Any of you ever had back surgery?

[mjr]

I'm afraid I might need it. Like a disc replacement in my lower back or something.

In a few weeks, I'm likely going to schedule an appointment to have my lower back looked at and/or get an MRI done.

But my main thing is recovery time and pain management. I'm hoping that if they need to do it, my workplace will let me work from home during recovery.

Anyone ever had a back surgery? I knew a woman where I used to work who had a cervical fusion in her neck, and she was out and couldn't drive for 6 weeks.

So what would happen as far as recovery time, rehab, and so forth? Anything in particular I should ask the doctor about?

[firecat88]

I had a spinal cord untethering and a spinal fusion when I was 15. All told, I was in and out of (mostly in) the hospital for about 2 months partly because of complications after the spinal fusion. After my final discharge, I was bedridden for another month.

As for what to ask the doctor- If it's determined that you need the surgery, meet the people who will be doing the procedure and get a full walkthrough of how it's going to go once you get it scheduled. If you have any sensitivities or allergies to any specific meds that could be used in the procedure, ask what the best substitutes are.

[mjr]

Wow, firecat. I'd hope I'm not in the hospital that long if I need a surgery. I was thinking no more than 2 or 3 days, I'd guess, followed by being mostly in bed for a few days following.

[firecat88]

It depends on the surgery, I guess. The spinal fusion alone took over 10 hours.

[mjr]

It depends on the surgery, I guess. The spinal fusion alone took over 10 hours.

Oh, a 10 hour spinal fusion wouldn't surprise me in the slightest. I've read about that procedure.

The hardest part for me, I think, would be the recovery. My wife doesn't like driving, and she'd have to drive everywhere, for the few weeks it took me to fully recover (or at least recover to the point where I could drive).

[Food Lady]

I'm trying to avoid it. But I'm in pain every day.

[Sapphire Silk]

If your doctor recommends surgery, get a second opinion. This is major surgery that affects your spine.

Hopefully it won't come to that. There may be other treatments like steroid injections, physical therapy and so on.

[Ophbalance]

Things to note (my wife has had 3 total spinal surgeries).

• Like Pringles, once you pop, you can't stop. By this I mean that once you start down the path of spinal fusions you're very likely to need even more fusions down the road. The reason behind this is that the fused bits start putting stress on the discs above and below the fusion. And if you have a degenerative disc issue it's sure to just keep blowing out the remaining discs. One of our church members has ZERO discs. Her entire spine is fused. She gets along well enough, but she had her last and final surgery a year ago for the last surviving disc in her neck.
• Ortho docs LOVE them some surgeries, mmmm hmmm. Neru docs typically don't. If you can see one of each then I'd do so. Even better if you can somehow get them into the same room.
• Ortho originally told us "6 weeks and you're golden!". Yeah, no. It was only after the surgery when dealing with Neru that we learned that it's actually more along the lines of 6 MONTHS until you're able to start moving without much pain and a year or more until you're 90% back to where you had been. It's a very very VERY long full recovery time. There is just no getting around this.
• Recovery in the hospital was about a week. Recovery to the point of being able to just exist without the assitance of another human turned out to be around 3 months. Recovery to the point where you no longer reliant upon meds or long periods of rest is a long ass time. If you can avoid the surgery and instead do pain blocks or just about anything else, I'd go that route before even thinking about surgery.

[Luna Baby]

Also remember that not every back pain is surgery worthy. Sometimes (quite often, actually) physical therapy can be of much benefit. Best bet is to wait and see what the doctor/MRI diagnosis is and go from there. I do agree, however, that if surgery is given as an option, to seek a 2nd opinion. I've known some folks who have had more trouble after their surgery and only 1 person that is 100% after surgery.

