contrktr Charite III - L5/S1 September 2004

[iSpine-Admin]

Originally Posted by contrktr on October 5, 2004

ADR SURGERY DATE: 9/29/2004

AGE AT SURGERY DATE: 37

SURGEON: Jorge Isaza

SURGERY LOCATION/CLINIC: Baton Rouge LA

DEVICE(s), LEVEL(s): Charite III - L5/S1

COST = So far no out of pocket, seems insurance is going to pick it up.

AMOUNT BILLED: unknown

INSURANCE ALLOWED: so far everything paid for and only normal co-pays.

TRAVEL: Hospital 5 minutes from my home

ONSET OF LUMBAR PROBLEMS, DATE OF INJURY, CAUSE, ETC...: Had lower back pain for 15 years, no recollection of event that originally damaged my disc, but kept re-injuring it while weightlifting. Diagnosed with 3 other causes by 3 different doctors until one finally did MRI and found I had DDD in L5/S1. ESI's and pain medicine pretty much for 15 years kept me going. About 4 months ago pain returned full strength and ESI's didn't help anymore. Got new MRI which showed vertebre slammed on top of each other.
PRIOR SPINE SURGERIES AND PROCEDURES (IDET, ESI, etc...):PT, ESI(dozens)

PRE-OP MEDICATIONS: Bextra, Celebrex, Lortab 10's ALL day.

PRE-OP NEUROPATHIES: Pain mostly in lower back and in hips. Pain in the 5 range not moving and spikes to unbearable when moved wrong.

PRE-OP CONDITION: Pain mostly in hips, butt, and lower back. Pain all the time with spikes when doing too much physical activity. Sitting was the worst position. I am self employed so couldn't stop working, but had to stop fishing (couldn't take the ride). Limited to very light duties, couldn't lift anything without intense pain.

TIME POST-OP AT ORIGINAL POST HERE: 6 Days

DESCRIBE YOUR SURGICAL EXPERIENCE: Went in on a Wednesday, surgery lasted 2 hours, was told went well. Had severe abdominal pain and lower back pain first day. Lower back pain subsided after day 2. Was supposed to stay in hospital for 5 days, insurance kicked me out after 2 days post op. Doc wanted me to stay until my bowels started working again, but left hospital before that. (Doctor was upset and told me not to worry about the Insurance that he would appeal it but I had them release me anyway.(going crazy in hospital, no chance to rest, people in and out every hour) The day after my surgery PT guy came in and told me I had to get up. I told him he was crazy that I couldn't even sit up in bed, he insisted and to my amazement 2 days post op I could walk on my own.

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: 4 (still recovering hoping for the best but read horror stories online)
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 [8 WEEKS POST-OP]

FUNCTIONALITY: ___ SATISFACTION: ___ [3 MONTHS POST-OP]

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

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

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

8 WEEKS POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ECT... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]): ALL pre-op debilatating pain is gone, only occasional twinges that last only a short while. Had a couple bouts with nerve tenderness/tingling/numbness in my feet but didn't last long. I was taking 5-6 Lortabs a day pre-op and now I might take a half of one if I need, but mostly I don't take anything. I am back to work full time and back hunting, want to start weight training again, but PT wants me to wait until 12 weeks. So far (fingers crossed) everything is going better than expected and my PT says I am doing the best out of all his ADR patients.

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... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

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 contrktr.