wbaker68 Prodisc L3-4, L4-5 and L5-S1 August 2004

[iSpine-Admin]

Originally Posted by wbaker68 on February 28, 2005

SURGERY DATE: 8/7/04

AGE AT SURGERY DATE: 35

SURGEON: Bertagnoli

SURGERY LOCATION/CLINIC: Vienna, Austria

DEVICE(s), LEVEL(s): Prodisc L3-4, L4-5 and L5-S1

COST =
AMOUNT BILLED:
INSURANCE ALLOWED:
OUT OF POCKET: APPROX $40,000(still compiling)
TRAVEL:
EXPLANATIONS? Still haven't gotten final bills from hospital. Paid 32,000 U.S dollar deposit. Plus 2,000 for plane roundtrip wife and I, and about 1,600 for hotel so far.

ONSET OF LUMBAR PROBLEMS, DATE OF INJURY, CAUSE, ETC...: Auto Accident 1988, major low back, no leg pain
PRIOR SPINE SURGERIES AND PROCEDURES (IDET, ESI, etc...): L3-L4 discectomy 1989, Delaware

PRE-OP MEDICATIONS:
Spinal Cord Stimulator and occasional Vicodin, Ibuprofen
PRE-OP DIAGNOSTICS (discogram, nerve root blocks, etc...): Discogram, MRI, ESI's, X-Ray, CT Scan.
PRE-OP NEUROPATHIES (what, where, & degree of pain, numbness, tingling, sexual/bladder/bowel symptoms, etc.): Right-sided low back pain, right leg pain in thigh and right side of calf as well as foot into the toes. Numbness in Right Foot as well as tingling in foot

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): I would say I was about 60 to 70% Low back Pain and 30-40% right leg pain. Depending upon day. At times I would come close to falling with shooting pains but never fell as I was always able to catch myself in time. The littlest bit of manual labor would leave me watching each step for several days with pain on each step. Needless to say I did very little to cause this to happen. As for work itself, I was able to work most of the day without problems once I had my spinal cord stimulator implanted last summer. Prior to it, I was only working 3-4 hours a day and taking narcotics rest of day. Owestry index had me at 80% disabled based upon the test.

TIME POST-OP AT ORIGINAL POST HERE: 6 weeks post-op

DESCRIBE YOUR SURGICAL EXPERIENCE: An absolute delight. Dr. Bertagnoli was incredible and nurses and hospital were great. I was able to get up and walk to bathroom day after surgery as day of surgery and night of I spent in ICU. Got up on my own and only was in uncomfortable pain for approx. 2 days. After that all began to diminish.

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: 6 ___ SATISFACTION: _ 5 __ [3 MONTHS POST-OP]

FUNCTIONALITY: _ 6 __ 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?]): At six weeks post op I am only experiencing some slight tenderness in stomach area mostly just scar healing. I have some, very little low back pain, mostly left sided hip type pain. Leg pain only when driving. All my previous back and leg pain seems to be gone. Now that PT started at week 5 I have some muscle soreness. According to PT I went from a 40 degree right leg extension with excruciating pain for several days afterward, to 50 degrees on first evaluation after surgery to 60 degrees after one week of PT. This increase is all without any pain, just tightness in hamstring. All tests that PT has done on me are all negative for pain, whereas before, almost everyone caused increased symptoms. I feel like this was one the best decisions I have made in my life. It has been difficult and expensive and caused a great deal of strain in my work life but was well worth it.

3 MONTHS POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ETC... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]): All is well. No pain meds, no ibuprofen. Working out 4-6x/week. PT over. Stronger than ever. Can't even begin to explain how happy I am. Sometimes seems like I must be dreaming!! Morning time I feel some tightness but that is it. More likely result of working out than anything else!!

6 MONTHS POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ETC... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]): Pretty much the same these days. Working out 5-6 times a week with eliptical machine, treadmill, lifting weigts 3 times a week. Doing things I never thought I would do. I don't feel as though I have any restrictions. Take an ocassional ibuprofen but mainly for soreness from lifrting or aching knees from running. I have morning stiffness that resolves quickly and no other pains at all. Ocassional right foot numbness, but usually activity related and goes away afterward.

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 wbaker68.