I've been dealing with a shoulder injury for upwards of 10 years. I finally got an ortho to look at it and after an injection (wonderful results after about 2 weeks) and physical therapy, I was relatively pain free for a while. However, the pain returns and gets quite intense at times. We finally got the insurance to approve an MRI (I just knew I had an impingement from the symptoms I'm having). Turns out, there is a "sticky" calcification within the shoulder joint. While the ortho doc can do a minor surgery to go in and clean it up, he stated that there was no guarantee that it would help. My best option is to ride it out, injections as needed, and PT again if I choose.

I would recommend waiting until you have all the information presented before you before you start fretting surgery. Good luck!

[firecat88]

Also remember that not every back pain is surgery worthy. Sometimes (quite often, actually) physical therapy can be of much benefit. Best bet is to wait and see what the doctor/MRI diagnosis is and go from there.

If you can avoid the surgery and instead do pain blocks or just about anything else, I'd go that route before even thinking about surgery.

If your doctor recommends surgery, get a second opinion.

All of this. Unless there is no other option (for example, in my case, my spine was pretty much shaped like a question mark and I *had* to have the surgery to prevent it from getting worse), don't go the surgery route.

[Sapphire Silk]

A good friend of mine slipped a disk a couple of months ago. She spent two weeks practically in bed, and was in horrible pain. Her doctor had to fight to get her insurance to pay for an MRI.

By the time she went to see the neurosurgeon (who happens to be a friend of us both), he told her he didn't think she needed surgery. He felt rest and gentle, gradual exercise would be fine; the swelling was going down and he thought it would heal on its own.

She's back to doing martial arts and feels a lot better.

Personally, I'm really conservative when it comes to back surgery. I've seen too many go wrong.

What I would avoid is a chiropractor. With bad disks there is too much of a chance of serious injury.

[mjr]

I think this is beyond a slipped disc.

You know how your vertebrae sit one on top of another, basically? Well, if I were to lay on my back and do some bicycle kicks with my hands under my lower back, it would feel like one of my vertebra is actually sliding back and forth a little. I can actually feel this.

It doesn't hurt all the time, but there are times when I have trouble sleeping on my back because of it.

[Food Lady]

The surgeon refused to do it for my brother because one of the risks in his case was paralysis. He was in terrible pain but has recovered now, so I am glad he didn't have the surgery. My issues are similar, and I will not have surgery if I can help it. Anti-inflammatories, movement, ice, traction, opiates, whatever else I can use.

[Sapphire Silk]

I think this is beyond a slipped disc.

You know how your vertebrae sit one on top of another, basically? Well, if I were to lay on my back and do some bicycle kicks with my hands under my lower back, it would feel like one of my vertebra is actually sliding back and forth a little. I can actually feel this.

It doesn't hurt all the time, but there are times when I have trouble sleeping on my back because of it.

Ouch! That could still be a slipped disk actually. But it also could be a ruptured disk. The MRI, when you get it, will tell your doctor which.

Either way, sounds like you are miserable. I hope you get the right diagnosis, the right treatment, and start feeling better soon. I hope you don't need surgery (because who wants to go through that?); I would still encourage you to get a second opinion if possible (always a good idea), but if you do in fact need it, I will pray for the best.

Keep us updated!

[Gravekeeper]

You know how your vertebrae sit one on top of another, basically? Well, if I were to lay on my back and do some bicycle kicks with my hands under my lower back, it would feel like one of my vertebra is actually sliding back and forth a little. I can actually feel this.

Go to a physical therapist before you decide on anything major. Make absolutely damn sure its structural and even then. You'd be surprised how many horrific sounding/feeling things with the back are not actually horrific permanent damage that needs corrective surgery.

A sliding vertebra towards the base of the lower back is a thing, yes, and its a thing that can be treated non-surgically first. Unless its degenerative.

I did the whole "oh god my back is destroyed I need to be cut open" when my back seemingly went fubar on me ( resulting in years of pain and what not afterwards ) and it turned out to not be horrific spine damage as I neurotically envisioned. But had I not gone to a physiotherapist and found that out I would have likely kept thinking I blew a disk or something too, yes.