Surgery follow up visits

@sbtheplumber1 - Sorry for all your issues!

I've come to appreciate that spine neurosurgeons (is that the type doctor you refer to?) are nearly 100% focused just on the work they did and they are actually ill-equipped to discuss any residual pain or rehabilitation challenges you have. They aren't specifically trained for that and have little experience in the myriad of post-surgical spine issues that can develop. I know, sort of makes no sense.

I jokingly say (and I had a terrific neurosurgeon) that his main statement to whatever question I ask is: "The hardware looks good."

Can you get a referral to a physiatrist? That doctor is well schooled in pain causation rather than just the surgical fix you've already had.

Yes it was a Neurosurgeon. Yes that’s all he says is the hardware is good. The pain doctor was sending me to an Orthopedic surgeon maybe I will ask about a Physiatrist instead . Thanks for mentioning that. He was a really good surgeon the scar healed nicely staff was excellent, they need to tell us this is all we do instead of leaving us miserable when another doctor could be helping us!

@sbtheplumber1 - Yes to all your observations. Try the physiatrist angle.

There are many things I wish I'd known before surgery. That information probably wouldn't have changed my decision (I'm glad I had surgery about 80% of the time...and that's still improving at +10.5 months) but I would have been better prepared for the what-ifs.

Any particular questions I can help with now?

I know the doctors don’t want us reading but when I see even the Mayo Clinic saying feet numbness, testicle pain anal pain after the fusion is an emergency why the surgeon would say nothings wrong instead of saying let’s check you out or I’ll send you to someone else instead of nothings wrong go get a stimulator. My sacrum is so tender I can’t lay on my back with feet going numb, twist a little the pain goes to the testicles and anus. Since the surgery the tailbone keeps getting out of align and I have trouble with the bowels not moving until it’s realigned. You never know which nerves going to strike so I’m having to use a cane. When Walking there is so much pressure in my back like a nerve pinched I can’t stand, I haven’t walked in a store since my surgery April 17 last year. Does any of this sound familiar? I’m open for suggestions or if you have a question I’m going to see him next Tuesday

@sbtheplumber1 - That's a lot and you have every right to be frustrated with your experiences. I remember all those post-surgical issues but not still there a year later...That's different.

I suggest you pre-write all your questions and take your list with you for your doctor meeting. I also suggest having a second person there to help make sure you hear and understand what's being said. That's a streesful meeting and I found it easy to mis-hear or mis-interpret what the doctor saying.

You should know more and maybe have a plan of action after your meeting next week. Set those two goals as your objectives. Best of luck!

When I went to see the second doctor I had a list written out I was trying to pull up something from another doctors office on my phone, so I handed him my paper and he said none of that on my list pertained to my back. My wife’s will be with me to push me in the wheelchair. I was laying here sitting on a cushion reclined in my recliner taking a nap I wake up to the whole outer half of my leg is numb and stinging and burning down to my knee. I have trouble passing gas when the tailbone is out of align I have to lean to get it out and if I’m tieng my shoe and pass gas bent forward like that it will shoot a stinging halfway up my back. Thanks for reaching out to me I will definitely update when I see the doctor!

Well, how about another whole direction not to say the surgeon or physiatrist are wrong or out of the loop but two other groups might give a different perspective. You are having problems passing gas you are also in a wheelchair what about a visit to a gastroenterologist? This might accomplish two things. The digestive system involves the nervous systems to an extent greater than any place I believe except for the brain in the body please anyone correct me? If your spine isn't properly working after surgery this might be affecting something else. Since one thing you can identify is gas problems ask your PCP for a referral to one or find one on your own. The next is a pain management physician, not a physiatrist who if I am right ( of course I often am) deals primarily with the spine. They would look at pain and your overall situation from just a different direction, not meds but other medical areas that could also be addressed. I am also one who likes to look at doctors in your area and see who they are and where they came from. I grew up in the Northeast so believe it or not, if I have to choose between two doctors I have chosen those that have gone to undergraduate, medical school, or residencies in an area closest to the area I felt the best in my youngest years ( I'm 70 now) when I had the least concerns in my life and I could talk with them about the area. It takes my mind away from waiting 15, 20, 30 minutes in their office for a quick appointment, Believe it or not, I have talked about their vacations, kids, and other things, and on the internet, the information is there, and the insurance they take and you with a PCP you can ask for a specific doctor you do not have to take the one they refer you to as long as they are part of the insurance group you sadly are the one who has to do the work BEFORE you request so you can assure your doctor that it is OK. I have been on disability since I was 57 and have had to deal with HMOs, Medicare HMOs and PPOs all have their pros and cons. I have rambled -TAKE CARE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1775house The pain doctor I see I just discovered this evening is a physiatrist. Upon further reading earlier the tightening of the pelvic floor muscles sling around the rectum and anal sphincter and not letting the gas pass! I read that a herniated disc can cause excessive gas also which I’ve had. If the surgeon doesn’t have any recommendations next Tuesday I’m going to be seeing the pain management/physiatrist again so I will be finding out more then probably going to get a referral to a gastro doc also. By the way rambling is how we learn if you didn’t ramble I wouldn’t have thought to check with the Gastro doctor