Success stories after lumbar fusion?

Hi, @dlydailyhope I have done a couple of rounds of PT.... about six months each... but I still have the balance issues. The PT was aware of the balance issues and worked with me to strengthen core...
Your first paragraph sounds a lot like me.... except that my stenosis was not congenital.... and I'm 73yo. I could hardly walk before the laminectomy because of pain in hips and legs. I had spinal injections.... and I have had them every four months for the past year... but I can't tell they make much difference.
The leg pain was so bad before the laminectomy that I coud have had the neuropathy/numbness/tingling before the surgery but I would not have noticed. My lower legs seem weaker than before I had the stenosis diagnosis. The stenosis is a bit strange, too... obviously it was there and getting worse with time... but at 71 I had no problems walking and working in my yard... I had occasional back pain and aches I attributed to aging. But one morning in Sept. 2021 I woke up and both feet felt like they had a 20lb weight attached to them. I could hardly move. My PCP sent me for an MRI... and then I was sent to a surgeon. I saw several before deciding on one.... and ONE of the neurosurgeons I did not choose said, "We will put a spacer between L5 and S1. If not you will be back within a year." The surgeon I chose was excellent... and my surgery went well... but now he is suggesting that the fusion might resolve the remaining issues as I have no disc left between L5/S1... and two discs above that are compromised. As he explained it, he would remove the disc tissue and place a spacer between the discs ... and that would create more space between the vertebrae... and thus decompress the nerves as they exit the spine in that area. He says the surgery would be done in two procedures.... the first day he would do the ALIF and remove discs and put plates to hold them in place. Then, the following day he would go in through my back and put rods and screw to my spine to give mroe stability. Was your fusion a two-part procedure? Another question.... do you FEEL the hardware/rods?
Thanks for sharing! Best wishes for your continuing recovery! Mike

@domiha
I had my L3-L5 decompression and fusion done in one surgery with entry from the back. The screws and rods aren’t felt through my skin and I don’t notice them at all (also have hardware in my cervical spine at C5-C6). See pictures below.

I wonder if the 2 part procedure is due to the need to make space between your L5-S1 since you don’t have a disc there now and they don’t want you to be under anesthesia for too long to do both parts of the surgery.

I had a L2-L3 fusion in 2019 that was a fail. It was from what my current surgeon described as surgical error. Use of older equipment etc. I ended up in a wheelchair for 5 years. This year I had my surgeon from Mayo Rochester do a revision/addition L2-L4. Not only am I out of the wheelchair but I don’t need my walker or cane. So glad I opted for the fusion.

@domiha
I had my L3-L5 decompression and fusion done in one surgery with entry from the back. The screws and rods aren’t felt through my skin and I don’t notice them at all (also have hardware in my cervical spine at C5-C6). See pictures below.

I wonder if the 2 part procedure is due to the need to make space between your L5-S1 since you don’t have a disc there now and they don’t want you to be under anesthesia for too long to do both parts of the surgery.

@misssuezq I'm glad your second surgery made such a positive impact on your life. A great surgeon makes all the difference! I had my cervical fusion at Mayo. Are you still recovering?

Jennifer,
I had my surgery in January. I did physical therapy until the middle of August as the first surgery set me back so far I had a great deal of recovering to do. I’m still gaining strength of course that will be ongoing.
When did you have your fusion?

I'm glad your doing well. Recovery does take a long time. I think I was recovering for at least a year from spine surgery. My incision scar tissue does periodically tighten up and I stretch it out. Mt PT taught me a lot of Myofascial Release stretching that has helped a lot. I had to rehab and strengthen my neck because I was in a neck brace for 3 months and the muscles were weak, so holding up my head was tiring. I didn't want spine hardware, and my surgeon agreed to it if I stayed in the brace until fused which was 3 months. That was worth it, and I have no worries about hardware.

My C5/C6 fusion was 8 years ago. I was loosing the coordination in my arms due to spinal cord compression, and this surgery at Mayo gave me back that coordination and strength in my arms. I am an artist, so it was the logical choice to have the surgery. Here is the story.
https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/using-the-art-of-medicine-to-overcome-fear-of-surgery/

That sounds like a lot of anesthesia time. Would that be general anesthesia? I can just tell you I had 3 surgeries in 2.5 yrs and the third anesthesia really weakened me as Ioly had 8 mo from prior surgeryand it took awhile to build any endurance after third op. Anesthesia would be another major question....thats around 6 hours of anesthesia and for bypass they try to limit it to 4 hrs. That sounds tough to me, let alone the surgical issues too.
Best wishes!

With any surgery, there is no guarantee, obviously. I was just hoping to find a few people still here who had a lumbar fusion and noted a great improvement.
Has anyone had a fusion done in two procedures? The surgeon told me that if he fused L3 to S1, he would do the ALIF one day to remove the discs and replace with spacers... then use titanium plates/screws to hold those in place. Then, the following day, he would go in through my back and put a rod with screws on each side of my spine. I "assume" this may be because I have had the laminectomy L2-S1 and he wants to add extra stability??
Originally, I had understood that the ALIF would be all he would do. So one 3 to 4 hour surgery one day, then another 3 hour surgery the next day. Sounds pretty gruesome!! Best to all! Mike