Back Surgery
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive April 2004:
Back Surgery
Well where do I go from here? I have a ruptured disk in the L4 L5 region. Normally I would postpone it but I have already seen 2 docs about this and been told the same thing 2 times. I hate the idea of surgery. I have so much that requires me to be fixed though that it seems to be my only option. The steroid injections help a little but wear off too quickly. I dont want to keep on taking drugs either. So i feel trapped. Advice plzzzzzzz
The rule of thumb around here is (if it's something serious) get a 3rrrrrd opinion. I'm not in your shoes though, (easier said than done) right?
Hope you are pain free and off drugs soon!! Hope someone else has some good advice for you.
Many hugs and prayers to you and your family!
I've had 3 dds and a knee surgery (ligament replacement). The ligament replacement was much worse I was black and blue from my hip to my anklie. Everyone said how I would bounce back, it wasn't so. I was numb around the knee and still get that way.
I'm sorry to be such a downer. I used to be athletic, but my knee, it has been very difficult.
I'm praying things go well, tell us when you need the surgery. I also needed the surgery and there was no other way around it.
Be prepared physically (which I know you are) and mentally (for me it was very depressing, I was not prepared for that).
Mike, as you know, I have BTDT. Call me if you want to talk about it. I don't know all the particulars of your back injury, and what new treatment options may possibly be availble, such as disk repair, but I can tell you of my experience and what I know for fact about this.
{{{{{{{{{{{{hugs}}}}}}}}}}
Have you've seen a civilian doctor? If you haven't, I would make that a priority for a third consult.
Hope you're feeling better soon.
Mike, my husband suffered from a ruptured disc for years. He pursued every avenue he could before finally giving in and having surgery. We had heard so many stories from other persons who had had the surgery. Some of them reported being helped by the surgery while others said that they were worse off than before and wished that they had never had the surgery. Finally the pain got so unbearable that he felt that he had no choice but to give it a try. Thank goodness, in his case the results were the best possible! This was nine years ago, and his back is so much better than before. On a few occasions since then he has had some problems, but they are usually short lived.
Mike, if you have seen two docs, you are probably getting good advice. I personally opted not to have the surgery, having had a ruptured disk in 1980. But I was in a different life style. I took heavy pain meds for 9 months before I stopped having pain, and had two 3-5 month pain episodes in 1983 and 1984. My doc was recommending surgery but I was not thrilled with the idea, so I deliberately sought a second opinion from a doctor who (a) was qualified to give me a diagnosis and to do the surgery but (b) was very conservative about surgery. He recommended against it, saying there was only a 50/50 likelihood of improvement. I have not had serious problems with my back since, but I don't have the kind of life style you have - sitting at a keyboard most of the day with occasional weekend gardening doesn't compare to your lifestyle.
On the other hand, I have a close friend who has had back surgery twice and has had perfect results, and would not do differently.
Some advice: The first thing you ask the doctor is what percentage of patients actually have improvement from this kind of surgery.
Second, how many times have you done this procedure? You want a surgeon who does this procedure at least 2-3 times a week and has done it for at least 5 years.
Third, there are different kinds of surgery for a ruptured disk. Just what kind of procedure is he talking about and how long has it been being used. There are a number of "new" procedures being done, and some of them are really new, which means there isn't much history to compare the new procedure results with the older procedures. You want full information on all the options and choices, including this doctor's experience with each option.
Finally, if you decide to have the surgery, you want the surgeon you are meeting with to do the surgery, so you want that doctor to commit that s/he is the person who is actually going to do the surgery. When you sign the consent form you will see it says "Dr. So-and-so or whoever he appoints". Cross out the "whoever he appoints" and write in Dr. so and so ONLY, and initial the change. The procedure itself should be fully described in the consent form and if it differs from what you and the doctor discussed you MUST get it changed on the consent form before you sign it.
And, of course the surgery must be done by a board certified orthopedic surgeon. The board certification is important - it means the doctor has had special training and has done several surgeries under the supervision of the trainers, plus taking special examinations and continuing education courses.
