Hi guys,

I've been diagnosed with spondylolisthesis grade 4, spinal fusion seems to be the only option. Im prosponing my operation for 3 months due to my exams.
Just wanted to know hwo successful is spinal fusion? will prosponing my operation mean i will have a less 'better' spine post op.?

just any advice or comments is appreciated. I feel lost.

Hello,
I am 8 weeks post op L4-S1 fusion today from grade 2 spondy. I was diagnosed 9 years ago and waited till now. I have to say my back pain is gone and now I am dealing with some leg issues or nerve issues. When they restore you back to normal position like they did me, the nerves get restored too. Mine didnt like the relocation and have let me know how they feel since I woke up from surgery. How long have you had spondylolisthesis? I think that makes a difference too. Im pretty sure I have had it since I was a kid. Im 34 now. Do you have any disk left? What levels are effected?
Sheri

My daughter also postponed having fusion until after her finals last year. Her last final was June 9th and surgery was on June 10th. A great way to start summer vacation. You should talk this over with your dr. He would be the one to tell you if you will cause more damage or have a harder recovery by waiting.

My daughter's dr told us she needed surgery in June '04. She was born with congenital spondylolisthesis and later found out she was also born with stenosis. Was your spondy caused by sports, or were you born with this? She was only grade II and 35% slippage, so not as much of an emergency as your's. We tried a few more things, but in Feb of '05 the dr again said surgery was needed and I agreed. Even though she had begun to have some tingling from the nerves, he said she would not do any further damage by waiting until June.

Again, her slip was not as drastic as your's is. She is just ten months post op and has been feeling great. Today when she came home from school she went and ran about two miles. She's been out of sports for three years and woud like to get back in shape. By the way she was 16 when she had her surgery. So she healed quickly. In her case, it has made a world of difference in her life this year. Best wishes for a great recovery. cas

Hi guys,

I've been diagnosed with spondylolisthesis grade 4, spinal fusion seems to be the only option. Im prosponing my operation for 3 months due to my exams.
Just wanted to know hwo successful is spinal fusion? will prosponing my operation mean i will have a less 'better' spine post op.?

just any advice or comments is appreciated. I feel lost.


My son had this surgery one year ago tomorrow. His leg pain is completely gone but he does still have lower back problems. He still isn't sure if he has fused although he is getting a CT scan tomorrow.

He had left leg pain before he had the surgery and then woke up with right leg pain. The surgeon had to operate again 10 days later because a screw was touching a nerve. He had grade III spondylolisthesis from age 16 that he knows of but waited until he was 35 to have the surgery.

A friend of mine had the surgery and she was excellent afterwards and so glad she had it done. Good luck with your surgery. They say of all spinal surgeries that is the most predictable and the success rate is high.

Bobi

im ten plus six in age, i think ive had spondylolisthesis for a more than a year. I just never went to the doctors because iu thought i could take pain killers etc....but now it got very serious, and the xrays and MRI showed the major slippage. Due to my sporty lifestyle the slippage progressed rapidly, mainly due to boxing.Spinal fusion seems to be the only option....ive been told the surgeon is considering a anterior & posterior operation!

Do you think i will ever be able to box/fight mix martial arts after a spinal fusion?

Also ive been hearing many cracking sounds when i turn, and now its progressing to my upper back. I also have loads of numbness in my left leg.

I'm not an expert by any means, just the mother of a 16 that had surgery last June. Her dr became more concerned when the tingling began. If you are having numbness, I would definately talk to your dr. My daughter's surgeon was a pediatric orthopaedist with a fellowship in pediatrics and scoliosis. He also operated with his adult spine specialist.

What your dr is saying is exactly what we heard. We had three different opinions and all told us if her slip became 50% or more fusion was needed soon because the spine was unstable. All three opinions were from pediatric orthos.

When it comes to what you can do post surgery, again you need to discuss that with your dr. We call him frequently when we're not sure if she can do something. We don't want to do anything to mess up her fusion. She's ten months post op, 2 level TLIF (posterior only) fusion with discectomy and laminectomy. She is able to most normal activities now, swim, skate, bowl, she's been out running now that the weather has warmed up. Still no heavy tubing this summer, only for a slow pleasure ride. Next year he said she can snow ski, but wouldn't commit to water skiing yet. He'll talk that over with us in another year.

