spinal fusion ten years ago
 

Hi,

I am new to this site. I had a spinal fusion ten years ago and a little after a year I found out it didn't take my bone had all crumbled. I was sent to pain management and since then I have been taking pain medication daily to be able to get through the day. I work full time and have two children. I have been getting tingling and numbness in my left leg below my knee sometimes I get some pain and burning in my left thigh and I have a spot on the top of my right foot that is numb. I also get pain in my left arm and swelling in elbow. I have a hard time sleeping I get bad pain in back, shoulders and elbows and I am always exhausted I was wondering if anyone else has had this happen. One surgeon wanted to take out the screws pins and rods and go in through my stomache and fuse on opposite side of spine. I cannot go through that surgery again. I don't know why I am getting all this tingling and numbness, but it is driving me crazy is their anyone out there that might have an idea?

Where was the fusion? What levels?? If the fusion didn't take, and it all crumbled, it's not hard to imagine that you're having trouble. :eek:

It sounds like you have nerve impingement somewhere - probably where the fusion was, but not necessarily. The screws, pins & rods could be pushing on nerves and causing problems too. I doubt that those are in the proper places since the fusion "crumbled."

Have you had an MRI lately? When is the last time you had one? What did it say? Can you type it out here?

You just might HAVE to have surgery, but maybe not as extensive as the one you described -- get at least 2 more opinions so you can make an educated decision.

Keep us posted, and let us know what you decide. God bless & take care. Hugs, Lee :)

Also, consider the possibility that the elbow problem might be a compressed ulnar nerve. I have both cervical and lumbar issues. The neck was the first problem but I felt had been corrected as I had been without significant symptoms for years. Suddenly I had radicular pain going down to the pinkie and ring finger. It got progressively worse over the course of two years. I finally told my pain doc about it and got a good chewing out for not telling him sooner. He wanted to do a nerve conduction study but I thought that was foolish as the problem had to be that my neck had gone south and wanted to go straight to the MRI, myelogram and on into surgery. Thankfully, I kept my mouth shut for a change and had the study. It was a compressed ulnar nerve. Dang!!!!!! Just in case that might be part of your problem, the repair was a cakewalk compared to spinal surgery. Best wishes and DO get to the bottom of this.