Fusion surgery

[Seymore]

I'm scheduled to have my bottom disc fused next Friday. I ain't got a choice. Hurts like Hell all the time now and my leg stays asleep.

Anybody had this done? How quick to recover?

No horror stories please. I ain't got a choice in this and am worried enough about it.

[greyduk]

Seymore, Maybe this will be of some solace to you. In 1989 I had to have a fusion done, but it was to the upper lumbar region. My outcome was great. Like you I was having considerable pain and numbness in my fingers because the disc had ruptured. I also had no choice. At that point I was ready for them to cut my arm off. When I woke up from the surgery the pain was gone that I had from the disc. I had some aches and pains from the surgery, but the pain from the nerve being pinched was gone and I haven't had any more problems. Since the time when mine was done there have been tremendous strides made in that area. I'm sure you outcome will be very positive. On the downside, the recovery will take a while until you back up to full speed. They told me it would take 2 months before I felt like I was back up to speed. Being younger at the time I thought they didn't know what they were talking about and that I would be at full speed in no more than a month. Well they were right, it was 2 months, but to have the positive result it was worth every minute of it. I hope that is of some help to you. Best of luck.

greyduk

[Meeka]

A lot depends on your doctor. And a lot depends on your back, especially the levels above there. And a lot depends on your frame of mind. And a lot depends on whether you smoke - don't.

Backs are very complicated, and I can't stress that enough. I don't believe that a doctor is ever 100% certain in his own mind that the procedure will correct your pain. I say this because of the complexity of the interaelation between the sinal chord, disks, vertebre and nerves. MRI's, Ct's, discograms have come a long way, but there remains room for improvement because so much of the diagnosis is subjective, at least as I see it.

I recomend everyone follow the doctors advice and trust in their doctor . . . or get another one. I also wouldn't allow a lawyer (like me) or someone off the internet (even a Mississippi redneck) or my family members who may have had a third cousin who had a friend's sister have neck surgery influence my decision. There is usually a pretty good reason your doctor is a doctor.

In my opinion most of these procedures improve the patient. There will be some mobility restriction. PT usually begins in about a month. If the surgery is succesful, most people can do most activities within a few months. Some people can lead perfectly normal lives with little or no accomodation to the fusion in a year. Some people require additional proceedures. One of the reasons I see for this is that there can be a number of causes for the pain.

If it were me and I was hurting and my doctor said i can fix this I would say when can you do it.

[ScottS]

How ironic that this subject comes up....

I have a ruptured disc and I have had it since mid December. I hunted through the season with it and there were some days where I thought I was going to die! Mine is ruptured at L3 I believe so it's in my extreme lower back. My nerve is pinched down my right leg so I have some good days and some bad days. My leg tingles all the time and feels like it is asleep a good bit of the day.

I won't have to have fusion surgery but they are going to fix up the rupture on Monday, March 14th. My doc said the surgery would last about 1.5 hrs and that I couldn't drive for at least a week. Since I work for a bank he said he would probably let come back to work after 2 weeks - provided that I can handle it of course. I sit at a desk all day so I don't know how much stress my back will be able to take.

Good luck to you Seymore.

Scott

[tripletail]

Guys,

I had this surgery done 04/02/04. My L3 had ruptured straight back into my spinalchord, so both legs anf feet were hurting. After 1.5 yrs of pain I went into surgery and woke up with no more pain. I had forgotten what it was like to be pain free. Your back wont feel like it did when you were 18, but it also won't feel like it did before surgery. I had mine done on a wednesday and was a groomsman in a wedding on Saturday. Good luck to ya'll.

[Josey Wales]

Had buldging disc in my neck at C-4 C-5, it was causing tremendous pain in my right shoulder, then I lost the use of my bicep, deltoid and supersplantis in my right arm. Before my surgery my arm hurt so bad that I stayed "stoned" off of pain killers, and celebrex for about two weeks or so, this caused me not to eat and I lost 20 lbs.

Most of this have been avoided if I had been diagnosted correclty. Because my shoulder was hurting I went to Mississppi Sports Medicine down on Fortification St.. My doctor (Dr. Field) misdiagnosed me, he said it was nothin, ..that I just had an irritated nerve in my arm, after about 3 weeks in which the pain got worse and my use of my arm began to deteriate he finally sent me for an MRI which revealed a buldging disc.

I was sent to Dr. Stringer (a nuerosurgeon at River Oaks)..he looked at my MRI and said we do surgery on Tuesday and Thursday..you need to be here on Tuesday (that was on Friday).

Everything worked out good..I still have some pain and some stiffness in my neck, but my arm pain is gone and my arm strength is about 90%.

[Meeka]

Neck fusions usually work pretty good. From what I've seen. There is a big difference between a discectomy and doing a fusion. There are some very new techniques out there now on a limited basis that can work wonders on a disc problem. I think they are even coming out with a fake disc. Maybe Patterson down in Hattiesburg does it, dunno.

Very few things I will tell you 100%, but Dr. Larry Field is da man on fixing shoulders. I'm gonna go back and get my second one fixed soon as my wife and kids eat up my deductible. But you don't need to ask him about your neck. And communicating with him takes a little practice.

[Seymore]

I had a endoscopic microdiscectomy in 97 on L5-S1. I was told then that I would need a fusion down the road. I just thought it would be later than sooner. When I had my first surgery, my doc was one of the first doing discectomies through an endoscope. I had it done on a Thursday and went back to work on Monday. Most incredible thing I ever saw.

I am using the same doc but a fusion is a lot more involved. He still does it through a minimally invasive technique, but, I will still miss two to three weeks of work and be in a brace for two months. Turkey season is screwed, but, I shouldn't be hurting come next bow season anymore. I've heard the first week afer a fusion is Hell from someone I know who had the same surgery I'm having by the same doc over Christmas. She said she didn't remember much that first week and he kept her doped up.

ScottS. I to work for a bank and sitting at my desk all day just about kills me. After a while my rear end is burning bad. Clutching a stick shift is a new experience in pain. Good luck to you Monday.

[sondance]

I work for a company that makes spinal cages, screws, discs etc... You can check it out on http://www.medtronic.com . DePuy Ortho a division of Johnson and Johnson just got FDA approval for an artifical disc. It is pretty cool. Some interventional radiologist do a procedure called a vertebraplasty that helps some. Additionally an outfit called Kyphon (sp) has come out with a specialized balloon that can help repair these problems. Lot's of options. But, BEFORE I would let anyone cut on me I would get a couple of nerve blocks done by a pain doctor and see if that helps. It is just a simple steriod and lidocaine injection. 2-3 usually have to be done but it works. It doesn't solve the problem but helps eliminate the pain. A lady that works for me has the same problem and just got her second and is doing really well. Good luck.

[Josey Wales]

but Dr. Larry Field is da man on fixing shoulders. I'm gonna go back and get my second one fixed soon as my wife and kids eat up my deductible. But you don't need to ask him about your neck. quote]

I went to Field because my shoulder was hurting (due to the disc on the nerve)..He was recommended because he is a "shoulder doctor"..My neck never hurt...However because of his misdiagnosis (irritated nerve)..I suffered considerable nerve damage over the period of about 3 weeks or so.