Rocketman
Registered
Ouch LadyHawk. You have some serious back problems.
In my case - I found an orthopedic surgeon that does ~3 surgeries per day. I had been to a neurosurgeon but did not feel good about him even though he had a reputation of being great. When I went to this guy - I knew that he would do well. He was matter of fact and humble. It took me a year to finally get to the surgery room even after I decided on him. But I was considering an artificial disc and was not sure. I'm glad I put it off for the year as my decision went to the fusion.
My friend, who is about 52, came over the other day and she had various of these same discs going bad that you do. She had surgery and they fixed her problems. However, they used a cage on her lumbar area and her recovery time was tremendously longer than mine. She couldn't believe how up and about I am in comparison to her recovery. They took bone from her hip - that was more painful to her than anything. They also used a cage instead of screws.
My doctor used the crest bones from my vertebrae and crushed them into powder, mixed with some concoction and put it in as my new disc. He used screws and rods to stabilize the bones instead of a cage. I have to tell you - it feels great. Once little scar about 2 1/2" on my lower back and that's it. (I can feel the hardware though.)
I hope you get some relief. It is so worth it to not have that burning pain in my legs any longer. Keep in touch. Stay away from the hip-bone thing and the cage. This operation was not bad at all.
In my case - I found an orthopedic surgeon that does ~3 surgeries per day. I had been to a neurosurgeon but did not feel good about him even though he had a reputation of being great. When I went to this guy - I knew that he would do well. He was matter of fact and humble. It took me a year to finally get to the surgery room even after I decided on him. But I was considering an artificial disc and was not sure. I'm glad I put it off for the year as my decision went to the fusion.
My friend, who is about 52, came over the other day and she had various of these same discs going bad that you do. She had surgery and they fixed her problems. However, they used a cage on her lumbar area and her recovery time was tremendously longer than mine. She couldn't believe how up and about I am in comparison to her recovery. They took bone from her hip - that was more painful to her than anything. They also used a cage instead of screws.
My doctor used the crest bones from my vertebrae and crushed them into powder, mixed with some concoction and put it in as my new disc. He used screws and rods to stabilize the bones instead of a cage. I have to tell you - it feels great. Once little scar about 2 1/2" on my lower back and that's it. (I can feel the hardware though.)
I hope you get some relief. It is so worth it to not have that burning pain in my legs any longer. Keep in touch. Stay away from the hip-bone thing and the cage. This operation was not bad at all.
