I had a laminectomy in February to allow my spinal cord to be unimpinged on the right side of C5/6. I thought I had cubital tunnel syndome, but an MRI showed I have a herniation on the left side of C5/6.

Originally, I had an ACDF C4/5/6/7 (3 level) but surgeon at that time decided to leave C5/6 in.

has anyone dealt with multiple surgeries on the same level, and can tell me what to expect? I would hope for a lami on the left side, but am worried they might want to go in from the front and take out my plates and screws, to do the work and put in new ones. This almost killed me the first time.

Come on guys, any ideas?

joe

Joe, I've not had surgery, but I do have a cane, scooter and wheelchair and what a joy (not!) .

I'm not making light of your questions, which I think are excellent. I can't guarantee this, yet I'm fairly certain that there have been people, who posted at the BT SD forum, who mentioned having more than one surgery for the "domino effect," revision and/or for further problems that arose (same level as previous surgeries).

I don't recall their names and, since I can't access the BT forums to search by keywords, I'm at a loss on how to access the info. they had passed along.

I hope that, at least, a few read your message and won't mind sharing again .

Bobbi-

Hopefully BT will be back up soon and we can rejoin the world. I doubt enough people will come on here to answer.

joe

When your dr. choose to leave out c5/6 from the fusion process, he was already scheduling your next surgery. No doubt about it. There was no way that 5/6 could hold up to the stress placed on it from the levels above and below. I know they don't want to operate on more than necessary, but sometimes common sense needs to kick in with these drs.

I started with a blow out at 5/6. At the time my surgeon said above and below were both already bad, but it was an emergency and he wanted to fix just the immediate problem. 14 months later, I was back in for a revision and extension. Both surgeries were through the front and now I'm plated from C4/7 and quess what? C3 &T1 are now full blown (they were already bad too, just not that bad)! I'm not looking for more surgery, but if I lose the use of my arm for a 3rd time, I don't know what I'll do.

I'm sure your surgeon has his/her reasons for doing what they did. But they should have discussed this with you and gave you the option of doing 5/6 at the time. They most certainly knew that they would blow out sooner or later and you once again would be under the knife, at your expense no doubt.

Good luck, Linda

P.S. I remember discussing this with you before your surgery. I think many of us mentioned this could and would most likely happen. Although, I'm not happy about being right. I'm sorry you're having to go through this again. It's definately no fun.

Linda-

I've already got the plates in the 3 levels. Six wonderful screws, too. Just waiting to find out what kind of surgery I'll need.

As for me discussing this with anyone before surgery, Well, I never joined any back boards until after the crappy 3 level ACDF. Wish I had joined and discussed, I would have seen Dr. Jho.

joe

Hmmmm... I'm sorry, I thought that was you. See you're not alone!!! When I needed my revision he wanted to do the 2nd one from behind so he wouldn't have to fuse such a big area. I spoke very directly to him and told him I didn't want to play that game because I knew in another year I'd be back for surgery #3, eventually fusing what he was trying to avoid. He asked to think about it for 1 week, then when he called me back he agreed with me to do the fusion because it was inevitable that I would have to eventually go back under with that big of an area.

I hope you can find some answers.

What happened after the surgery? You mention that you might have had complications?

Linda

I had the lamina pierced during the surgery. A spinal fluid leak. They had to drill at the base of my spine and drain the excess fluid out. It took a week in the ICU, unable to move, change the position of my bed, or anything. I got 10 minutes a day of PT where they moved the bucket to make sure that the fluid didn't drain too quickly.

I was also unable to use my arms for a few days after the surgery. After the third day, I could use one arm to pick up my scrambled eggs and eat them. I could not even close my left hand. It took 6 months before I could really use it again.

joe

OMG Joe! I would certainly be hesitant to go through that again myself. I had an ortho surgeon screw up my knee replacement so badly, that my leg was on sideways. It took me 5 years to get up the nerve to try and have it fixed, different dr. of course. It was a horrible ordeal and if my other ever goes bad, I'll live with it before I take the chance of going through something so horrific again.

I hope you can get some answers that help you avoid surgery.

Linda