pain after spinal fusion

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beaniebaby03

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well,im back at the spinal unit tomorrow afternoon,so questions will be asked,good luck for the 15th.
How many people on here who have had fusion have actually had more than the op???
 
hi,hope you guys get better.I haven't started surgery as yet.I got low back issues too all sorts of neat stuff.Seems the doctor earned his paycheck now to see you in 12 months.He gets nice fancy car etc while you get the pain.
 
hi all,
i had spinal fusion in feb 2007,and have had nothing but pain since.I've suffered with alot of burning pains in my shoulder blades,and alot of chest pains.Also when i move,it feels like i can feel all the hardware in my back,and it gives off very sharp pains.After my gp prescribing me all kinRAB of drugs to corabat the pain,nothing has managed to get near to it.I feel stiff at the lower end of my spine,sorry,but im not sure what was fused,but i know it was L to T fusion,and ive suffered hip pain too,this i never had prior to surgery.
I have my next check up at the spinal clinic this coming tuesday,and am worried whats gonna be said.
I was referred to my x-ray unit,only 2 weeks ago,by my gp,as he was concerned,it could be a "mechanical problem"
All advice would be appreciated:)
 
I have had 4 and was told to expect more --probably 6/7 total in my life. I was told that I have had the domino effect three times already chances are high I will have issues again plus I have arthiritis in the spine.
 
Hi Beanie: I too had a fusion in Feb 2007 and continued to suffer the wrath of nerve pain. They told me my pain was mechanical in nature, did a nerve block to test the hardware, did a mylegram and then a CT scan. On Noveraber 28, 2007, they removed the right side of the hardware only and did clean up work as well as laminectomy on two other levels. Unfortunately, so far I have not noticed any improvement in pain levels.

But I do want to say, that I do know of other people that have had the hardware removed and their pain all but disappeared. Good luck and please keep us posted.
 
have you ever actually had an MRI done on your c spine to see if there is something actually causing that level of burning between your shoulder blades?(was this there at all BEFORE your surgery was done?)this would, in most cases be related more to an upper T or c spine issue as opposed to the lower end of the T.what exactly was fused and what exactly was found in your MRI that showed as significant findings?was there ANY areas of actual cord contact pre op?have you recently had any MRIs done post op to look for a possible reason for your ongoing symptoms?

just a word of good advice here for you,if you do not actually have any copies of your MRIs or any other testing results in your possession,you realy DO need to obtain them at your visit with your GP that you have coming up.going thru these on your own is a much better way of really seeing for yourself just what was actually in your own reports that alot of specialists never bother to even tell you about,some findings can be very important/significant but becasue your particular specialist does not have a real good understanding of some particular issue,he or she can just blow it off as not being really significant or pertinent to your issue at hand,when it actually is.i would also,espescially in your case,request all of your medical recorRAB from your surgeon or any other specialist that has treated or consulted with you.these recorRAB just give you some better insight into what your doc is thinking about your particular problems.those clinic notes or the letters they write to keep your primary updated really do,in some cases,contain alot of info that you are nerver really told about.i would also obtain all of the hospital recorRAB from your surgical stay.including the "op notes'?these notes are the basic transcript of what your surgeon did or didn't do during your surgery.every surgeon HAS TO make op notes after every surgical procedure that is done on any patient.its just kind of good to actually know what was really done to you during your own surgery.if there were any types of complications that occured, these would also be in the op notes too.just something i have always done after every surgery and also just keeping all my own medical recorRAB in a file at home.but obtaining all test results is just something you really need to do.you just need to see for yourself what was found.it could just explain alot.marcia
 
wow,quite alot to catch up on....I had fusion for scoliosis,the fusion was from T6-L1,i had an MRI scan done in 1992,and it was that that determined i had scoliosis.Initially my gp was prescribing me with drugs to corabat nerve damage,so i think his first assumption was nerve damage,and then like i say,i have another doctor say,it could well be mechanical.
The pain in between my shoulder blades has been since the op,as i cant recollect me having this pain,prior to surgery.
I also forgot to mention in my initial post,i know have vertabrae,at both the top and bottom of my spine that are protruding,this,i never had prior to surgery,and i can feel them sticking out now,when i lay flat on my back,and they are quite visible.
getting all my paperwork is a possibility,but the way my consultant writes,id find it very difficult to read his hand writing.
I'm just dreading to think what the consultant is going to say tomorrow,i just hope its good news.
 
hey BB,when you obtain any sort of clinic notes or your reports,everything is typed.they transcribe anything your doc makes into a typed copy that goes into your file,not their actual writing,so that shouldn't be a problem.you really do need to start gathering the reports and just see what your bigger issues really are that you may not have been told about.marcia
 
Another thing,i realised,is i dont know if he even looked at the x-rays taken of my back today,as i left the x-ray unit,and within 5 minutes,was at the spinal unit,and he'd been looking round for me,so did he even look at the x-rays?,seems like because it was 5.20pm,think id made him late home.
I feel very let down now!!!
 
well,back from hospital,and after seeing my consultatnt,for,ooo,erm,approximately 45 seconRAB,he looked at me,said,i looked straight,the pain is normal for a surgery such as this,i told him the problems i have been experiencing,but he didnt seem phased by what ive said,and said see you in 12 months!!
now i am at my wits end,advice today is continue taking the medication prescribed.
he never even seemed bothered!
 