When you and your family go to your spine specialist next time, write down many questions to ask him. We would type off of these questions up so that we wouldn't forget to ask something. I used to make my daughter give me her questions also so that we got everything answered. cas

how big are the scars? are they permanent usually?

I had a 2 level as posted above and my scar is about 5 inches but I have noticed that most others are much longer. Ask your surgeon. My procedure was TLIF.
Sheri

My daughter's scar is about 7 - 8 inches long from a two level TLIF. Everyone commented on how straight it is. Because she was a pediatric patient of 16, they did not use outside stitches or staples. They stitched from inside and glued tape on the outside. The tape gradually fell off. I was told on pediatric patients they don't want to go back and try to remove staples so they do it this way. I don't know if your dr is a pediatric orthopaedist or not. Her primary dr was a pediatric ortho and the second surgeon was the adult spine specialist. Check with him/her to see how they close up your incision. It is fading some at ten months post op. cas

I also did not have outside stitches or staples. All internal stitches and glue I think.
sheri

YES you will be able to box/perform Martial Arts again. I had fusion at L4L5 due to vertebrae slippage. It was horrible My back used grind so loud. I am 4 months post op and started back at Karate two weeks ago and am getting stronger every day. Good Luck :D keep me posted

great, thts good to hear.

Thing is im not really sure about this fusion operation...would they 'pull' teh veterbra back to its orginal postiton and then fuse? or od tehy pull it back a little bit? Im really worried as due to xam delay in 90% + slippage.

in my surgery they didn't relocate the vertebrae, the slippage was so severe that it had worn down the vertebrae under it, so they actually "filed it back was the term they used and then set up the cage.

With my daughter's surgery, her dr said he would correct the slip with what he could comfortably do. He wasn't going to be a hero to get a perfectly aligned spine and take any risks. After surgey he told me that they were able to straighten it some, but not all of the way. I plan to ask him at our appt in June what % her spine is now off. She started at only about 35%, not high like your's. cas

Im believe that mine is restored very close to normal from about 35% slip. I will ask that ? also at my next appt. Since my surgery my muscles and hamstrings are very tight. You are much younger than I am. I think the closer they can get to normal alignment, the less strain on the next level.
Sheri

If my surgeon decided to use a 'cage', how much will that affect my flexibility?

My daughter has a spacer between each of the two fused discs to maintian her normal disc height. We're not really sure how much it has changed her flexibility yet. Her dr had her touch her toes at the last visit, but she hasn't really done that since. One of the ped orthos we saw thought her flexibility wouldn't really be changed that much because she'd be in so much less pain than she previously was. We went looking at a college today and walked for over an hour and she still feels great. She wouldn't have been able to do that last year before her surgery.

So, I'm not sure if the spacers are the same as a cage. cas

OH! does a spinal fusion restrict you height growth?
Because i now i was 'destined' to be abouut 6ft. Before i started having the foward posture due to pain i was atleast 5ft7/8. Im only 15 at the moment

I really don't know if it limits your height growth. The spacers keep the normal space that should be in between the discs. From what I understand during her discectomy they remove part of the disc and this spacers puts it back to the height it previously was. Make sure you ask your dr about this.

If they are able to straighten your slip, you may add an inch to your height. They measured my daughter and I know she straightened up. I don't think an inch, but maybe a half. She will not grow any taller because at 16 her growth plates were fully developed. One time the tech took a full frontal view of her spine by mistake instead of the side view. This was where he could see the growth plates. Talk to your spinal dr about this. I know my son is almost 22 and is still adding height.

You have a lot of concerns and rightly so. So did my daughter before her surgery. I think I stated before that I would make a list of questions and go over them with her so we both got all of our questions answered. After each appt I start a new list. I save it on the computer and add questions whenever I think of one. Being a pediatric dr, her dr was wonderful with spending time with us and answering hundreds of questions. He is very caring and was wonderful with us.

Hi I think I responded early on regarding your spinal fusion, I am 4 months post op lumbar fusion, I have most of my flexibility back except bending forward I used to be able to put my palms on the floor but now only fingertips, but you can still bend over fine, if it fixes the slippage, which mine definitely did, it is so worth it. :wave: Good luck

thnks for all teh replies :wave: .

