corkforbrains Posted December 24, 2006 Report Share Posted December 24, 2006 Hey gang... Hope the holidays have been treating all of you well this year. This is prolly alittle strange to be asking, but is there anyone in here that's been thru any form of spinal surgery? My life has degraded to the point that I no longer have the will to pretend I'm gonna get better on my own, but I can't just go into this blindly either. The plan is to replace the disks at c5,6,7 and I guess it all gets held in place with some stainless and a few screws. If any of you know about this stuff..could you please let me in on what you've heard. If all goes to hell in a handbasket...have I got some Banshee parts for you! Thanx ahead of time.. ~cork Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bentvalve Posted December 24, 2006 Report Share Posted December 24, 2006 (edited) you should be ok.its normal to be a little freaked out. but everything will go good for ya! are they fusing them together and using a cage? there is also some new stuff out there that surgeon's are using it like spray foam and it replaces the squishy stuff that has been damaged. i have seen several back sergery's and those surgeon's are awsome and do awsome work. thats why they get paid the big bucks! don Edited December 24, 2006 by bentvalve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigdaddy69 Posted December 24, 2006 Report Share Posted December 24, 2006 Its normal to be freaked out, but good lord willing you'll be ok! Back pain is the worst pain ever, its downright debilitating....im only 19 and have 2 compressed disc's, doctors here say theres nothing they can do until they rupture.....I used to play football until i snapped my femur in half, now that i have a 15 inch rod down through the center of my femur and 4 screws football is outta the question thats why i bought my banshee. Just to warn you if it gets cold where you live and their going to use metal, get ready its gonna ache when the weather changes. hope everything goes ok for you! let us know how everything comes out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Washburn Posted December 24, 2006 Report Share Posted December 24, 2006 Hey gang... Hope the holidays have been treating all of you well this year. This is prolly alittle strange to be asking, but is there anyone in here that's been thru any form of spinal surgery? My life has degraded to the point that I no longer have the will to pretend I'm gonna get better on my own, but I can't just go into this blindly either. The plan is to replace the disks at c5,6,7 and I guess it all gets held in place with some stainless and a few screws. If any of you know about this stuff..could you please let me in on what you've heard. If all goes to hell in a handbasket...have I got some Banshee parts for you! Thanx ahead of time.. ~cork I have a few thing to say about this. I have a bad leg with pins screws and plates holding it together. The hardware gets so tight at some points and I have such bone pain it feels like a hot swoard is ripping up my leg. My Father is one of the most extreme back cases any doctor has ever seen. He had the L5.6.7 fused twice. He can barley walk even sitting is a task. Hes been operated on twice. Each operation he had he wishes he would of just stayed the way he was. His words of advice as well as my own are Get a second oppion. Get a third oppion. There are many things they can do now without operating. The one doctor who wants to operate on my leg said it will heal. The other doctor said its a 50/50 chance of healing or being in more pain. The last doctor said wait tilll your at least 40 to do another full operation. Im not doig it. There are other options including orthoscopic surgury witch isent bad. Cortizone shots that help for a few days but unfortunatly you can only get them like twice a year. There are medications. there is my personal favorite Phyical Therapy. Water PT was my favorite but insurance cut it off saying Im not getting any better. And there is cutting back on your phyical tasks. Sucks but thats part of an injury. For backs they have Nuro stimulators that they implant in your back it it sends jolts of electricity rather than pain. Its diffrent but I would rather feel that than pain. To sum it up surgury is a risk. There are doctors that will operate and there are other doctors that will try everything before they operate. I highly recomend getting a few oppions from a few doctors before jumping into surgury. