spondolithesis

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Sheri...you were quite young for this...so happy to hear you are doing so well..Did you take lots of calcium....When you returned home did you need a reclining chair to sit in? Did you rest in bed alot?

Again so happy to hear you are doing so well.

LAF
 
There may be a way to avoid surgery altogether, which I would try to do since spinal fusion is by definition invasive no matter what technique is used, and a disturbing percentage of fusions have to be revised later (= more surgery).

There are numerous exercises for spondylolisthesis and lurabar hyperlordosis in the method developed by Christa Lehnert-Schroth. I would try to find a PT who has been Schroth trained, since most PTs won't know the Schroth techniques. The method is still relatively new in the US and is not taught in PT school.
 
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Thanks!

Linda

Edited to add: Everything I have found on Schroth is in German and little was in English and those were concentrated on her work with treating Scoliosis.
 
Sheri 42...Excuse my ignorance......what do you mean by your surgery was done with BMP???? Is that the proteins?

I know exactly what you mean that you used to feel the movement..I sometimes even think I hear something, like when I turn to reach soemthing in the back seat of my car....

So glad you were up and around so quickly....You go girl!!!

I am so happy to hear how much relief you have gotten.....Keep up the good work.........


LAF
 
jmm46 ~ Hello and welcome to the board.

I had surgery 3 weeks ago so it's a bit early to tell you how I'm doing...but so far, so good. I have been following along on this board for 2 years and had put off surgery for almost 3 years. I too was very scared. Now I wish I had done it sooner, after I had explored all the alternatives and realized that there were no other options for me.

For your situation I would suggest you educate yourself about your specific issues. There are some excellent websites out there that will help a lot, and lots of good books as well. Then and this is the most important thing, really do your research as you choose a doctor to treat you. Nothing will be more important than finding a competent, sympathetic fellowship trained spinal specialist.

LAF ~

Hello. How are you holding up? Don't let some of the posts scare you! I had BMP with my surgery almost 3 weeks ago. Bone morphogenetic protein, (BMP) is a genetically engineered protein which both recruits bone forming cells to the surgical area and "turns on" local cells to the bone-making process. BMP is used for conditions requiring spinal fusion and stimulation of bone growth. It allows patients to avoid bone grafts and it helps the patient's own bone grow faster and better; therefore you end up with fusion with a pretty high success rate. It is not yet approved by the FDA for use in all surgeries...but I imagine it will get approval soon.
 
MM..

Please do let us all know how you are doing.........

Sorry to hear you had a bit of a set back, all sounded so good. Hang in there.



LAF
 
spondolithesis I have grade 2 (last vertbrae) i'M 56 in good shape. Have pain all the way down left side to the foot. I have to rest after short walks or standing too long. I can still play golf and ride a bike and work out.
the doctor is suggesting spinal fusion. I'm not sure. I recently saw something on the news where thry can go in from the tail bone and use a screw and would be less invasive. any thoughts?
 
LAF, no I didn't think about protein drinks, but that sounRAB like a good idea.
I set up a twin bed in our den and I have been spending most of my flat time there. It is close to the powder room and kitchen.

My kiRAB are 26 and 23 and we have 2 big dogs. My son has been my nuraber 1 caretaker/aide during the day. I thought I could get along ok while hubbie is at work, but I was worried about the dogs. Turns out it was great to have son around. I slept most of the first week and I couldn't move very well.
Our son has stayed most days until my husband got home from the office. He fed the dogs and let them out into the fenced yard. After husband got home, he cooked dinner and we ate in the den. I could have eaten at the table with the family though--I felt well enough and I don't have any pain sitting up, and haven't from day 1. My husband would bug me because I'd been sitting at the computer too long!!

My daughter came home last weekend for a vist. She lives in another state.

I was hoping they'd call me about my MRI this evening, but alas, no news. The pain I'm feeling is really weird and I can't quite figure out where it's coming from. It is different than what I had before in some ways, and similar in others...but it is down the front of my right thigh. The doc and his PA seemed baffled but maybe they were just acting that way! I'd never met this PA before. Turns out it is my surgeon's wife!!

If it weren't for this pain, I would be feeling almost recovered. I could be going upstairs to sleep, etc. but so far I'm still enjoying being in the den. The dogs and I have a sluraber party. And I can watch TV at 3 a.m. and not disturb anyone...it's been great with the Australian Open tennis on.

