More surgery for me....

[pippin]

weeellllllll.................

went back to the spine specialist today...

and here's the diagnonsense... or the results of the test I had last week. I've got degenerative disk disease throughout the lumbar spine, lumbosaccral spondylosis as well as spinal stenosis.

My L4-5 has annular and circumferencial tears as well, L2-4 and L5-S1 also have annular tears.

The recommendation is to have a spinal fusion. I'm scheduled for March 9th @ 2pm. Depending on how it looks, I may have it done as a minimally invasive procedure, or the regular version. Apparently my doctor is extremely good at doing the minimally invasive procedure, but I may have the regular surgery.

But if you all remember I've been told before the only option for me was to have a five level fusion, and three doctors previously told me that they would not do the surgery. Well, thanks to the discogram, it is now only a ONE level fusion. I've been told that although they'd like to say I'd get a reduction of about 80% in my pain levels, they make no guarantees, and they made a point of telling me that they can't guarantee that later on down the road I won't need to have another fusion as I've got torn disks and the DDD.

They said that the other option could be the ADR, but since it's still a relatively new therapy so to speak, and because of my age they don't want to go down that road as I'm likely to outlive it lol. But they also said because of my age they have hopes that there will be new treatments that may help in the pipelines (like stem cells - there was a dr here that injected stem cells into a patient that had a fusion done - but they don't know if it had worked yet because it had only been a few months)

So March 9th is the fusion - I'll be off work for 4-6 weeks.

So thats the news.

[David_3]

We'll keep you in our thoughts and prayers.

[C!LLY]

good luck with that. I had a spinal fusion back in Sept of the L4-L5-S1. It helped for a little while but after it started getting cold down here it has been hurting a lot and I cant bend over very well. and my scars still itch like crazy. the minimal invasive is what I had and I have only 4 scars. If you would like, I have some pictures from after the procedure and can let you know what I went through with it.

[HeatherLou]

Good thoughts and hugs your way, Lisa! Hopefully you get some relief!

[CaptainTom]

Thinking of you Lisa.

[Debbi]

Best of luck, Lisa. My husband has DDD and it really sucks. I also had surgery last week and that sucks as well. Hoping for a speedy recovery for you and some relief!

[Jim Neely]

Good luck, Lisa.

I have 14 fused vertebra. It was done more than 50 years ago as a result of having polio. Despite the fact that I'm older than dirt, my back seldom hurts. I only bend at the waist and the neck, but I've learned to do what needs to be done.

Be patient and listen to the docs about recovery procedures. Surgical techniques have improved a lot since I had the back done and recovery and results are much better now.

jn

[pippin]

Thank you all for your kind words. It is much appreciated.

Jim - 14 vertebra! That's insane! Totally insane. I've been having issues since I was 16 - so I've been suffering for 11 years now. I've had three specialists tell me that because of the large amount of degenerative disk disease (or DDD for short) my only option would have been a five level lumbar fusion. And no one would do it. I had requested doing a discogram at the suggestion of other spine patients, and two doctors refused as they didn't want to put me through the pain of the test just so they could tell me the only option was pain management as they wouldn't do it even if they just did one level.

But finally I found another doctor, had a huge waitlist, but I finally got in, and I told him what the other doctors said, and how they wouldn't do the test. He was kind of annoyed by that, and he did the test, warned me it was painful, but if there was a chance I could get a reduction of levels to fuse I was all for it.

Came back just one level and they suggested fusion, and asked if I wanted to do it or go and think about it and I said I made my decision a long time ago, was aware of the risks and wanted to go ahead and do it if it meant even a small chance at pain reduction.

So thats where I'm at right now. Am I nervous? Sure. Will I still vent here for a while beforehand? Yup. But I know its the right thing to do.

Thank you all once again for your kind words, thoughts and prayers. It really is appreciated as aside from my husband and best friend, I don't have anyone else up here really to talk to.

-- Lisa

[C!LLY]

I had a discogram last year so that we could decide on what levels to do my surgery since I have DDD in my L2-L3-L4-L5-S1. They said that it was worse in L4-L5-S1 and that was where my fusion was. I will tell you this though, that discogram was the worse pain I have ever felt in my life and there is no relief from it until the test is over. Just try not to be nervous and dont tense your muscles.

Good luck.

[pippin]

I'll have to agree with you on the discogram. That by far was one of the most painful things I've endured. It ranks up there with kidney stones.

But it was worth it to find that the fusion could be reduced to one level rather than five....

[Ahh!]

We will be praying for you.

[newtune3]

Lisa, I had L4-S1 fusion in March 2008. I suffered for 25 plus years. Now I am pain free. It all depends on your body and how it recovers and your surgeon. You will be in my prayers. Best of luck.

[C!LLY]

Originally Posted by newtune3

Lisa, I had L4-S1 fusion in March 2008. I suffered for 25 plus years. Now I am pain free. It all depends on your body and how it recovers and your surgeon. You will be in my prayers. Best of luck.

How long did it take before you were pain free? I had mine in Sept 08 and still have pain and stiffness, but it isnt as bad as it was pre-surgery.

[newtune3]

Originally Posted by C!LLY

How long did it take before you were pain free? I had mine in Sept 08 and still have pain and stiffness, but it isnt as bad as it was pre-surgery.

Well it was after I got out of my turtle hull (full torso brace) that's for sure. I am now 10 months post op. I can indeed feel the stiffness at the site but the pain is gone. My L5 had slid forward off S1 by about 1/2 inch and nobody was happy there. The fusion and opening nerve channels helped so much. Again this is such a person to person thing. Same surgery on me may not do the same on you but the micro surgical techniques have come a long long way. Good luck to Lisa, I think there is a pain free future with the right surgeon.

[C!LLY]

I didnt need a torso brace. I just had a granny walker that I nicknamed walker-texas ranger. I was walking the day after surgery and was able to get around without the walker by about 3 weeks. I was out at a football game 3 days after surgery taking pictures.