Afraid & confused

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gijuie

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Hi everyone I am due to have my first discogram on the 29th, to see if I need L3-L4-L5 all fused together. From what I am reading it sounRAB like a horror story, I had 2 out of 3 steroid shots (Block) done to no help at all, I'm wondering how safe are these fusions, & how long does it take to recover from this surgery. I am a 50 year old women who does shipping & receiving for a living, & I need to keep working. & also what is the best way to check out surgeons? any help will be apriciated very much
tks to all who answers,
gijuie
 
Hi. Honestly.. you need to change what you do for a living moving forward. Your spine will not sustain your constant lifting, bending and twisting of your spine in that way, especially with having multiple levels done. Yes there are a few out there that have overcome the odRAB, but it's rare.

The discogram is not fun at all and can be horrific for many, including me. I had no sedation or pain meRAB at all. But this test alone found a blown disc that MRIs never showed for over 3 years. so this test is very worth the short period of pain it may cause.

Recovery is a relative term. Did you mean to return to work recovered? Many people can return to desk type jobs around 6-12 weeks time. Most of us on the higher weeks end of that. I was back at work at week 7, but I only had one level fused. I still hurt, I was just able to tough out the pain through the day and I also have a supportive work environment, which helped tremendously. If you are talking surgery healed inside and out.. that can take some of us up to around 2 years time. (I was solidly fused at 7 months, but my body was long from being healed and recovered from the trauma of the injury, the surgery and new adjustments my body had to make).

I honestly do not think you will ever be able to return to a shipping/receiving type job, unless you are not lifting anything and doing office type work. Most of our that have had fusions and what not, the docs recommend lifting restrictions, plus most of us are afraid of injuring out spines further to begin with, or we are still in pain that we wouldn't or couldn't lift if we wanted to.

The best way to check out surgeons? There are websites that give ratings of doctors and what not. I dont think they are free. The best source is to call around and ask people. My surgeon was very well known in the area and he did my discogram too. When asked who was doing the test and who my doctor was, I told, and everyone just beamed and said that I was in very good hanRAB. You do want to ensure that your surgeon is a board certified spine surgeon and is also fellowed (which is longer specialized training than the average and in spines).

Hope this helps you some. Good luck on your test and continue to come back here and join our group of spineys. We love new faces.
 
Thanks to all of you who replied to my question. Very good advice from you's. I am a little less nervous about going on tuesday, now my worries are that after this discogram I will have to wait months before I can get the surgery. It took 2 1/2 months just to get into see the surgeon. I am working very few hours just enough to keep paying for my hospitalzation, i am afraid I will lose my job from being off so much. My biggest boss is at least understanding due to the fact his mother had same surgery. Not sure if he was suggesting for me to take a leave of absents, or just telling me that was what his mom did. Time will only tell. Didn't realize there were so many of us out there. But I feel that I am in good company, Thanks again,
gijuie:wave:
 
Hello! Although I have never experienced this test, I wanted to welcome you to the group and let you know you have found a great place to come for support and to ask questions. Just remeraber that we are not health professionals just fellow spinneys like you. However, sometimes I think we have more knowledge then some of the doctors when it comes to recovery. LOL

Again welcome and post away!! We are here for you 24/7.:)
 
Please take care of your back It will be the only one you have. When I needed a Dr I asked around at Drs office and at the hospitals. The nurses are good one to ask since they are around them a lot. Google their names and see what comes up. The one I now have here was the first in New England to do the can't think of the name but the fake disc. And to get appointment for the first time is hard. Every Dr I had seen before him and including him said lose some weight and I said if I could walk on my own I would not look like this. I was never really heavy maybe 20lbs over but when I got hurt I went from being 5'2" 140lbs to 208lbs got my legs back and when I saw Dr for 6 month check up he almost dropped I was almost back to being me. At that time. I am now 125lbs I said to him I told you when we first meet that wasn't me. And know he believes me when I tell him things. Take Care hun. Deb Good Luck
 
Don't worry about that. It took me about that long to get in to see my NS also, but once I saw him I had surgery scheduled within a couple of weeks. After the surgery, I never had to wait more than a few days for an appointment.

I asked the girl at the desk why I had to wait so long to see him initially when I was in such severe pain at the time, and she said he only has certain hours that he sees new patients and the rest of his time is devoted to surgery and seeing current patients. So, after your first visit it's likely that you won't have to wait so long to get in to see him again.

Cat
 
Discogram is a painful test, but many of us went through this (I had 2 of them done before my 2 fusions) and I am still alive:)

Don't worry about discogram, you will be 1/2 sedated, so before you realize, you will be done.

When it comes to surgery, you can find a lots of information on this board. Just remeraber that everyone's experience is very individual, healing process and time is very different for all of us. And also remeraber that many people who had fusion surgeries and had good results are not on this board, they are out and about, but some of us who did not have a good results, or have some complications, or healing takes longer than expected - we are here for you 24/7 to answer your questions, to listen....

