Questions about possible surgery

I would avoid back surgery, if you can. My first back surgery, at 35, the doctor took out the wrong disc. A healthy one, continued the surgery and too out the right one. That surgery fail after two year. A year later I had a second lumbar surgery for another blown disc. Both surgeries failed. I have constant rt leg pain and after a few years saw
a pain management specialist. My back has scar tissue around my spine and arthritis. If you can avoid surgery, do it. Seek out a pain management specialist. Hope this helps you make a decision.

Hello Alex & welcome to Healing Well. Glad you found us but sorry that you need to be here.

I have a few questions for you & if you are not comfortable answering them no problem. Do you know what your MRI Scan showed? I am assuming that you have had one if a laminectomy has been suggested. Which specialist recommended this surgery? The numbness & tingling you describe indicates you have some nerve involvement going on. I am guessing the purpose of the surgery is to get the pressure off of the nerve. If this were me I would not have a chiropractor do any adjustments as this has the potential of making your condition worse instead of better.

You mentioned that you had seen a pain mgt dr. What type of treatment did this give you & how long did you treat with the dr? What dr is taking care of you now?

Other than the health issues you have listed above how is your health overall? Any other underlying conditions that would put you at risk if you end up having surgery?

What is your quality of life like now that compared to a year ago? Is your back problems progressively getting worse? Are you able to carry out your normal daily functions?

Did either of the surgeons sit down & talk about what the odds are that a laminectomy would improve your situation? I would want to know how much improvement I could expect with surgery. Personally, if this were me I would only consider using a neurosurgeon for any spine surgery. They have more expertise in dealing with nerve issues with spine surgery. You want the very best any time surgery is a possibility.

As far as epidurals go they are not a cure, its like putting a band aid on the problem. No dr can guarantee the epidural will work either. They are done in a series of 3 injections spread out over time. They can either be a hit or a miss.

A laminectomy is an easier surgery rather than a lumbar fusion. Make no mistake, its still a spine surgery. Fusions take a lot longer to recover from. Some people feel good 3 months post op from a lammie, where another person feels better at 6 months. No two people heal the same way nor is their surgery the same. A lot depends on the age & overall health of the person. Having the very surgeon is a must & above all following the post op instructions to the letter. It would be good to have someone at home to help out while you are recuperating.

One of the best websites around is SpineUniverse.com. I suggest going there & reading about the potential surgery. It is a user friendly site pretty much dedicated to the spine.

Please keep in mind not every surgery is a failure. We have some members here that their outcome was not good. You will rarely find someone with a good result hanging out in a forum such as ours. Instead they are out there living their life as they should. I know a lot of people that have had many different types of surgery involving the spine & have done very well after surgery.

Ultimately, the decision is yours & the more you educate yourself about your condition & potential surgery it will help you make a better informed decision.

Take care.

It appears that you have a very good neurosurgeon in your corner. A good surgeon will give options but ultimately leave it up to the patient to decide when they feel surgery is their next step. Unless, it were an emergency situation & yours is not.

You can certainly give the eppie's a try to see if you get some relief. Many times people do not get relief with the first injection & will have the 2nd one. If there is no relief with number 2, then it is doubtful a 3rd one will be of any benefit. A good trained anesthesiologist is a must when having the eppies & be done under guided imaging to insure the correct area is being injected. These can be done under light sedation, I would request it. Since you are seeing a decline in your situation from a year ago, you may want to reconsider trying the eppies before you possibly spiral out of control with your symptoms. Give the acupuncture a chance & if you do not improve think about the epidurals.

In the event you end up having surgery that is when you set down with your dr before surgery & talk. Go in to an appt with a list of questions for him to answer. This is your time to put all of your questions out there for him to answer. If he is as good as you say he will answer your questions. A lot of times people go into surgery with little knowledge & only go with what the surgeon skimmed over. Then they get upset after surgery because they were not prepared & did not ask questions. They then blame the dr & in reality as a patient we have a responsibility of educating our self & asking questions. If a dr tries to dismiss your questions that is your cue to find another dr. Who knows you may never have surgery so try not to get too stressed over the what if, it will eat your lunch.

A little food for thought. If you lined up 20 people that went to the dentist for the very same problem, I guarantee you that you would hear at least 15 stories of the most horrible experience ever, lol. The same thing happens the minute someone mentions surgery & all it does is stress a person out & scare them to death. That kind of stress is something no one needs. When a person has a failed surgery of any kind, we really never know all of the facts & details as to why it was a failure, there is a lot of variables to begin with.

Ask all the questions you would like here, will try our best to answer what we can. Take care.

Thanks Seashell and Straydog again for all the valuable information!