Back Surgery-Pros and Cons

Usually you will find me hanging out on the Prostate Cancer forum, however I do check this site regularly mainly because of my wife.  She has been diagnosed with degenerative disc disease and scoliosis (age 53).  Her pain is quite severe.  She has been on so many different types of medication that I have lost count.  From narcotics ER and IR to muscle relaxers.  At least two different types of injections. She also uses a TENS unit. She has tried PT with little success. She could not bring herself to wear a backbrace because the one ordered had to be worn on the outside of her clothing. Currently she takes up to 50 mgs of Percocet (10 mg four to five times a day) and that seems to be the only thing that works and that dosage has been nearly doubled within a year.  Her pain management doc has just about run through everything available and probably will recommend surgery in the near future...and my wife is extremely fearful of any back surgery.  We have family and friends who have horror stories concerning their back surgery.  So I would like to hear from some of you who have gone down this road. Any advice, any experience with back surgery or even deciding against back surgery.  Any other options any of you have dealt with or considered.  Thanks!

Jim

Hello Jim & welcome to the forum. I am sorry to hear that your wife is having such difficulty and it does sound like she has used up a lot of her options at this stage. But, you know in reality, if every back surgery was a failure they would not keep letting drs do these surgeries. Probably one of the worse things that has happened to your wife is listening to family & friends talk about their surgeries. For some reason when you start talking surgery of any kind to family or friends the horror stories they come up with is enough to scare a person to death. For some reason people have to tell some horrific tale about their surgery .This is why I have never discussed my surgeries with anyone but the dr & immediate family.

One thing I suggest is she consult with a board certified neurosurgeon. These drs deal more with the nerves & such & think about it, they do brain surgery, they have more schooling for this area than an orthopedic surgeon. The ortho's specialty is more skeletal. I have seen much better outcomes with a neurosurgeon that an ortho. If she has not been seen one I would encourage her to get in with one. Sometimes, waiting too long to have surgery can work against a person too, especially if they have a pinched nerve. The nerve can sustain permanent damage if left too long,then no surgery can improve that situation.

Tell your wife good luck with her surgery, maybe she will pop on here and talk to us about this....Susie

Jim,

I had my back surgery 12/12/12. I put it off as long as possible as well. The only regret is that I didn't do it a little sooner. People wait, but younger, healthier bones/bodies heal better than elderly, fragile structures, yet they comprise the bulk of a surgeon's work.

I am 50. At 49 I had a total hip replacement on the left. Then in December, I had spinal reconstruction of L1 through L5, titanium cage, screws,...required bone marrow graft and bone grafts, both taken from my pelvis,....then recently on June 10 I had my right hip replaced.

I would do it all again in a heart beat.

I'm glad for the time I had postponing surgery. I knew this time would come eventually. With me, my neurosurgeon, the head of the department at Tufts in Boston, a teaching hospital, admitted I was a very complex case. I had some nerve damage, some that may never recover, but I'm hoping. But waiting too long, you can get permanent damage.

As for needing surgery in the future, my opinion is: Yeah, well,...that's life. If I want to take care of myself it's called maintenance. Nothing "fixes" or "cures" anything and we are always repairing or taking care of ourselves. Some of us just need more intensive means.

I'm early in the game, but I am happy I had it done. I had an excellent surgeon. The first neurosurgeon I saw was honest, and referred me to a major hospital, and to a surgeon who handles "difficult cases", usually trauma. I wouldn't hesitate to return to him IF I even need to. And I had extremely invasive and complicated work done to my spine in high risk areas. I think that I'm realistic and that makes me feel like this is a success.


Sookie

Keep in mind, realizing you have fusions and respecting your new spine goes a long way. If you "forget" or try to use it as if it's just been "fixed" and "normal" and try to move it like you would a "healthy" spine, you are setting yourself up for problems above and below the fusion areas. If you respect the purpose and effects of this new hardware and work WITH your body,...sure you'll move differently, but you'll save your back.

I think a lot of "breakdowns" of above/below fusions occur because some people don't allow for guarding and protecting those areas. I'd rather protect the areas and adjust my movement than try to move in ways that cause trauma to my spine.

Bone on bone causes trauma too, not just titanium on bone. I wouldn't hesitate. I was afraid of the wrong things.

Good luck.

Sookie

I'm 52.6 months ago I was saying I'll never have back surgery.I have bulges FROM L1 thru L5.Now I'm starting to think about how long I can go til I have to have some type of surgery.

It's always a maintenance case. The surgeon doesn't just "do his job" and you're good to go. I believe among the contributing factors, is how the patient does their job at "maintenance." We're always maintaining,...daily showers, not just one and we're clean,....brush our teeth, even after cleanings,....we buy more than one pair of shoes,....we lose 10 lbs and to maintain that it's up to us to keep an eye on diet and exercise,....so we are either maintaining our bodies or allowing them to decay.

I have degenerative disk disease so I will never "get better," but surgeries will help me maintain my life. Getting my hips replaced doesn't fix them,....but it does let me get active again and be able to get in the shower by myself. It's a mixed bag,....we all just have different degrees of "maintenance."

Perspective.


Sookie