Again, I have this surgeon who basically just says "do what is comfortable. If it hurts, don't do it." In a way, I'd like a few more rules!!
 
I was in even worse shape when I went in for my fusion (L5/S1 with a grade 1 spondy). I couldn't stand, walk, or even sit for more than 20 seconRAB. 3 months after my fusion and I'm walking 3 miles a day! My fusion literally saved my life! I was looking at complete disability.

Good luck with your surgery. Be sure to read the post-surgery tips at the top of the page. They helped me a lot!

Take Care,
David
 
I'm so sorry to hear things aren't going as smoothly as they could. But Pepper's right (as usual); these things flare up from time to time. It's still very early for you. Though I've been lucky enough to avoid a recurrence of sciatic pain, I still get weird little pains here and there, and an occasional "heat" along the nerve.

Hopefully that's what's going on and it'll start to even itself out.

Making sure that you're hardware's in the right spot is pretty much all they can do right now. I saw my 3-month x-rays and you really can't tell anything, other than that the cage is in place and the screws are where they should be.

Some days I feel like walking for miles and some days I just feel like I don't even want to get out of bed. Even on the bad days I try to walk up and down the hallway; back and forth 100 times is a mile :).

I guess just know there'll be good days and bad days for a while.

Take Care,
David
 
Hi LAF,

Thanks for inquiring and for caring. ;)

I had the MRI this morning and was hoping to hear something from my surgeon, but no such luck. I am pleased with everything regardless. I think they'll get this figured out and it will just be a little setback!!

That's the problem with any back surgery. There are so many chances for something to go wrong.
 
Hi Kevin,

I have grade 2 spondylolisthesis, also. In addition to that, I have DDD and severe bilateral foraminal stenosis...all at the L5/S1 level. I understand your pain...I have the nerve pain down my right leg...along with constant low back pain. However, despite the pain...I still manage to get my butt to the gym everyday for my workout. Exercise helps a great deal with my pain. My neurosurgeon has also suggested fusion...but I won't hear of it. I'm going to try going the injection route, first. I've already done a round of physical therapy for 6 weeks with no improvement. I've also purchased an inversion table and have been using it everyday...it seems to be helping somewhat. I haven't heard of the procedure you mentioned, but anything "minimally invasive" sounRAB WAY better than the alternative! If you find more info on it, please post it here.

Linda
 
Marlo, this is not so uncommon. My surgeons philosophy was the same pretty much. He stressed that my job as a spinney was to listen to my body and to do everything in lower moderation than normal and if I felt good for a full 48 hours afterwarRAB that it was acceptable. An example of this would be: walking for 100 ft. If I could do this and was fine the following day with no increased pain, I could increase this after 2 days of no increased pain. Then I could increase it to 150 ft, if I had increased pain then I was to drop it down to 100 ft for one week then try again to increase.

My surgeons reasoning that listening to the body in the early stages and the for the rest of my life was very important. Most of the time, not all of time we do have warning symptoms if something bothers us and we should learn to listen to those symptoms in the very beginning.

The only other order I was given was no BLT's for 12 weeks. That included no driving, no cleaning, no cooking, no laundry because they involve all of that and it is just to darn tempting to BLT while doing these things.

H
 
Hello MM...........Tried to busy myself all weekend...seeing old frienRAB, movies etc...anything to keep my mind off things.Went out to by a Lazy-boy chair...What have they suggested to you, that you lie flat or walk...or can you use a reclining chair?? Do you sleep w/ the corset. I'm so afraid to think when I get up in the middle of the night for the bathroom that I'll be injuring something, how do you deal with this?

Yes I hear good things about the BMP....did you also have the graft from the illiac crest bone..It seems that they will be doing both plus the cadever bone....Do they generally do all three??

Glad to hear you are doing so well...Hope you had a good weekend.

RegarRAB,
 
Well........

I have only grade 1 but INCREDIBLE pain...

I have tried everything for the last 12 months....2 epidural shots (the 1st worked for a while the 2nd didn't)..accupunture, PT faithfully etc.. etc..It was a tough tedious decision but I decided to have the decompression and spinal fusion ( L3-L4)

I'm at this point I can only walk 1 block and stand for only 1-2 minutes...It's wrecked my social (business) life and forces me to always find a chair no matter the circumstance...My surgery is a little more than a week away, and believe it or not I'm looking forward to seeking some relief..I realize the recoup is tedious but have heard several success stories..some bad ones too.
It's a tough decision...but have some here have said when everyone in your life tells you..."you have to do something about that"...you do start thinking differently...

