Any Success Stories of Lumbar Stenosis Surgery?

I thought I’d give a little update. Tony, I really appreciate your input. I don’t think I have ever listened to my body, and have always played through injuries if possible. With all due respect, I just turned 56 last week and would kill to not have to give up my passion until I’m 78. I’m not playing baseball for the first time in 50 years, and the thing that keeps me going at the gym through my weakness is the desire to return to the diamond again. I don’t care if it’s 2 or 3 years from now. I will try to avoid back surgery though if I keep improving. It’s definitely a bigger risk than hips or knees that have worked out well for me.
I just saw my neurologist today who is happy with my improvement since he last saw me over 3 months ago. He doesn’t want to see me again for a year. He swabbed my cheeks for a couple of genetic tests to see if my toe neuropathy could be genetic since they can’t figure it out and refuse to attribute it to my L4-L5 severe stenosis. I am finally having more good days, and the bad days usually don’t last the entire day. I get 2 to 3 hour bouts of fatigue instead of entire days. My upper body strength is probably 90% of where it was a year ago. My legs are around 60% only, but just started improving about 3 weeks ago so I am finally hopeful. I can tell my nerves are firing again because my lower back nerves are stabbing me occasionally. That’s where my dilemma comes in. How much should I push myself to get my thigh strength back. My thighs are visibly caved in on the outside. It is worse on the left side as I had a knee replacement 6 months ago on that side. I can see no way to get my thighs back without putting weight on my lower back. I have started slow with 145 pound squats on a machine, 125 pound modified deadlifts, and was able to push 230 pounds on a leg press machine. I was doing less than half of that weight a month ago. All of a sudden, I feel like my muscles are responding instead of feeling fatigued after just warming up. It’s like my compressed nerves somewhere in my body are finally getting some room to breathe or something to that effect. I still have a long way to go, but I didnt have much hope until this month.
Mary, I also thank you for your input. I see you said my MRI reports are pretty normal for a guy in his 50s, but the word severe is listed twice in 2 sections of my lower lubar spine. Is there something worse than severe? A lot of my baseball friends who have back pain state they have moderate issues. I also think I’ve been playing with the severe stenosis for at least 5 years with more and more ibuprofen every year.
I still haven’t got around to getting my thyroid biopsy due to 2 separate stupid medical systems not being able to obtain my ultrasound records. I finally have them being mailed to my home by next week and can then get the biopsy with my new endocrinologist. Also, one of my new improvements is the fingertip clubbing as you called it. It is still there, but it takes a lot more to bring it out like ridding my motorcycle for 30 minutes or carrying something heavy for awhile. I used to bring it out by just making a fist for 5 seconds. As you stated, I will get to the bottom of this. I have a second opinion upcoming with a new spine doctor in a month who actually performed a couple of surgeries on Peyton Manning. I will post another update after that visit as I hope to help others who like to compare their symptoms to mine. Of course, I am improving almost across the board from just rest and slow, sensible, persistent trial and error exercises. Not to mention, nothing was really working for 4 months. I now have hope again.

I also have severe spinal stenosis in L4-L5. Two years ago
I started experiencing severe sciatica and then some other unpleasant symptoms I won't go into. I went through weeks of PT with no significant or lasting improvement. My neurosurgeon performed a laminotomy. It was a simple same day procedure with a few weeks of taking it easy but the results were instantaneous.

Thanks for the info tonimt. Iwas just telling my wife last night that after researching different spinal surgeries, I feel a laminotomy would benefit me the most. I see so many negative comments on this site about back surgeries, but that seems logical to me because if your surgery was a success, why would you need to go to a message board to look for help? You wouldn’t. You would go on enjoying your life. Thanks for a positive message and paying it forward. I promise to do the same.

I have severe stenosis at L4-5 and am scheduled for laminectomy with fusion next week. I’ve had neuropathy for a few years but they are not for sure it is from my back. But now along with horrible pain my right leg and butt cheek go numb. So I am praying the surgery will help.

@jondlek
Have you had EMGs/nerve conduction studies to help narrow down peripheral nerve roots/nerves affected most by your stenosis? Have you ever had spinal injections to help manage pain and did they do them at L4-L5 and did they help? You should know 100% the goals of surgery and what the surgeon expects to help you with. Why are you having surgery? Will it help alleviate pain/numbness, etc.? Have you been told if you have neurogenic claudication? How many levels are you having the laminator/fusion?

@jondlek - First off - best of luck with your upcoming surgery! L4-5 seems to be the center of lumbar/nerve issues and you should reasonably expect some (or total?) relief from your current symptoms. Maintain a positive attitude regarding your recovery and do what the docs and PT people recommend...

