Have DDD and need 4 - 5 level fusion

  • Thread starter Thread starter GMazur
  • Start date Start date
G

GMazur

Guest
I have DDD and have had a double laminectomy 2 years ago.
I have now been to 3 surgeons and all 3 will not touch my back
 
If you are not working please apply for SSDI immediately. When working you earn SSDI credits. Those eventually expire if you stop working and have not applied for SSDI. It can take years for SSDI to be approved so getting the process started quickly is key. If you are still working then wait until 5 months after you stop to file for SSDI. You must be out of work (or have severely diminished earnings) for 5 full calendar months before you are eligible for SSDI and the most basic part of SSDI is that the condition must be expected to last at least a year.

I had an L3-S1 fusion in February of this year. I've been out of work since late April 2009 and on my company's disability (STD then LTD) and now LTD requires I apply for SSDI which I've just begun. I do this to make sure the application is timely. Waiting can lead to eventual ineligibility. I don't expect to return to work as I also have significant cervical issues and need to likely have that fusion redone as well to be a C4-C7 fusion.
 
GM, I had six levels fused in the fall of 2007. Everything was great until the eighth month. Long story short;scar tissue and the levels above and below the fusion started to "blow". This is what happenned to me and does not mean it will happen to you. This is solely my opinion, and based on what I've read about this controversy,"to fuse or not to fuse". You can even put that in a search engine with controversy after it. So, when a level is fused, particularly more than one, arthritis and DDD will accelerate and worsen over time in the levels above and below the fused levels. This is because the fused levels have no more movement. So when you do bend, lift, twist etc., all that load has to be "put on" the levels above and below. The levels that DO move. Hope that made sense? You are right in my opinion in regarRAB to your last sentence. I say, "More levels fused, less the success rate". Just wished my surgeon informed me of all the above info prior to surgery. He said I would not need to be on narcotic pain meRAB after the healing process was complete. Also said that after I healed, (and this is a direct quote), "you will be able to do anything short of competitive sports". I'm now on stronger opiates, and rarely leave the house because the pain is so much worse than before surgery. I do wish you good luck. I don't wish what happenned to me on my worst enemy(if I had one)....janie:angel:
 
Back
Top