Back surgery?

[phesina]

Been there, Pat. I had a lumbar fusion and laminectomy of L4, L5, S1 back in Dec 2010. I had pressure from narrowing and degenerative discs, and pressure on nerves that was causing a great deal of pain in my hip and thigh - down to my knee. Doc went in and cleaned up all the junk and "frayed areas" and fused the vertebrae with rods and screws. I was in the hospital for 3 days, and had hardly any discomfort at all from the surgery. It was about 6 weeks till I was back to full function, and I never even did the physical therapy that I was supposed to have. Bad me - and doc just shook his head in disbelief that I did so well even without it. Anyway - I was finally pain free. That is until last November when I took a nasty fall when I was in NC. I was in misery and I knew I did some major damage. I finally got to see my spine surgeon in Baltimore when I got back here in January, and the x-rays and MRI confirmed the damage. The hardware on one side of the fused area collapsed and pulled the vertebrae above it out of line and to one side, so now it's more surgery to repair all the damage and stabilize the newly messed up vertebrae. I was scheduled for this surgery on March 24th, but had to postpone. I just called doc's office today to get the ball rolling on a new date, since I just can't continue to function like this much longer. I can't walk without a cane now, and I'm on some fairly potent pain killers. I need to get back to "normal" - whatever that may be. Doc said I'd be in the hospital for 3 - 5 days for this one, and "maybe" some inpatient rehab - depending on how things go.

So if you need to have this done, then don't hesitate. I guarantee that you'll be pain free, and then kick yourself for not having it done sooner. It's really not a painful surgery at all - at least it wasn't for me...

I'd refer you to my surgeon, but he's in Baltimore. Long drive !!! You can go to the Univ of MD Medical Center website and read up about the various spine surgeries. Or you can just Google doc's name "Dr Steven C. Ludwig", and it will take you to that site too

WOW, Ellie! Thanks SO much! This is really helpful information.

I'm so sorry you had the fall in NC resulting in so much re-damage. How painful that must be! I hope you can get this fixed up soon.

I will take a look at U-MD and your doctor on the web when I have a little more time.

Thanks again, and I hope things will be fixed up again for you soon.

[mbsmum]

I am sorry to hear about your back Pat. I am afraid I cannot give any information about back surgery, but I think a second opinion is definitely a must. I wish you all the best. Prathima

[phesina]

Thank you, Prathima!

[carole]

oh dearest Pat i am so so sorry to hear you are in so much pain, thats awful, sorry i dont get to stop by much these days, but i am still here, i am thinking of you and i am glad there is something that can be done to help ease your pain, i wish you all the best for a very positive outcome, i can imagine how scarey this must be for you, i really do, you know when i was nurse aiding when i was 16 i was lucky enough to be allowed in theatre to watch a back operation a laminectomy, i have never forgotten the experience, it was amazing to see and i looked after the patient afterwards, i certainly had a lot of empathy for him.

That was a very long time ago and i am sure they have really up to date methods especially in the US and you will be just fine,take care and let us know how you go with your decision, HUGS.

[phesina]

oh dearest Pat i am so so sorry to hear you are in so much pain, thats awful, sorry i dont get to stop by much these days, but i am still here, i am thinking of you and i am glad there is something that can be done to help ease your pain, i wish you all the best for a very positive outcome, i can imagine how scarey this must be for you, i really do, you know when i was nurse aiding when i was 16 i was lucky enough to be allowed in theatre to watch a back operation a laminectomy, i have never forgotten the experience, it was amazing to see and i looked after the patient afterwards, i certainly had a lot of empathy for him.

That was a very long time ago and i am sure they have really up to date methods especially in the US and you will be just fine,take care and let us know how you go with your decision, HUGS.

Hi Carole, thanks for your message and your loving good wishes. That is really interesting that you got to watch a laminectomy. Since you looked after the patient afterward, did it seem like the surgery helped him? That was what the surgeon I saw was proposing for me when I was there, but in his follow-up letter he changed his recommendation to more extensive surgery. I'm only beginning to learn about what all is involved in this kind of thing and what are the possibilities.

Thanks again, and I'll keep you all posted..

[Vette]

I wish you the best of luck. my dad broke his lower back when i was a kid an i remember them hours in the hospital still an the long recovery processes afterward. whatever meds he was turned his normal laid back self into a big grump. we were all so glad when he got off the meds LOL

[carole]

Pat I'm sorry.i Can't remember how successful the op was,but he walked out of there ,I think back ops can be tricky,have you made any further decisions re your surgery .

[phesina]

I wish you the best of luck. my dad broke his lower back when i was a kid an i remember them hours in the hospital still an the long recovery processes afterward. whatever meds he was turned his normal laid back self into a big grump. we were all so glad when he got off the meds LOL

Thank you, Vette. That must have been a terrible experience for your father (and your whole family) to go through back then. I take it he recovered with full functions?

Pat