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  • Now pain in left hip

    I wonder if anyone out there can give me a bit of insite if experiencing the same thing as me.

    About 2 months ago or so I started to experience a pain in my lower left back and after one month it moved more toward my left hip. Now, every step that I take with my left foot I feel pain in my left hip. Short back history is below in my signature. Now, after 30 years of minimal ups and downs of pain (guess that I have a high tolerance of pain) I get daily and solid pain in my left hip. Mom tells me that doctor did not take bone from hip, or anywhere, to do fusion and I do not have the harrington rods any more. I don't get it...does anyone out there with lower back surgery, fused back, and no bone taken from anywhere all of the sudden start to get pain in one hip?

    Just wondering as went to doctor and he pretty much laughed at me. Said that my back has so many wrong things going that I should not come to visit him again unless severe pain persists. Did not phase me too much because I deal well with pain. He just said, no sense doing anything when so much is wrong unless is hurts to the point of being unbearable. Well, it doesn't hurt unbearably but it is a constant and steady pain for about 2 months now. It doesn't get better, it gets worse. I'm not down or anything but I'm getting pretty tired to feel this pain every day and at every move.

    Any ideas anyone? I just don't have a clue.

    Thanks.

    Marilyn

    1975 Clear hard plastic body cast worn
    1976 Operated for high grade Spondylolisthesis; lumbar fused from L2-Sacrum and Harrington rods inserted
    1976 Wore regular type body cast and in bed rest for 1 year
    1977 Rods removed
    2006 Diagnosed with Flat back syndrome with sagittal imbalance
    2008 Scheduled for wide pedicle subtraction osteotomy, sooner if pain increases


    My email is ahlan_warda@yahoo.com

  • #2
    Hi Marilyn...

    First, you almost certainly would have had bone taken from your iliac crest for fusion, as I don't think they were using donor bone back in the 70s.

    Second, you need to get to a scoliosis specialist who has a lot of experience in treating people with prior scoliosis fusions. Until you do, you're likely to have the same experience as you've just had with the doctor laughing at you. If you can, my recommendation would be to try to see Dr. Michael LaGrone in Amarillo.

    Regards,
    Linda
    Never argue with an idiot. They always drag you down to their level, and then they beat you with experience. --Twain
    ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Surgery 2/10/93 A/P fusion T4-L3
    Surgery 1/20/11 A/P fusion L2-sacrum w/pelvic fixation

    Comment


    • #3
      Doctor's name.

      Who was the doctor that laughed at your pain? An ortho or GP?

      I'm just curious, because I live in Houston and have seen several of the scoliosis specialists here, none have not taken my pain seriously.

      I also have hip pain and low back pain. Over the years, it has turned into nerve pain down my leg. MRI says that it is foraminal narrowing.

      Comment


      • #4
        Thanks Linda and PNUTTRO

        Originally posted by LindaRacine
        Hi Marilyn...

        First, you almost certainly would have had bone taken from your iliac crest for fusion, as I don't think they were using donor bone back in the 70s.
        Wow...thank you. Mom was never told many details or she just didn't understand. My doctor of more than 25 years who retired on me never went into much details...so tons of thanks for your input Linda.


        PNUTTRO...thanks! I'll google the foraminal narrowing to learn more about it. To make a long stroy short, I went to my same doctor, Dr. Jesse Dickson, for about 27 years and then he retired. Now I am still without a doctor. Went to an ortho, Dr. Larrey, who after spending over 1½ hours with me told me not to worry about anything, including the increasing pain in low left back/hip, until I can't stand the pain. Linda recommends the doc in Amarillo...but it is difficult for me to get there. I guess that when my pain grows to a level that I cannot stand it, then I will go see the doc in Amarillo somehow. Tell me, please, what doctors in Houston have not taken your pain seriouslly. Email me at ahlan_warda@yahoo.com (just click on the link) or tell me here. This will save me time, effort and money in my search for a Houston doctor. Thanks!
        Last edited by MariHOU; 10-31-2006, 07:02 AM.

        1975 Clear hard plastic body cast worn
        1976 Operated for high grade Spondylolisthesis; lumbar fused from L2-Sacrum and Harrington rods inserted
        1976 Wore regular type body cast and in bed rest for 1 year
        1977 Rods removed
        2006 Diagnosed with Flat back syndrome with sagittal imbalance
        2008 Scheduled for wide pedicle subtraction osteotomy, sooner if pain increases


        My email is ahlan_warda@yahoo.com

        Comment


        • #5
          Dr. LaGrone...suggestions?

          Originally posted by LindaRacine
          If you can, my recommendation would be to try to see Dr. Michael LaGrone in Amarillo.

          Regards,
          Linda
          Okay, I now have an appointment with Dr. LaGrone on January 25. The extremely nice lady asked me how I learned about Dr. LaGrone and I said that Linda Racine from www.scoliosis.org recommends him. They know very well about Linda and this website.

