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Anyone with more pain after surgery than before?

Spine Health | Last Active: Apr 6 2:27pm | Replies (55)

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@timothytulloch

Hi
I am scheduled for a laminectomy end of April 2024 on L2-L5.
Would appreciate any advise in preparation and what to expect.
I have had 12 years of stenosis and have started to collapse when out walking- that is why they are doing the surgery.
Should I delay surgery until I can't move???
thanks
timothy

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Replies to "Hi I am scheduled for a laminectomy end of April 2024 on L2-L5. Would appreciate any..."

@timothytulloch - Welcome to Mayo Connect. This a great place to find answers to some of your questions and to share experiences with others.

You ask - Should you delay surgery until you can't move? I made my decisions from a personal risk management perspective (I had full work on L2-5 in May 2023). That is - the risks of "deferred surgery" vs the risks of surgery. This is a challenging decision process as the exact outcomes of either fork can't be known ahead of time!

I was told by docs and friends to defer until I couldn't get out of bed. I never reached that point but I did start experiencing dead-leg symptoms in both legs, sudden on-set, many times a day. I grew concerned about both falling down a flight of stairs and deferring surgery so long that nerves became permanently damaged.

The risks of having the surgery became much more acceptable. Make no mistake - the L2-5 work can create significant challenges during rehab. I managed the surgical risks by having a solid diagnosis based on images from the best equipment made by the best docs. Then I had a wonderful surgeon and went to a top-notch facility.

What are you thinking? Are you planning to keep your currently scheduled surgery?