[AbZ]

Hi every1!

After an MRI and CT scan done recently, i have found that one of the screws that are in my vertebrae as a result of spinal fusion, have actually kinda pressed onto my spinal cord at a lower level (my injury is at t7, but have spinal fusion at t3-10) the screw is at t10, i am going to take it out soon, and the neurosugeon said he will revise my spinal fusion that i have currently.

Just wondering if anyone else has ever had RE-DO surgery on their back before, i'm sure there's others, and can you plz tell me about ur recovery after and any other experiences!

[LuckyinKentucky]

How longs it been installed? I thought after a year the bones are fused and the hardware's not even necessary.

[AbZ]

its been about 9 months post injury/initial surgery, however one of the screws that are in my t10 vertebrae are atually kinda touching the spinal cord, or at least have come into the canal very slightly, so the neurosugeon said he will take it out and re-position it properly, also i have a few bone fragements still compressing wats left of my spinal cord at t7, he said he will take them out at the same time...

[Beautiful]

Hey AbZ,

I had back surgery in 2004. They placed titanium rods in my back, and a couple weeks ago I went to see the doctors because for a while my back has been hurting. Found out my rods have snapped in half, which is the reason why I have been in so much pain. I am going in on April 21st to have the surgery re-done.

The 2004 surgery, I was in the hospital for a week. ICU for two days. The pain was only there for the first few days. But my whole back was tender for about 2 months. Right after I came home from the hospital, my left shoulder blade started hurting, and ever since then, if I move it a certain way, it stings. Right after surgery, my back felt kind of "stretched". Try not to move or twist too much after surgery & during recovery. Also get plenty of rest. Any more questions, just ask

[AbZ]

eyy Beautiful!! (lol that sounds like i'm hitting on you!)

ouch! rods have snapped in half?? lol i thought they were titanium...

yea i have regained most of my strength and am pretty much pain free, except for the pins and needles in my lower limbs... but yea my main concern is how i would recover and wat time frame... i am hoping to go back to uni for 2nd semester this year, but i have booked the surgery on 11 May, and uni starts at the end of June... i just hope i don't have any complications...

the surgeon said i'd be in hospital for a week, and mayb in ICU for a day or so.... and probably rehab (again!) for a couple of weeks...

did they use stitches or staples to close up the wound??? how long did you stay in bed for??

[Beautiful]

A titanium rod was placed on both sides of my spine, and the area that they broke didn't fuse properly to the bone. And my scoliosis was so severe that over time it made them snap. If it would have fused properly, I would have stayed straight. So half my back is straight, and the lower half is like a small C shape. Once I have the surgery, it will straighten out again, thank goodness. I miss being straight! Lol.

My surgery was considered "major" surgery, so my recovery time was a lot longer. I laid on the couch for like a month. I started therapy like 2-3 months after surgery. I couldn't imagine going to therapy a few weeks after surgery, owch! When I moved it felt like a board was strapped to my back, so it took some time to get used to it.

I had dissolving stitches and sterry strips. I couldn't imagine getting removable stitches or staples on my back. My scar is from the top of my neck to my tailbone. Sometimes the skin heals over the stitches, and ouch! I had removable stitches several times to keep drains in, and it didn't hurt to get them removed, because they just cut the stitch, but it was just uncomfortable for me. I have a high pain tolerance, but I get the eebie jeebies with that kind of thing.

I stayed in the hospital for a week not because of complications or anything, but because I had lost blood and I couldnt get my red cell count back up. They wanted it to be 30 before I left, and that whole week it bounced around from 17-28. The day before I left it was 29, and they just told me to leave if I wanted to.

Recovery and everything just depends on how tolerable you are.

Edit: I do remember though, the day after surgery in the ICU, the physical therapist came in and made me sit up. I was sooo irritated! I was on so many drugs, I was tired, I wanted to sleep, I was grumpy, I was in pain despite how many pain medications I was on, and the last thing I wanted was for her to make me sit up. But the body never ceases to surprise me. After going through such a hard and difficult surgery, my body was still strong enough to push through. Like I said, it all depends on how tolerable you are.

This post has been edited by Beautiful: 07 April 2009 - 08:17 AM

[silone74]

Hi sorry to cut in on the post but its of similar nature
I have a bent spine it healed this way after my injury because the proper brace was not used and so i was sitting up putting preasure on my back when it needed support and as such has fused in the wrong position and is badly bent to one side i never had any surgery to fix the spine due to other life threatening injuries at the time of my accident that needed treating and the spine was left to heal on its own ,any way i was seeing the consutalt and he said the only way to fix it was surgery the main question i have is do you think it is worth having surgery to correct the spine and what would be the risk of losing the feeling and slight movment that i have now??

