Quote:
Originally Posted by I Believe
Hello y'all!
I am new to the forum. I just wanted to see what others had to say. So, I've been diagnosed with isthmic spindylolisthesis grade III of the L5-S1 level. I also have compression fractures on the L5 and S1. I guess the thing that worries me is the loss of lower back mobility after the spinal fusion. Nobody has really explained to me how much of my back I will be able to move (flexation/extension) after the surgery.
I dance hip hop (not on a team or anything but for fun) and my doctor says I will still be able to dance after the fusion, but being that he is not too familiar with hip hop dancing, I am still left just unsure. Even up until now he said that I can dance as long as I don't do anything too wild which was a tough one for me cause I like to do some neat moves, but I resisted doing back related moves and just stuck to safe dancing 
I know it varies person by person depending on which vertebral levels are fused, but can anyone who has had the surgery please let me know how much of your back are you able to move now? I don't know, it just kind of scares me to even think about fused vertebra and not being able to bend all the way.
Also maybe are there any dancers or gymnasts out there who have undergone spinal fusion?
Thanks everyone!
P.J
Also, just to mention, I am a 23 yr old male, pretty active (runner, hip hop dance), but I haven't done much lately due to my sciatica nerve pain going down my leg. I dont have much back pain, usually just discomfort/instability, but I wear a back brace which helps that problem a whole lot. With my brace I feel much more stable. I usually get sciatica (nerve pain) in my rt leg in the morning. |
Hi. so i cant tall you how much i can relate to what you are going through, like so much in common, i also love to dance (like you, hip hop)its my life and i really enjoyed running, and all of a sudden seems like i cant do the things i felt more happy and complete doing.
I was also diagnosed with spondylolisthesis, supposedly the lowest level. and it has changed my life and i hate it. The first dr. told me that since i was so active and i wanted to continue dancing i needed the surgery and that i could be doing what usedt to be my normal life in about 4 months, it scared me sure, but i wanted to do it right away because i cant do without dancing.
But then, i went with another dr. and he told me that surgery wasnt necessary and risky,and that even if i had it, most likely, i would not be dancing after. He also said, that in most cases you never really end up well after those types of surgery, and that sooner or later i would need another surgery because another vertebra would slip.
I felt devastaded. After i had physiotherapy, and the dr. who gave it to me, told me that i did'nt have anything like spondylolisthesis, that it was just an injury for over-excercising, and that if i took good care of myself in some months i would be dancing and running again.
I feel so confused, of course i want to believe what the last dr. told me, but it seems kind of unrealistic. But i decided to stay positive (even if its hard), and wait and if im not dancing in months, i would do anything to convince my mom to get the surgery, because i want to do anything possible to know i tried all there was to dance again.
If you get the surgery i hope you end up well, and that you can be able to do everything you used to, and it would mean a lot if you please let me know. The best of luck to you, and remember to keep your mind positive, even when it seems impossible (it helps).