I am having alot of pain like this also especially between shoulder blades. I am going for another back surgery February the 15. I have 2 broken screws in my back and alot of times i can also feel sharp pains like i feel the hardware but im not sure they havent really given me answers about it either. i hope you get it figured out. I know it really hurts.
 
here in the uk,i dont think you have a choice over who becomes your surgeon,i was just given him.
Dont get me wrong,he is a great man,and knows what he's doing,but i just feel that,because i was the last person to be seen on tuesday,and had been in x-ray for almost an hour,he just wanted to get home.
Usually,i have my x-ray,and he looks at that then calls me in,but he wasnt even in his office when i arrived there,so,hence the hurry to complete the appointment.
im going to go and make an appointment with my own gp,and then see if he has any notes from my last visit.
 
This is a sad thought Marcia but I am thinking I need to do this. I suspect there is more in my surgical report this last time that has not been revealed to me. I know my GP told me that he was getting a copy of it so I will find out on my appt nextweek.

I think we should all request them from office visits as well. This will hep us when we apply/if we need to apply for disability at a later date. Save each and every receipt/test.
 
Hi. I can say honestly "I know....I know" When I woke up from my surgery I remeraber pain like no other. I said to my doc "it hurts" he said "yes, it will, from now on." He was utterly truthful. I've over the years (about 10 now) had some very good stretches of painfree living. (My hardware is now out-only because my body began rejecting the metal) But living with the roRAB and screws I used to describe as "it feels like I'm laying on a typewriter!" I can give you some ideas and I'll also tell you about how I deal with the pain. I woke up today and after 3 children in 4 years my back feels like it did after surgery so I too am on the path to healing myself all over again. It would be nice to have someone to relate with along the way.

(DELETED)

my name is Rebecca
Take care
PEACE
 
you couldn't be more right DDD.obtaining ALL of your medical recorRAB fromanywhere or any doc that has laid hanRAB on you is ALWAYS agood thing to do,trust me.and if you are actually going to be applying for ssd,it NEERAB to be done by you FIRST,before you actually apply.i was denied the first go round,despite being almost completely debilitated at the time ONLY becasue one very very important document that i just "assumed' was there,was not.this info was key to me proving exactly when my spinal cord injuries occured.without it i was screwed.i had to play detective and actually track down the neurphysiatrist who actually did all ofthe motor and sensory monitoring during my spinal cord surgery and get HIS op notes.the nerve loss info was not even in my actual neurosurgeons op notes,only becasue i had been told before my surgery that i was going to lose some fine motor function and lose nerve that went to my legs.since i was informed about this pre op,it was NOT actually considered any type of "complication' so it was not even mentioned in his op notes.unbelievable but true.THIS is just one of the resosons i would recommend to anyone who is thinking of applying or has been turned down once or twice to get all of their own recorRAB first to check for accuracy,and to make darn certain that everything you may 'think' is there,actually is.you just really have no idea what really IS in your very own medical recorRAB til you take a look.there can be all kinRAB of things that are left out or real Dx that your doc said you actually have that they never actually put into their clinic notes.unfortunetly this does happen,alot.

you just need to make certain of what is or is not there before you even start the process.this gives you time to get anymistakes fixed BEFORE ssd gets ahold of your recorRAB.if i had not obtained mine,i would still be sitting here wondering why i got denied.there was no way in heck that ssd would have been able to obtain that document i needed since i didn't even know who this doc was who did this.his op notes were supposed to be in my central medical file at the hosp but for some reason,they were not.it took me about two weeks of tracking to actually find out who this guy was and actually get that one piece of paper in my hanRAB.this just stated in vivid detail what occured when those nerves were hit and lost and one didn;t come back but the ones that did were significantly damaged after.THAT proved my injury actually occured.
this is just something anyone should be doing,getting your own copies of everything,but if you are applying for ssd,its crucial that you see your stuff first.i can almost guarentee you that in everyones medical recorRAB there is at least one mistake in them.thats how often this occurs.you just need to find them first.i do wish you luck.marcia
 
How could he treat a patient like this! Maybe you should have done more research about him before you let him be your operating surgeon. Hope you feel better. God bless!
 
hi again,
ive noticed a lot of you guys n gals have had their hardware removed.....
is this usually the norm after any fixed period,or does it vary from person to person?
 
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