OT: Back problems - experiences sought

[Trailrider]

Howdy, Pards,
I posted this on TOB, but in case you don't get over there...

I was minding my own business and woke up about three weeks ago unable to straighten up and with severe sciatic pain on my left side and leg!  After having several doctors' offices give me the "they can't see you until a week from Wednesday", I finally got in and an MRI reveals a bulging disk (L4, IIRC).  Lady spinal doc is sending me to a spinal "architect" Thursday, and I'm pretty sure I know what his answer is going to be.

I'm NOT soliciting advice, just anecdotal experiences from folks who have had disc surgery and fusion.  How bad is the pain?  How long did it take to recover to something approaching a normal life? Going up and down stairs?  Driving a car? (SUV with a high step up.)  Pushing a full size gun cart with about 40 lbs of iron, and even packing a pair of OM Vaqueros on a belt.  (Is there a double shoulder rig in my future? Guess I'll have to put it in my catalog, if so.  )

Frankly, I think MRI's, CAT scans, etc., can be wonderful diagnostic tools, but, on the other hand, I've had 'em where they brought up more questions than they answered, and several turned out to show congenital conditions that were innocuous and peculiar to ME!  I'll probably get several more opinions.

Just wondering about other folks experiences!

Gimpy, grumpy, Stumpy (should I change my alias???),

[Howdy Doody]

Trailrider ol' pard, I am real sorry to hear you are having this problem.

My wife had a lot of pains, legs not working right, even couldn't put her arms up very high. She got the MRI and
they discovered she had a tumor growing between the discs down low on her back. They had her set with a date
to operate, but before that happened, she seized up in severe pain and they had to admit her to the hospital and
operate early. They had her braced for fusion after the tumor was out. It took four hours of surgery to get all the
tumor that was imbedded in the nerves and all and they felt that they could not pin and fuse.
So, she felt a lot better after being in the hospital 7 days and with a walker and some other devices she recovered
pretty well. She had some issues earlier this year, but the concensus was that she wasn't needing a fusion just yet,
but she will in the near future. Meanwhile, she babies her back and does pretty well lately, but I have to do anything
that looks like it weighs a pound or two and even the vacuuming.

So, I know from her experience that backs can be very painfull and really sort of disabling. That is why I am saying a
prayer for you, that you can get repaired and back to a full regimin of things before long. The doctors these days
are so much more better than what just a few years ago where. Try for a younger one that is fresh with knowledge
of what it will take to put you back on your feet, pain free.

[Angel_Eyes]

Hey Trailrider, I fell off a six foot step ladder and crushed 3 vertebre in my lower spine. After 3 months flat on my back the consultant surgeon said I needed spinal fusion, the 3 that were damaged to the ones above and below. This meant that I would be severely restricted in my bending, so I refused. That was back in 1979. I then took advice and joined a gym and gradually got myself back to working fitness by building up my back muscles, (and all the others!), but after 20 years I had to take early medical retirement at 53 years old, (Damn!) and I've been enjoying myself ever since. It still hurts and I have good and bad days but in short, take the LEAST surgery you can get away with and wear a wide belt.
Good luck pard,,,, UKshooter.

[Mustang Gregg]

Jim:

I had back surery in Oct 2007. 

The sawbones whittled some disk out material between L-5 & S-1. 
Then I was out of commission (in bed, on drugs) for 2 weeks+.  The max lifting 8# for 2 months, then 15# for 2 months, then lifting only what I feel I could.  He also gave me a bunch of streting exercises.
I still take it damned easy.  And occasionally, my back will start spasming uncontolled.  But I usually have a few seconds to drop what I'm doing & take a lean on something.

My leg pain is very seldom anymore, though.

Gregg

[US Scout]

Trailrider,

The wife had disc surgery a few years ago - they fused a couple of discs in her neck.  Surgery lasted about 4 hours as I recall and she was home for about 2 weeks. 

She was in pain and discomfort for quite a while - but then she has a low pain threshold.  She now leads a normal life - plays golf, etc.   

