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Degenerative disc disease/spinal fusion complications

Spine Health | Last Active: Jan 7, 2023 | Replies (8)
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@sdbon

I am 73 years old. I have degenerative disk disease in the lower back and neck. I had surgery in 1998 with placement of cages, screws and rods to stabilize the lower back (L4 and L5). later, (2005)I had stenosis of the spine (a spur grow into my spinal cord in that area) and another back surgery. They ground off the spur and removed the lateral bars that were placed on each side of my spine. I am starting to have low back pain and pain going down my legs (altering at times to Right and then Left) When I get out of bed sometimes I feel an invisible "electrical field" circling down my Left Leg to my ankle. It goes away after walking around awhile.
I also had a dichotomy in 2017, C5, C6 and fusion C6 & C7. The discs were gone. They put in a cylinder/plate and screws. He said bad news is C4 wasn't looking good while he was in there.

My question is: Is there anything I can do to stop t he destruction of my discs? If not what does my future look like?

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Replies to "I am 73 years old. I have degenerative disk disease in the lower back and neck...."
DadCue | @dadcue | Jan 3, 2023

I have all the problems you have listed but have never had a lumbar fusion. I'm currently facing a "limited" L4-5 fusion. About 5 years ago, a neurosurgeon told me that I would need my entire lumbar spine fused after removing several facet joints and "cleaning up" disc fragments and bone spurs. I wasn't a good surgical candidate five years ago because of a medication I was taking --- prednisone for inflammatory arthritis and PMR.

Now my lumbar spine has been declared a disaster area. The neurosurgeon says something needs to be done soon because my lumbar spine is becoming unstable. Several nerves that control some muscles in my legs are no longer functioning so those muscles don't work and are shrinking. I also have numbness and weakness in my legs along with tingling and electrical burning sensations.

Is there any way I can avoid doing a lumbar fusion? If I do the lumbar fusion, what will my future look like? Predicting the future is always difficult to do!

I wonder what happened to people in the past who never had the option of doing these kinds of surgeries.

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