Decided on back surgery...

[bikinpunk]

I have a severely herniated disc. After about 4 years of chronic back pain, and 6 months of me not being able to walk/stand longer than 10 minutes without having horrible pain in my right leg, on top of 2 tries at physical therapy and 2 rounds of chiropractic care the time has come for me to throw in the towel. I’ve decided I’m getting surgery. Trust me, this isn’t an easy decision but it truly is my last choice. I’ve talked with a lot of people who have had back surgery, my mom included and from what I gather it’s a fairly simple operation and the results are noticeable immediately. The recovery can take anywhere form a couple days to weeks depending on the person…and knowing my history with surgery and recoveries I imagine I’ll be on the shorter end of that spectrum.

I got to see my MRI results last Monday and boy was that eye-opening. No wonder I’ve been hurting so bad lately. Last August the disc was protruding about ¼ way into the nerve canal…now it’s over half way into the nerve canal.

The bad thing is that my wedding is in less than a month. I’m trying to get this surgery in before then, but if not I’ll have to wait until the end of the summer since I can’t afford to miss an extra week of school (one is for honeymoon).

I’ve deliberated, and thought long and hard about this, and it’s just what I feel needs to be done. I’m hopeful that afterwards I’ll be able to go back to an active lifestyle, though my BMX days are surely gone. The major deciding factor is that over the weekend I tried doing some yard work. After less than one hour of sweeping cobwebs off the front porch and side of the house I literally could not stand up straight anymore. I was so dishearted…I just knew that it’s time to seek other medical means.

Curious if anyone here (or family members) has gone this route and what the results were?

[honda06si]

man that sucks.

ive never had surgery like that. but i hope all is well for you!

[GeezerSi]

I know people who've finally decided on surgey, and they were much happier afterward. Good luck.

[illusionstwice]

Man this sucks for sure! I wish you the best. As far as your question, i have an uncle who had surgery about a year ago. he was on his stomach in bed for like 3 weeks, IIRC. I do not recall the details, but woul be more then happy to find out if you want. But if your getting hitched soon, maybe you should post pone the surgery, as postponing a wedding is a little more difficult. I mean school will be fine, u will have plenty of documntation from the hospital, etc. Also, if thats the case, your school can probably help out via distance learning (online class). My friend had to leave college out of nowhere and moved to GA from PA and the school shipped him his books on his dime of course, and he did distance learning instead of transferring. 6 months before graudation btw...just a thought :)

[sf-si-02]

My advice: If you are unable to go through the wedding as is, have the surgery, but postpone the ceremony: better late, than spending $$$ and being unable to walk the aisle. If you can survive the ceremony as is (even under severe drugs) do NOT try to push the surgery before the wedding. Knowing the availability of OR's they will not put you in the coming weeks, but even if they can, you have NO IDEA of the potential complications... I know better to think optimistically, and the chances of complications are small, but they exist, do yourself and your future wife a favor, wait till after the wedding for the procedure.

[bikinpunk]

The one thing I’m unsure about is insurance after I get married…I’ll no longer be covered under my folks, and the new insurance may consider this “pre existing” and not insure me. That’s the only reason I’m thinking about having it early.

[rcracin13]

at least you know your problem and you can help it. doctors can find anything wrong with my knee but there are days where i cant even move my entire right leg. i've had mri's and x-rays from my hip to my feet and they found nothing. go for it. good luck and think happy thoughts

[Cybergypsy]

I also need surgery on my back, however I will not get it now.......reallyneed to get some more info...before i let anyone cut me..........get more options

[kamikaze84]

What does your chiropractor say about you having surgery?

[bikinpunk]

A chiropractor can't fix what I have...

Besides, the one I saw was a joke (jerk?). Yep.

[kamikaze84]

I just meant what was his opinion. I know most chiropractors are against back surgery for one reason or another.

[bikinpunk]

Heck, even my Dr. hasn't said anything about it yet...and that's after 3 visits. It's just a choice that I know needs to happen.

[Relentless00]

keep safe man and I'm sure the doc's know what theyre doing... just dont go to tiajuana and get surgery or some shit like that... its nasty down there haha

[Cybergypsy]

Originally Posted by Relentless00

keep safe man and I'm sure the doc's know what theyre doing... just dont go to tiajuana and get surgery or some shit like that... its nasty down there haha

We dint even drink the water there who is crazy enough to go there for Surgery?????

[torch02si]

I had grade 4 out of 5 spondelolisthesis (sp?) which is basically vertebrae slipping off one another in L5 and S1. I also couldn't stand long at all, 5mins, before shooting, fiery pain would go down both legs. After 5 minutes my legs would basically go numb...pins and needles...

I had a cadaver bone drilled through the two to fuse them, combined with screws and rods...belt and suspenders they call it....recovery was long...july to november in a torso clamshell (removable thank god for sleep) with a leg cuff to prevent hip flexing...then november to january in just the torso part...picture a corset or like a roman soldier chest piece...

I have never looked back...feel free to pm me with any questions if you want...good luck...marriage is probably much more intimidating than surgery

[asndragonboii]

I hope everything works out for the best. Surgery should be your last option... which i think is by now. I think you should have it done since you'll still be under your parents insurance

btw.. thx for helping me with my "better than stock" speakers. I installed them and they sound.... better than stock. =]

Good Luck!

[webby]

I feel your pain. Looks like you've gone through your options prior to going under the knife. I also feel your pain about insurance issues. I would surely look at that as your next step. Find out tomorrow or asap what happens when you get married. I think you obviously need to know what happens. If you drop from insurance, that's obviously a huge deal. I would say a majority of insurance companies would say it was pre existing if they saw your other back stuff prior to surgery. But I obviously can't speak for them. Another thing is you never really know what you'll deal with post surgery. Reality is that everyone is different when it comes to surgery. Some may be back on their feet in no time, others may experience complications. This goes without saying that everything in surgery goes as planned as well. Just know that even routine surgeries can have complications. I know there are a few members and mods that work in the medical field who can post up their advice.

What is scary, is that if you were to actually have the surgery, and have a longer recovery, how would the wedding play out? If you're able to wait it out till after you get back from the honeymoon, I'd probably vote for that. That way you can heal under less pre wedding stress/pressure. From people that I know - they were very pleased after having back surgery. The pain they dealt with on a daily basis prior to surgery was finally relieved. Best of luck with everything...... I hope others can chime in

[06GAsi]

Good luck and keep us posted.

[bikinpunk]

Originally Posted by asndragonboii

btw.. thx for helping me with my "better than stock" speakers. I installed them and they sound.... better than stock. =]

Good Luck!

glad I could help. What did you wind up going with? Those Blau's?

Originally Posted by webby

What is scary, is that if you were to actually have the surgery, and have a longer recovery, how would the wedding play out? If you're able to wait it out till after you get back from the honeymoon, I'd probably vote for that.

Thanks for the advice. Regarding this matter, I'll just have to talk to the doc and see what he thinks. It's kind of like walking on egg-shells if I ask the insurance company I'm going to...I don't want to tip them off on anything if it indeed won't be a problem. That'll be a feat in itself to figure out how it'll go with them. I'd rather wait until after the school semester this summer, but we'll just have to see.

to everyone else: Thanks.

I called the office today and they earliest I can get in is next Monday. Guess I'll just wait it out and see how things go. I believe things work out for the best, so I'll just take it easy until I talk to him.

[06GAsi]

Originally Posted by bikinpunk

A chiropractor can't fix what I have...

Besides, the one I saw was a joke (jerk?). Yep.

They are a temp fix and eventually make matters worse.