I am six months out from a 360 lumbar fusion L1 to S1. I am still having much of the same pain I had pre-surgery. I do not have any regrets and know I still have much healing to do also. This is a long process and I am hoping I will see some good results eventually.....They told me at the last appt though that they were having difficulty reading the ex-rays because of arcing from the hardware and sent me for a CT Scan.

Well, the radiologist cannot read the CT Scan either. He did do a 3D reconstructed image from the scan...but I was surprised at how short the scan was...They told me to hold my breath and put me through once and then again and that was it...The radiologist came out from the booth and as he helped me up and walked me to the door he asked if I had the fusion because I had cancer....Do you find that an odd question? Should I call my surgeon to ask if there is something he found on there or was he just making conversation? and poor conversation at that?

I asked for a copy of the study and have a CD of it...My spine does not look good on the reconstructed image.....The only thing they could see is that there is severe hypertrophic spurring at all lumbar disc levels, most severe at L1-2 and L2-3 levels and hypertrophic degenerative changes of the lumbar facet joints. Other than that he could not see anything else to determine fusion. How will they determine fusion and hardware placement now? They told me an MRI will not help either...so what now? I know at some facilities they use a Stryker Scanner...I have had that type for my sinuses...Does anyone know if that would work for my spine?

Gloria-When there was doubt about weather my neck was fused they did an x-ray and saw it very well. Hugs Linda

Gloria, that is how they can tell, by just plain xrays. I seen my surgeon Thurs. I am 6 weeks post op. He told me they are going to do x rays in two months. I can say in the past, using my bone, it just crumbled away, so he had to put artificial bone in this time. i have had so many surgeries it is pityful. I do hope this works. He said it would take a year to heal. I sure hope your surgeries are over. I can say I have never been pain free.
Billie

Linda and Billie,

I have had ex-rays, but there is too much arcing and they cannot determine fusing so they sent me for the CT Scan. The scan was to determine hardware placement as well. There was too much arcing on the scan as well so they have nothing to use now...but I was wondering if they used a different kind of scanner if it would work...

I really don't know Gloria, but I would be asking. There are Pet scanners, Ct scanners and Of course an MRI. I am surprised they haven't tried. I do think you will always have pain, due to the extensive fusion you had, I never heard of one as big as yours, at least in one surgery. I have had three fusions done at once, and the nurses considered that big.

I know the pain involved in fusion and I can't imagine how you stood it. You have to be a very brave lady. I have had seven now but in several surgeries. Some of mine had to be redone. I am fused from L2 threw S1. I am stiff and that in it's self causes pain.
Billie

Billie,

Originally, they were only going to do L3 to S1 and I was going to go for that, but the surgeon that was going to do it than they did a discogram. The discogram showed every level as painful so he backed out and I had to find someone else to help me...We decided on this...I did not want to have to go through this surgery more than once...It might have been a mistake though...We shall see...One surgeon wanted to fuse T-11 through S1, but I was too afraid of that...I am stiff as well..but I was stiff from pain before the surgery...I just could not move from the pain...

Thanks for your help Billie...

That's a huge number of levels. I'm working at recovery from L3,4,5 at 8 months.

My xrays show I am not yet fused. At what point do they decide the fusion has failed? And what do they do then? Anybody know?

I'm finding the most helpful thing in the recovery is massage. I've had several "alternative" bodwork treatments since the surgery, and standard PT was the least helpful. Pilates, which everyone recommended to strengthen the core, served only to make me even more spasmed and guarded than before. Feldenkrais, which I highly recommend, works with the problems as they are, rather than trying to actually fix them. It's a brain retraining program, so the brain can learn efficient ways of moving you, now that things are so changed. I had a 50% decrease in pain the first session. And it lasted. However, I did feel I plateaud out recently.

So I tried old-fashioned deep tissue muscle massage with someone knowledge, with gifted hands. He just fearlessly works into those muscles along the spine and pelvic girdle, and going after the spasm.

The rule is: a muscle in spasm cannot stretch. First get rid of the spasm, then increase the moving and stretching. At least, that's what the bodyworkers are telling me.

I am most happy with the bodyworkers post surgery. More than with the doctors. The doctors tend to say, oh well, you are a failed back. Or, There's nothing wrong on xray, so you should be fine. But my own body tellls me different: It tells me the surgery has not failed; my body has simply not yet stopped fighting it. It needs to learn to relax and come out of spasm.

But I'm really interested in what people can tell us about failure to fuse. When is it for sure? Xray? CT? And what then? Do they go back in to try to get you fused?

Have we some experts here?

Here is my experence. I had an Ortho do all my fusions. Then I went to a Neuro Dr. He would only do a Spinal Cord Stimulator. I had it for 11 months and didn't like it, so I went back to my Ortho Dr. and he used artifical bone. It has a name and I think Gloria knows it. Anyway, he said my bone didn't fuse, it just crumbled. Thats why the artifical was put in. He told me it could take up to one year to fuse solid, and that I would have less movement. At first I didn't know wheather I liked it, but it is ok. Only Neuro's put in the SCS. The Ortho never called it a failed back syndrome. Since most people don't like the SCS, I wounld not recomamed in myself, unless you like the shocked feeling. it never quit doing that, and my rep didn't do nothing about it. So, I talked my ortho into removing it. They will never do nothing about it unless you tell them you just didn't get any relief from it.

This is all I can tell you about my experence. I still have leg pain and I am going to give up on it. Three surgeries in one year is enough. I never get rid of all the pain, but the massage you talk about sounds good to me. In Dec. my Dr. is going to check for fusion by x ray.
Billie