Spondylolisthesis L4/5

[shandy10]

Hi

l'm new here but lve been diagnosed with spondylolisthesis at the L4/5 has anyone had an operation for this, and did it work, and was there any problems any tips would be great

[kohai]

Great questiion and I'm following the thread to see if anyone can answer this as I'd be interested to know too. I have read how there are chances of being left with nerve damage or total leg paralysis post op which basically (mind my language) scares the crap out of me, but if the hydrotherapy doesn't work for me, then my choices are basically to either live a life of pain, oramorph and 5mg diazepam tablets every 4-6 hours for the rest of my life, or surgery If the surgery only had a 1% failure rate, I'd be all for surgery, but I've read some really scary stories on other sites from people who have had this surgery, and on sites where health organisations/surgeons/pre-op people talk about the down side effects of this major op, and it does scare the life out of me.... but my life now is a mixture of bed-ridden, crutches and wheelchair. I'm only 49.. do I really want this for the next 35+ years? But i don't want that risk of paralysis either.. at least at the moment i can walk a bit, some days better than others.. I don't want to lose that.

[JennSp in reply to kohai]

Mmm not sure if I should respond to this post....as I had the Op and asked the surgeon on the morning of my Op Had he had his 1% this week yet??? No reply...I had my op and the replacement for the 3 discs in my Cervical neck went well, and afterwards had little of no pain, and still only have mild pain in my neck...BUT and its a big BUT I turned out to be his 1% in that I had a Bleed on the brain, (A Stroke, but not a general stroke with obvious signs at first) it happened in the recovery time after the Op at 4am in the morning When I woke and asked the time and realised I had a blinding headache, that was the start of it...I was moved into a Stroke Ward...supposed to be specialised....BUT they forgot I had a major Op on my neck..and just treat me, as a Stroke Patient...which meant heavy handling..I came out of hospital 2 weeks later ..But ....after waiting for 5 months for a miracle cure, I was able to access a Private Neurophysio As no physiotherapist was available on the NHS. I was given a sheet of A4 with exercise on, to do daily, (which I did) and went home for my husband to look after me, long time afterwards I was given my notes to read, and it would appear that doubt was thrown on the aspect of inappropriate handling or my Blood pressure not being monitored efficiently....I opt for the BP monitoring...as it was only done 4 hourly....and as you're in bed and they think they can monitor it, I was left, without medication for it...until I started shouting.. help me, and was told to shut up, I was disturbing other patients...anyway I go on...and if you need the Op you need it.....I have regained a lot of day to day living independently, but walk with a stick and slow with it as well, but I still have my Grandchildren round to visit, and we watch a lot of Frozen together or Fireman Sam My op was 5/4/2011

[grace111]

im really sorry to read your posts and no nothing about this but i did type spondylolisthesis into the search box at the top of the page on the right hand corner. it came up with quite a few posts on the subject including this post, i do hope that this will find you some information and there is no reason why you cant private message someone who has left a post and get some information. wishing you both well. god bless you. love grace xoxo

[kohai in reply to grace111]

I did the same search, and unless I missed a thread, most of the were either 3 years old with no replies, or were on fusions. As far as I know, the wear and tear in my lumbar is so bad now I doubt there is anything left for a surgeon to fuse so it'd have to be a metal plate with pins. Thank you for the reply, the help and the well wishes, much appreciated

[grace111 in reply to kohai]

have you tried to google it and see if there are any answers there from other forums? i wish you well. love grace xoxoxo

[lowlife]

The problem with the internet is that people only tell you about non successful surgery which isn't helpful when I'm sure there must be some successful stories out there. I think having the op is up to the individual e.g. can no longer tolerate the pain. Every surgery has it's risks but if you really feel you can't cope any more then I'd say go for it. X

[ITYFIALMCTT]

Did the consultant mention what the degree of slippage is? If it's less than 50% and, depending on other factors, it seems that some people manage to achieve a workable state for themselves by a mix of rest from some activities, pain relief, and appropriate physiotherapy.

Do you have neurological problems such as difficulties with the bowel/bladder etc. as that can influence decisions about surgery?