Wow, it's been a fair few months since I posted here. Had other surgeries performed, so just slowly recovering from them. I finally saw a Neurosurgeon in the last week or so, had another MRI done and spoke to the consultant the very next day.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ginnie
Welcome to Neuro Talk. Most of us came here for the same reasons...these not fun back issues. I am in no way a professional, just been here for a bit and had two spinal fusions myself.
Just a few impressions of your MRI. Most of the time if the language of the MRI says "Mild" or "moderate" the physicians try some alternative therapies before going into surgery. It is a great idea to go for another opinion or two.
You do have a mild compression or indenting on L 5-S1, on the roots. Any pressure at all on a root hurts. You also have that kind of mild compression on the L4 root. Again anything that presses on the root hurts.
Have you tried any therapies? Would like to know what you have tried so far. I know you have been in pain a long time. Anything like acupuncture?
Keep me posted on what the doctors say. Ginnie  |
Hi ginnie,
I've already tried other alternative non-surgical therapies, like physiotherapy and also acupuncture, neither of which really helped.
According to the new MRI scans, the consultant says I have two options. Either temporary injections, although they may work, they would only give me a maximum of 3, after which surgery would be the case. As I've mentioned already, I'm not at all keen on having the injections, so we've decided to go for surgery in August.
The consultant says they will perform something called a Spinal Fusion, which apparently is considered a 'Major Operation'. They will put in an artificial disc, if I understood it correctly, and then fix it with a metal plate. The very last disc is the problematic disc, and the one above it is 50/50, the rest of the discs are completely fine.
I've got actual digital copies of the MRI scan, which I will take to show another Neurosurgeon for a second opinion, but in the meantime, I've agreed with the consultant to do the surgery. Reading around online, the whole idea of a Spinal Fusion sounds a bit scary.
Am I worrying too much for nothing? Or are there any other options I should consider?
Any and all advice would be most appreciated.
Regards
CookieRocks