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gipperz Posted December 24, 2006 Report Share Posted December 24, 2006 I've had my L4,L5 worked on last year at this time( herniated), I still have some irratation from time to time but I'm alot more cautious on what I do, No more power lifting and bending over picking up engine blocks. I'm going on 37 so I leave that stuff for the younger guys. I would get another opinion just for more of peace of mind. I'm sure everything will be fine, I agree back pain is one of the worst pains around. Let us know how things go for you. Merry Christmas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corkforbrains Posted December 24, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 24, 2006 Bent, Bigdaddy, Washburn, and Gipperz... thank you so much for telling me what you know about this stuff. I've done most of the things you folks have suggested and tried a few others as well. This has been going on for about 5 years now and I've been quietly trying to deal with it to preserve a job I'm pretty fond of. I'm an electrician and most of my work involves doing things with my arms extended in one fashion or another. In the summer, it's not so bad and I've been able to keep all in check with painkillers and ibuprophen...generally lots of each. This is the first winter that has had me thinking about those guys and their headbands playing Russian Roulette in the Deer Hunter...not that I'm the suicidal type, but I always thought Jack Kevorkian got a raw deal if yer askin me. I've been to half a dozen military and civilian doctors since this all started. I never really fell or got into an accident to cause any damage, so the medical world started out thinking I just wanted painkillers. All their x-rays, cat scans...couldn't find anything wrong with me...once they did the MRI it all became clear. I really didn't (DON'T) want surgery...especially on the spine, but I've run out of options I'm afraid. I've tried the chiropractic route, thermal massage (very cool done properly), accupunture, had the steroidal injections (lemme tell ya...a 4" needle 2 inches above the collar bone, one on each side before breakfast, and not much worse is likely to happen to you till wayyyy after lunch!!) and gawd knows I've certainly made the pharmaceutical industry alittle wealthier. For those of you that don't know, I live in the middle of Nevada...it's 225 miles to see the Dr and if I don't eat painkillers on the way down the pain is nearly primal by the time I get to Vegas. The holidays always make people remember things...friends, family, times gone by. What I seem to be remembering are all the things I used to do. Guns I can't shoot any more, Banshees I may never complete and then there's a '58 Cessna sitting on the Notorious Tonopah International Airport tarmac waiting for some answers too I'd imagine. All this b/s just as I turn 50. Hell, I'm spose to be bouncing grandchildren on my lap not doin whatever you call what I've been doin for the last few years. sooo...good, bad, or somewhere in between, I'm goin for it. I see the Dr on the 2nd and I'll begin to make arrangements (gawd knows there are enough of them). The medical world has made all of the vague, ambiguous promises I care to hear at this point and the threat of dying on the operating table, being crippled for life and even having more pain than I started out with....all these possibilities don't addup to the single reality that it's getting worse, just like the Doc told me it would. Thanx gang..all of you have been decent in here and I just want you to know I appreciate it. I should have some answers by the beginning of the year and who knows, if all goes well there might be a party in it for you. Frankly, that'd be a damn cool way of startin down a better trail than the one I've been travelin lately...lol!! Happy HoHo! ~corks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HotCarl Posted December 24, 2006 Report Share Posted December 24, 2006 My dad had surgery on c567 when he was 50 and he wasn't able to move before hand. It took almost a year for him to be back to "normal" but still feels some pain every once in a while. He takes it a little easier and still goes to therpy. We are in the midlle of building a 2 story garage for him now, and for the most part he can kick my ass putting siding on. From what he says it was worth it for sure. He was scared also but for him it turned out ok. Keep a positive attitude. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bansheeseat$$ Posted December 25, 2006 Report Share Posted December 25, 2006 ~corks, I feel for you and Pray everything works out for you.Tell you what after you get the surgury all done and your up to it I'll drive down and pick you up and we'll go shread some dunes together.I know there's some down closer to your place then up here at sand mountain. :biggrin: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
