Made a decision and had surgery!!!

[weaveman01]

Hi- awhile back i was debating between a 2 level fusion from my spine surgeon in Hoffman estates IL or have a single charite at L5s1 by a neuro at rush in chicago.

Well, I opted for the 360 fusion. Some of the reasons is I liked the doctor who did it, as he personally calls me back when I have problems or questions, seemed to be very cutting edge and not just bought out by the hardware company. He was actually an IME for workers compensation, and had only been practicing for 4 years, but despite that, he always seemed very interested in my problem, spent lots of time with me in his office, and even made a wisecrack for a while that it felt like groundhogs day when I came in for a monthly visit. That is until I explained that I was asking the same questions to make sure the answer was always the same.

I didn't do the charite, because the neuro only offered the one level at L5s1, and said if I had problems later at L4-L5, that he could operate on that one later. All in one appointment.

So, Nov. 30 was a 2 level alif, with D rings for spacers and BMP used at L4-s1. He used a vascular surgeon for the approach, and I waited extra long to make sure I had this guy, as my spine surgeon claimed he was the best and that he didn't trust just anybody for the opening even though there was other if I so choose. Then I was flipped over and he fused the tips of my facet joints with BMP, and used the nuvasive minimally invasive pedicle screw system to support it all.

When I woke up I was on a pain pump. It worked well, but unfortunately the hospital staff was very incompetent. They diagnosed me with sleep apnea and was trying to sell me a machine in the ICU claiming i might die without it. I was pressured with a sales pitch the rest of my stay. My only comfortable position was on my side, and I had to keep yelling at the nurse to quit raising the top half of my bed as it caused excruciating pain from not being flat. When I was switched to oral meds, the nurses were lying about when I should get my pain meds, and I had to contiually call my doctor to get my medicine. I didnt get to eat, drink, or have a blanket for the whole stay at st. alexius.

Needless to say, I was getting very dehydrated and my doctor released me on the second day after he saw the shape I was in. As soon as I was home I drank water like it was the last I may ever seen, and slept with a blanket. It took 4 days before I quit peeing maple syrup. (a good sign of dehydration.)

Moral of the story though, My 2 level fusion hasn't been bad as far as pain, as long as I have my pain meds, constipation hasn't been a problem, and I am walking around more than I thought I would be. I had been procrastinating b ecause of the horror storied of pain after surgery, but it wasnt much worse than I had been living with. 2nd moral is be very careful what hospital you go too. This hospital had nurses that lied so often, they were mixing them up between patients and we would put their lies together to find out what they were lieing about.

Sorry for the long post, and I know its not adr, but I have been reading everyone elses story for so long that I just wanted to share my own.
Have a great xmas everyone!!!

[jss]

Weave,

Congratulations on the good outcome! And I'm glad that you shared your experience. It sounds like you're doing pretty well (since you've gotten out of the hospital). I've heard lumbar patients lament on the many months (often 10+) that it takes to get back to normal; so take it easy please. You're the first lumbar patient with an anterior approach that I've seen shrug off the constipation issue that is so common with that surgery. Glad that wasn't an issue as it would seem to be very unpleasant.

Good luck, Jeff