Re: New to group!!! Questions on Spinal Fusion!!

December 30, 2008

Hi Jenn.

I can give you my recent experience and advice but don't want to be redundant on

the forum as everyones heard my story. I've got to run but email me at

loangoddess1961@... and I will advise you later. I have pointers fir you

I wish someone would have told me. Also you can look up archeives.

Thanks!

Rhonda

On Dec 30, 2008, at 11:53 AM, " Jenn O " <Jennspazzy@...> wrote:

Hello!!

I am Jenn, 33 yr old Mother of two children under 5!! I was

recently diagnosed with DDD and my L5 S1 disc is almost totally

gone...part of it is pressing on my nerve causing major stress on the

left side of my body. From numb toes, neck pain, shooting pains and

nembness down my leg....to twitching at night so i am unable to sleep.

I have had PT, epidural steriod injections, tried countless meds to

help the pain....NOTHING helps. My neurosurgeon wants me to have

spinal fusion.....I am so scared about it....I have not read nor heard

good things about it. I went for a 2nd and 3rd opinion...all drs

agree it is my only change of pain relief. I am worried. I have two

young children and want to be able to play and be active with them!!

Any advice....would help me so much!! Thank you all!!

Jenn

December 30, 2008

Dear Jenn,

Welcome to our group. And as usual, we are always sorry to hear of the

pain that brings you to us. But you have come to the right

place....you will find a lot of compassionate people here with a lot of

experience, wisdom and information. My name is Sue, and I am sorry I

don't have personal experience on that particular disc in the spine.

Unfortunately we have quite a few people here though that do. (and just

a little note to Rhonda, we really don't mind if you have to be

redundant)

We promise not to get to tired of hearing about whats going on with

you:)

But, Jenn, I can completely understand your worries as far as your

children are concerned.....and they are so young! You have your hands

full as it is, let alone having to deal with spine issues....

I was 32 when I had my accident that caused my spine issues in my neck

and back. Well I just wanted to wellcome you here, I'm sure you will

find some info you are looking for here. take care & look forward to

talking to you again soon.

Sue

>

> Hello!!

>

> I am Jenn, 33 yr old Mother of two children under 5!! I was

> recently diagnosed with DDD and my L5 S1 disc is almost totally

> gone...part of it is pressing on my nerve causing major stress on the

> left side of my body. From numb toes, neck pain, shooting pains and

> nembness down my leg....to twitching at night so i am unable to sleep.

> I have had PT, epidural steriod injections, tried countless meds to

> help the pain....NOTHING helps. My neurosurgeon wants me to have

> spinal fusion.....I am so scared about it....I have not read nor heard

> good things about it. I went for a 2nd and 3rd opinion...all drs

> agree it is my only change of pain relief. I am worried. I have two

> young children and want to be able to play and be active with them!!

> Any advice....would help me so much!! Thank you all!!

> Jenn

>

December 30, 2008

Hello Jenn,

While fusion is not the best choice for everyone,

there are times where it is the ONLY was to get

relief. I have had tremendous relief from my fusions

and am able to do most things. I had my first disk

surgery when I was 16. I had another at 18 and when I

was 21, and had a 1 1/2 and 2 1/2 year old boys. It

was hard, but we made it with help from family and

friends and church acquaintences. I was useless to my

family before the fusion and I, like you had heard

nothing good about it. I was scared.

Truth is, once you have a back like this, it will

never go back to being a perfect healthy back, no

matter what you do.Keep your goals reasonable. Mine

were to be able to play with my kids, be able to stand

long enough to cook dinner, work at least part time, I

wanted to be able to sleep at night and a great

reduction in my pain, I did NOT expect all my pain to

go away with surgery.

I think a lot of people struggle because they expect

the surgery to repair it all and everything will go

back to normal. But this is a complex part of your

body. Our pain is ruled by nerves and they don't

always like to cooperate. It is necessary to fix the

structural problem in our spine to start with. Nerves

may never be the same, but it takes a good year for

those nerves to repair themselves. We must be patient.

Also, like I said, once you have a back problem, you

will always have something. I've had some surgical

mistakes along the way, which is why I'm just now

getting to a good place.

I have pain when it rains and if I sit too long or in

certain positions. I do ache in my facet joints on

and off and I'm still working on that. But all in all,

I'm very happy with where I am and my decision to have

the fusion.

Three surgeons say you need a fusion...that's pretty

straightforward. Once it's done and over with, you'll

have a better body and be able to do those things that

are hard for you now. That makes it worth it. My kids

are so much happier that their mom is up off the floor

and out of bed and interacting with them. You must

always maintain your core strength...for the rest of

your life though. Evercizes everyday are important.

---

--- Rhonda <loangoddess1961@...> wrote:

> Hi Jenn.

> I can give you my recent experience and advice but

> don't want to be redundant on the forum as everyones

> heard my story. I've got to run but email me at

> loangoddess1961@... and I will advise you

> later. I have pointers fir you I wish someone would

> have told me. Also you can look up archeives.

>

> Thanks!

> Rhonda

>

> On Dec 30, 2008, at 11:53 AM, " Jenn O "

> <Jennspazzy@...> wrote:

>

> Hello!!

>

> I am Jenn, 33 yr old Mother of two children under

> 5!! I was

> recently diagnosed with DDD and my L5 S1 disc is

> almost totally

> gone...part of it is pressing on my nerve causing

> major stress on the

> left side of my body. From numb toes, neck pain,

> shooting pains and

> nembness down my leg....to twitching at night so i

> am unable to sleep.

> I have had PT, epidural steriod injections, tried

> countless meds to

> help the pain....NOTHING helps. My neurosurgeon

> wants me to have

> spinal fusion.....I am so scared about it....I have

> not read nor heard

> good things about it. I went for a 2nd and 3rd

> opinion...all drs

> agree it is my only change of pain relief. I am

> worried. I have two

> young children and want to be able to play and be

> active with them!!

> Any advice....would help me so much!! Thank you

> all!!

> Jenn

>

> [Non-text portions of this message have been

> removed]

>

December 30, 2008

Sue....

Thank you so much for your message. It is so nice to be a part of such a

compassionate group. I am having a hard time with my pain because most people I

know do not understand the magnitude of severe back/nerve pain. I am positive

this group will help me in more ways than I could ever imagine. I am off the

read the rest of my messages!!

Jenn

spinal problems

From: no_reply

Date: Tue, 30 Dec 2008 18:12:37 +0000

Subject: Re: New to group!!! Questions on Spinal

Fusion!!