Anyone here had spinal fusion?

[jetskigrl]

I have C6/C7 fused but that is my neck so my experience probably won't help as much. I had cervical discectomy and fusion (titanium plate). I was only supposed to be in the hospital for 1 night and off work for 2 weeks but ended up with 2 nights in the hospital and 3 months off work. I think mine was complicated by a bone fragment that was embedded in the nerve. I could have gone back to work 2 months post surgery but I experienced really bad, every day headaches for a while.

I received complete clearance for all activity after a year. 6 months post surgery I was OK to ride rides at DLR, as long as there was time between them to judge how I was feeling. Once I knew I could handle it, I had no more restrictions. I actually made the decision to have surgery because I had to stop doing the things I loved because I never knew what would cause the pain to increase. I hated living life not being able to do everything that I wanted to do with my kids, etc.

I had pain from my neck to my fingers and could barely sleep most nights. That was all gone immediately after surgery and the pain for the actual surgery site was not bad at all.
Best of luck to you. After 2 years of pain, I know the decision to have the surgery was the right one for me.

 

[Jennasis]

The PA was very understanding. He wants to try a two week course of prednisone to see if the nerve has just become inflamed during healing. If it doesn't improve then we'll order and MRI and go from there. The prednisone did not help at all back in November when I initially herniated the disc, so I'll know if it's inflammation vs. a nerve compression pretty quickly. Here's hoping!

 

[North of Mouse]

Hopefully you will get good results!! I have lots of issues with nerve impingement in my neck, so I can sure relate to the some of the pain and frustration you are going through. The best to you!

 

[tinatark]

Question for those who have had cervical fusion: Did you try the epidural/steroid shots first? How were your results? I am understanding from both physicians we have consulted - neurosurgeon and orthpaedic - that results vary widely.

 

[Davie Business]

From a medical evidence standpoint, lumbar fusions are no better than conservative therapies that include strengthening and stretching. True even with herniation and radicular pain (those pains down your buttocks and back of your legs. Very profitable and thus probably the single most overused surgery. Your own experience with the fact that a surgical approach wasn't a cure all should give you pause.

 

[jetskigrl]

Question for those who have had cervical fusion: Did you try the epidural/steroid shots first? How were your results? I am understanding from both physicians we have consulted - neurosurgeon and orthpaedic - that results vary widely.

I had two of the three recommended epidural shots. The first in the side of my neck and the second one going in the back of my neck. Neither one made one bit of difference (and only resulted in tons of medical bills and fights with the insurance company). Luckily the doctor and I decided not to bother with the third one.

 

[TaylorEar]

Haven't had a fusion, but have had several other procedures (including L4/L5/S1 discectomy, and facet injections - which was basically torture). I was diagnosed with degenerative disc disease 8 years ago. At the time my Orthopedic Surgeon basically told me that at my age the diagnosis was considered a "we don't know why your back is messed up" thing, and he told me to delay a fusion at all costs. He told me that his patients who had fusions suffered with other problems "for the rest of their lives", and that I should hold out as long as I possibly could and wait for the advancements (ie - disk replacement) to become more common, because there is no going back. I would look into any and every other option, including PT, pain management specialists, etc.

 

[Jennasis]

From a medical evidence standpoint, lumbar fusions are no better than conservative therapies that include strengthening and stretching. True even with herniation and radicular pain (those pains down your buttocks and back of your legs. Very profitable and thus probably the single most overused surgery. Your own experience with the fact that a surgical approach wasn't a cure all should give you pause.

I tried conservative therapies for years with no luck. My first discectomy worked for 4 1/2 years beautifully. There was no non-surgical option in that case. Whether this second discectomy has failed or not yet remains to be seen, but even if it has failed I'm not sure I want a fusion. So in this case, I am investigating all the options.

Seriously though, I have to laugh at the thought of "stretching or strengthening" as a tool to fix my first herniation. The level to which that disc was extruded was not something that could have been addressed non-surgically...at least not if I ever wanted to walk again.

 

[Jennasis]

Question for those who have had cervical fusion: Did you try the epidural/steroid shots first? How were your results? I am understanding from both physicians we have consulted - neurosurgeon and orthpaedic - that results vary widely.

None of the epidurals I had worked. I had one just prior to my discectomy in mid November. It lasted 3 days before the pain came back worse than before, though it did allow me to get through my sister's wedding 2 days after the shot. The shot was quite painful (I have a very high threshold and I nearly passed out), though I'd had one prior to my first surgery years ago and that one lasted a week and a half but I felt nothing during the shot as the doctor who did it was awesome.

 

[tinatark]

I had two of the three recommended epidural shots. The first in the side of my neck and the second one going in the back of my neck. Neither one made one bit of difference (and only resulted in tons of medical bills and fights with the insurance company). Luckily the doctor and I decided not to bother with the third one.

