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LumbarSpinal Fusion
Hello
I am a 55 year old male with chronic low back pain of long standing origin. This pain is aggravated by doing anything of a strenuous nature such as digging or sitting for long periods such as when driving. I have an office job and spend a fair amount of time sitting.
This pain goes back 20 years or so. In 1999 a Neurosurgeon recommended a spinal fusion, however I did not go down this path for fear of things getting worse.
Recently I excacerbated the problem whilst doing light gardening and this resulted in a week off work and 4 weeks in total before the pain subsided. During this time I had difficulty straightening up after standing from a sitting position and found the best relief was from laying flat on my back. I have an excellent mattress that helps alleviate the pain. I was taking Naprosyn and Tramadol without much relief. Previously I had been on Brufen, had regular chirporactic treatment, traction and physiotherapy. None of these help ease my symptoms during an episode of pain. In recent weeks I have had significant left knee pain, left foot pain and right hip pain and am wondering if these are all related.
I had a CT scan done in November 2006 which showed "Grade II spondylolisthesis of L5 on S1. There is moderate narrowing of the L5/S1 intervertebral space with the remaining intervertebral spaces well preserved. There appear to be bilateral L5 pars interarticulares defects and there is incomplete fusion of the posterior elements of L5 and S1. There are degenerative changes within the L4.5 and L5/S1 facet joints. The sacroiliac joints have a normal appearance. There is no focal soft tissue abnormality".
This report is similar to an MRI I had done in 1999 except the spondylolisthesis then was classed as grade I.
I will be vising another Neurosurgeon soon for a second opinion but am inclined to opt for fusion now as this problem strikes without warning and is significantly interfering with my quality of life. I plan to retire from work soon and want to do lots of travel, particularly with my caravan (trailer). However, I fear the driving will exacerbate my problem if I don't do something now.
I would welcome some advice regarding my suitability for fusion at this stage and how this might be carried out (the procedure). I have seen a video where a TLIF was carried out and a small cage inserted to fuse the bone. This seemed relatively untroubled in terms of recovery in a short period of time (weeks).
Many thanks:confused:
Answer:
LumbarSpinal Fusion
Was hoping I might have had a reply by now :-(
Answer:
LumbarSpinal Fusion
Hi mildew1551,
Welcome to the forum. Sorry you haven't gotten a reply as yet. Dr. Joshua is very busy as present time. Its good you are getting a second opinion though and he will I'm sure be able to answer all your questions too.
Good Luck,
:smile:
Purple98Lady
Answer:
LumbarSpinal Fusion
Thank you Purple98Lady. I appreciate you taking the time to read "my story" and for the reality check. I appreciate the doctor would be very busy and will be patient (no pun intended:smile: ) as I await a response.
Answer:
LumbarSpinal Fusion
Hi I'm truly sorry for not having had the time recently to answer questions- while you wait check out - there are some answers by Dr Sinuhe and myself that you might find informative - keep us posted - this is an area of interest to us. I'm glad you're getting the second opinion, and please post the results. I'll be interested to discuss this further