[fireman9915]

Hey guys! Been awhile since I have been on here and just wanted to check in. Hope everyone is doing as good as possible. I'm still trudging along, pretty much been at a stand still. Been going to the pain management doctor every month to help subdue the pain. Maybe one of these days I'll get the time to have down time and figure out my next move. I am thinking from the way that my legs have been feeling that my disc herniations from L3-S 1 is slowly getting worse. I know I'm just biding my time until a fusion,.but.I know that I just don't have the time to be down from work and school an the kiddos right now. I'm hoping maybe by next summer things will start slowing down. I've been working out at the gym trying to build my core up. Does anyone have any strength exercise that would help? Also what's the usual recovery time for a fusion? Pros & cons of it? I know I'm trying to put it off for as long as possible. Anyways sorry for such the long post, hope all is well with everyone! Take care guys

[Dr. Smith]

Hi Fireman,

Originally Posted by fireman9915

Maybe one of these days I'll get the time to have down time and figure out my next move. I am thinking from the way that my legs have been feeling that my disc herniations from L3-S 1 is slowly getting worse. I know I'm just biding my time until a fusion,.but.I know that I just don't have the time to be down from work and school an the kiddos right now. I'm hoping maybe by next summer things will start slowing down.

Dude. No offense, but who're you kidding? If you've got kids, that ain't gonna happen. You'll never choose the time; it'll choose you if/when the damage becomes so bad you no longer have any choice. The concern then may be, should you have done it sooner because things have gotten so much worse? This may be academic; has surgery even been recommended to you yet?

I'm not saying any of that will happen; I sincerely hope it doesn't, but being a guy, I know how many of us have a tendancy to put things off as long... TOO long.

Does anyone have any strength exercise that would help?

core strengthening exercises for back pain
(Check for videos as well)

Also what's the usual recovery time for a fusion? Pros & cons of it?

Pro: You get better than you are now

Con: You stay the same or get worse than you are now

But seriously, the pros are easy. Personally, aside from all the usual complications of spinal surgery, I see 4 potential cons, but since every case is unique, it's impossible to say much more.

1. failed back (surgery) syndrome (FBS) — back surgery is the only surgery I know of that fails so often they actually have a name for it.
   
   
2. adjacent segment degeneration (ASD) — when the vertabrae above & below the surgery weaken & fail, requiring further fusion/stabilization (i.e. more surgery down the road)
   
   
3. arachnoiditis — this may be the worst
   
   
4. corrosion of spinal implants — the one nobody seems to be talking about much...

Metal Corrosion in the Human Body: The Ultimate Bio-Corrosion Scenario

And if surgery has been suggested/recommended, PLEASE get multiple opinions.

Doc

[fireman9915]

Yea man I have had it mentioned....long story short, I had a laminectomy & discectomy Dec. 20, 2012.....after a couple weeks (16 days to be exact) of being pain free all of a sudden all the pain came back with avengence.....fast forward to April this year finally had a milligram that confirmed a reherniation of L4-L5 an now L3-L4 & L5-S1. It has been nothing but a roller coaster ride....my neuro didn't believe I could still be hurting (imagine that) an he refused to believe I had already re herniated L4-L5 that soon after surgery, he finally apologized after the myelogram bc he thought it was scar tissue....as of now I've been controlling it the best I can w/ pain management....but it is slowly getting worse..so just biding my time until I guess it's essential I have it done....I just don't want a repeat of this surgery to happen again...since they have labeled mine as."failed back surgery"...still have the same pain,.tingling, pins/needles in the right leg,.some in the left...just the never ending rotation of things