None of the epidurals I had worked. I had one just prior to my discectomy in mid November. It lasted 3 days before the pain came back worse than before, though it did allow me to get through my sister's wedding 2 days after the shot. The shot was quite painful (I have a very high threshold and I nearly passed out), though I'd had one prior to my first surgery years ago and that one lasted a week and a half but I felt nothing during the shot as the doctor who did it was awesome.

Oh, man, you guys are scaring me! Hubby needs surgery - we thought the shots might buy him a little time! Neither doctor we consulted with (orthopedic and neurosurgeon) really had much faith in the shots, other than thinking they might be a temporary fix.

 

[Jennasis]

Oh, man, you guys are scaring me! Hubby needs surgery - we thought the shots might buy him a little time! Neither doctor we consulted with (orthopedic and neurosurgeon) really had much faith in the shots, other than thinking they might be a temporary fix.

Hugs. The shots are a temporary solution for sure...sometimes very temporary (like days) other times a few weeks or months. Even when they work, you can expect to be looking at having to do them often each year. I looked at our EOB after the shot and realized they cost $1500 per shot...luckily my insurance covered 80% as I had reached my OOP cap. I would be mighty peeved if I had spend $1500 and only gotten 3 days of relief.

FWIW, DH has had cortisone shots in his knees and they don't work there either. He's having a total knee replacement this summer (at 41 years old).

We are both very fortunate that we are very good friends with one the best pain management specialists in the area. He's offered to help us out in any way possible as well as recommend the best ortho or neurologists around and get us in to see them quick if we want. FwIW he wants me to avoid fusion at all costs if I can and agrees it's very overused. As I've said, I want to avoid it too.

Day 2 of the prednisone seems to be going well.

 

[Pugsly]

DH had a fusion and a cage placed for L4/L5 a couple of years ago. He was back at work part-time within a week and full-time within 3 weeks. So very successful for him and we fully credit his surgeon.

Good luck to you!

 

[modisneychick]

To the OP, your situation sounds similar to mine. I had years of back pain and finally agreed to a microdiscectomy to get some relief in my leg and foot. I had the surgery, but two weeks later I felt a pop in my back and was right back where I was. After that, I put off back surgery for 5 years by doing physical therapy, chiropractic, and epidural injections. I previously worked for a spinal device company in another state and I knew every bad thing that could happen. I also knew too many people that had horrible experiences. I finally gave in when my anesthesiologist who was doing the injections told me, you have a "flat tire", there is really nothing more I could do and I was also dragging my leg behind me.

I ended up having a two-level fusion at L4-L5 and L5-S1. It was two surgeries over the course of three days and I have to say it was awful. I really regretted my decision over the next few days, but I did what I was told, lots of walking, very little sitting, no lifting. Within 10 days, I felt 100% better and was well on the way to recovery. It has been 5 years now since my surgeries and I only have issues with running and standing still. I can walk as much as I want with no pain, but standing in one place for long periods or running (the constant pounding) both cause temporary increased pain. Otherwise, I am very active and do anything I want.

My best advice is to get a surgeon who is experienced in doing the type of surgery you need. Preferably get a surgeon who does only those type of surgeries. They will have seen many different cases and will best know how to treat you. A local surgeon wanted to put an artificial disc in, and I almost had surgery with him. The surgeon who ended up doing my surgery told me I would have had life-long leg pain with an artificial disc because of the disc height I had lost - increasing that height would have caused many, many problems. Please don't be afraid to ask tough questions, it does matter!

I do have a decrease in flexibility, but it doesn't really affect my ability to do anything I need to do. Having surgery was the best decision I could have made. Good luck to you!

 

[jetskigrl]

Oh, man, you guys are scaring me! Hubby needs surgery - we thought the shots might buy him a little time! Neither doctor we consulted with (orthopedic and neurosurgeon) really had much faith in the shots, other than thinking they might be a temporary fix.

If the pain is being cause by inflammation, then the shots may help your DH. In my case, I had a bone fragment pinching down on the nerve so the shots could not do anything to help with that. But that wasn't discovered until the surgery so we had no way to know. I think the insurance companies want you to try all the less-invasive (meaning less costly) procedures first but in my case, I really wish we could have avoided all the medical bills and stress that went along with the injections.

 

[tinatark]

If the pain is being cause by inflammation, then the shots may help your DH. In my case, I had a bone fragment pinching down on the nerve so the shots could not do anything to help with that. But that wasn't discovered until the surgery so we had no way to know. I think the insurance companies want you to try all the less-invasive (meaning less costly) procedures first but in my case, I really wish we could have avoided all the medical bills and stress that went along with the injections.

Actually, I don't think our insurance company is is pushing the injections instead of surgery, he would rather not have the surgery! I think his issues are because of inflammation, there are some bone spurs but the MRI doesn't show they're causing the nerve impingement. Thank You for the advice!