I have a question that hopefully someone can answer as i have not asked my DR yet. because my next appointment is not untill the 5th of january..in 2006 i had PLF L4-S1 with instrumentation..now i am going in on january 10th for the L3-L4 PLF with instrumatation but according to the surgical coordinator the DR is going to remove the hardware.not sure why he would do that because it has never bothered me? just wondering if anyone has any idea why?i have read alot of posts from this site and i pray that everyone finds some sort of releif in the new year!!
yeah i can see where that would be a problem..i just thought that he would have to cut further down to remove the hardware..thank you very much for your reply!!
Depending on what you have in there from the 2006 surgery, the surgeon may be removing the rods and screws and will then add new hardware that will tie in the whole thing. He would use the same holes at L4 but the rod that currently connects L4 to S1 would now extend from L3 to S1.
Or, perhaps if you are solidly fused, the surgeon will remove the hardware and just put in one section for the new area, L3 connecting to L4.
I guess if you are curious, you might call the office and ask what is being done and why!
Do you know if you are solidly fused from the 2006 surgery?
thanks for the info..yes im solid fusion at the other 2 levels..i did not really want to call the office to ask becasue im going in there the 5th but the curiosity was killing me!! so i thought i would ask on here..i just figured that if i was not having a problem with the hardware why remove it?but looking back at the xray's there would not be room to put new screws.. thank you very much
My first fusion was a PLIF at L4-L5 with rods and pedicle screws. Several years later the adjacent segments were added on. My surgeon thought he would be able to do it by just adding on, but when he got in there, the pedicle screws were not compatible with the 2010 model! So it had to come out.
It was removed. Then he put in slightly larger screws in the L4 and L5 vertebrae and added screws at L3 and S1 and ran two long rods from the L3 to the S1 which connected it all.
It does sound like it should be complicated to get the hardware out -- one would assume that things would grow around it and make it difficult to get out, but the length of my surgery would indicate it didn't take him any time at all.
thanks for the good luck wish's..i will find out what exactly what he is going to do on the 5th..im so looking forward to this surgury it's been 9 long mths of waiting;although kind of worried about bouncing back. i did very well with getting back to a normal life after the last surgury but i am 5 years older now and a little heavier..lol
I found my second fusion, even though it was a much "bigger" surgery, to be much easier all the way around. I was off all meds by day twelve. 18 months later, I'm still trying to figure out why it was less painful and easier all the way around.
I hope the same is true for you, too. At least you know what you're getting into this time....right?
yes it does help knowing what im getting myself into again..this surgury will be smaller then the first. but i guess the recovery time will be about the same.hope i can be off the pain meds after 12 days or sooner also..truck driving was hard after a two level fusion not sure what the three level is gonna do to me..my guess is it wont be good..lol thanks for replying,,
Ohhh, driving a truck. I think that profession has one of the highest percentages of people with back trouble.
Frankly, I haven't noticed much difference between my one level and three level fusion. I was flexible before, and I still am...the biggest problem is if you want to do something that involves twisting...I have limited ability to twist at the waist. I don't play tennis or golf, so the only time I'm aware of it is when a doctor or PT wants to see how far I can twist....
one of my main problems has always been bending over with twisting being second..and now since my injury injury walking is the worst both legs and hips are affected i guess you would call it sciatica.dr says drop foot but i dont see it.lol cant wait to get this over and done with im tired of staying in most of the time and im ready to get on with my life..
well i found out from my dr that he is removing the hardware in my back becasue he needs to change out the screws to alow for the bigger rods that he is going to use..he said he is going to remove the L5-S1 rods and screws completly.and change out the L4-L5 so he can bridge the L3-L4 and use bigger rods and screws...4 days till surgury..cant wait to get this behind me..thank you everyone!!