Only second-hand experience, but she reports she prefers the post-surgery life to the pre-surgery life.

[Trailrider]

Thanks, Pards.  We'll see what the consensus is among the various docs I'm going to see (won't take just one opinion on something as important as this)...

I'll keep everyone updated.

[Trailrider]

Howdy, Pards,
Well, I saw the spinal surgeon yesterday. (Was supposed to also get a shot from the spine doctor who referred me to the surgeon yesterday, but Medicare says you can't see two doctors from the same group on the same day...so I had to go back to the spine doc TODAY for the shot!    )

Anyhow, I expected the surgeon to reach for a rusty bayonet.  He (pleasantly) surprised me by recommending cortisone shots, physical therapy and "watchful waiting"!  So, for now I'll go with that program.

Don't think I'll be doing much shooting for awhile, but I'll be around.

Thanks for your concern and help!

[Major E A Sterner]

Trailrider, DO NOT let them give you cortizone shots in your back, it will weaken the bone and cause it to disintegrate. I have a friend who had this done and he's hasn't been able to work in over 15 years, He has had 2 very painful operations to have the bones fused and they keep getting worse. After his first operation he was in a lot of pain and kept getting fevers, The Doc told him that was normal and to not worry about it. After dealing with the pain and fevers for about 5 years He went to a different Doc who found that he had a very bad infection from the hardware they had used to fuse his spine. It seems that he was allergic to the metal used.He has had a big problem finding someone to fix the problem because no one wants to be responsible for making it worse and He's suing the first Doc over the botched diagnosis.If he had to do it all over again He told me that he would have never had the operation done. I hope that You will get an other opinion before getting the shots. You may even want to check with a Chiropractor, I have been going to one for some time and he has cut down on about 90% of my pain from a herniated disc in my lower back (L4&5)

[Trailrider]

Major,
I appreciate your input on this.  I will procede with extreme caution.  I've had a number of opinions now from some of the top spinal MD specialists in the metro-Denver area, and the consensus is that one shot isn't going to cause any worse damage.  Should it become necessary to do a lot of them, that may be a different proposition.  For now, the only other option in my case would be surgery, and the surgeons and a bunch of friends who have had L4/L5 surgery tell me to avoid it, if at all possible.

So far, I've at least been able to sleep through the night ON THE BED, rather than in a chair.  After a month of agony, that's a blessing.  Nobody is guarranteeing anything at this point.  Just to wait, take some physical therapy, and see what happens.

I really appreciate your input, and will proceed with the utmost caution.

Ride easy,

[Danny Bear Claw]

Trailrider...  Sorry to hear of your back problems.  My better half, Maggie Three Feathers, is what they call a "Failed-back-surgery-syndrome".  She has had 9 or 10 back surgeries for discs, 2 spinal fusions and one fusion re-do.  She was forced into early retirement due to her on-going back problems.  She can not sit, stand or even lie in one position for very long.  Her pain has been constant for years and today she has an implanted morphine pump and still needs to take pain meds by mouth from time to time.  I wish I could offer you a more positive outlook for the future but, alas, I can not.  I've worked in the medical field for the past 25 years and seen many back patients.  The fact of the matter is very few ever really get well from a bad back.  Once your spine is messed up you are sort stuck with it for life.
Take care of your spine folks... you only get the one.  Trailrider...  Maggie Three Feathers and I will be keeping you in our thoughts and prayers in the coming days and hoping you will be one of the lucky few who actually gets well.  In the mean time, put some padding on that saddle. 

[Singing Bear]

I been on dissability since 83 with osteospodylothesis affecting the whole L series on into S1 and 2.  I got 2 bulging discs, one "non disc" and an extra vertebrae making my back that much more unstable.  On my bad days, sciatica gets up in the 6 to 9 range.

