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Ricker

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One question. 59 male, healthy, semi-active, 165, 5'9", ex addicted tennis player since 11yrs old, diagnosed with DDD L3-4, 4-5, 5-S1 on 2/07. Now, since about 1/07 I've been on, you name it. Massive doses. Little relief if any. No side affects, no pain relief, no withdrawal symptoms if meRAB abruptly stopped. Second MRI indicated a few new extras popped up. Here's a brief summary of what was found.....
L3-4: There is a bilobed disk bulge which results in mild foraminal
narrowing on the right.
L4-5: There is a central disk extrusion which dissects posteriorly
along the superior margin of the L5 vertebral body and contacts the
traversing left L5 nerve root within the lateral recess. There is also an
associated broad-based bulge which results in bilateral foraminal
narrowing.
L5-S1: There is a new left paracentral protrusion which contacts the
exiting left L5 nerve root in an extraforaminal location. There is mild
facet arthropathy.
IMPRESSION: Multilevel degenerative disk disease of the lurabar spine.
There is a new central disk extrusion at L4-5. There is a new left
paracentral disk protrusion at L5-S1. There is foraminal narrowing at
L3-4 and L4-5 as above.
I guess you might say it's (degenerative). Who knows, maybe one day we might hear the term, regenerative. Anyways, for those of you that've had the operations, what was the pain level after you woke up in recovery? The one thing that keeps me from actually having the procedure is, since what I'm taking has no effect on pain, even paper cuts, what's it gonna be like when I come out of recovery? The neuro-surgeon suggest I try and live with the pain. Little input please. Thanks tons.
 
Ricker.....I may be the wrong one to ask about pain level because I tolerate temporary pain well....its the chronic pain that is hard for me to deal with...when I came to from surgery I had very little discomfort....my biggest problem was the pain meRAB themselves....I did away with them very fast....I think when your in surgery and they are just about through they give a long lasting strong pain med dirrectly at the surgery site that really was great for me....I did realize when it was going away but over all it was very tolerable!...I would say the biggest amount of pain is once your home....trying to do things on your own and each day it amazingly gets better!


Devon
 
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Mod08
 
Ricker,

What kind of pain do you have - just in your lower back or do you have sciatic pain down your leg?

Having surgery on your back is a garable - you may get better, you may stay the same, or you may get worse. Any surgery you have on the back will weaken parts of the back and may destabilize areas that aren't yet degenerated. I think your surgeon is right in saying that if you are able to live with the pain, do so for as long as you can. If you are still able to function semi-normally, even if you are in pain, you are probably better off living with the pain. When the pain affects your life to the point you are no longer able to stay sane or you can no longer work or do major life activities, that is when you would want to consider surgery.

There is a lot of wisdom, experience and support on this board from people who also have back problems. Be aware, however, that most people on this board have continued back problems whereas those people who had successful surgeries are likely living life and not hanging out here.

Best of luck to you!
 
Ricker, my pain level waking up in recovery was high, but tolerable given the nurabing agents they use internally during surgery and the nice morphine drip. The first several days in the hospital were pretty bad. (You'll quickly learn that we won't sugarcoat anything here.) I mostly slept and pressed the morphine button. I was discharged with Percocet and used it regularly for a couple of months before moving down to Vicodin. I had a 360 (incisions in both front and back) and had a lot of levels done (8 this time around), and I've been told here that I've frightened a few people with my story. I did have it worse than most. But as has already been said, if you can live with the pain, try to do that for as long as possible. If you feel it's time to forge ahead and go for the surgery, you will want to sit down with your doctor and talk about what can be done for you for pain. There are other options that are not normally used for fusion surgery but are available, like a medically induced coma for a few days. That's often done for burn victims.

I wish you the best as you and your doctor talk about the best way to proceed for you. It's a hard decision! Once you make it, though, don't look back!

Blessings,
Emily
 
From what I read from my O.R. report, they lather you up with a "pain paste" internally before they close up. This way the pain isn't AS bad. I believe this lasts for about two weeks post-op.--janiee
 
The pain's not that bad. It comes and goes. I shoveled snow about 2 weeks ago and had bad aching pain in the back from probably being inactive, which lasted about 3 days. Haven't had the ice pick jabbing to the bone, pinched nerve pain for about 2 weeks. As I type I've leveled off to minimum meRAB. Probably feel about 85% normal. The migrating neuropathy from the rt. top thigh to the side is about nonexistent. I'm probably just a big baby when it comes to being cut, although I had a liver biopsy with an ice pick sized 12" needle without any local. Nurse & doc couldn't believe it. I've got one of the best docs & wife a person could ask for. The neurosurgeon was probably right when he suggest I try and live with the pain, as about 90% of the feedback I've received suggest an operation isn't a 100% guaranty. Come to think of it, zero pain all afternoon, until I turned on the tv and Farve injured his arm. That's Farve, as in football. You guys all take care. Nice soundin group here. Later.
 
Not gonna lie. The post op pain is pretty bad. I was on a morphine pump after i had a discectomy on L5-S1. That was untill I had a reaction to the morphine. the post op surgical pain will diminish with time. for me though I still have many of the same symptoms I had before surgery. (although they are not as severe)
 
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