back pain

I just joined this website because I needed someone to talk to regarding chronic pain. I think my daughter is tired of hearing about it. I have spinal arthritis, degenerative disc disease and several herniated discs. I've had arthritis for 10yrs  and in 2007 I had a laminectomy. about 6 weeks after the surgery I began to have severe lower pain and was unable to sit down for more than five minutes. Doctor couldn't find  specific reason and sent me to physical therapy for nine months and I consulted a doctor who would do spinal injections To date I've had about 17 total with little lasting effect. Went back to Neurosurgeon who couldn't see any significant change in my spine but he saw a suspicious mass on my kidney. Within a week I'd seen an oncologist and had my kidney removed a month later. Pathology showed that it was cancerous. I was very sick after the surgery burst my wound and developed an abdominal hernia. It took six months to heal the wound. Meanwhile I decided to have my yearly physical and discovered that I was in stage 3 kidney failure  with my remaining kidney. It was apparently caused by the anti inflammatory medicines I took for the spinal arthritis. Then I had an abdominal  hernia repair in Dec 08. According to the surgeon, one of the biggest repairs he's ever done. I had complete kidney failure after surgery which they resolved back to my normal kidney function of 30%.I'm still in severe pain and last week I was referred back to my neurosurgeon for evaluation. He says that I need a multilevel spinal fusion but won't do it because of my kidney status. I asked about implanting an artificial disc but he won't do that because it requires an abdominal approach and I have too much mesh in my abdomen for that. He suggested a pain pump but he's not sure that the pain service will accept me as a patient because they deal with cancer patients and I am now cancer free. A spine stimulator has been suggested but I'm not sure that it would be effective. Need some feedback

 

 

Anna100,

As much as I hate to see anyone in pain, I know you have come to the right place.  Day or Night, we are always here.. We are a family and we take care of our own..and now that includes YOU... So, Welcome.

 

I am sorry about all that you are going through.  It seems like you have too much to deal with...I have had back trouble for 20 years +, and I have had 2 surgeries...one lamenectomy and one spinal fusion...so I know about pain..and I was just diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes last month....Still...not as much as you have going on but enough for me!!

 

So, I hope to see you here again...

 

Me.