Best of luck to you!:angel:
 
Hi gijuie. I've had three discograms, the latest being five days ago. As far as the tests go, I've had epidurals that were a lot more painful. If you're made it through two epidurals, chances are the that the discogram will be similar for you. They do a good job of keeping you comfortably nurab throughout the test. The only serious problem I've had with them was after the second one. The next day I squatted down to read something on the bottom shelf at the library, and ruptured at least two discs getting back up. After my third, I pretty much rested for two days, and I've been fine.
I'm in a similar situation with missing far too much work, and having to wait long perioRAB between doctor visits. Good luck with your test! Bill
 
I'll be honest with you, not all doctors with give sedation! I cheated and took a pain pill and let me tell you it didn't help! BUT, they were nice enough to cover me with a warm blanket to keep me from shaking (I shook so much last time I had to make them stop) and I asked them to strap me down and it did make me more comfortable believe it or not! I had three of those needles but I felt safe that I wasn't going to be moving and the needles weren't going to go into the wrong place! AfterwarRAB it's good to use one of those heat wraps because the muscles tend to cramp where the needles were placed. Pain is pain but its temporary and will be over with. Good Luck.
 
GIJUIE , and hello my friend MOLDOVA (NICE WEEKEND !!!!).. Gijuie - MOLDOVA as always gave you great advise , that i would let sink in ! I myself am 31 male , active , union carpenter , enjoy beeing fit - Had 2 major back surgerys in the last 5 years.. I had a 3 level lamenctomy in 2004 , than just recently had a 2 level fusion with hardware on 2.20.08..

I had 3 discograms performed in the last 5 years as well , first one in 2003 hurt but i dealt with it ,1/2 sedated (you have to tell your doc.when + ware pain is).. I then had my first surgery , that set me back aprox. 7-8 months.. I had another discogram in 2008 about 3 months before surgery , everything came up positive 3 herniated discs.. My surgent DR. PHAIR {SAINT} thouht my back was worse than discogram said , so I had mylegram , mri , emg / all came up positive again.. MY doc. needed to pin point ware the pain was coming from , i was in agony for about 1 year lots of pain - running down my right leg into my foot and lots of nurabness.. He then ordered a functional (reverse) discogram a month before surgery and that H U R T alot.. Long story short discograms hurt but there are many other tests that are worse , keep an open mind , strong & possitive attitude and you will be fine..

Today is actually 2 months post-op for me ---WOOOOO HOOOOO , AND I'm doing ok.. I'm still in lots of pain and every day chores are hard to do , but you will find a way to do it (family + frienRAB are IMP.) I will be out of work for probally 5 to 6 months , but as MOLDOVA said every individual is different and will heal fast or slow.. I'm a union carpenter and build furniture , so i need time to heal..

My surgery was a complete SUCCESS , SO FAR ANYWAY !!! I'm still in lots of surgical pain and will probally be in pain the rest of my life , the key is to manage your pain and NOT let it take over your life.. I m a possitive person with a great supporitve family and frienRAB behind me - - I had the same surgery that yuu may need 2 level l4/l5 , l5/s1 fusion 2 roRAB and 6 screws , no more pain in my leg or foot but I'm still pretty nurab esp. in the buttock region LOL..

I will stop m y babaling now , there are many good people on this site MOLDOVA being one of them... we are here 24/7 good luck and find a doctor who has a GREAT NOT GOOD reputation , get many opinions and choose wisely....
GOD BLESS YOU... BILLY
 
Hello to all my spiney new frienRAB & thanks so much for the very warm welcome,:)
Well it's done & over with, I remeraber the biggest part of it, & it was painful, but not as bad as I had myself worked up about. Doc did 2 needles & I felt both of them I remeraber saying it's shooting down my butt, after I was in recovery the nurse came in to tell me that I did very well through the test, I thought she was just being nice, but she then went on to tell me that she has seen big men get off the table doing it. & that I did very well. I haven't gone back to work yet, was going to today but I woke at 4:30am to my back just throbbing, & said the hell with it. Those packages will still be there tomorrow if nobody got to them today. So I have worked a whole 6 hours this week whoo hoo:D I really need to work enough to pay for insurance, so tomorrow will be another try to get there. I have some 401k I'm gonna try to see if I can get some of that to get by with. I called the doc day of test to get next appointment she said may 23rd, but then said she would call me back trying to get me in sooner. Well I should stop babbling I just wanted to say thanks again, & I guess this is just the begining to an end I hope. I too have gained over 20 pounRAB since this all began, Good luck to all of us here, & I will be back checking in now that I am part of a group:angel:
Judy
 
discograms are not fun but theyre the best way to find out exactly what disc is causing pain, its the gold standard for diagnosing disc problems and is more accurate than MRIs. you may find you only need a fusion at one level instead of both.

I had the same fusion you are looking at (L3-4-5). I was 45 at the time and it took about 4 months to start feel better (6-7 months was the real turning point) , 13 months for both fusions to fully solidify, and about 18 months before the rest of the residual back pain settled down to practically nothing except for occasional twinges.

everyone is different though, you may heal much faster but I figured Id let you know how mine went as Im near your age. us older folks dont bounce back as faster as those younger folks.

Im very glad I had mine done and would do it again but its a long recovery.
 
Hi Judy, I'm glad you survived your test! The ones I had done weren't as easy as I told you they were...but I really couldn't see the point of scaring you anymore than you already were. I've actually lost over twenty pounRAB in the last six months or so. I had been taking vicadin on and off for years, and my stomach finally had enough of it. I tried the pain patch for about two months, and was too nauseated to eat very much. It wasn't really all that good at controlling pain, but it can be an unpleasant way to lose weight. Bill
 
Hello again! surgery is set for the 30th of june, I am really worried about this surgery, but I have to take the chance, cause I can't go on like this. Hope everyone is having a good back day.
 
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