Hello,

I am contemplating having a semi-lumbar laminectomy done and wanted to know if anyone else has had this done and if so what have been your long term results.

Just a brief disagnosis and why i am so hesitant to go through with surgery...

August 2005 was in a major head on motor vehicle collision...

MRI in 2006 showed L4-5 extrusion measuring 9mm x 26mm, moderate loss of disc height at L5-S1 small tear and mild bulging of disc

MRI in 2007 showed L4-5 extrustion measuring 11mm x 30mm, severe loss of disc height and spinal canal reduction of 50% at largest part of extrusion (the L4-5 disc extends down over the body of the L-5 vertebrae)

EMG shows L5-S1 radiculopathy

After the first MRI i was told by several doctors that these things can heal themselves given time. I believe in natural healing and so i continued on with PT (4 rounds of it- including a Mackenzie specialist) also did chiro, TENS, and later gave into pain meds, muscle relaxers, etc... when the pain got too much to bear- but i can't function on them, so i don't take anything but Aleve, later went to an orthopeadic dr. where i tried epidural steroid injections, first one helped, but the next three did nothing...

a month ago finally saw a surgeon, older fellow who did my grandma's spinal fusion over 20 years ago... he said time for surgery. wouldn't give me an answer on the chances of additional surgeries down the road- in fact he ripped into me about waiting so long to see a surgeon. (no way in hell i would have him operate on me- he couldn;t even answer my questions, just told me that he has done over 10,000 surgeries, he KNOWS what he is doing...)

i decided to do a little research and found a much younger surgeon who was recently brought to the same hospital that the above surgeon works out of. he was brough here because he specializes in a less invasive procedure) schedule and appointment with him and he was FANTASTIC! he spent a long time talking with me about the pro's and con's of surgery, mentioned that in my case there is a 70-80% chance that i will end up having a fusion in the future if i do have a laminectomy- due to the fact the extrusion is so large, there isn't much of a disc left between vertebrae. all makes great sense.

the second surgeon also sent me to a rehabilitation dr with Mary Freebed and he ended up telling me there was nothing he could do - he said that i should probably really consider surgery...

i am deathly afraid of the idea of having to go through a fusion later down the road, but also am just so sick of the chronic pain etc...

i am 34, a single mother and self employed as a photographer. i just am so perplexed and really want to hear what others have to say- especially those who have gone through a laminectomy... how are you today? what results did you have? was it worth it?

_thanks much!
Theresa