Good fusion outcomes wanted!

Shari123456

Hi-
Its been awhile since I wrote. My sister is doing a lot better, She no longer takes pain meds. Only tylonel when in pain. The only problem now is she trys to do things shes not suppose to. I know she trys to because she is bored. I have a question, to parents out there how long after the spinal surgery did your children go back to school?

promodcamaro

I am a male who is 40 years old. I had my lumbar L4,5 and L5,S1 fused over 10 years ago. I injured the disc weight lifting 5 or 6 years before in my mid 20's. Over the years, the disc degenerated and I was left to surgery.
I had a doctor have me talk to other people who had surgery that had failed. They were absolutely against me having surgery at 30 years old.
I had a 360 fussion, which they don't do very often anymore. It was a very invasive proceidure. I was in the hospital for about 10 days. For the next two months, I had to endure a lot of pain, but the radiating pain was gone.
I have not had the radiating pain return. I would be in a wheel chair by now if not for the fussion.
I do have some pain now. I guess you can not have that serious of a surgery without having some residual pain. But the pain is limited to the site around the incision and where the bone was removed from my hips.
I want everyone who reads this to know that its not all bad. The fussion surgery would not be allowed if it did not work most of the time.
Just remember that you will have some damage from the incision and that will be there forever. You have to weigh your current situation against knowing that you will have some localized pain for the rest of your life. For some, this pain is worse than for others. I find it bearable.

confusedpatient

Hi Christi,
You may remember me from 2 years ago. . . L4/L5 problems, from Mohican area? I'm glad to hear that you're doing so well, I remember your posts right after surgery.

I've had 2 discectomies now on the same area & rehurniated in April. Tuesday I'm going to discuss a fusion with my surgeon. I can't take it any longer. I wanted to do this in May, but he talked me out of it. So, wish me luck, I'm sure I will be visiting often.

Carol

bshire

hey confusedpatient,
my name is bshire. i was just wondering why your doc wanted you to "not have a fusion". i am basically in the same boat your in. except i never had discectomies, instead i had IDET and this made me worse. i am looking into the disc replacement. are you looking at that? what type of symptoms do you have? just interested? bshire

toniswing

my surgery was august 29,2005. the first week is tough but tolerable. my surgery was L4-L5 fusion with bmp. I had an excellent surgeon, an family to help with my post-op care. I am walking pain free with medication(meds mainly because of the surgery) I have not had any leg or back pain I suffered with for four years. Wish I had had the surgery sooner. My surgeon is a neuro-surgeon.

magnetlady45

Hi Confused Patient:

Yes I do remember you. I am so sorry that you have been hurting for so long. I wish that instead of my first two surgeries that they would have done a fusion at the very beginning. I know that they try to be conservative but when I think of all of the money I had to spend for prescriptions, etc and the loss of work time, oh and not to mention the money out of my pocket for surgeries that my insurance didn't cover. I guess that is how doctor's make their money. The back industry is an extremely profitable business for doctor's if you ask me. Hope you get a good surgeon to do a fusion.

Christi

magnetlady45

Hi confused:

Find another doctor, if he is against fusions. He may not even be able to do one. Get someone reputable.

Christi

confusedpatient

bshire,
My most recent MRI, since surgery, showed a slight bulge, so he thought i might get by with meds & PT. I'm pretty sure it is much worse now because I'm having groin pain in addition to the thigh pain I was having. I'm also eating percocets way too often. It is [B]time!![/B] The other reason for holding off was my age, 42, he felt that it would stress the other discs over time. I don't think I have a choice now. We talked about ADR but he's not comfortable using something so new, the jury is still out. So, I'll keep you posted.

Carol W.

lfoster21

Good luck on the fusion. I too, will keep you in my prayers. I remember how helpful this thread was for me last year. It is good to know about all the good outcomes and not just the bad ones. I hope you can get a little sleep tonight

Hugs and prayers,
Lorie

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Harmony5

What time is your surgery and what time zone?

Harmony (Gail)

caszyman

Renee,
I have a question about water skiing. At what point post op did your surgeon clear you for water skiing? Her surgeon isn't committing to letting her ski next summer yet. Also do you slalom or two skis? I've talked to my daughter that she may have to give up skiing and she says no way. We do have a ski boat and she slaloms, or used to. She said she gets up very easily. So just curious about your time frame? Thanks, cas

ReneeRAF

I had my surgery in May of 2002 and waterskiied the next summer, which would have been September of 2003. My doctor cleared me after the year checkup when he verified that the area was fused.

I water ski on one ski. I am an average to good slalom skier. I also get up very easily. My biggest concern was falling, but my doctor explained that I was stronger with the fusion than before I had the surgery.

That was the reason I had the surgery, because I was only 32 at the time and wasn't willing to give up those things.

Good luck.
Renee

caszyman

Thanks, Renee. My daughter will be so happy to hear your news. She was 16 when she had her two level fusion in June '05. He dr. won't clear her for this summer, but will think about it for the summer of '07. I'm the one that's terrified to see her ski again, but she sooo wants to ski again. She started when she was five and has been on one ski for quite a few years now. She's waiting to hear that she can ski.

Her dr. has cleared her for most other activities now, but we go back in the summer when she's just over a year to check things out again. Thanks again for the info. cas

Gettuit

Hello
I had PLIF L-4 ,L-5 with 4 screws and 2 rods 10/31/05. I am doing great ,Went to the neurosurgeon for a check up last week and the x-rays show that the bone growth is beginning to fill in between the discs. I still have a little pain and take ultram when I do . Already back at work full time . I was only in the hospital 4 nights. Hope that your surgery goes well.You are in my thoughts and prayers