I recently got referred to a surgeon, my second one, for a consult.  The first wanted to cut me right on the spot.  This one told me that I wasn't crapping and peeing my pants and could still move upright.  No cutting.  Told me that most patients who can still walk will not experience any appreciative improvement and many will get worse from back surgery. 

He also told me beware of doctors who only stop to show you only certain exposures of an MRI.  The ones that show that your nerves are being totally choked and want to get you on the operating table yesterday.  Doc showed me the exposure that showed a closed up nerve channel, then the next exposures a hemangous cavern of a channel.  He said he has no doubt I'm having problems, but the physical evidence isn't extreme enough to warrant surgery.   At this point, surgery is up to me, but he warns against it.  There are other options.

Right now, I'm on physical therapy, massage and accupuncture.  Sciatica is down to 3 to 5 on the scale and sometimes nonexistent.  I also use Tramadol at bedtime and Celebrex during the day.  Both only if I'm in pain.  My ortho doc tried the mega anti-inflammatory shot in the butt, but had no effect.  If sciatica returns and is bad enough, I may ask for the cortisone treatments, but at this point in time my condition isn't severe enough to warrant it. 

Take it easy and learn your limitations.  Don't be so proud that you suffer at matches.  Let the head honchos know you have a problem and they'll make adjustments.  If someone grumbles, tell them who to talk to or to mind their own damned business.  Yeah, you now have an excuse for being a grumpy ol fart.    Oh yeah, if you can, get a parking placard for the disabled parking.   It really helps on those bad days.  I ain't proud and will use it when I gotta.
Also use a cane if you gotta and accept whatever help that is offered.  I usually accept the help at markets.  Make it as easy and pain free as you possibly can.  There's really no sense in suffering more than you have to.   That bulging disc isn't going away anytime real soon, so might as well make the best of what you can. 

Good luck. 

[Goatlips]

Hay Trailrider, this won't be about my operation or the results of it but how I prepared for it.  I knew beforehand I wouldn't be able to bend for a while so I tried doing daily stuff without bending down.  I put the cat's food on a tray with a cord lifter on it so I could pick it up and clean it.  I bought a cane with a pick-up arm on it and learned to pick up a dime or a toothpick with it.  Circumstances dictated that I would be alone for some weeks after the operation so I set up some controls to the tv and some vcr's so I could do stuff from my bed.  I rigged a communications device to the front door so I could answer it without getting up.  Put my computer on a rolling table that I could use from the bed, like they do in a hospital for meals.  I was back up to driving in half the time I was told it would take me, I think it had to do with moving a lot.

BUT the BEST idea I had was hanging a beefy rope from a screw eye in the ceiling next to the bed so that I could lift myself up and out, and back down, by using my arms.  Made it real easy and made it my choice as to when I would get to be upright without any trouble.  If you do have the operation, "get a rope!"

Goatlips

[Trailrider]

Howdy, again, Pards,

Well, the back surgeon I saw said we should wait and see how it goes with a cortisone shot, which the back doc gave me a week ago.  Also trying physical therapy.  It will take awhile to get that going.  Therapist thinks maybe from the feeling that "something is catching on the left side" I may have an issue with my sacro-illiac joint (sacroilliac), which I never realized is an actual joint in the pelvic bones.  It has limited movement, but can affect the sciatic nerve.  I'm not supposed to see the spinal specialist until the 25th, but will see if it might help to put a shot in that area.  Meanwhile, I'm looking for a longer-barrelled shotgun to use as a crutch.  ("Stumpy, get back in the jail! Heee! Heee! Heee! Hee!")

Ride easy, Pards!

[Top Kick Ken]

Trailrider,

Sorry to hear about your misfortunes.  I suffer from slight to moderate Kyphosis and Lordosis and have some back pain because of it each month.  Be really careful about letting them do things to your back.  I concur with most posters here that surgery should be a last ditch option when all else has failed.

I will keep you in my thoughts and prayers.

Thanks for that GAF sword belt you made me a few years back.  It still looks and works great. 

Hang tough, like only a SAC-trained warrior can!

Top Kick Ken