I'm so stressed out. Six years ago I broke my back in a car accident- between L4-5 and L5-S1. Since then I have been doing everything possible to avoid back surgery. I've had massive amounts of steroids, manual realignments under fluoroscopy, three epidurals, over three dozen steroid disc injections... Nothing has worked and I am in pain every single day. I won't take pain meds when I work, only when I get home (otherwise I hurt too badly to sleep). I have been told that I have to have surgery. Pretty extensive surgery. I have four herniated discs two of which are stenotic, spondylolysis, spondylolisthesis, degenerative disc disease. The surgery they have proposed involves frontal and dorsal incisions, removal/replacement of the four discs, a plate, rod, and 12-18 screws. Guys, I am only 29 years old. I am so terrified that I am going to end up in worse pain or paralyzed. I have been desperately trying to put off the surgery, but lately the pain has increased dramatically, and I have large baseball-sized lumps in my lower back where the muscles are in permanent spasm. I am going to go to the Hughston Clinic in Columbus Georgia for an evaluation, and I am terrified. Has anyone had spinal surgery- and what was your experience like? Did it help? How about recovery time?
I'm so glad that your surgery went well! After my preop eval I will prob contact you (if that's ok) to see how similar the procedures will be... thank you so much for giving me further hope!
Specializes in rehab; med/surg; l&d; peds/home care.
hi lori, i pm'd you as well, but i just wanted to tell you i am 28, and have a wealth of back problems as well. don't really want to get into all of it here as i pm'd you about it.
i have not had surgery, and i don't know when i will. i have weakness, numbness and tingling in both my legs, and chronic spasms from my lower back all the way down, my legs spasm about every 5 minutes, all day long. i am in pain 24/7, so i feel for everyone here that suffers from chronic, terrible pain. it has truly aged me very quickly.
everyone here has excellent suggestions. i found a spinal specialist after seeing 4 different docs, and if i ever get surgery, i will go to him. he's the best in my area.
i have two preschoolers, and am divorced, and i struggle to pay my bills as i can't work full time anymore. it's too hard on my body. i work just enough to meagerly survive and pay my health insurance. i truly wonder what will happen to me in ten or twenty years, if i'll end up unable to walk at all or work. i worry about it a lot. i hope i can see my kids through college at least, but with my other medical problems, i doubt it. i will die fairly young i am sure of that.
so, lori, i am praying for you. and i'll pray for everyone else here who suffers from these problems.
Specializes in PICU, Nurse Educator, Clinical Research.
Thank you so much for your concern- I do work in LTC, I'm the night shift supervisor. I don't have to lift or transfer residents (thank goodness). When applying for the job I was very honest about my back problems, which they appreciated. I've also proven that I won't abuse worker's comp- a few months ago, a resident was falling and I automatically caught them and lowered them to the floor, injuring myself in the process. I was out of work for two nights while the swelling in my back went down, but I refused to file for worker's comp. I told them that I knew my limitations and I exceeded them, and I take full responsibility for that.
Plus, I am very blessed to have a wonderful DON.
Lori,
Not to sound alarmist, but check the worker's compensation laws in your state- one of the responsibilities I have in my job is handling all worker's comp claims, and i attended a seminar about it a couple of weeks ago. In my state, at least, if an on the job injury exacerbates an existing injury or illness- even one that did NOT originate at work- worker's comp is required to cover it. Regardless of your feelings about exceeding your own limitations, your insurance company may see things differently, especially if you went to a doctor after your work accident (even though you didn't file worker's comp). My insurance company is refusing to pay for some of my hip steroid injections until i PROVE my hip problems weren't caused by an on the job injury.
Just be careful. You're a nurse, and the surgery you need will be extensive- and expensive for your insurance company. Someone in utilization review or risk management may push the issue with you, so be sure you know where you stand legally. It may never come up, but you should be prepared if it does.
Specializes in PICU, Nurse Educator, Clinical Research.
Oh wow- having it next week?!?! I will be praying for you!!! How do you manage the pain you are in? I have a TENS unit that is marginally effective, and I go through Advil and Aleve like candy (which is why my liver enzymes are 30% above normal). Narcotics tend to give me a seasick feeling, like I don't want to turn my head or move my eyes... hard to explain. I do have to take them before bed most of the time now though, or I would never sleep. Heating pads or ice packs don't work, neither do lidocaine patches.
Hi Lori,
Well, I had my surgery on tuesday, and did really well- ended up leaving the hospital in 12 hours instead of staying overnight! I can't tell how things went, as I'm on a fair amount of oxycodone still, but it turns out my disc had been herniated so long ago that it was completely calcified, and free fragments were in there like bits of gravel- all it would've taken was for me to make one wrong move, and I could've ended up permanently paralyzed- so i'm *extremely* glad I went in when i did!!
