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Has anyone suffered from lumbar spinal stenosis? Did you have surgery?
Spine Health | Last Active: Sep 13, 2022 | Replies (91)Comment receiving replies
I am on two wait lists at Mayo in MN. May not be an opening till December. Very hard to wait that long. Definitely a neurosurgeon. Ortho for any bone but not the spine. Mine started end of May. I think if I just try not to bend it will be beneficial. A neighbor has allowed me to use her T.E.N.S. unit. Helps while on and helps me move in morning. Two electrodes are working. I had an epidural and that was the most painful procedure. NEVER again. It is just a bandaid. I didn't want it but husband said have to try. Shouldn't have listened. I am on Prolia and my injection had to be postponed for a month.
That is the $1,000 question - wait or have the surgery, what kind, etc. November will be 6 months and 90% of herniated disks are suppose to resolve on own. I am seeing a second neurologist in GA where I live. If he also says it is the herniated disk causing the pain I might have it done BUT it is a far lateral one and only 1 - 5% of people have this so maybe only one or two done a year. I think Mayo would be best for this, Dr. Elder or Dr. Byron. Do you or anyone have a preference and why? I want a doctor that will not be out the door before I understand what they said and one that I don't have to pull information from. I want them to be very open with information and answer why.
I hope you get out of your pain soon especially if having to care for others. Standing on feet for 8 hours is rough. Hopefully you take breaks and put yourself first when you need to.
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@melinda7 I have seen a lot about Dr. Bydon and his research in regenerative medicine for spine injuries. I do like to get a sense of what a doctor is like by watching any videos of them and seeing how they talk about why they chose their profession. Sometimes those are geared for medical professionals and they talk using doctor speak abbreviations, but I have still found those to be helpful. I also read any medical literature they have co authored to see if I am a good fit for their interests. I had spine surgery with Dr. Fogelson in Rochester, and he was kind, explained everything and he put me at ease. I am one of the stories in the Sharing Mayo Clinic blog for my spine surgery.
You can find my story with Dr. Fogelson here:
-Using the Art of Medicine to Overcome Fear of Surgery
https://sharing.mayoclinic.org/2019/01/09/using-the-art-of-medicine-to-overcome-fear-of-surgery/
What I might suggest is that you can search for a doctor's name in the "Sharing Mayo Clinic" webpage and find patient stories for that doctor. This is a bit more personable than reading their medical literature and you will find a lot of older stories that may not be listed with their bios.
- Sharing Mayo Clinic webpage
https://sharing.mayoclinic.org/
When I searched there for Dr. Bydon, it found 9 stories. I found 5 stories mentioning Dr. Elder. I used the search box on the right side of the page in the box that says "About Sharing Mayo Clinic". If you search there, you are searching in the Sharing Mayo Clinic blog.
Here is a Mayo Clinic Radio interview with Dr. Bydon (on video)
- Minimally Invasive Spine Surgery: Mayo Clinic Radio
I did choose my surgeon based on my ongoing education with everything I looked at online about medical literature and current trends in spine surgery. Many surgeons had misdiagnosed me, and when I read some medical literature co authored by Dr. Fogelson that mentioned a term, "funicular pain", I looked that up and found medical cases like mine, so I knew I had found a surgeon who would understand, and I was sold. I was correct, and this could only be proven when surgery fixed all the crazy pain that I had. I have a biology background, so I could understand what I was reading, and I was also working with a good physical therapist and learned a lot from her. It took me 2 years to get to Mayo after being turned down by other surgeons elsewhere. Coming to Mayo exceeded all my expectations, and that is why I'm still here offering my experience to other patients. You can also speak with the neurosurgery department and ask which surgeon would be a good match for your condition.