Columbus Blue Jackets’ forward Nathan Horton, who hasn’t played since April, could be facing career-ending back surgery.

Horton is in constant pain due to a degenerative back condition and the only alternative to dealing with the pain is back surgery that would put an end to his career.

“I can’t stand up like a normal person; I can’t bend over,” Horton told the Columbus Dispatch. “I can’t run. I can’t play with my kids. To get in and out of the car, I’m like a 75-year-old man … so slow and stiff. I can’t sleep at night. I try to lay down and my back seizes up and I can’t move, so sleeping is out. I’m like a zombie in the daytime.”

The procedure would be a three- or four-level spinal fusion with a titanium rod according to the report, and would end the 29-year-old’s career.

“I don’t want to have surgery, because of what that means,” Horton told the Columbus Dispatch. “I don’t want to live with this pain, but I don’t want to make that decision.

Horton signed a seven-year, $37.1 million deal with the Blue Jackets ahead of last season but only played in 35 games that year due to injury.