I'm just sitting here this morning reading about all of the bad surgeries that different folks have had. I'm 80 yrs. old now and my first bout with back pain was at age 32. The first doctor I went to after months of pain, told me my back looked like I was an 80-year-old lady who worked on a farm all her life. I have seen many doctors over the years, I've had left foot drop, lots of leg weakness and nerve pain, ex-rays, MRI, anti-inflammatory drugs, etc. I have been afraid of surgery, which one Nero surgery doctor said I needed. I deal with the pain by sitting when the pain is bad, but for the most part, I walk 2-3 miles on good days. It hurts when I first go out, but after about 1-1/2 miles it is bearable. I do walk bent over and do not have good posture, and I cannot stand for a long time at the kitchen counter because of mid back pain. So I sit and it will ease off. I stretch, do hand weights, walk, and just try to keep as active as possible. And Tylenol is my go-to for pain because I also take blood thinners for AFIB. I also have had 7 joints in different parts of my body injected because of pain, so I may have a type of arthritis that no doctor has ever seen before. I try to keep positive, I deliver meals on wheels one day a week, help a neighbor who is in a wheelchair and have a huge family that keeps me busy. My thoughts control my feelings, so I try not to let the pain rule my life. Cheers!

Are you using the same surgeon as your laminectomies

I had L4-5 laminectomy for neurogenic claudication with no relief. Surgeon now suggesting possible fusion after reviewing scheduled MRI. What can I expect from a fusion?

I have both and am trying to decide which of these will be best for me to control pain:
—use a TENS unit
—have a medial branch nerve block.
—have a decompressive lamin-
ectomy.
How to best decide??
…..,Mary Freeland

I would try stopping statins first, a known side effect of these is muscle pain and aches

From what I hear, there doesn't seem to be an overwhelming approval for this procedure. I am only an engineer and don't speak with authority however. I had xrays done that show arthritis and collapsed spine. I have the same problem and am/was also very active and I have resolved to not have the surgery, at least at this point. I have purchased an invert table with heat and message and it seems to be the most effective relief so far. I did a month and a half of Physical Therapy, was on Gapabend, (sp) exercising and massage and none of them gave me much relief. Outlook seems bleak for this malady and have almost accepted the fact I may have to deal with this pain the rest of my life.

I am getting third opinion from weill cornell.
My local surgeon is supposedly excellent but can give no assurances.
Main reason i would do it is to prevent further damage. I was told 10% get worse, 10 % are the same , and 80% have improvement. Sounds likeyou are in the 20% worse or the same, bummer.
When did u have it done?
Did surgeon screw up?

Interesting thread. I am six months post L2-5 decompression and fusion. Arthritis. I had the work done at Mayo JAX with a neurosurgeon. Summary: The whole process was very challenging but now I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. Here are some things I learned: (1) Every spine surgery is different and it's difficult and confusing to hear of other's experiences/results and infer you will have the same outcomes... good or bad. (2) I used a neurosurgeon and I would chose no other doc. (3) Generally - it took me three months to feel OK. At six months I'm back to being pretty active. It will take 12 months (I figure) to reach maximum recovery. (4) Despite the challenges, which were sometimes extreme, I'm thrilled with my results.

Has anyone been diagnosed with Guillain-Barre Syndrome?

Any comments: Surgeon took out 3 interspinious spacers from back and also did laminectomy for lumbar pain back an leg is it likely that spine now shifted was connected to removal of spacers-N ow surgeon say I can fix misaligned spine you need an oblique operation-dont think wife wants him again