Jann in TX Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 I have a blown disk (L4-5) and a few other back issues (currently minor) that I have been nursing for a few years. I've tried rest, exercise, physical therapy. I don't respond to most pain medications (--like they have ZERO effect). I know that NOTHING is going to regenerate this disk--it is too far gone. I've been to 2 different Orthopedic surgeons and they have both told me that I'm an excellent surgical candidate. One Dr does fusion (going in through the abdomen) and the other fusion (going in through the side) and disk replacements. I'm now playing the waiting game with my insurance to see what options they will cover. My DH really really wants me to have the disk replacement done--supposedly it will reduce the 'pressure/wear' on the nearby disks. This procedure is approved by the FDA--but has only been around (in its current form) for about 5 years... I just want to be able to SIT without feeling like my legs are on fire and/or I'm being stabbed in the lower back! 'Just wondering if anyone had experience to offer Hopefully positive!). My inlaws have friends with HORROR stories from fusion--but the 'technology' has dramatically changed since those procedures were done... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
momofkhm Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 I don't what the specifics are for either of them, but both have come out far better than they went in. My mom has degenerative disk disease and has had 3 or 4 surgeries. She usually is up and around at home within a week. (of course they send her home the day after surgery!) MIL has had 2 back surgeries. In fact she has had a fusion, but it was only a week ago. She feels so much better now, but it's way too soon to know long term how much it helped. Both of them would sing the praises of their doctors for their back surgeries. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G5052 Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 DH had double fusion through the back with two of the top docs in our metropolitan area (one an orthopedic surgeon and one a neurosurgeon). He had bone morphogenic protein placed in cages inserted into the disk spaces, and fused beautifully. Unfortunately "the rest of the story" was that he got an infection in the disk space a week after the surgery despite several days of IV antibiotics post-surgical. Neither doctor had ever had this happen before and had downplayed that risk. I won't go into the details, but our lives changed forever because of that infection. You need to know, that in the best of cases, this is a HARD surgery. You will be many months healing and recovering. DH has a friend who has had four levels fused now with the same docs that did his, and this friend has been out of work for at least two months each time and not 100% for about a year. In the long-run though, he's done very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TXMomof4 Posted March 13, 2009 Share Posted March 13, 2009 I am 6 weeks out of anterior discectomy and fusion at the c6-7 level. It has been amazing. I don't know how I blew the disc, just woke up one morning and had the excruciating, burning, numbness, horrible, make you want to thow up kind of pain. It took about a week for my regular dr. to decide that physical therapy wasn't working and to refer me to an orthopedic specialist. I had surgery a week later. Relief was immediate. I've had no problems so far with the recovery. It did take longer for me to be up and around than I thought it would. I figured after 4 c-sections, this would be no big deal. However, I think it has more to do with the anesthesia than with the surgery itself. The biggest problem I have is the restriction on lifting. I have a 2 yo and it is hard to not be able to pick him up, but he's learning how to climb up to me and we're surviving. I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I couldn't have lived with the pain as it was pre-surgery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jann in TX Posted March 13, 2009 Author Share Posted March 13, 2009 I'm not as worried about the surgery as the 'after' surgery part. Not lifting/not driving--uggg! I am MORE THAN READY for relief...but any surgery I do have will need to wait until the end of May... Any more with good results? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alphabetika Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 I haven't had back surgery, but my dh has. He'd had back problems off and on for 10 years, then one day, one of his lumbar disks ruptured. Long story short, he had surgery to deal with it a day or so later. His recovery time was about 3 months home from work, during which time he went from being barely able to move, to walking with a walker, then a cane. Then no cane. He has had little problem since; if he overdoes it with yardwork or something like that, his back is sore the next day, but he doesn't have problems like he used to. He does have some lasting nerve issues because of the size of the rupture and the length of time before surgery, but even these have gotten gradually better. So, in his case, he'd say the result was very positive, though he went into it with basically no choice, as it was an emergency situation. If you can do it, go for it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ria Posted March 14, 2009 Share Posted March 14, 2009 My 72-year old father just had an 8-vertebrae spinal fusion. The surgery lasted over 7 hours. It's been 6 weeks and he's now back to normal and back to work. Let it be said that he's a retired admiral and has always been in tip-top condition, but still. This surgery worked wonders. He feels great and his improvement is astounding. Ria Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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