zach88

Hi to all,

I haven't posted on here in about a month, I've actually been very busy with stuff. I want to update you guys, and more importantly, get some questions answered and see how you feel about my overall situation.

About three weeks ago, my spinal surgeon and neurosurgeon were disagreeing over an MRI, and whether I had a recurrent disc herniation at L5-S1. Finally, my spinal surgeon ordered a myelogram (which I have to say is one of the most uncomfortable tests I've ever had to endure, mostly because of the side effects of the dye). The myelogram indeed showed a much cleared picture of my "strategically placed" disc herniation at L5-S1, and both doctors agreed that the best course of action was another, more extensive exploratory discectomy/laminectomy. I was not happy that the doctors were disagreeing, so once a decision was made I was a lot more comfortable about the whole situation.

After a whole bunch of thinking and decision making, we decided that the neurosurgeon would be a good choice to do my second surgery in two months. They both are very reputable doctors, but ultimately I felt that if I'm having the surgery, I might as well try a different doctor that I was comfortable with. Both doctor agreed that although it's my second surgery, a discectomy was still the best course of action because they feel there's enough of a chance of some relief from that, rather than jumping right into a fusion at nineteen years old. Do you think this is the right course of action?

I have surgery on Monday now, and I legitimately am looking forward to it. I've spent too many months waiting around feeling unproductive, mostly because the doctors really weren't sure what was going on. After a month of being on the Duragesic patch unsuccessfully, I finally decided to just go back to Norco until after surgery, because it was the only medication, ahead of Dilaudid, Percocet, Methadone, and Fentanyl that proved to be somewhat effective. I decided to try the brand name Norco, just to see if there was any marked difference, and surprisingly, there is. With the generic Norco, I was inconsistently getting either no relief, or 20-40 minutes, and that's all. With the brand name, I'm finding that the effects of the medication last at least an hour, and it's been much more consistent than the generic.

Do you guys think I'm making the best possible decision? Both doctors told me that with a second surgery, the success rate drops from 90% to 60%, but my feeling is that I'd rather try something with a 60% success rate than sit around and have no chance of getting better.

What I'm concerned with right now is my pain control at the hospital. I've spoken to my surgeon about it, and we tentatively have decided on Morphine in a PCA pump. In September, I had Dilaudid running through the pump, but I was in pain the entire time I was in the hospital. Morphine is still one of the few opiates I have not tried as a pain reliever. I know it is still the gold standard of all pain killers, and even though it is less strong than Dilaudid, it does act differently on different receptors. I'm also finding more relief from hydrocodone than I am from fentanyl. Do you think the Moprhine will work out for me?

I really just felt like updating everyone and sharing my story. Any kind of feedback or insight would be great, I'm sure i'll be checking quite frequently. I hope that all of you have the same opportunities that I do to achieve a more pain-free lifestyle.

God bless,

Zach