As for my pre-op pain, i've had no back pain at all (now I do, obviously, at the surgical site)- everything was confined to my hip and leg. Mostly paresthesias in the last couple of months. When the pain was at it's worst, I ended up having to quit my old job (hospital nursing in pediatrics) because I simply couldn't stand or walk without (a) falling, or (b) nearly blacking out from the pain. In the final weeks leading up to surgery, however, my biggest problem was weakness and numbness in my leg- hip pain has never really abated. When I had to stand or walk (covering for the unit supervisors one day a week, for example), I ended up nearly unable to walk within a few hours. I'd ended up needing a cane to walk by the middle of march. For the hip pain, i was taking 800mg ibuprofen tid- and needing protonix to tolerate it. I tried one day to go without it, and couldn't even walk to my car at the end of the day, even though I'd spent most of the day sitting down.
for now, I'm cautiously optimistic about this surgery- we'll see how I feel in a couple of weeks after I'm done with narcotics, though! and thank you for your kind words- they mean a lot!
as a chiropractor I have seen mixed results with surgery. I believe it truly depends on the surgeon. If it were just a matter of a herniated disc I know there are non evasive treatments. There is a new spinal decompression machine that appears to be having good results. By best advice is to see if you can find people in your area who have had a similar surgery with good results and find out who performed there surgery.
I'm so stressed out. Six years ago I broke my back in a car accident- between L4-5 and L5-S1. Since then I have been doing everything possible to avoid back surgery. I've had massive amounts of steroids, manual realignments under fluoroscopy, three epidurals, over three dozen steroid disc injections... Nothing has worked and I am in pain every single day. I won't take pain meds when I work, only when I get home (otherwise I hurt too badly to sleep). I have been told that I have to have surgery. Pretty extensive surgery. I have four herniated discs two of which are stenotic, spondylolysis, spondylolisthesis, degenerative disc disease. The surgery they have proposed involves frontal and dorsal incisions, removal/replacement of the four discs, a plate, rod, and 12-18 screws. Guys, I am only 29 years old. I am so terrified that I am going to end up in worse pain or paralyzed. I have been desperately trying to put off the surgery, but lately the pain has increased dramatically, and I have large baseball-sized lumps in my lower back where the muscles are in permanent spasm. I am going to go to the Hughston Clinic in Columbus Georgia for an evaluation, and I am terrified. Has anyone had spinal surgery- and what was your experience like? Did it help? How about recovery time?
I have never been so frightened in my life.
Please pray for me.
Lori
Hello,
I can only offer the experience that my mother and grandmother had.
In her 40's my grandmother decided to have a spinal fusion, (rods, possibly like your doc suggested?) My entire life I never heard my grandmother complain about it nor did it seem to bother her. Sometimes she would just matter of factly state something like, "I can't bend that far" and then she would find another way to do what she was trying. Now she is 83.
My mother suffered back problems and faught surgery for years, with the steroid injections and pain meds and so on. She suffered miserably and was in so much pain it affected her life. Finally she had ortho-surgery. She was okay for about 6 months after healing and then suffered all over again. Years after that she got a second opinion and went in for Neurosurgery. Her complaints of pain have seriously decreased.
OH, I also have a friend who suffers a disease which eventually leads to scoliosis and in his support group I have heard countless people credit the benefits of the spinal fusion, (rods inserted along the vertebrea) that they had.
End result: If and when my time comes I am going straight for the support of rods along my vertebra. I would rather have a slight restriction of movement as a guide to know not to extend any more than run the risk or fear of ineffective pain relief from the surgery or the risk of eventually re-herniating a disk.
It must be a very hard choice. Possibly I am lucky that I grew up anticipating that one day I may have to make that choice and paid attention to what I hear other people say their experiences are.
Specializes in med/surg, telemetry, IV therapy, mgmt.
I haven't seen much posted about medical insurance problems. I had a laminectomy in 2000. I don't know how my L-4/L-5 disc got ruptured. I had no accident or injury to point to as the event causing it. My medical insurance carrier kept questioning me about this as if they didn't believe it. It seemed kind of obvious that they were trying to find a way to get out of paying for my treatment. Then, they required me to have all manner of tests and physical therapy first. This took 6 months or so. The surgeon, of course, wasn't going to do anything until he got a letter of pre-approval from the insurance company to make sure he was going to get paid for his services.
