Bad Back - Degenerative Disk Disease.

Hi Jerry - I would imagine if you ask five different people with The exact same problems in their spine, at the exact same locations, you would get five different opinions. I had cervical and lumbar fusion following a car accident. The cervical could not have been a better outcome. Full range of motion in my neck. Headaches disappeared, didn’t even know they were caused by my neck. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same about the lumbar surgery. I do feel like the biggest difference in the two surgerys is that following cervical surgery, C4-5, 5-6, I had extensive rehab following my doctors recommendations. After lumbar surgery, L4-5, S1, I had little to no physical therapy. Stupid stupid, stupid. My lumbar surgery was in 2006 and I am still dealing with pain equally or worse than before. I had heard this from others but the doctors never mentioned it. Anytime you fuse your vertebrae together they no longer have the freedom to move as God intended them to. You will start to have breakdown of the disc above and below the fusion. Trust me this is not a rumor. It is a fact that I wish I had known before. There are so many ways nowadays to help identify the problem area and fix it specifically with non-surgical solutions. Before I had surgery again, I would exhaust all nonsurgical efforts. Now, if it gets to a point where the doctors tell you there is no option but surgery, that’s different. I would try and exhaust everything else prior. Once it’s done, you have to live with the results. Good or bad. Good luck with your decision and with finding a Doctor Who can figure out what’s wrong with you. That’s the hardest part of all of this.

So sorry your having these troubles. "The less back surgery the better," I always say. I have been doing OK. My pain is a little less, THOUGH now I have sciatica - a slight annoying pain down both legs even to the ankles. I recently saw the neurosurgeon that I saw two years ago, and I had a repeat MRI. Two years ago's "spinal stenosis" he said was slightly worse this year, but surgery will depend on my pain and my decision. So I'm doing pretty well taking Tylenol 4 to 6 a day with Ibuprophen. (I find they work best when taken together.) Risks of Tylenol are liver toxicity and are rare. Risks of Ibuprophen (Motrin) are also rare - kidney failure. So I'm trying to keep the Tylenol down to 3 to 5 a day (500 mg). And I'm trying to minimize the Ibuprophen to maybe 2 to 4 a day (200 mg.) And I always take my Ibuprophen with meals to avoid stomach irritation which can result in hemorrhage. I'm Sorry you're suffering. Good luck to you!