txblueshee Posted December 25, 2006 Report Share Posted December 25, 2006 My pops had a 360 back fusion done about 2 years ago... He got dicked over pretty hard if you ask me... He's in more pain now than he was before that quack ass doctor cut on him. I don't mean to give you any bad thoughts just saying... if it's possible research a doctor a little... Like go to a back clinic and rehab centers and talk to some people.... Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corkforbrains Posted December 25, 2006 Author Report Share Posted December 25, 2006 Thanx Txblueshee, I've had those same thoughts alot throughout this nonsense and that part of it looks like it's under control. My g/f just recently had her back operated on by the same surgeon I'll be dealing with. I believe they concentrated on her L5 and the results are nothing short of amazing... She was barely able to get by, on a cane and she had a terrible time tolerating the painkillers. As they were wheeling her off for the operation, she told me that if they can just stop the constant buzzing she felt in her bones 24/7, she'd call it good. Three hours later she was sitting up in bed grinning from ear to ear, all the pain was gone. Today it's been 2 months since the surgery, no cane, she's tossed the painkillers and she's been giving me regular "what ails you fool?" looks for putting my surgery off for so long...lol About 2 years ago, she introduced me to a group in Vegas, Centennial Pain and Spine and these guys are seriously top notch all the way down to the gals that work the admin part of the place. I've met with the surgeon once since he signed on to replace the former that had a stroke last year, he's one of those people you just tend to trust right off the bat. The plan has always been to see either me or the Pammie getting fixed and back on her feet before I got mine taken out from under me. Mostly for keeping the bills under control, it's been a pretty good idea so far. Kinda interesting really, I met her in 2000 because I was hurt and she knew a local masseuse (before we knew what was wrong) and she slipped at work and those darlins at workmans comp helped her get fired, and then we were both hurt. Talk about karma, I guess we were both at a point where we could use a good friend. She was forced to relocate to Vegas closer to the Dr's and that made everything easier for me as well since my Dr was there too. Kinda scarey spelling it all out like this at a time I should be counting my blessings huh? lol It'll be interesting to see what ends up happening... And Bansheeseat$$, I might just hold you to that. We've got some decent dunes about 5 miles from here and if you can tolerate a short flight in a puddlejumper, there's some awesome looking ones just south of Beatty, about 45 minutes from here as the cork flies. If you like the way those look I'm sure it'd be worth the trouble to drive down there! Thanx again everyone....you really are the best ya know! ~corks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dirtplay1975 Posted December 25, 2006 Report Share Posted December 25, 2006 Well I figure I am a good person to reply on this subject since I have personally been through two majior back surgeries. I have curvature of the spine, actually more than one type, my spine curves not only like an S but also front to back, been that way all my life. Well first surgery was when I was in 8th grade, they placed two steel rods down the length of my spine with the attachign points next to my spinal cord in the vertabre. they also used bone to fuse some of my vertabre together. Well all I can say is after that I knew 24/7 that metal was inside me. I couldnt run , jump etc because that excess weight in my back. then after my first yr of college I got an infection around the attaching hooks of the rods which caused pressure on my spinal cord and I almost couldnt walk, so back for the second surgery opening me from neck to waist yet again where they took the metal out of me and cleaned the infection up. I definately would not go back personally, I sure wouldnt be riding quads and dirtbikes today is that stuff was in me. All that and they really did nothing to improve the curvature of my spine at all. Of course each situation is different, and without metal running the length of your back you could be ok. As for the surgery itself its ok to be nervous and they have some great drugs to relax ya, and luckily I havent had any bad experiences there, actually only remember entering the operating room asking the doc to explain what he was gonna do and waking up in recovery wanting pain killers afterwards. But ya when weather changes it can be fun, kinda one of those things where you have to weigh the pros and cons and decide if its worth it, they told me after the second time they could go in thru the front and install some more rods and get my back straight, btu I told them to forget about it, I have been like this my whole life so why change it. I hope the best for you and hopefully all will work out and you can return to a normal life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bansheeseat$$ Posted December 25, 2006 Report Share Posted December 25, 2006 And Bansheeseat$$, I might just hold you to that. We've got some decent dunes about 5 miles from here and if you can tolerate a short flight in a puddlejumper, there's some awesome looking ones just south of Beatty, about 45 minutes from here as the cork flies. If you like the way those look I'm sure it'd be worth the trouble to drive down there! Thanx again everyone....you really are the best ya know! ~corks Just let me know and I'm there.I need a different sand scene for my vacation time. :biggrin: :beer: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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