Spine conditions: Told I would not walk without surgery

Hi, I'm 75. I had the same thing and had the surgery 15 years on the first one ago and 6 years ago on the second one and after that I had one on 10/29/23 that was scoliosis surgery from T2 to S1, it wasn't easy I was in the hospital for 10 days 2 of them in ICU with 4 pt. of blood and on the operating table for 14 hours. My doctor was a specialty spine neurosurgeon in Houston, Texas. After getting out of the hospital I have been in rehab ever since and will be through May. I had to learn how to walk again and set differently because I also had screws put in my pelvis to help hold the hardware up so now, I must bend from hips and not waist I have had to do a lot of things differently. Now I'm doing so much better, not in pain. My problem was caused by degenerative disc disease. My mother and sister have it too, my mother had no surgeries and suffered so much and ended up in a wheelchair I watched her go through all this and didn't want that for myself. I hope I have helped you. I know that every person must decide for themselves what's is best for them whatever you decide I wish you the best and God bless you, lady

@me75 I'm glad to hear that you are doing well and surgery improved your life. I also have parents in wheelchairs and knew I didn't want that either. It is hard to be disabled.

Jennifer

Hi Jennifer , thank you I’m doing better each week I can do more for myself and not depend on my husband so much , bless his heart . I can dress and bathe myself now and much stronger because of therapy I even drove around the neighborhood but not in traffic yet I can do some things in the house , I even amaze myself how far I’ve come in a short time , it’s only been 4 1/2 months plus I’m not taking as much medication mostly Tylenol . Thanks for listening to me brag about myself .

@annie1027 Annie, Did the doctor explain exactly what decompression surgery is? They have to remove something to decompress a nerve. If that is part of an extruded herniated disc that is outside the spinal canal, sometimes that is removed, and those tend to re-herniate. These are questions to ask the surgeon. They are the expert to know what is best or what your options are. If a disc is bad and must be removed, something has to be placed in that space. It could be a bone disc for a fusion or it could be an artificial disk. A laminectomy cuts bone to enlarge the spinal canal, and doesn't remove a disc. Sometimes that is done along with disc removal and fusion. Every procedure has risks and outcomes. It's always a bit of a compromise and it won't be like never having had a spine problem. It is always good to get several opinions from surgeons you trust. Generally speaking, spine surgery at the lower end of the spine is a more difficult recovery and may have less predictable outcomes than cervical spine surgery. Leg issues and cramping may be caused by a cervical spine problem such as spinal cord compression or it may be caused by a lumbar spine problem.

Jennifer

@jenniferhunter Hello, yes cervical spine herniated and bulging disc, will cause pain, down the arms/ Hands along w/ constant pain in legs, to toes, and now I am experiencing the L-Spine issues and honestly feel its a compressed spinal cord issue with Cervical and yes L- spine Bulging disc doesn't help, to know which is the cause. I wish my insurance would hurry to get me in to Mayo i cant stay off of work, bills need paying, but when I cant sleep, cuz of pain laying down, standing up, sitting up, is so agonizing, what does one do. Seems like No medical physician wants to help w/ my pain, and figure my spine out. I cant take this pain or lifestyle much longer.

@wil24 When I was in pain, I used to use a microwaved hot neck wrap and lay down. I would massage as much as I could. Physical therapy helped a lot and the PT used a Dolphin Neurostimulator to interrupt pain impulses by zapping the nerve roots in my neck. That reduced pain for about a week. It may also help justify a surgical consult and need for treatment.

@jenniferhunter I use a heated wrap as well, PT Helped for 2 days after I was done each day, which i feel "yes", it helped. I was going 2xs per wk, Each day i would wake to go to work from sleeping and then getting up, I was in and still am in severe pain, siting, laying down, walking, and driving my forklift, along with the bending and lifting of my job. I have been off since February 12th, and trying to get thru this pain, i try daily to stay awake, do very little PT, just going to the grocery store takes alot out of me. I have a headache daily from the neck pain, and my L5-S1 on left side, leg i can barely walk, have pins, needles, ice cold foot, tingling, and stabbing pain medial and lateral on left leg. The pain left butt cheek/ lower back i cant take the pain, heat/ ice is not helping, afraid to go to a chiropractor or get a massage, if something would slip even more. I had an injection on my right cervical 2 yrs ago, along w/ both carpal tunnel done and My right medial ulnar fixed, and a lot of pain subsided. Now for the last 1.5 yr later, this L-spine, bulging disc and now Left side C- Spine is horrific. I feel something is more with the spinal column and being pinched off. Of course thats a surgeons determination and waiting on a Mayo visit.
Thanks for listening and response.

@wil24 Have you tried trigger point injections in your neck to help with the headaches? Or possibly epidurals? I also recently started with some type of sonic wave treatment to see how that works for me.