Originally Posted by Dallaskibby

I just had Dr. Jho's Minimal Invasive Lumbar Stenosis Surgery on L4-5. I have had Lumbar Stenosis for about 4 years. The symptoms have continued to get worst over the last four years; the symptoms included leg pain, pins and needles, and weakness in my legs. I could not stand or walk for more than a few minutes without pain.
The local doctors I talked with in the Dallas area wanted to do standard decompression surgery which is called Lumbar Laminectomy. My father had Lumbar Laminectomy surgery about 20 years ago, took him three months to fully recover.

I found Dr. Jho on the internet, I liked what I saw and he accepts my insurance, which is Blue Cross/Blue Shield. With my plan the whole thing cost me the $150 co-pay.

Had the surgery the week before Christmas, that way I could recover over the holidays.

The discussion with Dr. Jho was that I have Lumbar Stenosis at L2-3, L3-4, and L4-5; this could be seen via my MRI, the worst being L4-5. Symptoms were common Lumbar Stenosis, but not specific enough to give Dr Jho confidence that performing decompression on only L4-5 would relieve all my symptoms. I tried to talk him into doing all three levels at the same time. But he stated that doing three levels raises the risks a lot, recovery is much longer and being under anesthesia for a long time is risky. He also stated if that doesn’t relieve all of the problems, I could come back to have other levels done. So I went with the doctor’s advice and agreed to do just L4-5.

The surgery started the next day at 7:30AM, I when under right at 7:30 AM.
I woke up at 10:30 in recovery. I then arrived at my room at noon. Lying on the bed I had very little pain. Getting up and walking to the bathroom was painful but nothing I could not take for a few minutes. The incision is ¾” and covered with a small band-aid. There is an area of about 5" around that is black and blue near the incision.

The doctor told my wife that the surgery went much longer than expected because I am very big boned and the channel was very tight, so they had to remove a lot of bone. I am 6’4” 250 lbs and have played basketball 3 times per week for 40 years.

Right after my surgery my stenosis symptoms were 95% gone, the only symptom that remained was a slight tingle in the heal of my left foot.

I had planned to fly back to Dallas three days after surgery, but I was feeling so good that I changed my flight to fly out on the second day after surgery at 7 AM, so I was on a plane less than 48 hours after the surgery. My wife pushed me thru the airport in a wheel chair, and I had no problem sitting in the plane.

Now 10 days after surgery I have no pain sitting, lying down and some pain when standing. Getting in and out of a chair or bed is some what painful; I would say it is 5 or 6 on a scale of 10. My stenosis symptoms are 98% gone. I can also stand up completely straight for the first time in years. If the post surgery pain goes away as expected I will be very happy with the work that Dr. Jho has done. I will submit an update in the next few weeks.

Originally Posted by Novarian

Hi,
I live in Dallas, TX too. I am glad that you have a positive experience with Jho. I am planning to have a Posterior endoscopic foraminotomy procedure to remove bone spurs from the cervical spinal canal (OPLL). Your comments about Jho makes me feel better.
Are there any other things to know or prepare for before the surgery?