At 54 I have suffered with a herniated disc as well as a buldge in my L4/L5 for almost 20 yrs now. I have tried Accupunture, phy therapy, cortison injections, chiroprators, massage therapy and nothing has helped. As a matter of fact, my problems have gotten worse over the years. Permanent numbness in thigh and foot, chronic pain from lower back to down left leg. I have seen several docs to get other opinions. I have come to the conclusion that surgery is my only option. I just cannot live with the chronic pain anylonger. Its making me a miserable person.
Although I have a top notch Neuro doc to do the surgery, I'm a little afraid and worry that I could come out worse. My Orthopedic doc thinks this will help me and to trust my neuro doc as he is the best. Has anyone had this surgery with good success? There is a new technique to this type of surgery that will cut down the time of recovery. Two small incisions; one on the side of your waist and one in the back.
From the symptoms of what you have gone thru, I think that your Neuro surgeon is giving you good advice. You have done many other options. The only one you did not list is physical activity. Is your weight reasonable? Have you really worked your abdominal muscles? Are they strong? That would be my only question. When the pain is that bad, you have to do something.
__________________
Tom
09 Re do Fusion L3-L4
08 L Fusion L3-L4
08 Lami L3-L4
04 L Fusion L4-L5
95 Rmv hdwr - prev fusion
93 L fusion L5-S1
91 Lami L5-S1
80 Chymopapain Inj-dissolve disc L5-S1
5 other leg surg
Yup,I got to that point too. My surgeon did a micro-discectomy. One small incision at L4/5. So far so good. Not yet 100%. But still better than before surgery. Oh, had the surgery Jan 2010. Good luck. Keep us posted.
At 54 I have suffered with a herniated disc as well as a buldge in my L4/L5 for almost 20 yrs now. I have tried Accupunture, phy therapy, cortison injections, chiroprators, massage therapy and nothing has helped. As a matter of fact, my problems have gotten worse over the years. Permanent numbness in thigh and foot, chronic pain from lower back to down left leg. I have seen several docs to get other opinions. I have come to the conclusion that surgery is my only option. I just cannot live with the chronic pain anylonger. Its making me a miserable person.
Although I have a top notch Neuro doc to do the surgery, I'm a little afraid and worry that I could come out worse. My Orthopedic doc thinks this will help me and to trust my neuro doc as he is the best. Has anyone had this surgery with good success? There is a new technique to this type of surgery that will cut down the time of recovery. Two small incisions; one on the side of your waist and one in the back.
D
I am in good shape, weight wise and have excersized for most of my life until 6mos ago had to stop due to pain increase.
what type of surgery are you considering? is it a removal of part of the disk? or fusion or something else? if it's been 20 years, i'd say you've tried your other options by now.
They will fix the herniation and shave down the buldge on the disc. One or both are pinching on a nerve. Its gotton so bad that the pain is now starting to radiate on my right side. It was mostly on my left hip down to the foot.
Good luck. The leg pain is excrutiating at times. I remember once literally with tears in my eyes getting in a car with it. My left quad shrunk 1.5 inches from my right one from atrophy caused by it.
This is a true story. After one of my fusions, my wife was with me in the hospital and I asked her to pull the sheets off my toes. I started laughing because it was the first time I had felt the sheets on my toes in a very long time. We had a good laugh as it was a strange feeling.
__________________
Tom
09 Re do Fusion L3-L4
08 L Fusion L3-L4
08 Lami L3-L4
04 L Fusion L4-L5
95 Rmv hdwr - prev fusion
93 L fusion L5-S1
91 Lami L5-S1
80 Chymopapain Inj-dissolve disc L5-S1
5 other leg surg
Last edited by tomsocal2000; 04-14-2010 at 02:38 PM.
My surgery is this Thursday. I am just now getting nervous. I am so afraid I will be worse after the surgery and will regret it. Its a crap shute I guess. I have been reading everyones posts that have had the surgery done and most have not been good. I just pray I am one of the lucky ones that heal quickly and get some relief. I just hate taking the time off work. I am shutting for two weeks but I have a feeling it will be longer. Just hope my boss understands.
Had my surgery last thursday, went home saturday. I am mobile but since I am a deep sleeper, I don't wake up before the pain gets really bad so I have to wait an hour b4 I get relief. Everything went very well. Just hope that the fusion is what the problem was and its fixed or I will be screwed and will live a lifetime of pain. I also sleep all the time due to the percaset. Doc said a yr before I am fully fused. I would love to go back to work in two weeks but not sure I can sit all day. I get around very well and do a fair amount of walking. I dont need the walker to get around anymore...only when I am in alot of pain. Anyone have a quick recovery?
Its been two weeks today since my l/4 l/5 spinal fusion. My doc changed one of my meds and it seems to help the pain better. How many times a day can I take a walk and for how long each time can I walk. I dont want to over do it but if it helps to heal it faster I am all for it.
I had a great surgeon and it went very well. There are two ways of doing this type of surgery in our state. One is one 2 1/2 in. cut in the back and one 2 1/2 in cut on your side. Its less invasive, less painful and less time in the hosp, however since my insurance considers it a new proceedure, they would not authorize it so I had to go the traditional way of (2) 2 1/2 cuts (one on each side of the spine) and two small slits just below (on both sides) my shoulder blades. The up side was that I had my surgery on a thursday and was out on Sunday. Doing it the traditional way they had to expose the nerve which really ****** it off and was painful. The other issue I had but is rare is that I was alergic to the tape they used and had 3 very long blistered areas on my back that just added to the pain. It has been two weeks for me now and its getting better by the day with the meds and walking. The only down side is you cant sit for more than 3 times a day for 30 to 40 min at a time for the first week or so and the meds make you sleep all the time. As time goes by, you can sit longer and get around much better. If having the surgery is your only alternative, go for it as the short time you do have pain from the surgery is better than a lifetime of pain on a daily basis without it.
Thank you for responding. You are the only person to give me a positive outlook to this surgury. I am terrified, My surgon is at Stanford Medical Center in Palo Alto, CA 18 years experience and seems to now what he is doing. l I have read so many horror stories about this procedure. I need to hear a positive outcome. I have tired all othere methods to eliminate the pain nothing has worked this is my last option. Let me know how yu are doing and I will do the same. My surgury is scheduled for June 4, 2010...Ouch.....
I did the spinal fusion of my l4 l/5 3 weeks ago from a pinched nerve I have had for 17y yrs. I have been asked to walk, walk, walk to which I have been doing. However, the more I walk, the more the old symptoms are coming back from b4 the surgery. Either I am not being patient and need to wait several months or the surgery didnt fix the problem. The doc could not guarantee it would help. Am I being impatient? If I went through this surgery for nothing I dont know what I will do as this was my last option. Did anyone else have the surgery and it didnt work?
