Well, after waiting several months, I finally have a surgery scheduled to hopefully provide some pain relief. The surgery will be this Tuesday, October 27th, which just happens to be my two year anniversary of my entrance into the spinal cord injured world.

A MRI and a CT scan revealed that my L5 vertebra is pressing on my spinal cord and the L4-L5 nerve roots. I guess that's a good reason for the unbearable pain I've been having. They also showed something that I never knew, my spinal cord at the T12 level actually splits into two cords and then comes back together around the L1-L2 level. The neurosurgeon said that apparently one of the burst vertebra fragments pierced through the middle of the spinal cord.

My orthopedic surgeon, neurosurgeon, and physiatrist have been discussing, for some time now, about what type of surgery to do. They narrowed it down to two options. The first option was described to me as a very risky procedure because they would be working around the aorta from the front side and taking out the L5 vertebra, inserting a cage, flip me over, go in from the back side, fuse L4 to S1, insert rods, plates, screws, etc.. This fusion would be in addition to the current fusion I have from T10 to L2 and would require another stint in the rehab facility. I told them I didn't care how risky or what kind of recovery I would experience if it would alleviate some of the pain.

The second option is less invasive. This procedure could only be done if the L5 burst had healed back in a fairly stable condition. The CT scan showed that it had healed pretty solid so, this is the procedure they recommended and that I will have next week. The neurosurgeon will enter from the back and do a decompression on the L5 vertebra by removing some of the bone to open up the spinal canal. Next, he will insert a spacer between the L4 and L5 spinous process. He referred to this procedure as an ILIF (Interlaminar Lumbar Instrumented Fusion). Finally, only if the L5 vertebra isn't as solid as they think it is, he will shoot "plastic" into it to make it more stable (kyphoplasty). I should only have to stay in the hospital for one night and be back to "normal" in two to three weeks. If this surgery doesn't provide any relief, then I will have to have the more in depth surgery.

Sorry if the long post has bored you (maybe I should have put this in the Boring thread) but, I guess I just needed to talk (type) about it.

Joe

Hey Jo

Good luck with that. Hope you don't get too bored eating hospital food and that it sorts the pain out for you.

Good to vent, don't apologise!

Have you got family and friends to visit while you're there? Otherwise I can recommend plenty of good books!

Best wishes

Guido

Good luck mate. Hope everything goes well for you.

Best of luck!

Aratin,
Thoughts will be with you on the 27th.
Hope all goes well for you, I know how crap the lumbur pain is.
Best Wishes

Al

Hope the first surgery works and you don't need the second, good luck

Good luck with it, I hope it helps

Good luck, mate. Hopefully the less invasive surgery will be the best call!

FINALLY!!!--haha

Good thing they didn't take their sweet time in finding your problem.*hint of sarcasm detected here.

Since guido's offering you a list of good books, I'd be more than happy to give you a list of some really bad ones, if your so inclined! They might go better with the food.

Good luck.

Best of luck, Redneck. (I'm from Kentucky).
Don't worry. Be Happy. After all, nurses are only attentive to the happy patients.

Pwuff

Hi araitn,

I’m going in next week 29th myself for similar procedure L4-S1 fusion, I know to well of your pain & I hope all goes well.
Wish you the best & speedy recovery,
All the best,
CR

I wish you both the very best luck in your upcoming surgeries and that you get the pain relief you need!

let us all pray you have no more pain sing always look on the bright side of life thinking of you both

Thankyou Trinity

Thanks everyone for the replies!

I went for my pre-op appointment late yesterday. When I got back to the nurse, the first thing she asked me was "can you get out of that chair?". I said "yes I can but, if you want me to stand then that would be a problem". Then she said " what about pee pee?". I said "what about it?". She said "can you pee?". I said "yes but, not like most people". Bless her little heart, she found a way to accomodate my special needs and I guess I passed their tests and Im ready for surgery.

Oh, another nurse came up to me as I was rolling out of the office and stopped me just to ask "are you gonna walk again?". WTF?! I just said I don't know and went on out the door.

@ CR_L1: I wish you the best of luck with your surgery. I guess we'll be recovering together. Hope you get some relief from the pain.

Joe