When I did get the surgery I thought it was just the greatest thing to happen for me. The neuropathic pain down my leg was totally gone when I woke up from surgery! Recovery was not easy. Lot of pain on the laminectomy side, particularly in the hip area. I was warned ahead of time that I had to be off work for 3 months. After 2 months most of the surgical pain was gone. During my 3rd month I suddenly developed a new pain down my other leg and what I now know were muscle spasms in my hip. Turns out I had an L-5/S-1 spondylolisthesis that was impinging on the nerve root coming out of that space. The laminectomy apparently changed the anatomy enough to enhance the nerve compression that probably would have eventually happened from the listhesis. Then, they were saying I should have had a fusion done. I'm really not wanting that. So, I've been treated medically. I've been seeing a chiropractor for the last two years who has helped a lot with teaching me spinal positioning. I currently take Topamax to take the edge off any neuropathic pain. It has also helped relieve muscle spasms I get secondary to a facial nerve graft some years ago. I don't get the shaking side effects from it that I did with Neurontin and Gabatril. I have a prescription for Ultram for back pain, but I very seldom need to use it. I have discovered that by repositioning myself or doing a muscle stretch for a muscle spasm I can solve my pain problems almost immediately. However, it took years and the help of physical therapists to learn these positions and muscle stretches.
I don't want a fusion. Someone posted on a thread on the forums here months ago about how she now has to self-catheterize herself since her back surgery. That was enough to scare me into thinking twice about another operation. At the moment I feel I have my pain under control. Perhaps a fusion would make things 100% better, but at this point I'm not willing to take a gamble.
Interesting point. . .I was told that my listhesis is probably the result of a fractured vertebrae from childhood and has been going on for some time. I've seen the bone on x-ray and it is very oddly longer than the other vertebrae. Funny, I do recall an incident as a 4 or 5 year old where I fell off a galloping pony. My recollection of it was that I had the breath knocked out of me and don't remember any back pain at the time. I found, however, that the reason these childhood fractures are not discovered is because they don't cause any symptoms.
Whatever happens I hope you get relief of your pain. I've ended up giving up clinical nursing because I just can't tolerate the standing. Sitting is OK.
I had a laminectomy L5-S1 from a College football injury in 1984 and haven't had any problems, although the worst experience was having a mylogram, thank goodness now for the MRI in Dx'ing a ruptured disc. The only thing that reminds me of the rupture is the 8" surgical scar. The best advice I was given was to stay active.
2 1/2 years ago I hit my head doing something really dumb and suffered a burst fracture of L1. I had a anterior/posterior fusion to fix it. It was really awful to go through but miraculously I am extremely well now. I used pain medications for about 4 months almost round the clock and then a few times a day for another month or so, and now never. I do have some nerve damage pain from the surgery (including the anterior incision) that I take a low dose of gabapentin for. I am sooo lucky, I know. Of course, it's not like this never happened but I am very active and comfortable. I spent some time in rehab and physical therapy. It really helps to keep up on my exercise. Best of luck to you and my prayers go with you for freedom from pain. I bet you will feel better really soon after your surgery since you have been so uncomfortable this long. Good luck.
I have only had a cervical spinal fusion--not a lower back yet. I have to disagree with the other posters about only going to a neurosurgeon. The most important thing is to find someone who is a SPINE specialist regardless of their status of neuro or ortho. I went to an ortho who only does spines and it was the best thing ever! I woke up feeling 100% better and have had no residual problems from the surgery--I got the feeling in my hand back and can use it again. It has been almost 4 years now.
It is also important to go to someone who cuts a lot. Weekly. I even went to the hospital where he practices and spoke with the nurses on the floor RN to RN. I now have a 1cm herniation at L5-S1 and am back under his care. My pain isn't bad at all most of the time. I am happiest when up and moving/walking. The more I move/walk, the less pain I have. I have more problems with numbness and some pain in my knee/ankle. The EMG showed chronic damage and I am afraid of foot-drop.
Back surgery is a tough call because even with the best surgeon there are complications possible. It is about weighing risks and doing what is best for you. I am still trying to decide at this point. The numbness is livable, but I am concerned that the nerve damage will progress to foot drop or there is always cauda equina hanging over our heads! The surgeon tells me that both those conditions are much more rare than the complications from surgery, but there are no guarantees they won't occur.
Good luck. Get a few opinions and go with someone you are comfortable with. Physical therapists are wonderful resources both for POC and for knowing which surgeons have the best outcomes.
I herniated a disc lifting a patient and had surgery 1 year and 4 months ago, a partial lumbar discectomy. Before the surgery I could not work I was flat on my back for 1 month. I could not sit, stand or walk without excrutiating pain from sciatica. I was on narcotics around the clock. Immediately after the surgery I was able to sit up and also walk without pain for the first time in a month and resume doing housework etc. I never had to take another narcotic pain reliever since that time. I went back to work 2 weeks after my stitches came out. If I had the same problem I would have the surgery again. [email protected]
LoriAlabamaRN
955 Posts
I'm so glad that your surgery went well! After my preop eval I will prob contact you (if that's ok) to see how similar the procedures will be... thank you so much for giving me further hope!