Spine Operation

@anoyymous123 Welcome to Connect. If I understand correctly, are you saying that your wife had spine surgery that placed 2 spacers between vertebrae, and in another spine operation, the surgeon removed those spacers? What was the reason for and the plan for the latest surgery ? Was another device implanted to the spine? I'm not sure what you mean by needing an oblique operation. It this pertaining to the surgical approach?

Hi Jennifer:
Several years ago wife had spine surgery for stenosis as part of that surgery an interspinous device was placed in spine. About a year ago had minor spine surgery again this time to pace another spacer in spine. So now she has 2 spacers in spine. She was still having bad back and radiating leg pain so agreed to have another spine surgery"laminectomy' in 3-23. As part of that surgery for whatever reason the surgeon removed the 2 old spacers Post op x ray now shows spine is totally misaligned and vertabre has shifted(SpOM,DYdylotheis. Prior Xray before op shows spine very straight. Now wife has more pain(terrible) than before!! Surgery obviously failed. Surgeon casually says now you need OLIF surgery to correct problem. No other spine surgeon will see her once they find out she had previous op. She is Really disgusted with spine surgery and apparent result. My guess is that shifting of spine has created more issues than before.

Just some added information. Now she is almost a cripple with pain. As i said earlier no other spine surgeon will see her to discuss other options once they learn of prior surgery by another surgeon. Had an appt last month with another surgeon and he rudely said go back and see surgeon who did last op and then he said my staff made a mistake even making this appt because we were unaware of your previous surgery, and he also said your operating surgeon
i know him and he is a great guy! Apparently it is one big club here in NY

Have you consulted with Mayo clinic surgeons? Maybe another way to get another opinion? This sounds like a mess...

Absolutely a mess. She was better off living with original pain. This surgeon really screwed her up but good.

@anoyymous123 Wow! I am sorry this happened to her. I agree she needs help, and please don't give up. Why should she need to return to a surgeon who made her worse and who she doesn't trust? What you are up against here is that there is a bad result, and no surgeon wants that on their record because they are judged by insurance companies and Medicare and this will lower their statistics of their personal success rate, and their potential income can be affected by bad reviews and poor results. A lot of surgeons didn't want my case either because they didn't understand my symptoms and missed the diagnosis, and that is what brought me to Mayo.

Can you come to Mayo Clinic? Mayo staff are all employees and they receive the same salary no matter how many operations they do or don't do. There isn't a bias toward operating because it brings in extra cash, and you get an objective opinion. Clearly she is worse off than before. I really would encourage you to apply to Mayo if your insurance will cover it as in network. Mayo is known for taking cases others don't want. I don't agree that the surgeon is a "great guy" if he left a mess like this and a patient to suffer. You can fire any doctor who isn't doing what you need, or is in fact doing a bad job or making rude remarks. Saying it was a mistake to make the appointment for her is just cruel. I went through some of that when a surgeon's nurse would not make follow up appointments for me. The surgeon missed the diagnosis and really didn't want me as a patient. They eventually dismissed me saying that surgery would fix very little of the issues I had and they didn't want to put me through it. That was wrong, because surgery at Mayo fixed all the spine issues I had, and the other surgeons didn't understand that these were spine related symptoms.

My spine neurosurgeon at Mayo really is a great guy, and kind, and I would bring this case to him if you can. He is a spine deformity expert. My surgery was one of his simpler cases, just a single level cervical fusion. His name is Jeremy Fogelson.

Here is a patient story about misalignment in the lumbar vertebrae with one of his patients.
https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/sharing-mayo-clinic-spinal-surgery-saves-teen-swimmers-mobility/

This is my story.
https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/using-the-art-of-medicine-to-overcome-fear-of-surgery/

Here is the Insurance information page and I recommend calling the Billing department to confirm everything.

If you wish to request an appointment, this link will get you started.
http://mayocl.in/1mtmR63

No patient should be treated like you were. I hope you can go to Mayo because it is wonderful and a great place to receive excellent care. It is worth traveling to see the right surgeon. If you have questions about my experience at Mayo, please ask, and I will help any way that I can. My participation here on Connect is because I value my Mayo experience that changed my life and I want to help other patients.

Jennifer

https://www.barrowneuro.org/treatment/olif/
Interbody spacers are placed to alleviate spinal stenosis. They allow exiting nerves to exit the spine withoug impedence. They can fail or move.
I think the doctor is referring to oblique spinal fusion ilustrated pretty well by barrowneuro.

Bless you for taking care of your wife.