Sorry to nick the thread.

Si

[Jax]

That sucks. I had my first spinal surgery the day after my injury. The screws started at T10 and went to L4. I started having back pain and a big slouching problem about 2 months post injury. I had x-rays that showed that the screws at L4 had caused L4 to break. The top of L4 popped off like a pop top beer bottle. At 3 months post injury, I had my second spinal surgery. The second surgery involved bolting a carbon fiber block in the front of L3-L4, adding 2 more rods to the end of the original 2, and extending the fusion into my pelvis. I stayed in the hospital for about 4 days post op, and no rehab after. My "recovery" was about another 3-4 days in bed, and then back to doing crazy shit with my friends. The stitches came out about 2 weeks post op.

Best wishes.

[cubanito_016]

Checo out my fusion

[Beautiful]

silone74, on Apr 7 2009, 06:39 AM, said:

the main question i have is do you think it is worth having surgery to correct the spine and what would be the risk of losing the feeling and slight movment that i have now??

Sorry to nick the thread.

Si

I always think if you have the option to improve your life in some way, you should take that opportunity. Who knows, it could get worse in the future and be more complicated to fix later. What is your injury level and how much movement do you have? Honestly, I don't think the risk of losing movement is that much at all. Your spinal cord is being protected by your backbone, and surgeons are careful when it comes to operating on that area. Honestly, I don't think you should be worrying too much about losing feeling or movement.

[silone74]

I have started my own post


Si

[AbZ]

well in my case, i had a burst fracture at t7, which basically means that the vertebrae shattered into a few pieces, some retropulsed into the spinal canal causing the spinal cord injury.... anyway they didn't take the pieces of bone out of the canal when they did the inital surgery, saying that the damage has been done and i won't improve anyway...

this 'bone' piece provides a physical block for any nerves to 'connect' (or improve my condition in the future, or any recovery) so after the MRI i became aware of this and want to take the bone pieces out, as i have numbness below my injury and believe that taking the bone pieces out may give me some degree of recovery... the neurosurgens that i have seen have advised that taking the bones out won't give me any improvement at all and that i risk further complications...

and well if i keep the bones in, well it is pretty much impossible to recover anything as the nerves are being physically blocked by the bones...

any sugestions on whether i should take them out or not???

[cubanito_016]

I will get piss of if they had to redu my fusion cause its not easy going thrue that process

I lift weights and I got a bunch of screws in tha back I hope they brake in half like beatiful screws

[percepied]

AbZ, on Apr 12 2009, 04:54 AM, said:

well in my case, i had a burst fracture at t7, which basically means that the vertebrae shattered into a few pieces, some retropulsed into the spinal canal causing the spinal cord injury.... anyway they didn't take the pieces of bone out of the canal when they did the inital surgery, saying that the damage has been done and i won't improve anyway...

this 'bone' piece provides a physical block for any nerves to 'connect' (or improve my condition in the future, or any recovery) so after the MRI i became aware of this and want to take the bone pieces out, as i have numbness below my injury and believe that taking the bone pieces out may give me some degree of recovery... the neurosurgens that i have seen have advised that taking the bones out won't give me any improvement at all and that i risk further complications...

and well if i keep the bones in, well it is pretty much impossible to recover anything as the nerves are being physically blocked by the bones...

any sugestions on whether i should take them out or not???

In my opinion you should leave well enough alone. Opening the spinal canal to remove bone fragments is very risky. Developing an infection in the canal could lead to something as serious as meningitis which could be fatal. I have to agree with the neurosurgeons. The probability of any recovery of sensation is small relative to the potential for infection.

[AbZ]

well at the moment the chance of any recovery is absolutely 0%, if the bones are taken out i may get something back, and even if i dont at least it paves the way for future stem cell treatments... with any operation there is a risk of infection, the neurosurgeon said it is about 10% chance for meningitis... which means 10 out of 100 get an infection... lol wat about the other 90 people...?? i'm willing to take the chance as i am determined to recover something... besides he said they'll put me on precautionary anti-biotics during the procedure...

[percepied]

Sounds like you've made up your mind -- which takes a great deal of courage. Good luck!