I'd have stopped him had I known what he was going to do!

[Mermaid02]

My dh is having back surgery next week. He decided to look it up online- he's not easily squeamish. This got to him. Now he has a whole week to stew on it- some things are better left to the imagination.

 

[akcire]

I had two thyroid surgeries for cancer in the past 4 months. I am not kidding, my doctors banned me from using the internet. Not only did I make myself a crazy person, but the first time I meet the surgeon I had a list of 60 questions to ask him. Since I read multiple languages, I had journals from around the world. He teases me now, that I know more about thyroids than him--which is ironic since I no longer have one!

My good friend is also an oncologist and threatened to take away my computer, if I didn't stop diagnosing myself.

Tell your husband good luck, and to stay off the internet, in many ways it is filled with the worst case scenario people.

 

[yoopermom]

I can see both sides of this. I've debated having spinal fusion for most of my adult life, and have questioned the surgeons carefully, researched, etc. Any patient should be informed, hopefully by their doctor and staff. Spinal surgery IS serious, and can have short and long term complications. Basically, I was told, "When you're in so much pain it's affecting your life, you'll decide it's worth it." it's easy to pish pish his fears, but I do think it needs to be a researched decision.

Good luck to him!

Terri

 

[DisneyBamaFan]

Sometimes we just have to put our trust in God and let His will be done...

 

[Mermaid02]

He's not going to be awake, and even if he was, it's not as if he could even see it. What's bothering him so much? They're opening up his back and fixing him up, right?

Actually seeing the pictures is what's bothering him. Knowing what they are doing and seeing it are different- he should have known better.

 

[LindaR]

Oh, well I've had a spinal fusion and I WISHED I had researched it online first!!! Gotta read comments from people who have actually had the surgery and know how "sucessful" it is. Doctors DO NOT tell you everything.

 

[minkydog]

Actually seeing the pictures is what's bothering him. Knowing what they are doing and seeing it are different- he should have known better.

I sympathize with him. I'm a nurse so I like to research any procedure my doctors suggest.I've never had spinal surgery, but recently I was recommended to have foot reconstruction. I looked it up and HOLY COW~ The pictures and explanation was downright gruesome. All I'll say is it involves cutting bones, screwing them back together, and various other stuff I don't want to think about. It makes my stomach curl just thinking about it. So I understand. Sometimes you think you want to know everything and then when you *do* you're sorry you looked. Well, at least it will be done next week. I have to wait until summer. Lucky me.

 

[bumbershoot]

I think it's very important to know what is going to be done to you.

The poster whose doctor didn't like that s/he knew so much and had 60 questions? Yeah, I'd have fired that doctor that day. Doctors that don't want their patients to be informed SCARE me.

 

[rwdavis2]

He should get all the info he can. My wife works in an OR where they do back surgeries and she says that back surgery should be a LAST RESORT. A large number of them are not sucessful in relieving pain and you can end up in a viscious cycle of pain killers and more surgery.
BD

 

[Mermaid02]

Thanks everyone- He is well informed, the doc went over everything with him, explained it all etc. It was just seeing it actually done that was a bit much. Heck, when I had my hip replacement I knew what was going to happen, but NO WAY did I want to see someone get it done on the internet!

And this is last resort, he has had injections, massage therapy, acupuncture, acupressure, chiropractic treatment.... this has been going on for YEARS. Hopefully, this will help him!

 

[chattyann]

I just had my 4th back surgery on Jan. 18th. The last 2 surgeries I have had are fusion surgeries. I will make a suggestion that if he is having a fusion to ask beforehand if they are going to use bone out of his hip. I was not told this until about 30 mins. before my first fusion and trust me it makes a huge difference in your pain level when you wake up. The hip pain was much worse than the back pain and took me quite a while to heal from. I do think your husband should be very informed about back surgery, and it sounds like he is, but maybe looking at pics. wasn't the best option. If he is having fusion, wait till he sees xrays of his back afterwards, pretty interesting seeing the hardware I have now. lol I wish you both the best, and that he has a good recovery. I have had back problems since 1994, so I totally understand dealing with the pain and trying all the options before surgery. I would not have had to have the last 2 if I had not fallen at work. The first 2 truly helped me until my fall.

 

[akcire]

The poster whose doctor didn't like that s/he knew so much and had 60 questions? Yeah, I'd have fired that doctor that day. Doctors that don't want their patients to be informed SCARE me.

Actually the surgeon (one of the best in the world) was really good about it, but what you fail to realize is that the 60 questions were at the first appointment. (Oh yes I went way overboard!) After that appointment I read conservatively an additional 1500 pages of technical journal articles coming out of 6 countries on theories of the thyroid, treatment protocols, heck I even ventured into the 'alternative' medical world.

Also it was my primary, my endocrinologist, and a couple of doctor friends who banned me from the internet, not the surgeon--I think he enjoyed the volleying. [Either that or he deserves an Oscar ]

Mermaid02-the internet, especially the medical sites, has not only the images to scare you; but many of the people who post to medical sites are not the normal outcome. It was very hard for me to emotionally disregard their experiences as the statistical abnormalities they were.

Tell your husband good luck, surgery sucks but hopefully it will put him in a pain free place.

