Hi Maria,
I'm in the UK and my surgeon will be Mr. John Sutcliffe who is very experienced, has an excellent reputation and in whom I feel a lot of confidence.
My first surgery (when I was 26) was one of the biggest mistakes of my life and just created more problems without solving any. After that I stuck with osteopathy, which was very helpful most of the time. I found that anytime I went near medics something went wrong! In 1987 I had Sclerosant injections, which seems to be the same as prolotherapy, and that just added to my problems. Fusion was first recommended in 1991, but I declined. I only agreed to it in 2000 after being off-work, housebound for 18 months and felt little option. In hindsight, it was still the right decision at the time. It helped my back, but just happened to damage a nerve in my spine!
When I first sought medical opinions this time round, I felt that any invasive procedure would have to have a good likelihood of offering at least 80% improvement. After 2 years of being barely able to move I feel any improvement is worth trying for, given how curtailed and limited is my life in all ways. My surgeon's opinion is that while it won't get rid of all my pain, it should significantly improve it. I feel I have no choice now - though of course I do!
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1980-2004 50 acute episodes. DDD
Lots of osteopathy, pilates, exercise, injections etc plus:
‘82 Laminectomy + nerve root adhesions removed
‘87 Sclerosant injections
2000 Spinal fusion L4/5 L5/S1 – left with internal nerve damage: permanent leg Pain & impaired mobility.
2/04 Acute episode became new baseline - Housebound & severe pain
6/06 Discogram +ve L3/4,L1/2. + SI joint problem.
10/07 ADR L3/4 (Active L) Dr Zeegers - no impact at all
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