Howdy, and I am sorry I don''t get her often enough, although I do see the thread updates pop up!! I am 6 1/2 years post op from L5-S1 discectomy/laminectomy/fusion. The thing about the fact of having had it performed was that I was at the time 9 months out from having been involved in a bad car wreck on I-70 where traffic had slowed and two cars behind me missed the reality of physics and ran into me at full speed. My little Lincoln LS became a nonmusical accordion. I was concussed, both my arms were messed up, and I came to realize my back was ruined when the scream causing pain began due to multiple disc herniations as though they had become seive like.

I became well experienced at surgery and disgnostic procedures over time. Thing was, no surgeon would touch my back despite my pain doctors concurring I had to be addressed. One purported physician whom I saw as a surgical candidate said he would not treat me, I demanded my file, he oh so very kindly dictated a letter to file where the first introductory words were "Patient is a lawyer." I am so glad I do not pack weapons, else we would have been one doc less and I would be in prison.

Problem came along that my lack of surgical treatment was working two effects in my body. On the one hand, as a physiatrist did tell me, sometimes with physical therapy, meds for pain, and time, a disc can basically scar over, forming a repair of itself. This did occur for me at one upper levels of disc herniation. Bad part on the other hand, as I have read in medical articles, if a disc requiring repair is not addressed within the first six months of injury much worse problems can occur. Naturally, after the physican wrote his Lawyer letter to the file, I began to worsen. Ultimately, my situation deteriorated to cauda equina syndrome. I no longer had any control over that part of my body below the waist.... period. Weakness, no control over bladder or bowel and I could not make anything happen. THANK GOD, and I mean this, a young neurosurgeon to whom I was recommended by my treasure of a physiatrist said he could help just a couple of weeks before onset of the syndrome. Once he was informed of my predicament, I was an emergency case, and I was on the OR table within 36 hours of letting him know.

Upside? That pain which had reduced me to screaming my lungs out [I used a pillow to muffle them so as to try minimizing distress of my family] deep in my lumbar back was SOLVED, and the pace of spasms which were more than 2 per second began to slow [this process continued for years, and now spasms occur during pain flareup when I experience it]. The nerve serving my legs was irreparably damaged. This was apparently due to WAITING TOO LONG for the surgery my ruined back needed to correct the mechanical problems.

Thing that really angered me was my well trusted physiatrist had performed a diagnostic surgery on me called discogram. The test is done in a radiographic OR specifically for the purpose, allowing the surgeon to see first hand what is occurring as contrast medium is injected into the suspected disc of the patient at risk. No anesthesia is allowed, because patient reaction is part of the empirical evidence of something dreadfully wrong or a lack of a problem. If the disc is whole or able to contain the injected medium the patient will generally not react at all except to the discomfort occasioned by the injection itself. Someone like moi presents another dimension. unsedated, I could hear my doc murmur "it's like swiss cheese in there" and I started screaming and thrashing on the table. Apparently all of the fluid leaked right out of the injured disc since it was so badly herniated and pressing on the nerve. Six people were holding me to the OR table in an effort to get a good image of the test result. I began sobbing in addition to screaming. My doc was so compassionate, and it was he who ultimately got me beyond the phalanx of nay sayers to a surgeon who would treat me.

So, were I injured thusly ever again, would I press harder and harder for proper treatment as opposed to waiting out the onset of symptoms I reported above? Answer, I would not trade the work performed by my neurosurgeon for any other approach. He helped when others refused.

I think this addresses the concerns of RangerGrl, with the caveat that your physiatrist is your best advocate for treatment if diagnostics indicate whether you need help. On the issue whether a person subjected to fusion may later bear children, the only thoughts I can offer, of course, are brought into this message- my neurosurgeon told me and my wife that the low lumbar fusion was generally one of the most successful from his perspective, and that once fused it would be stronger than the original structure. Additionally, he held hope that I would ultimately be able to resume dancing with my wife, alpine skiing, wilderness hiking and the like if my nerve did react as he hoped with regrowth. His thoughts included the reason such a fusion tends to be more successful is that it forms a new foundation for the spine, and is not subject to the nuances of mid back and higher fusions which can destabilize spine structures over time due to the flexion and and retraction of the spine put upon anyone who thereafter attempts to live a more normal life.

My case? Permanently damaged nerve ultimately resulted in implant of Spinal Cord Stimulation technology so pain might be managed better through the use of electronics than by meds prescribed, but then that is the subject of my thread on the SCS subforum. I do use a Wheelchair if the distance is too far, because I am unstable since I cannot feel below my knees [another symptom of the nerve permanently damaged], and I can and do walk with the assistance of a cane if the distance is short enough so I feel privileged to be able to rejoin ambulating folks, and my three canes are black, black, and red. The red is for use with my new mountain bike. Yes, I do ride on pave surfaces so far, but even today riding along with my wife, I still have trouble keeping my uncooperative feet on the pedals the way they should, and I could not use the toe straps, because once in, I could not retract my feet soon enough when a stop was required, so a fall was in order........

Now, as to our bellydancer Heather..... I am glad you are so UP after your surgery. If you were caught early enough and diligently proceed through your therapy, you may see many things come back online, including self regeneration of your nerve if the damage was not too long as was mine.

Post surgically, here is what I felt EVERY TIME I moved whether in bed, arising, walking, sitting, or using the bathroom on one of those nifty seat raisers [docs should forwarn everyone to outfit their toilet thusly before arrival back home from the hospital]...... I literally felt as if I was pulling my back apart. Now, you know I am a screamer from earlier in this too lengthy post [and my tolerance for pain is pretty high]... well, I would scream at the moment of attempting movement. SO, in hospital, I asked the nurse for a washcloth... DRY, not shaken [] and I rolled it up, put it between my teeth, and murmured to her "OK, I am going to try everything you want of me." This being spoken around a washcloth filled mouth.

You see, the guy in the room next to mine was a screamer and a moaner. If it was not my pain from the day of surgery, it was this fella crying out which was keeping me awake EVEN with the intravenous MORPHINE [Ahhhhhhh]. I was determined not to give that unwanted gift to anyone else. The nurse thought it odd, but she supplied the washcloth, and to this day it is in my nightstand drawer, a reminder of obstacles overcome. So, it is not unusual to FEEL as though you are coming apart, that something has shifted, that something is awry, but my neurosurgeon described it this way when I told him I felt I was pulling myself apart, "Mark, there is no way.... you are bound together with rods and screws directly into your vertebrae. The space formerly occupied by your disc is now packed with bone we took from you and bone growth medium. During the healing process, the fusion at that level will become the strongest part of your spine," and to prove it to me, since it had been long enough after surgery at about three or four weeks out, he ordered up the MRI to prove everything was exactly where it was supposed to be. The reason I felt so "falling apart" was the drastic retraction and scraping of muscle tissue away from bone to make for a point of entry for the rest of the several procedures. Those muscles were ANGRY, and week by week of healing they did resolve to a point of insignificance as I wore the newest and more popular of my personal attire.... as my wife put it, my lace up girdle, that brace formed from tough polymers to fit my shape and size, with intricate laces holding the back in place and nice velcro to bring everything tightly together in front. Uncomfortable, yes. A good friend while healing, definitely. Something I ultimately discarded as I decided THAT memory and the humor Mark's girdle inspired in my workplace, at church, and with my blessed wife was something I might rather just remember without a trophy.

Anyone fall asleep?
Sorry,
Praying for the best for you,
Mark56