Aren’t there some spine specialists on here?

I've had spine surgery. Got a vertebra-interspacer (or some sort of shit of the sort) They placed a spacer between the tail bone of the spine.

I did regret for the first 2-3 years but learned to live with it.
I do good most moments but have never gotten my full strength back and endurance. Back starts to ack when I start working out "hard-core" or even racing.

Now I do feel better but never like I was before the operation.

Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't do it, but I'm sure your issue is not the same as mine.

Good luck and hope you feel better.

 

I'm not a professional and have not stayed at a holiday inn express. I do however know many people who have had back surgery, especially in my own family. As others have said, there's no turning back. Not a single person I've known that had back surgery was ever back 100%. That said, I think with your back once you get to a certain point, there will never be a return to 100% whether you do surgery or some other form of treatment, at least not with current technology. I broke my back in a few places close to 10 years ago. Luckily doctor said he felt I was young enough that I would recover better on my own with a brace and physical therapy than doing surgery. I still have some issues. Like I said, once you get to a point, I don't think you can ever fully recover when it comes to your back. But I do feel like I am much better off than those I know who have had surgery. That said, we all have different issues so it's not really apples to apples either.

I would HIGHLY HIGHLY suggest getting a second opinion and looking into alternative medicine. Normally I would say doctors spend the amount of time on their education and cost what they do because they are the experts and alternative medicine is often kind of silly. But back issues I think are the exception. Look into chiropractors, different types of stretching, physical therapy, yoga, and whatever else you can find before submitting to surgery. Maybe surgery is your only real option. For some, that is unfortunately the case. I just would make damn sure that nothing else works first. Good luck man.

 

Paging @DrA5 to the white courtesy phone.

 

Any suggestions for this mess? Burst fracture of L2. Ive been told it’s stable and self fusing, but I have a protruding portion on my back that looks like a damn stegosaurus. I was told I could go to work, lifting 100lbs and to make an appointment if it gets more painful or I lose bowel and or bladder control.

 

I'll go into it more when I'm on a real computer, but what MikeR said is spot on. I was only 32 when I was given a diagnoses of my life is over as I know it. That's when I said fuck no. I would not accept that. Went on to play hockey for 30 more years if that gives you an idea of my correct choice. Matter of fact I just finished a mean tennis match and I'll be 60 in six weeks.

Bottom line...don't let them cut. More later. I'm drinking

 

You throw your back out laughing at puppy videos?

 

I cannot speak from personal experience, but I do have a cousin that had low back issues. He had disk damage and deterioration to the point of barely being able to walk at times. Iirc, the surgeon used a gel like substance to create new disks. I'm sure there is a technical term and sorry I can't remember all the details. I do remember that he said his relief was almost immediate and it was doing fine last I asked about it. He had that surgery probably 10 years ago, so technology has probably changed a bunch.

 

Pretty ugly looking compression fracture you have there. Loss of/narrowing of disc space between L1/L2 and between L2/L3. The body of your L2 vertebra also appears to be putting some pressure on your spinal cord/nerves. Harder to tell from a saggital slice from your CT scan but, I'd say you likely have some degenerative disc disease as well. The fracture can and will heal on its own over time but it will stay in the shape and form its currently in when it heal. It will not return to its original shape on its own. You will likely get arthritis in the surrounding disc joint spaces and possible self fusion as well. Depending on the fracture, kyphoplasty surgery could help return the vertebra to near its original shape and relieve some pressure on the spine. Won't fix the disc space issue though. That will probably come in the format of a discectomy/laminectomy or fusion of one manner or another. Either way.....take it easy on that one and uhh....yeh, 2nd opinion!

 

Your L1 and L5 will be the next problem areas.

After watching my dad go through it.....the stronger your core, the better the life you'll have after surgery.

Get well, prayers for a successful surgery.

 

Thanks for the feedback.

The surgery has been a long time coming, I’ve just been fighting it. The reason why I do so much Elliptical, Rowing machine, etc is because I can’t run. Those 2 discs have been essentially non-existent for years.

It’s been painful, and limited some activities, but I just dealt with it.

But then I did something and hurt my back a few weeks ago. Since then, I’ve been losing sensation in my right leg, it doesn’t quite operate the way I want it to, and it is very painful.

The funny part is that I actually went to the doctor because of my leg. I have always dealt with the back pain, but the leg part I couldn’t deal with.

Come to find out, there is actually nothing wrong with my leg, it’s in my spine. My leg is just the “receptor point”, if you will.

I don’t want surgery. I have said forever that I’m not letting anyone cut on my spine. But after this, there is no other option.

I could deal with the 2 discs fucked up, like I have been. But if I don’t let them go in and retrieve this chunk of disc that broke off, I could end up losing the use of my right leg completely.

 

All kidding aside, if you want me to hook you up with the foremost neurosurgeon in the country, pm me. Do NOT let an ortho guy do the surgery. You'll have to come to Duke, but he's worth the trip. I had him do surgery on my mom, if that tells you anything.

 

Oh I agree. The guy doing mine is a Neurosurgeon. He is actually the Lead Neurosurgeon at the place I have been going to. I’ve asked several people about him (including doctors and nurses from other hospitals) and they all said he is the best.

They said I am lucky he is the one actually doing my surgery himself (rather than one of the doctors “under him” doing it).

I have to admit he doesn’t have the best “bedside manner”. And other people said the same. He is 65 years old and isn’t about any bullshit. He is brash, arrogant, and even dropped a few “F bombs” while it was just me and him.

Other people had the same opinion. Their words were “he isn’t the nicest guy in the world, but there is nobody else I would let cut on me”.

He took me back there, showed me the MRI results, pointed everything out to me, showed me the 3D models of what they will do, etc.

 

Sounds perfect. He's not there to spread sunshine and rainbows, he's not there to get the world's attention. He's there to do his job, he's damn good at it, so just STFU and let him do it right because that's all he knows.

Sound familiar?

 

A little.

 

The Neurosurgeon I worked with was exactly that way as well haha! Should have heard him in the OR! Sounds like you're right about where you are regarding the surgery and are/have been going about things as best as possible. Follow his post surgery instructions and don't do anything stupid trying to push things afterwards and re-injure yourself etc. Be smart about it. Good luck with it man and hope it takes care of the issues for you!

 

To be honest, I like him. I deal MUCH better with people who are brutally honest, if not a little assholeish.

I kept coming up with different suggestions of things I can try to avoid surgery. He addressed them for a while, then finally he just said:

“Hey, if you want to try that, be my guest. Go for it. If you are happy having only one viable leg, who am I to stop you”.

When I went back to see him, he was looking down (waist level) at first. Then he looked up and had this funny look on his face when I walked in. He said “I was waiting for them to wheel you back here. After seeing your MRI, I don’t know how you are still standing”.

 

Your surgeon is a OIM?

 

You’d have probably gone your whole life without a single back problem if you hadn’t gotten your underoos in a bunch and bought seventeen tons of bottled water...

 

Ummmmm......hmmmmm......I got nothing.