Ginny's information is excellent. However, I want to add a couple of things to that.....and keep in mind, I am not familiar with the military health care/physicians. My back surgery was done by a neuro surgeon. Most local orthos in my area don't do backs anymore and refer their patients out to neuro docs. And in my case, the free floating pieces of disk were in danger of causing at least partial paralysis at one point. And as I mentioned before, I have some permanent nerve damage, such as numbness in one foot and no reflex in my achilles tendon in the same foot (I had the opposite of *drop foot* from the nerve damage, forgot what it's called) and my hamstring also doesn't function well in that leg either. This was all damage that occurred before I had the surgery.
All that being said, it's been almost 4 years since my 2nd back surgery, and I know that medical/surgical options have improved greatly, even in the last few years. I still have disk at L-4/L-5, and L-5/S-1, however, if I damage them further I am at risk for fusion.
Ginny made another point I want to address, which is the occupation she has. You obviously are doing other types of things at work, but even with a desk job, depending on your individual, specific injury, you can have constant pain and actually do damage to yourself just by sitting, which puts pressure on the disks/nerves. I have to use an obus form in my chair at work and I lie down every day at lunch and do stretches for my back, simply because sitting all day, keyboarding, etc. hurts me.
I guess in the end, the choice for surgery is determined by how much pain you are in and how much you become limited by the rupture.
I would go get rolfed. Sometimes if the back relaxes the pain goes away. The muscles stop pressing the rupture near a nerve, then the pain goes away.
Locate a rolfer
http://www.rolf.org/locate/locate.php3
or this
locate a rolfer
http://www.rolfguild.org/
Different orgs.
Here are picture of before and after rolfing patients I think they say everything.
http://www.yogaman.com/rolfpicts.html
http://jeffreyburch.com/home/jb1/listitems/10/0
If you want to see more pictures look in google under
rolfing pictures
Karen is right, a neurosurgeon would also be OK, providing s/he is board certified and experienced.
Whatever you decide, I hope you are feeling better soon! 
Mike,
I had surgery in the L4/L5 region twice. The first time was to remove a ruptured disk, which I was told would cause permanent nerve damage if I didn't have the surgery within a few days time. I had the surgery, and I felt WONDERFUL. For a few months. And then, scar tissue started to build up in the same area, again causing pressure on the nerves,etc....before having my second surgery, I got several opinions (from both orthopedic surgeons and also 2 neurosurgeons) - the consensus was that, since the first surgery provided so much relief, I should let them operate again and remove the scar tissue. Well - the second surgery was not as successful as the first, and I became disabled shortly after. I have a lot of pain daily, and permanent nerve damage. I can still drive, most days, but cannot sit for any length of time and cannot bend forward very much at all. The doc who did my first two surgeries would like to operate a third time, and remove a lot more of the bone (leaving room for scar tissue to expand) and then put small metal rods in place to stabilize the vertebrae. I have gone to many different doctors and chiropractors, and the consensus among the docs is a 50% chance of improvement, along with a chance of remaining the same OR worse. So I am waiting, doing my best each day, until my children grow up AND the medical community improves on this type of surgery. I also know people who have had the surgery and it was a complete success! One of the nurses at the hospital, in fact- said it was the best thing she ever did! I guess you need to weigh in your own mind how much pain you are in now, and also whether or not you could live with an unsuccessful result. I know how hard a decision it is. I wish I had been given more time to think before my first surgery. I was only 21 years old, and I had a 3 year old and a newborn to think about as well - and my doc said I could lose all the feeling in my legs if I let it go much longer. But once you go the surgical route, there's no going back.
Good luck! I wish you and your family the absolute best
Mike, Amy....any updates? Have you been able to see anyone else?
bump Hope you are doing OK..
Wendy, thank you so much for asking! I'm sorry that we missed the previous post. I don't know how we missed it??
Actually there is no news yet. Mike wants to have the surgery and is waiting to get a call from the hospital in Fort Sam Houston, TX. Then he will be able to ask all of the questions over the phone regarding qualifications of the surgeon, etc.
So, I will be sure to post again when we get that call. They said it may be awhile though. It's just a waiting game now. We really do appreciate your concern!
How frustrating! I hope he's not in terrible pain!
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