What are people's experiences with spinal fusion surgery?

I had spinal fusion surgery in February 2024. I definitively had problems before - but the surgery didn't help. In fact, my balance and lumbar pain have worsened. Would I do it over again? I'd get more opinions on how to treat the issues. I'd not choose this dramatic an intervention. I'd do more research into options.

Two years later, I'm still walking like Frankenstein and unable to walk very far without pain. Not the result I had hoped for, or expected.

@peterpaul
I'm guessing that you didn't have osteoporosis is that right? Cuz I know osteoporosis will complicate fusion or can complicate fusion.

@danbrightwell
I'm sorry your pain has gotten worse. May I ask where you had the surgery done? Was the hospital or surgeon well regarded? And last question did you have osteoporosis?

@peterpaul
Another question, how extensive was your degeneration or what exactly was your diagnosis and what were your symptoms? I've been told by a couple of surgeons that they prefer the posterior incision because they can see the nerves easier that way and from the side. That's why I'm asking what was your issue. Thank you

@marialyce
What is fmd? No surgeon I ever consulted brought that up but they did say that my neck / cervical spine is very messed up and one surgeon was concerned that I would have trouble during the intubation. None of the others thought that though but I do have a reverse curve in my neck apparently. So is that fmd?

@smusick1017
I'm sorry to hear the screws are backing out. I have a question, do you have osteoporosis? I do and I'm weighing whether I should have fusion or not. It's been recommended by numerous surgeons and they all seem so confident that some techniques they have will make sure the screws won't come out but I have my doubts. They say they can use cement augmented screws. Do you know if yours were augmented?

@danbrightwell I had a similar experience back in 2017. Supposed spondylolisthesis at L5-S1. Did the fusion. Did not help. The docs make the excuse of "failed back surgery syndrome". Pretty handy, right? Would I do it again? Probably not.

On 2/24/26, I had cervical fusion at 5/6 with positive results at UC Davis Spine Center. 16 years ago, 6/7 were fused at Cedars-Sinai Hospital, again with positive results.

@heisenberg34

A spine surgeon told me there was a lot of "bad bone" in my lumbar spine that needed to be removed and there might not be enough "good bone" left to hold all the hardware that would be needed to fuse my spine. I decided to keep all of my bad bone because it doesn't need any hardware to hold it together. It would be nice if it didn't hurt so much but at least my spine hasn't fallen apart yet.

I have conditions at L3, L4, L5 and S1. My pain is largely in my butt and ham strings. I have a Celebrex related med for pain as needed. My aim is to delay surgery as long as possible. My pain is moderate and inconsistent. I use heat on my lower back every morning as well as the PT stretches I learned from PT. So far so good. I just got a more heavily padded seat for my bicycle, and am trying to work up longer mileage on a stand alone bike at the gym. I volunteer at a local park doing gardening work. So far, I am able to do most things. Although I've decided to get a cortisone shot in near future to hopefully reduce the pain I am experiencing.
Best wishes.