Spinal Stenosis, anyone?

Tiny Torpedo · #1 03-03-2005, 10:21 AM

HI there everyone .. i'm a newbie here just joined today .. read the article and was wondering if Cal had his surgery ? and how did it all turn out ..I'm going to have the same surgery done .. in a few weeks .. a 3 level fusion lower back .. Boy at my age ready to retire this year ...

any input would be great ,

GREAT BOARD

TT

Nulle · #2 03-03-2005, 06:03 PM

My Kennel Tech. just had a 2 done and she thinks she will be back on light duty the 17th. Came out of it fine and she said anything would be better then the constant pain.
OH
Welcome to the old farts club !

Cal Sibley · #3 03-04-2005, 05:10 PM

Hello TT,

Well, it's been several months now since the operation, and I honestly don't feel it was very successful. I still can't walk a hundred yards without stopping. Of course when I stop or sit all pain subsides. The surgeon told me that most of the body's nerves run parallel to the spinal column, terminating in the lower back. Over the years it gets all cluttered up in there, no room left so to speak. He removed some things creating more room, but it just didn't do the job. He never said it could be cured, only a lessening of the pain, about 75 %. I got maybe 25% from it, better than nothing I guess. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

Cal Sibley · #4 11-10-2005, 01:02 AM

Hello TT,

Okay, it's been several more months since my earlier post and there's been no improvement. I think the doctor diagnosed me wrong. I also have diabetes and read recently that what appears to be spinal stenosis can also result from diabetes. I wouldn't be at all surprised. As of now I get numbness in my lower legs and feet, can no longer drive at night, and have a bunch of other ailments that "all" seem to relate to diabetes. Boy, for a single condition diabetes sure seems to zap us in a lot of different ways. Maybe others here know more about that than me. Thank heavens for a free medical system. I'd hate to have to shell out my retirement money for an operation that didn't work. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

Nulle · #5 11-10-2005, 02:07 AM

Sorry things didn't work out Cal but the medical is a plus for you.
I was in the ER for about an hour last summer and for a two min. chat it was $400 .

BILLY D. · #6 11-10-2005, 03:37 AM

hey guys, i'm the prince of bad backs. i had 5 herniated discs. if i even broke wind the wrong way i got back spasms. my spinal nerves were being pushed out of the spinal column and placed pressure on the sciatic nerve.

$48,000 worth of surgery and having 2 of my vertibrae fused together, i'm as good as new.................almost. iv'e had two more spasms since then, but they are not as painful as they used to be.

one interesting thing is all my spasms previously were on the left side of my back. now they are on the right side. they are also not as painful and intense as they were. the last one i had was when i was doing some really strenous work out in the garage. i bought one of those shelves with lots of drawers for nuts , bolts and all the other gizwickets we use and was sorting out bolts and sneezed. next thing i know im face first on the floor. tried to stand up and when i did get up i was bent at a 45* angle from the waist up. back to the doc. a morphine shot and a bottle of pain killers and i went back home.

ever since the operation my left leg between the hip and knee feels like it just left the dentists office after a root canal. that prickly numb feeling. it doesn't affect the muscle though. i can still walk, run and still play with the neighbor kids. so i feel fortunate in a way. lots of folks my age can't do half the things that i can still do so i thank god for every day.

sorry i got soooo long winded, just isn't another way to explain it in a shorter verse.

oh, and cal, iv'e talked to other folks who have had thes type operations and some of them said it took two to three years before they started to feel right again. so....don't give up hope. i'm not.

ringneck 1 · #7 11-10-2005, 08:03 AM

had a back fusion in71 back then the incesion was about 10inch long its come along way since then.back then I didnt care what they done as long as the pain went away.Its a good gage for weight gain thou.thats the only time it flares up

Cal Sibley · #8 11-16-2005, 07:47 PM

Hello BillyD,

Thanks for telling me that it can take up to two years to experience the results. I didn't know that but am certainly glad to hear it. Best wishes.

Cal - Montreal

tooldummy · #9 12-16-2005, 05:34 PM

Sorry to hear of your health problems Cal. I'm diabetic also. Seems to me that everything that happens to you the doctors quickly pass of as complications to diabetis. I truly believe if I told my doctor I was late for my appointment because I had a flat tire, the first thing out of his mouth would be "What's your blood sugar been running" and when I told him high, he would simply say "there you go!".
I have so much trouble with the meds they put me on. And then when I have complications, convinsing them is another problem. The last go around was Actos, which made my legs swell. They got so big they finally busted open and developed sores before he took me off it. To bad he didn't listen to me back in July when I told him I was having problems and he just passed it off.
Time before was glucophage. I couldn't breath with the stuff and they thought I was having a heart attack since heart disease and diabetes goes hand in hand. I had to have a heart catherization done before they believed me about the glucophage. I changed doctors then, but this one isn't any better.