Ive noticed i have inawrd (knock knees), should i get these sorted b4 the fusion of after?

Check with your orthopaedist. cas

VERY VERY heart broken. Surgeon says ill be 70% slippage post fusion.
Dunno if i can ever be a normal person again. Dunno if i can do weights or martial arts again.

VERY VERY heart broken. Surgeon says ill be 70% slippage post fusion.
Dunno if i can ever be a normal person again. Dunno if i can do weights or martial arts again.


Most Spondylolisthesis surgeries do not correct the slippage totally. All of the surgeons my son saw for consults said they would correct what they could, but the idea is to stabilize the spine with rods, screws, etc. They all said the exact same thing.

My son was a rock climber and avid hiker. He knows he can not rock climb again. Hiking is a different story. He planned on rock climbing before he had the surgery done, but after all he went through, he knows now he won't be attempting it. Before the surgery he asked the surgeon if he would be able to rock climb again and he said he could do it as long as he didn't fall. We all laughed, but got the picture.

You're young and will, most likely, heal well. As my son's surgeon said, you're body will tell you what you can do.

You mentioned your concern about height. My son got taller after he had the surgery because they did straighten the spine somewhat. He gained an inch. He walked with his head and upper part of his body ahead of the rest of him. His slippage was, if I remember corectly, in the 51% range. I don't know what it is now.

Bobi

i feel like an idiot....i was 50% then prolonged it due to exams now im 90%

i feel like an idiot....i was 50% then prolonged it due to exams now im 90%

You weren't an idiot. Everyone postpones spinal surgery in the beginning. That's a normal thing to do. After the surgery, you may feel absolutely great and it will not have made a difference that you waited.

Bobi

well yh, but im going to look so deformed. come on im leaning very foward as it is.

well yh, but im going to look so deformed. come on im leaning very foward as it is.

My son *used* to walk with his upper body in front of the rest of him. He does not wal that way now.

Hi,
I have had 4 fusions in the last 3 years, all for the same two levels S1-L4, they could not fix my slippage, between grade 2 and 3, due to scar tissue. Most important, they did stop the pain in hip and leg. I will have to accept certain restrictions like no rollers coasters, no jogging(like i did that anyway,lol). Everyone is so different, you are very fortunate that you are young and your body will adjust much easier than an older one can. My doc also told me to let my body dictate what I can do.

My Dr. thought he woudl be able to fix the slippage, but until they really are in there they don't know 100% what they can and cannot do. They may be able to do more than they think.

I'm so sorry you have to go thru all this at a such a young age, I have a 15 year old son, but once again your young age will only help in your recovery.

Good luck and God Bless

Please keep us updated.

Carol :wave:

hi guys, my surgeon says he will nto use hardware...but only bone graft.
Im sure he has experiance..but ivve heard people with grade 2-3 have hardware...so why isit that myself (grade 4) doent need hardware?

should i go for a second opinion?

Hi Stud189,
I would go for a second and third opinion if I had that severe of a slippage, I would think your Dr. would encourage other opinions, mine always does. Every Dr. has thier own way of doing things, that doesn't always make them wrong, but since you have these concerns ask your Dr. why he's not using the hardware, he may have very good reason not to. If he can't give you GOOD reason then I would think about changing Dr.'s. But please don't cheat yourself out of other opinions.

Keep us updated, thats how we learn on here.

Carol :wave:

hi guys. been away for a while, as i cant really sit down anymore to go on the pc :eek:

im in the UK. ive asked around and they say my surgeon is one of the best. But i will try and get a second opinion.

Exams r finally here! they should last a month, then hopefully i can do my fusion.

Slippage definetley has gone in to 90%+...i can feel it.

Ill keep you guys updated. bye.

Hello Stud189-
My surgeon told me he would not use hardware for my Grade 2 spondy unless he could 'fix' its position to near normal (I did end up with hardware). But when you say you can feel the slip do you mean you can feel the vertebra move as you move? The term 'slip' can be confusing. My veterbra was 'slipped' forward but it also moved as I moved and I could feel the thing ratcheting into position as I stood up or bent over. Just wondering. Good luck on your exams - what are you studying? Suzy-Q