Oh boy did I! The first time I was referred to Emory Hospital in Atlanta. (I live in Charleston, SC) I went first for a consultation. I was scheduled for the complete pre-op workup about a month later. By this time I was told that the joint ws flail. I had one leg about 2 inches longer than the other. The did like a SI joint block under fluoroscopy but without pain med and with dye. They needed to see if the pain was exactly duplicated and what the joint looked like with dye running through. You know the joint itself is very difficult to see. Afterwards, I went to a neurologist in the same building for a nerve conduction to see how much nreve damage or nerve root was involved. I also met with Vicki Mims who put the joint back in place. I got up and walked around to see how long it would stay and it didn't. While I was with her, this gorgeous young woman came in to meet me. She was about 20 years younger than me and a former soccer coach. After the surgery she could no longer do that kind of work but her recovery seemed wonderful. She was walking without assistance.
I went into surgery the following morning and , let me tell you that was the most painful experience I had ever had at that point. It was a very difficult recovery. I was under the impression I'd be out of work for 6 weeks, use the walker for around 3 months and then graduate to a cane for about 6 months. It was honestly not a good experience at all and regret it tremendously. Is the pain better. Excuse the expression but HELL NO X 10. First of all I will never have surgery by a surgeon that is 400 miles away. The physical therapists here, despite being given a specific protocol, seemed unnsure and really weren't sure what should be expected in terms of results. Eventually the pain returned with a vengeance, worse than ever before the surgery. There just happened to be an orthopedist who had a special interest in the treatment of this area and had some experience with this problem so he was kind of my last resort. After an MRI,Cat scan, it was determined that the pins were moving which meant the joint fusion had not healed. He was not at all optimistic that things were going to get better but he did offer me a surgery using larger pins and the removalof about 4 square inches of sacrum, ground it up and mixed it with bone cement. Again, this is not for the faint of heart. It was considered salvage surgery because by that time I was hardly able to walk. Well, I am now one year post op from the second surgery. Still walk with a cane but on really bad days I still use the alker. Pain is better controlled but I still use a long acting opiate as well as a short acting. To give hime credit, he told me to expect recovery to last anywhere from 6 months to a year. I am better. Just starting to get back to work. (I only work 6 hours a day). I'm terribly sick this week. I've tried to use less narcotics and have been using too much ibuprofen. I have several ulcers, so I'm week and sick. Oh yeah, my last x-ray one year after surgery showed that the fusion has healed still. This may be something wrong with me though by not being able to gro new bone. I had a cervical fusion about7 years ago and it took twice as long as it should for that to grow.

If I had it all over to do it again, the non-expert orthopedist here in Charleston would have been my first choice over the guy in Atlanta who is supposed to be such an expert and will tell you he has never had a failed fusion. Bells sould have rang then, failure to fuse is not necesary a reflection of the surgeon, it just sometimes happens and I didn't feel I was given a really informed consent and the possible complications or failures.

I'm never going to be the same again but then I couldn't live the way I was before. Way carefully how you are now and then find out the HONEST possible results afterwards. I am not happy with things but now that the pain is allowing me to do more things, I know it was probably the only way I could ever get around and 2 years later(since the first surgery) I am starting to get some of my old self back. I rode on the back of my husbands motorcycle Saturday and I never thought I woul be able to do that. It just takes TONS of patience.