 

[LindaR]

Chattyann, I am in totaly agreement with you. My doctor refused to use donor/cadaver bone and insisted on using bone grafted from my hip. THAT hurt more than my back! And now I have a host of additional problems from the grafting site (arthritis, osteoporosis, etc). Gee, thanks doc.

AFTER my surgery I started reading about others who had the same procedure and it was awful to read about the additional problems AND the failure rate of this surgery.

 

[MELISAZACK]

My DH will be on his 4th back surgery 3/16 - 2nd fusion. 1st one failed.
they used hip bone and cadaver bone - his hip was sooo painful he said.
but 6 months into recovery he fell down the steps. broke on of the fusion bones they hope it would just heal.. but it didn't heal right and the body absorbed it leaving no support.. he will have a new type of fusion BMP I think is call in march.. he is in sooo much pain now he is actually looking forward to it.. he did lose 90% of his flexation movement from the 1st surgery as well.

 

[Becky2005]

Unfortunately, it's one of those things that you know the risks in the back of your head but it's better to not dwell on it unless you have to cross that bridge.

I don't know why your DH is having back surgery. If it makes him feel better my DD had to have spinal fusion last year for scoliosis. She has 2 rods & 23 screws in her back now but other than never playing football or tumbling, she will be able to go back to normal. She should get the green light at her 1 year post-op to go on roller coasters.

Her recovery was a bit difficult but that was only because the pain meds made her sick since she didn't want to eat but if you don't eat, it makes you sick to your stomach -- so you see the cycle we got into. It was like having a toddler with an attitude during recovery but by the time her 7 weeks were up & she could go back to school, we were both ready for her to get out of the house.

She ended up doing an acting performance at about 8-9 weeks out since she was an understudy & the person who was to play a part wasn't allowed back in school (that was when the new restrictions for H1N1 had been put in place). Six months after surgery she was on stage doing her first pageant.

Other than the scar on her back and her restrictions, you would never know she had the surgery.

Hopefully this will ease some of the fear.

 

[Mermaid02]

He's not scared- he's totally grossed out.

 

[Becky2005]

He's not scared- he's totally grossed out.

Not much to do on that one. Luckily, he won't physically be seeing it.

I definitely didn't watch too many videos on that, a few but mostly just the other stories, etc... which had the "before/while recovering/after" shots but none of the actual surgery.

 

[KAMLEM]

The poster whose doctor didn't like that s/he knew so much and had 60 questions? Yeah, I'd have fired that doctor that day. Doctors that don't want their patients to be informed SCARE me.

She did not say that the doctor didn't like it, she said he teased her about it. I don't see the big deal and I certainly would not have fired him.

Oh, well I've had a spinal fusion and I WISHED I had researched it online first!!! Gotta read comments from people who have actually had the surgery and know how "sucessful" it is. Doctors DO NOT tell you everything.

I agree 100%. I had a spinal fusion when I was 9 years old. The doctor told me that my back would be stronger and I'd never have any problems. Several years later the fusion has become unstable and I have a lot of pain. The doctor says there is probably about an 80% chance that they could do more damage with surgery because there is so much scar tissue. In addition, the hip that they took the bone from bothers me quite a bit.

 

[Karibeth19]

Unfortunately, it's one of those things that you know the risks in the back of your head but it's better to not dwell on it unless you have to cross that bridge.

I don't know why your DH is having back surgery. If it makes him feel better my DD had to have spinal fusion last year for scoliosis. She has 2 rods & 23 screws in her back now but other than never playing football or tumbling, she will be able to go back to normal. She should get the green light at her 1 year post-op to go on roller coasters.

Her recovery was a bit difficult but that was only because the pain meds made her sick since she didn't want to eat but if you don't eat, it makes you sick to your stomach -- so you see the cycle we got into. It was like having a toddler with an attitude during recovery but by the time her 7 weeks were up & she could go back to school, we were both ready for her to get out of the house.

She ended up doing an acting performance at about 8-9 weeks out since she was an understudy & the person who was to play a part wasn't allowed back in school (that was when the new restrictions for H1N1 had been put in place). Six months after surgery she was on stage doing her first pageant.

Other than the scar on her back and her restrictions, you would never know she had the surgery.

Hopefully this will ease some of the fear.

Wow, Becky, I almost could have written this post myself! My DD had scoliosis surgery a little over 8 weeks ago, and except for her scars, and a little stiffness, you would never know she had anything done. Her recovery sounds very similar to your DD's; it did feel like having a toddler again! I had to help her dress, shower, use the bathroom, etc., and we would cheer her little milestones like we did when she was little, "Yea! She sat up by herself! Yea, she rolled over! Yea, she's walking!". But now, she's almost completely back to normal, and it's wonderful! In fact, I think my DD recovered a bit faster, because she was back in school full time 5 weeks post-op, and has been cleared to resume all non-jarring activity. Her surgeon says she will be able to ride roller coasters when we go to Disney in June.

I did make sure to stay off the internet as much as possible in the days leading up to her surgery, though. I tried to find mostly success stories, and sites that rationally outlined the risks. I purposely avoided anything negative; her curve was 63 degrees on top, and 90 degrees on bottom, and she definitely needed the surgery!!! We really had no other choice. Reading horror stories, or sites that claim they had better treatment than "debilitating" surgery was not going to be helpful, so I didn't. We were in expert hands, and everything turned out great.

So, OP, there's another success story for you!