I had an operation for spinal stenosis almost a year and a half ago. Am I glad I did? Yes. My only frustration was that no one told me how long it was going to take to recover. This also depends on the individual. My acupuncturist walked out of the hospital after her operation. I didn't see a lot of improvement for six months. The one exception was that I was able to get off the opioids and Gabapentin. Now I am having more better days than bad days. I've discovered that for me, I need to take a couple of Tylenol Extra strength as soon as I get a twinge.

You have to figure out what works for you.

And, yes, again, I'm glad I had the operation. I'm taking my little dog for walks. My brain is clear--I can't get over how the opioids affected my thinking--and I didn't realize it until about six months after getting off them. I've gone back to my chiropractor. He doesn't twist my back. He stretches my right leg and that seems to take any pressure off the nerves going down my right leg.

@closer0043 thanks for the update. I am sooo excited to hear about your progress. To answer your question, and I haven't re-read your mri report, but "thecal canal impingement" is far worse than severe on any low back mri. The word severe is usually arthritis. When the spurring causes a decrease in the amount of normal space comprising the thecal canal, which is the housing of the spinal chord, it is usually a surgical intervention to prevent permanent damage to the chord. I understand the concern about your placing weight on your low back, however, with the progress you have made, and the fact that the weight bearing portion of the lumbar vertebrae being on the opposing end of said vertebrae, plus, the additional conditioning you are achieving with your work outs, accessory muscles get more strong, and do provide additional space for the spinal nerves. Care that you seem to be taking, wearing your weight belt, going at it slow and easy, consistently, you should be able to stave off spinal surgery .... until you cannot. Osteoarthritis is practically unavoidable and is also referred to as "repetitive use injury." Some people hit the genetic lottery, such as my Dad and Grandpa, and never experience arthritis, (my Dad is 83, and just now, experiencing minimal arthritis. Lucky duck lol.) I inherited my Moms Mom's arthritis, and my Dad's Mom's arthritis. But anywho, I am extatic about your progress! Barring injury, or setbacks, I think you will be hitting the diamond sooner than your planning. I absolutely swear by physical therapy, and tend to do physical labor for the theraputic affects of it. Though I have had 2 spinal fusions, in differing spots, I have come out 100times better than without it. I believe I have done so well because I swear by PT, movement, and physical activity. The words minimal, moderate and severe rate arthritis. Unless one works in the field, it's easy to percieve radiology reports as more alarm8ng than what the Physician's do. Fingertip clubbing can also be caused by nerves in the neck and upper thoracic spine being pinched. That is usually changed by changing postures, and caused likely by arthritis. I would suspect that as a cause, hearing about your riding your bike. That posture, of holding handlebars, even when your not riding a crotch rocket, or if you are, places stress on your neck,thoracic spine. I deal with that alot too. I ice it at night, and all is well. The emotional shock of it all can zap you out of your normal even further. When the body senses your emotional response, it tends to follow suit. That is normal. It doesn't make climbing up out of that hole feel any better. That is a tenable possibility too. I am absolutely not stating it's all in your head, and/or psychosomatic. I am saying that everything is connected, and the person's emotions and psychology will take a hit whenever the physical body does, whether we deal with that separately, or not. That adjustment period, if you will takes some accepting, planning, grieving, etc., before we can physically get on with reconditioning ourselves. Food for thought. So happy about your update! I'm tickled! Amen to listening to your body! Keep that up! -mary

Ooooooh. @closer0043. I reread your mri. The Radiologist uses the wording "spinal canal stenosis", and "cord signal abnormality" Where I use thecal canal impingement. You have the loss of the natural curve of tour cervical vertebrae, which can cause the clubbing from riding your bike. The most concerning area I read in the thoracic area is T5-T6/ T6-T7. That junction is notorious for wearing out, partially because that junction is where the shape of vertebrae change, in prep for the strength of the lumbar vertebrae, and partially because of Americans poor posture. It wears out naturally due to those 2 things, and playing sports doesn't help us at that particular junction. Take extra good care of that area. Your upper body strength is/will protect it.Thinning is what effacement means, and it is saying the membrane which houses the thecal sac is thinning, however there is no intrusion into the thecal sac itself....yet. You want to keep that as such. When I had thecal sac impingement, I would lose all feeling in my legs, randomly, and hit the ground. Stenosis is not good, but, until it causes protrusions into the thecal sac, which it has not, surgery is not necessary, unless there is so much pain, or lack of function, surgery is the only fix. That's why I said your mri looks pretty good. I hope this made some sense lol. Still .... so happy for your progress! -mary

I stated something wrong. I said " ... unless it causes protrusions into the thecal sac ..." when I needed to have said the "thecal canal." My apologies. -mary