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Spondylolisthesis: Spinal Fusion at L-4-L5
Spine Health | Last Active: Jul 18 7:36am | Replies (29)Comment receiving replies
Sounds like my case. All disks are either herniated, bulging or replaced. For 20 years I had treatments of all kinds, surgery included 8 joint replacements, I'm 77 now, I am not perfect but without treatment I would have been worse; DDD keeps progressing. In 2012,
I became inoperable and was offered a morphine pump. The important point is that not to act you face the loss of nerve function, once that is gone, you don't get it back. Surgeries were a lot easier at 50 than at seventy. I agree about thoracic surgery. I didn't do that either, I think that is the hardest surgery. With each surgery, I had at least 5 disks done at once. My neck front was 12 hours. neck back 12 hours, lumbar spine 12 hours. I wish you good luck, these are not easy decisions to make. Get all the support you can get for yourself.
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DDD was diagnosed in 2001, after complaining for years, I was finally referred to a neurosurgeon. At that time, I could only raise my arms about 4 inches. The advice I received was there was a window of 4 months to make a decision, if not I would lose nerve function. Also, I was in pain day and night, a friend of mine said the pain makes the decision. You have to face the fact that this is not the kind of discomfort felt by many due to overexertion. You are way past that. Over a 20 year period I learned to trust my doctor. I felt he showed an accurate picture of my condition. He told me the truth, answered questions and thoroughly explained the procedure and outcome.