Thank you so much for listening--not many understand my position or have an understanding as they have never gone through this. My employer has allowed me to get up anytime i need and take rest periods, but I really shouldn't be working. Unfortunately,, I dont have anyone in my immediate family that can help me, though my sister out of state stated I should move in with her, but would as a last resort, the reason I moved out of new orleans, was because I lost everything in Hurricane Katrina and vowed I would never live there again. Im hoping the pain will subside soon. I can relate about your muscles spasm, that is what mine are doing and knotting up, which causes excruciating pain, So far I havent run into any problems with getting needed medication, as they realize how invasive my surgery was. My surgery was all one shot, and had over 60 staples in all. I also have problems with my lumbar, but i wont be getting anymore back surgery in the future.

Hope all turns out well for you. Just make sure you go for that second opinion. I am West coast Fla. Have a great neuro-surgeon. Lessa is right, if you do the surgery, give yourself a long healing time. Much more than what they are telling you. Yes, check out and make sure the verterbre above and below the site are strong enough for the hardware. I wish you all the best in this. None of it is fun, but you can have good results. ginnie

Sorry I haven't checked back in to let you know how things went. I'm a horrible correspondent!

I did get a second opinion which confirmed the first and also discussed "the domino effect" with the surgeon. He said that there are no guarantees, esp with extensive DDD, but he believes I should be able to get 5+ years before I have to have another. I'm not sure that's great, but decided the risk was worth it because the pain and weekness were getting worse.

I had the first surgery on the thoracic spine on 4 Sept and it seems to have gone well. While I woke up in horrible pain right after the surgery (I felt like I'd been hit by a Mac truck), the pain in my arm and neck were immediately gone (although I didn't notice it right away because of the other pain!). The first week was the worst, but I've made steady progress since. The surgeon decided to put the second (lumbar) surgery off until after he could judge my progress at 6 weeks. It's now scheduled for 13 November. The most suprising change was that right after the surgery, the tingling/numbness/burning that I've had in my face and head for 2 1/2 yrs disappeared for about 3 weeks. It started to come back, but has since gotten better again. The neuro said that was a unexpected bonus. I still have the pain in my chest. It seems to be getting better, but then I'm not doing anything strenuous, so I'm waiting to see how it all goes in the long run.

With the progress and delay in scheduling the next surgery, I've been able to go back to work part-time for about 16 hours a week. It's mostly computer work and the office has been very supportive. I'm being careful not to overdo things nonetheless.

I'm a little more concerned about the lumbar surgery because the weekness in my legs is getting worse and I'm concerned the recovery will be harder. Nevertheless, I'm staying positive and remaining grateful for the the wonderful support network I have (including you all!).

I'll be sure to write sooner next time and let you know how the next surgery goes.
Thanks again for all your interest and I hope you are doing well or at least better

First thing to say is that back conditions are very individual and complicated but a number of aspects of your condition seem to be similar to mine. I had a spinal decompression operation (six years ago now) and it stabilised the condition, which is to say that although I still have mobility problems they haven't worsened as they were doing pre-op. The same goes for the neuropathic pain, which doesn't seem to have a generally effective treatment.
My recovery from the operation itself was quite quick and relatively painless but I have seen accounts of some who had a much more difficult time.

Thanks, Colin. I'm sorry you haven't seen real improvement with the decompression, but glad to hear things haven't gotten worse after 6 years. I'm hoping that will be the case with me, too! The increasing weakness in my left leg has started allowing my knee to buckle and I've fallen twice in the last week, with one straining the ligaments/tendons in the knee. They've given me some exercises to help strenghten the supporting leg muscles and I'm hopeful that will help in time, esp after the next surgery. Thanks for the reassuring post. I wish you well!

I am not a senior and to some I am young but I am a very old 37, fixing to be 38. I don't and won't take crap from anyone, never have never will. I will turn a doctor's visit into a boxing lesson quickly lol

Loved your post, and others that say they don't take crap off of any doctor. I am going to be 61 in a few days. I did the same to a neurologist, who demanded I do something without adequate explaination of why. I didn't even bother responding I was so angry, I just flipped my hand up and waved very meaningfully goodbye and walked out. I refuse to be treated in a poor fashion. He also would not acknowledge that a sugery he did, didn't work.
Since then I have discovered great doctors, who actually try to heal! ginnie

Good for you Spiney !! I was younger when I had my surgeries, and had gotten my "senior guts" yet. LOL If I had the chance now, I'd tell that quack a thing or two! That bum disabled me -- I don't care what anyone says. He did SOMETHING wrong. How do I know? Cause the 3rd time I saw him, he looked at the latest MRI, and then he couldn't do ENOUGH for me -- said he'd do ANYTHING for me, just NAME it. Hmmm. Should have asked for a whole lot of money!!!

Ahhh well, such is life.

We were both quite a bit younger and less bold when the "slice and dice" boys got a hold of our backs. My serious issues began with my first cage that was put in at the infamous and ever popular L5-S1.............without support. It was the surgery du jour back then and we were all getting cages, some with support, some without. Most of us that had no support lived to regret it. My cage rotated and tilted by three months post op and the surgeon DENIED it happened. There was all sorts of nerve damage.

I am feeling pretty secure about the scs implant although I am told it will be more complicated than ususal. The surgeon does nothing but brain and spinal implants and I trust Pain Man's judgement after 13 years. This is his surgeon of choice. Fingers crossed.