You'll know when and if "the quality of your life" is suffering....

Wishing you both success in all you are doing to help the situation.
 
Hi LAF ~

Glad you found some pleasant ways to occupy your time.

After watching the Australian Open tennis all week, I realized my surgeon looks like he could be Federer's big brother. He finished his fellowship in 2001 and has been in practice for about 8 years. He spenRAB a lot of time talking with the patient, is very good at explaining everything. He doesn't use braces or corsets. He said that the hardware I have will hold me together and I don't need all these additional things. He believes in listening to your body, do as much as you can in terms of walking and if something hurts, stop immediately. He doesn't have a list of restrictions. He said he's found that people basically will do what they want anyway.

I went to so many spinal surgeons that I know what some recommend, and I am taking some of it to heart. Your surgeon sounRAB very much like the first one I went to. He did everything pretty much by the book, a more conservative way if you will. I think using the bone graft is becoming less common. Perhaps it depenRAB on how much surgery you're having. The use of BMP is fairly new and some surgeons are not yet used to working with it.

Let's see...to answer your specific questions: I don't have a recliner, but I'm sure I could have used one. I have no restrictions on the amount of time I can sit. I am just careful how I change position. I try to always use the log roll which they'll teach you in the hospital, when I am getting out of bed. I feel very stable. I do not worry when getting up in the night to use the bathroom. I just try to remeraber to log roll from being flat on my back or side, to sitting and then to getting up on my feet.

My surgery was 3 weeks ago tomorrow. I don't even know where the walker is. I used it for about the first 4 days. I came home from the hospital Thursday at 4 p.m. Sunday I felt stable on my feet and tried walking around the house without the walker. I have been walking around without it ever since. Bear in mind that it is too cold and snowy for me to walk outside, so I am just walking around my house!! And I am still on the medication that I was sent home from the hospital with. I feel like I am doing well, all things considered!!:cool:
 
Hi David,

You're my inspiration!! I had my surgery on the 7th. I am having an MRI this morning because I am having a weird pain that is bugging my surgeon. They want to be sure all the hardware is in place and what they can see of the nerve roots. It would appear that L2 has flared up, even though my fusion was at L4-5.

If it weren't for this little problem, I'd be doing great!! But for now, I've traded one sciatic problem for another!! :(

MM
 
Hello,
No, I really didnt take calcium. Probly should have. My surgery was done with BMP and that is why I was totally fused at twelve weeks. That stuff is the borab.... I never needed a recliner. I did get a new mattress prior and layed in bed with my laptop and cried to this board for help during recovery.

I was off all narcotics by 3 weeks post op, which is very soon but I noticed that they made me really short tempered with my kiRAB and I did not want to get addicted to them. I was on muscle relaxers, and also was on neurotin for a while.

This surgery was my first, and it was tough but worth it now. One of the first thing I noticed in the hospital, was that my back wasnt moving/grinding. Very weird feeling to be so stable. I told everyone that for weeks. I would say all the time, I cant believe this is how you all feel. my back felt so tight and connected, I guess. Everyone would laugh at me, thinking it was the drugs.
It wasnt the drugs, I had 0% of disk left in L-5 so I was just grinding my bone away with movement. When they put screws in, I could tell the movement was gone.
Take Care
Sheri
 
Happy all went well MM........Please keep us posted.....Have you also been drinking protein drinks, a friend told me that was a great think..Today I bought a powder with soy in it that you mix w/ skim milk....worth a try.....Have you been eating your meals at the table w/ your family? or in bed?

Please let us know how your results turn out...Did you say your pain was in the other leg now....Sorry you're dealing w/ this now...

LAF
 
That's how my symptoms were two years ago. I could barely walk when I got out of bed and then was ok after being active a couple hours. I now have pain all the time, can't stand for any length of time or walk without pain. I can't do anything involving movement for long without having extreme pain. I have spinal stenosis now as well. I am scared to death of surgery, but my quality of life is near 0 and I must do something. I found this site and I plan to look for some positive results of the surgery. The first surgeon I saw, when my pain was less significant , told me it will be a huge surgery and he suggested waiting as long as possible. I think he really scared me! I see a 4th surgeon on Valentine's day and hope to go in with more knowledge and courage.
 
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