INKA Prodisc L3-4 and L4-5 June 2004

[iSpine-Admin]

Originally Posted by INKA on January 5, 2005

SURGERY DATE:June 28, 2004

AGE AT SURGERY DATE: 52

SURGEON: Dr. Richard A. Balderston M.D.

SURGERY LOCATION/CLINIC:Pennsylvania Hospital

DEVICE(s), LEVEL(s):Prodisc L3-4 and L4-5

COST =
AMOUNT BILLED:about $54,800
INSURANCE ALLOWED: 36,000
OUT OF POCKET: so far 10,800
TRAVEL:haven't added it up yet
EXPLANATIONS?


ONSET OF LUMBAR PROBLEMS, DATE OF INJURY, CAUSE, ETC...:I believe it all started with a nasty
fall the entire length of wet metal stairs about 28 years ago and an active lifestyle (including riding and jumping horses, running, martial arts, etc.) and other falls (like on my rear on the ice a couple times) over the years increased the damage.

PRIOR SPINE SURGERIES AND PROCEDURES (IDET, ESI, etc...):Years of chiropractic which eventually failed to help
PT - didn't help
Discectomy and laminectomy and removal of stenosis - 7/2002
Reinjury 3/2003 - lifted 100 lb. son w/o thinking - POP! Yikes!
PT again - made it worse
Epidural steroid injections (3) May 2003
IDET L4-5 July 2003 (L3-4 was too messed up to be able to do an IDET)
MRI's, XRays, Discograms, EMG,

PRE-OP MEDICATIONS:Norco, flexeril, tried about everything else but had negative side effects.

PRE-OP DIAGNOSTICS (discogram, nerve root blocks, etc...): xrays, MRI's, discograms, EMG

PRE-OP NEUROPATHIES (what, where, & degree of pain, numbness, tingling, sexual/bladder/bowel symptoms, etc.):Back pain, radicular pain in both legs and buttocks, worse on right side. Numbness and tingling in right thigh and bottoms of both feet

PRE-OP CONDITION (Please include %leg pain/%
back pain, pain levels, type of pain, ability to work and function, disability status, etc.... be direct, but be as verbose as you need to)
90% back pain, 10% leg and butt pain (after ESI's)
pretty much side-lined to life, recliner jockey, was able to drive, took narcotics daily to get by.

TIME POST-OP AT ORIGINAL POST HERE:
9 weeks, 4 days

DESCRIBE YOUR SURGICAL EXPERIENCE:
Pre-op nurse walked in and asked me to roll over to prep my back for fusion. I told her if they were even thinking of that I was getting up and walking out. (Then broke down crying - - scared) They had the Dr. come in and tell me my prosthetics were waiting for me in OR and not to worry, no fusion. Whew!!! And no back prep!
Woke up with 3 nurses yelling at me to breathe. Apparently due to my prior use of narcotics for pain relief, they had to use a level of Morphine which suppressed my breathing. I was more than happy to comply.
Spent the majority of the next few days sleeping. I figured that there was nothing else to do and it hurt when the morphine wore off, so I would push the button and go back to sleep.
PT came in on day 3 and got me up and around a little bit. Each day we went further and the day they discharged me they took me to a room where they had stairs and a fake car built so I could practice navigating them.
Very nice, competent, caring people at Penn. Hospital.
The only problem was that they wouldn't feed me till I passed gas. Well, I had "prepped" the day before surgery and there was nothing there to make gas. They kept saying they heard bowel sounds and that they were "awake", but only ice chips until the big moment.(this went on for 4 days) Luckily "Bug" had visited me and left a bag with 2 books and happily some chocolate in the bottom. I ate one little piece and tada!! Food that night!!
I was blessed with visits from 2 kind people from this group.
RATE FUNCTIONALITY / SATISFACTION AT INTERVALS BELOW:

FUNCTIONALITY:
1. Very poor: much worse... disabled after surgery.
2. Poor: worse after surgery.
3. Neutral: No improvement, or improvements offset by new problems.
4. Fair, some improvement, limitations are still serious.
5. Good, substantial improvement, some limitations.
6. Excellent: no limitations.

SATISFACTION:
1. Very sorry I had the surgery.
2. Somewhat sorry I had the surgery.
3. Too soon to tell, or I'm ambivalent about the surgery.
4. I'm somewhat glad I did my surgery.
5. I'm very glad I did my surgery.

FUNCTIONALITY: __5_ SATISFACTION: 5__ [6 WEEKS POST-OP]

FUNCTIONALITY: __5_ SATISFACTION: _5__ [3 MONTHS POST-OP]

FUNCTIONALITY: _5__ SATISFACTION: _5__ [6 MONTHS POST-OP]

FUNCTIONALITY: ___ SATISFACTION: ___ [1 YEAR POST-OP]

FUNCTIONALITY: ___ SATISFACTION: ___ [2 YEARS POST-OP]

6 WEEKS POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ECT... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):
Still taking norco and flexeril. Back and leg pain from distraction (1/2 inch taller)
Pain is better or worse depending on what I do, but I can do so much more than before surgery. Like load the dishwasher, walk a long distance, sit up for a good length of time, and I've cut down on pain med amounts greatly.

3 MONTHS POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ETC... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

6 MONTHS POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ETC... If there hadn't been a non-related surgery in Dec. I would be in great shape. Before that I was walking 5 miles and working out at the gym on Nautilus. Sidelined til March now. I feel great. Minor occasional muscle soreness to the right of my implants. Sometimes there is nerve pain in my hip or down my leg, but that was there pre-op. They said it can take up to 2 years for nerves to heal - sometimes 3 years. But, if this is the pain I have for the rest of my life, it's ok. Getting the discs is worth it. I'm taking no pain meds, except an occasional ibuprofen. As far as my back is concerned, my life is basically normal. I can't run (for exercise) or horseback ride yet, if ever. (If I never can that's ok too)
But I'm cleared for backpacking - 30lb. They measured my movement angles at my last appt. and I was in the upper 20% of 2 disc recipients for movement - almost normal joint movement. I'm very pleased. I feel very fortunate to have had the surgery and it's changed my life.

1 YEAR POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ETC... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

2 YEARS POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ETC... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

Waiting for an update from INKA.