Hi,

I just found this board and have already learned alot. I'm wondering if there are any other police officers here who have had a spinal fusion? I'm scheduled for surgery in a few days and I am so nervous.
My doctor is not thrilled that I am a cop and want to return to this job at some point. I'm just taking it all one day at a time and hoping all goes well. It's hard to keep spirits up while going through all of this.....I'm sure you all know how it is:(

Hello Ohio,

I am not a police officer, but I am a front line supervisor in a male prison. I had a L3-S1 fusion, laninectomy with instrumentation on 4/30/07. I have some ongoing nerve problems and I am facing the possibility of not being able to return to work. My neurosurgeon has taken me off work for a minimum of 1 year. How extensive of a surgery are you looking at having and what level(s) are involved? The more levels, the less likely you are to be able to return to your time of injury, highly physical employment, although, it is not unheard of.

My hubby injured his back 25 years ago answering a burgulary call. His foot slipped out of the greasy rung of the ladder and he caught himself instead of falling two stories. He had some torn muscle and cartlidge, some disc damage but he didn't have surgery. Back then it was not advised. He was off the streets for a year and went back to patrol. Went through pain meds for awhile, ice and alot of rest. He wasn't very comfortable but continued. His hips wore out and after a replacement he has worked inside ever since. Not fair to his partner either if he couldn't respond as necessary.
Now that I am going to have back surgery and have been waiting for w/c approval for almost two years, I had to ask him how has he dealt with this all these years?

I'm not a cop but I am an Infantry soldier/MP in the Army National Guard and my back injury is ending my military career. Because it happened in the civilian world the army doesn't have to do anything about it. They are going to kick me out and all of the points I have earned are gone so I could see where you would be distraught.

I was a cop for nine years and ended up having the charite artificial disc replacement. Boy was that a mistake. I have regreted it. Two years later I had a CT scan and the doctor ended up jacking open my disc space 100% to much stretching my nerves out and causing radicular pain down both legs. My facet joints now need to be taken out to take away some of the pain. Revision surgery is considered to life threatening and lawsuits are coming up left and right. I hear some people have had great results. All i know is that the manufacturer lied to the FDA to have the disc approved and are now under fire because their clinical trials weren't correct. Good luck with you and your struggles.

Jason