Questions about pre vs post of L5 S1 fusion. Having surgery 21MAR16!

[Navy_AC]

I have been reading a lot about bad outcomes people have been having with surgery and it is making me nervous and questioning if I should live with the pain or have surgery. Hell I am a bag of emotions when I get stuck in my head think about it all. I had an epidural block left side done today and I am sore from that. But logically I know a little more pain added from the surgery potentially I could have amazing results and be one of the lucky ones. Then I get on here and read bad results and I'm back to playing what IF's. I am only 33 years old and have been dealing with this for 7 almost 8 year. I have exhausted all other means of treatment and this is what is left. PLEASE post information about your post op experience both shortly after the surgery and log term if you had the surgery awhile ago. Thank you for reading this and giving me feed back I appreciate it a lot! GOD BLESS!!!!

[Jtal19305]

Hello.

Each case is unique. I had surgery 7 months ago for a sudden case of leg weakness and a bad mri showing a large disk bulge at T12 L1 and advanced canal stenosis at L2 L3. I had a T12-L1 posterior lateral laminectomy disectomy with interbody fusion at T12-L1 and a hemi laminectomy on the left side of L2-L3. I regret it. My pain level post surgery is worse. My quality of life went down considerably. It's been and is hell.

I could of let it run its course and probably got away without surgery. The doctor made it seem so easy simple and effective. Now I'm lost and maybe looking at further surgery or a scs. Or simply being in chronic pain. Some people do better with the artificial disk implant. That was not an option for me.

I would think it over very much before you let them do this. It cannot be undone! Maybe you get lucky but so many people suffer worse afterwards. I'm one of them even though I'm hoping to get better or find a solution. I cry and I am sad. My life is never going to be the same. I should of taken it easy and avoided surgery. It's your choice. Be careful and maybe find another way to fix your issue without the knife.

Jerry

[johnsmith]

You have not given enough information for the question to be answered.

What have you got that needs L5 S1 fusion?

There may be alternative possible treatment available, but at this point do not know why surgery is considered the only option.

[Dexter1]

I've discovered that most posters or comments on anything will be negative. People that are pleased with their outcomes don't necessarily think about letting everyone know about that, but negative outcomes get posted because people are upset and want everyone to know. Which is human nature. The problem is you see mostly bad ones and it does not give all the times it was good.

I myself have a T-4 to S-1 fusion and yes the recovery was horribly painful, which was to be expected since I was basically filet'ed from stem to stern! I still have pain that I take meds for but if I hadn't had the surgery the pain would have gotten progressively worse, I probably would be in a wheelchair and I wouldn't have been able to breathe because my scoliosis was crowding my lungs. Compare the pros and cons and decide which you can live with. Good luck!