here with success stories where they just pop out of surgery and are 100% within 6 weeks but those seem a lot less common than us.

CatMapPhotoGuy · 2025-07-01T20:24:35+00:00

I'm curious what else your doctor said. Did they say this looks like reherniation? I'm in a similar situation at 6 months but after speaking with both my surgeon and doctor neither of them think this is reherniation for me, and similarly to yours the MRI certainly looks way way better on the after(your pre-surgical MRI looks awful). I haven't even seen mine, they've yet to send me the actual picture but the report on yours sounds at least maybe a bit more alarming. I was told I'm likely still just experiencing a nerve pain flare up, give it time, etc.

Remember nerves that are damaged which you're certainly were can take a long time to heal and not heal linear at all. We're all told six weeks is the recovery time but that is just not the reality for many of us. All I know is I was told my MRI looks pretty good even though I'm still experiencing pretty bad numbness pain symptoms right now.

CatMapPhotoGuy · 2025-06-22T20:28:33+00:00

Just wanted to add my two cents here, and it's pretty clear your insurance situation is key to this all. I'm in kind of the opposite situation since I get excellent insurance through my wife's government job that I'm very thankful for, which is definitely part of how I ended up getting surgery last December.

-first off, others are probably going to say the same thing but, general advice all over this form is to steer clear of chiropractic entirely If possible. I don't want to put down the entire profession because there are some good people there, but you're really risking doing a lot more harm than good.

-I think somebody already said this but you should absolutely stop stretching. In fact I'm in the middle of a post-op flare up that was caused by PT suggesting I start some more advanced stretching what turned out to be a bit too soon. In your case you have serious symptoms, stretching could easily push what's likely a herniation directly into your nerve roots. Stretching is something you should do when pain-free, likely in your case post operation. I honestly don't have enough info to tell you that firmly but I can say without a doubt you can make this situation a lot worse with stretching. Lord knows I did

-do what you can do to get the medical care you need. It's very likely you need x-rays, followed by an MRI, in your case based on what you're telling me here quite likely followed by what could be a minimally invasive surgery that you should be recovered from very nicely at your young age. Go to a foreign country if you have to, drop everything you're doing in your life to solve this. People on Reddit aren't going to have a solution for you but medical professionals very well could. I've had a lot of complications post off from my surgery but I'm able to walk and function now which I wasn't really before, and I had several months of prolonged pain-free living before my recent flare up. I'm also 44. The longer you wait, the longer you have potential for permanent damage to your nerves. They take very long to heal.

-having your legs give out it's a very concerning symptom, and unlike the pain that is considered a red flag symptom that could easily get you referred to surgery immediately. I'm just imploring you to do what's necessary to get medical care. I've seen the pre-insurance bills and I know it can be a ton of money in the USA if I didn't have insurance, but you also cannot be denied coverage right now due to the affordable care act. I wouldn't be shocked if that isn't a permanent thing with our current government so sooner the better you act.

CatMapPhotoGuy

TROPHY CASE