Who can tell me about Herniated disks and degenrative spine condition?

Well the results of the MRI ar in and it appears I took it better than my doc's nurse :) She apolagised all over herself?  Anyway besides being pretty painfull is there anything you guys can tell me about the above? Experiences? They are saying surgery, Not so happy about that but what do I know...  Jeff

Jeff I saw your post and wanted to let you know that a couple of us guys, myself and Carbonblob (Fred) from California could write a book on our experiences with back and spine problems. I had WLS surgery a short time before you did on Nov 8, 2005 RNY.  Prior to WLS I was in the neighborhood of 475 lbs and suffered from back and spine problems since 1980.  The weight I carried around the past 10 years really tore up my back and spine big time.  I was in a wheel chair for about 3 years prior to WLS.  Within 2 months after surgery I was up and walking again, however the more active I became the more back problems I had.  For the past few years I had almost every kind of Pain Management treatment performed on me and got relief for a few months and they just kept giving me more and more pain medications to make life bearable for me.  It took care of some of the pain but I was living like a zombie and almost nonfunctional mentally.  I was then referred to two different neurosurgeons in Indianapolis and both told me they would not do surgery due to the high risk.  One of the neurosurgeons referred me to their Pain Management Doctor to look into having spine stimulator implanted that blocks the pain from getting to the brain.  I had never heard of it before and was very interested. To make a long story short, they did a one week test with an external stimulator and the results were unbelievable.  So I had the stimulator implanted in May 8th of this year and after a few days I was weaned off all the pain medications and have not had to take any since.  My life totally changed, I began to live again.  The only thing I must remember and my wife continually reminds me that the pain is gone but the back is still in the same condition as before, so I have to be careful in lifting heavy objects, etc.  With my weight now down to 220 lbs. I am able to walk and do things I have not done in years.  But most important is that I have my mind back since I no longer have to do the pain pill routine.  To me it has been a miracle. So I think you get the picture of what I have done.  If you have and specific questions, please feel free to email me at [email protected] and I will try and answer them for you.   I know surgery is not something I wanted to do, especially with high risk of being under sedation for so long and no guarantee that I would get the results I wanted.   Dan

 

I have had several friends go the route of back surgery.  All of them regret it as the pain has gotten worse post-op.  I can't tell you what to do, but I would definitely explore all other options before going under the knife for back pain. Good luck,

sorry about the bad news koto.

as dan mentioned we've both had a pretty hard time with back pain. basically i got hooked on the drugs twice. once when i started, then i quit and got clean. the pain was too much and i went back only to tear up my pouch and get hooked again. this time i'm off the drugs for good. i use an intereferntial device, lidoderm patches and non narcotic drugs for pain relief. i can never go back to the opiates. it ruined my life. did i mention twice!

pain pills work, there's no doubt about it but it's not much of a life. surgery won't correct my problem as it stands now but they said maybe later it will be an option. i would try to find the best ortho doc you can and see all the alternatives before going under the knife. if you can avoid surgery great but that might not work in the long run for you. i hope you find a therapy that works......carbonblob

I have a disc protrusion between L3 & L4 as well as some disc degeneration.  I've been dropped to the floor a few times for doing I don't know what.  I have had a couple of MRI's and have met with a neurosurgeon a few times.  The surgeon has told me that if and when the back injury ends up running my life, he would recommend surgery.  Until then, if I can control it with PT, epidural injections, and/or icing, I should resist the surgery. If you are in constant pain and all other options fail, I would consider surgery with a neurosurgeon who specializes in the spine.  If you simply endure the pain, you will do permanent damage that no surgery will be able to repair down the road.  Mind you, I have not had surgery but if I do, I already have my surgeon picked out. If you haven't exhausted the physical therapy route, give it a try.  I was certain my pain would require surgery but was pleased to find that PT actually has helped tremendously.  My frustration is that I can simply get out of a chair and something snaps and I'm back to the floor for 3 weeks icing my back. Good luck.

Thanks for the replies fellas. I am in pain pretty much constantly. Nothing unberiable, but I never get used to it and I never forget it is there. Every morning is a challange to get out of bed and the doc thinks it may be causing other pain I have been having for a while. I am waiting for a referal to go through for a neurosergon in Columbus Indiana. I am in a position where surgery is likely not possible until I am laid out, and my profession prohibits the use of any kind of pain meds while at work. If i was told it would never get any worse I would not give it another thought and just put up with it but it has gotten worse and I asume it will continue to do so.  I believe at this time I must have a mild case because I can tough through it. I am just afraid the day will come when I cannot.  We will se what the surgeon says.

I underwent back surgery exactly on year ago and had disc replacment in the C4 C5 area. I lived in a great deal of pain for over 8 years and put off surgery...this was eight years I will never get back and eating up to 25 ibuprofens daily along with Captain Jack  was taking its toll. I am fully recovered and in so thankful I got this done. The pain and pressure relief was almost noticeable from when I came out of the recovery room.  The recovery process was not too bad...They get you up and walking within hours after surgery. I was back to work about 3 weeks later. While I am pretty much pain free...i stay away from heavy lifting to avoid re-aggravating that injury. So chalk this one up as a good experience for those who have had back surgery. Good luck to you and feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions. Best, Russ T

My fav topic! LOL  I am starting to consider myself an expert on this area. j/k   In my case i had surgery 5 years ago after losing the ability to pee stand and etc.  I "toughed" it out for amonth prior to this just sucking on pain meds.  Knew I was in troulbe when I got stuck and could not lay on my bed once and decided i would just flop backwards..Not a good idea.  Laminectomy of l5-s1 helped for the next four years after a year of physical therapy and losing some weight.  Recently I had another mri and my degenerative condition has worsened and surgery could fix it but surgeon says with my narrow spine (only thing narrow on me) it is only a matte rof time before my next episode and operation but he told me to put it off as long as i can with injections and pt. good luck and if you have trouble peeing get to the doc as that is my favorite syndrome cuitas equania. Take care,  Jim d