PCP wants me to have back surgery b4 wls

I am sorry to say but prior to surgery  I had a terrible back - 2 or 3 herniated discs in the lumbar spine along with spinal stenosis, bulging discs in rest of lumbar spine and many in the cervical spine and severe arthritis all through the lumbar, cervical and thorasic.  There are other things that I don't remember.  I went to a top surgeon in New York City who said normally he would definitely recommend surgery but for me due to a faulty immune system, he wouldn't operate on me.  It turns out  my brother had surgery and had to go back in 3 types due to infection.

So, all in all prior to surgery - I had a terrible spine, lowsy knees - they wanted to do a partial replacement on both of them due to severe arthritis and the meniscus just kept tearing, already had 3 arthroscopics between the 2.

Now 2 years post op, my are knees are fine, no pain but my back still stinks and I have lost all my weight and then some.  So, weight loss isn't always the answer for spine problems, once the damage is done to the discs and the nerves, they can't always be reversed.

I wish you luck and hope your weight loss can help you but don't get your hopes up too high

I won't get my hopes up too high. No worries there. When my back pain started 15 years ago, I weighed 140lbs, so I know weight won't change much. But if/when I do have back surgery, I don't want to gain more weight. Ugh.

Ibuprofen, Tylenol, anything over the counter... I always say it's like popping Tic Tacs when it comes to back pain. It doesn't even touch it. So I don't even bother anymore.

I'm going to go on with my RNY and just see what happens.

Kelly,

I did not share this earlier...but I had had back surgery when I was over 220 lbs..  I also have RA/Lupus (rhumy not totally sure yet).  You are right when you said the OTC meds don't make much of a difference.  It is like popping candy.  

When I heard no NSAIDs after RNY it did give me me pause....until I thought it through.  The ibuprofen did not do much anyway...so I don't really miss is.  

The pain is SO much less with the weight gone.  The back surgery did help some...the numb dragging foot was better and the pain was down to a dull roar....but recovery was a ****** and the pain is totally gone now that the weight is off. 

Kelly,

You sound like you have your mind made up.  One point that hasn't been brought up is the malabsorption of calcium by RNY patients.  Spine surgery is pretty serious and can take a long time to heal from.  You need calcium to build bone around any fusions.  If your PCP is recommending you have back surgery before WLS he may be thinking in terms of best long term outcome and healing.  Depending on how bad your back is they may be thinking in terms of neurological damage that has already occured as well as the short term risks of NOT having the surgery sooner.  I don't know what your MRI results show but if they are recommending back surgery prior to WLS there may be a good reason why. 

I would recommend speaking with your WL surgeon about your PCP's recommendations.  He may not be a neurosurgeon but he has the SAME background as any other surgeon.  He will know if your choice in surgery is going to hinder the healing process or if it really is a better choice to have back surgery first.  I'd schedule an appointment to review your MRI results as well as your supplimentation plan for pre & post op.  (If you go in armed with a COMPREHENSIVE suppliment plan you may beable to sway thier opinions in your favor.)  I know that losing the weight NOW seems like the best option to you, however, it may be the difference of being fat with a better back for a year longer or being skinny in a wheelchair with a diaper because you have unrepairable nerve damage......Please talk to your health care team about your concerns.  I wish you the best of luck in the rest of your journey and hope that you are able to do what is best for your health.

Don't forget if you DO have your WLS first to get on a STRICT supplement plan NOW!  It can only help.

Loseing wieght may not solve the problem, but it always helps. I agree with you about getting the wls done first. If you lose wieght first, then the back surgery will be safer, and you will recover easier and be more able to do your pt afterward without the extra wieght adding to the back pain. Talk to your wls surgeon about it. If your primary doctor isn't cooperative, find another one. I would go with what the wls surgeon says. One thing to note, I didn't look at what kind of surgery you are having. Remember that RNY can't have alot of anti-inflamitory meds after surgery, so with your back issues, it's something to think about. I had RNY and love it, and I am able to deal with that restriction, but my back problems weren't as bad as yours sound. So talk to your wls surgeon about that too. Good luck.

I would research, research, research before agreeing to any back surgery. Back and knee surgeries are funny things. For certain problems they don't help much AT ALL yet the doctors push them. I would find out what kind of problems I have and whether back surgery is effective for treating them and go from there.

And, yeah, I'd lose the weight first. It will make the back surgery go easier if you do end up going that route.