I am Four years plus post op L5-S1 discectomy/laminectomy/fusion and I am so glad to have had the benefit. No, it did not eradicate the nerve damage suffered in having had to wait too long for the work, but it brought restoration to my back. Yes, Scoopy, it is pretty cool to see the films showing the hardware in there, and later on, when a spur developed, they returned to the site and removed some of that hardware which I now hold as a souvenir of times past.

Walking and therapy as pronounced by docs and therapists post fusion is important to return to core strength. Ultimately you will get there, and hopefully your work is such that once accomplished we never see you in any other forum such as peripheral neuropathy or SCS implant. Later, due to the now permanent damage to my nerves because of longstanding untreated conditions, I ultimately wound up as a permanent member of the SCS crowd, where you will find me these days.

There is life after successful back surgery and hopefully you are all glittering success stories by reason of it! Were I given the choice back in January 2006once again, there would be no hesitation. There was no alternative. The loss of lower extremity control was too great and not a long term option for me. At least I believe my back is strong once again as I work to regain strength now from this much more recent implant surgery.

For you all I hope, wish, and pray ALL of the best. You can survive this with great results and I truly hope you do!

Mark56

This is quite a remarkable thread. Not sure if I should chime in here or start my own... I am feeling very down and out, frequent suicidal ideation, hopeless and debilitated my chronic LBP. I am a 49 y.o. male from Southern California who has enjoyed a very active lifestyle for most of my life. Now I am reduced to Lortab, Tramadol, and a heating pad. My pain began in 1997 and has gotten worse year over year. It would take me hours to type out all of the diagnostic procedures and treatments I have endured, including (2) discograms, 3 MRIs, 3 CT scans, bone scan, facet blocks, epidurals, SI joint injections, rhizotomy, you name it, been there done that. The most frustrating thing is that the doctors have called me an "anomaly", that is, my MRI looks fine, or as one doctor said, "Much better than mine." Evident is mild facet degeneration, negligible disc protrusion in the area of L4 - S1.

Last Summer (June 09) I was referred to a specialist in Phoenix with whom a colleague had experienced great success **. That was where I had my 2nd discogram. Before the visit I sent all of my reports to the doctor and he was going to perform his surgery. Needless to say, things did not go as planned. As I lay in tears following this my 2nd discogram, the doctor said that based on the results I was not a candidate for surgery. I assumed this meant (another) negative discogram...

From then until last week I stayed away from thinking I could be helped, and only visited my local doctor for my every 90 day caudal epidural and meds. Recently I was encouraged to try to find help again, so I went to a new spine clinic. At this time I also ordered the report from the previous discogram as I wanted the new doctor to have a copy. When I receved the file I was shocked to read that it was actually a positive discogram at both lower levels. In fact, the surgeon wrote that he couldn't fully pressurize the discs because they were leaking so badly due to tears in the annulus! Why the **** didn't he tell me this? Even more confounding in the post op CT revealed no tears! So, you get the idea.

Now I visit the new doctor, and upon reviewing my case sends me to yet another pain person. I am awaiting yet another MRI, but it sounds to me like fusion may be indicated?

Sorry for such a long post. I am desperate. The pain specialist affirmed what all of the other specialists I have seen have said all along. "Oh,you don't want to get a fusion. The risks of getting worse are far too great!" WTF?!?!

Thanks for listening...

:-/

SB Surfer

I fail to understand how, HOW with two discograms, the worst possible sort of torture a living human could diagnostically suffer, and positive for leaking as mine did you can have been referred away. I truly hope your pain doc can and will guide you to help and soon. This was my situation. Being turned away. Keeping up with the attempts to find a surgeon who would help, and at last when my system started to shut down, THEN, I got in on an urgent basis. By then my nerve damage was permanent, but the back surgery did help....... did help. I would not go back and change that one to a negatory. The fusion etc helped to relieve teh back pain and I was left only with the nerve pain. That help came later...... in the form of SCS surgery.

I hope and pray for your situation to improve because your pain doc advocates STRONGLY for your care and soon,
Mark56

Mike, I want to thank you for posting your journey. I have a grade 4 spondy and I am scheduled for L5-L4-S1 on Wed Nov 24 yes the day before Thanksgiving. Your posts have boosted my confidence and eased my fears.

Mike- I too am about to have a lumbar fusion on 11/29 and I REALLY appreciate your thoughtful discussion. It has really helped me to handle the situation.

Title says it all. I'm going through epidurals now but it's not working so far. Still in my 30's Dr's have said surgery is most prob my only option. I have herniated disc/slipped disc and with severe nerve pain.

Any excellent Dr's in LA that specialize in l4-s1 fusion?

A discogram is not routinely ordered if discectomy/fusion is contemplated, only if there is for example, multiple issues on an MRI and the surgeon wants to try to correlate your pain with (one of the) MRI findings. While the discogram may have shown leakage all the way to Wilmington, it may not have correlated with your clinical findings to where the surgeon didn't feel comfortable taking you to surgery. Sounds like you are already getting second opinions which is what you should be doing. Why Phoenix, there are many great spine surgeons in the So. Bay??

I am having L4-S1 surgery on Wednesday. Thank you for sharing your sucess story and tips!!!!!
Thank you!
Christy

Christy, Hope all goes well with your surgery...please keep me updated when your able to....you will be in my thoughts and prayers...

I am 22 years old. I have been dealing with back pain since I was 12, and "threw out" my back for the first time when I was 15. I have subsequently thrown it out numerous times. The most recent of which occurred while playing basketball just two weeks ago. I hit the floor and could not move the pain was so bad. I had to be wheeled out on a wheel chair, and carried up the stairs into my apartment. I was flat of my back for two days, before going to the emergency room to get something to cut the pain. I am currently walking with a cane, but am able to get around.
I have gone to see a doctor in Colorado, who comes highly recommended. My MRI this week shows that my L4/L5 and L5/S1 discs are SEVERELY herniated, to the point that the doctor was surprised at how severe they were. They look like a spike going into my spinal cord. I am not down to many options. The only way to fix it is surgery. They are too severely damaged that disc replacement is not an option.
I don't know what my best course of option is. I am constantly stressing about this and would like any input that those of you who have gone through a similar situation would have for me.