          I know that my appointment is a long time from now but since it is so far away I need to plan my trip from Houston to Amarillo. Does anyone have any tips on going from Houston to Amarillo to Doctor LaGrone's office? Thanks bunches!

          1975 Clear hard plastic body cast worn
          1976 Operated for high grade Spondylolisthesis; lumbar fused from L2-Sacrum and Harrington rods inserted
          1976 Wore regular type body cast and in bed rest for 1 year
          1977 Rods removed
          2006 Diagnosed with Flat back syndrome with sagittal imbalance
          2008 Scheduled for wide pedicle subtraction osteotomy, sooner if pain increases


          My email is ahlan_warda@yahoo.com

          Comment


          • #6
            I just received an e-mail today from Southwest Airlines about a sale. Go to their website http://www.iflyswa.com and look at the specials that are running right now. You need to book the flight now to get the cheap fare.
            Theresa

            April 8 & 12, 2004 - Anterior/Posterior surgery 15 hours & 7 hours
            Thorasic - 79 degree down to 22
            Lumbar - 44 degree down to 18
            Fused T2 to sacrum
            June 2, 2005 - Pedicle subtraction osteotomy @L3 7 hours
            MAY 21, 2007 - Pedicle subtraction osteotomy @ L2, extended the fusion to S2 and added pelvic instrumentation 9 hours

            FUSED T2 - SACRUM 2

            Comment


            • #7
              Thank you Theresa!

              Wow....$160 rountrip from Houston to Amarillo is an awesome fare! Thanks so much for the head's up.

              Hugz

              1975 Clear hard plastic body cast worn
              1976 Operated for high grade Spondylolisthesis; lumbar fused from L2-Sacrum and Harrington rods inserted
              1976 Wore regular type body cast and in bed rest for 1 year
              1977 Rods removed
              2006 Diagnosed with Flat back syndrome with sagittal imbalance
              2008 Scheduled for wide pedicle subtraction osteotomy, sooner if pain increases


              My email is ahlan_warda@yahoo.com

              Comment


              • #8
                Hope to move Dr. LaGrone Appt

                This new pain is getting ridiculous. I will try to call Dr. Lagrone's office tomorrow and see if there is some way to move the late January appointment to either November or December. I hope this can be done. Pain is worst when I get up from a sitting position and I can barely lay on my left side any more. Trying to stay upbeat about this but its getting a bit more difficult.

                I try to stay away from heavy medication and take 2 Aleve's twice a day. Does anyone out there take over-the-counter medication for back pain that seems to work? If so...please share.

                Thanks!
                Last edited by MariHOU; 11-05-2006, 06:55 PM.

                1975 Clear hard plastic body cast worn
                1976 Operated for high grade Spondylolisthesis; lumbar fused from L2-Sacrum and Harrington rods inserted
                1976 Wore regular type body cast and in bed rest for 1 year
                1977 Rods removed
                2006 Diagnosed with Flat back syndrome with sagittal imbalance
                2008 Scheduled for wide pedicle subtraction osteotomy, sooner if pain increases


                My email is ahlan_warda@yahoo.com

                Comment


                • #9
                  MariHou, my darling, you're in pain?

                  ok, one thing I discovered in the past 60 days was my "panic" that it's all scoli related, it's fer'sure scoli related (my entire family did the same thing -- why of course that's what it is, scoli) but it's age!

                  aw, you and I are two folk (and many many many others here) who need to know is it the scoli or not, am I really just getting old?)

                  I am here to argue for the humane treatment of folk. We did our dues of not complaining!!!! in our youths. We did our dues of taking it. Medicine has so improved meanwhile now a days, in some ways. I mean just compare your old trips to the dentists with the new kinder thoughtful generation. That is a slap to the face that your doctor laughed. It is surely an embarrassment to himself.

                  I can not believe a city the size of Houston does not have what you need.

                  About pain, MariHou I found nothing to work. Meanwhile, I called the pharmacist, hey, how much "Aleve" (I was taking Advil) can I take without killing myself? Call your pharmacist pronto. Aleve by the way is also called Naproxen. Be sure to ask your pharmacists if there are other medications you should avoid while taking pharmaceutical strength Aleve.

                  MariHou from what any of us know, "mentally" you need to hear it from the top, i.e., an ortho surgeon, so you can rest, but meanwhile? Girl, I've been learning about my C-Spine and how which vertebrae degenerate will affect other parts of my body, i.e., my leg or legs, my shoulder or my neck.

                  In a silly way (I am trying to be light) we're some of the luckier ones that we go get things checked out, get x-rays and MRIs and get to see what is really wrong with us. My mother, 81, has been tolerating her neck pain of late (which is getting better) but does she insist on x-rays? No because she is old. Does she have a degenerative disc? We don't know. She did get a script for Physical Therapy and it helped when she had lower back pain.

                  Maryhou, everything "we" considered for me and my pain, had nothing to do with what I "needed" physically but what I might have needed to be out of pain and do my activities and so on. I didn't know that before I went in last Thursday. Maybe I took a scoli soldier, oh gawd, the inevitable, I am going to have to have another fusion, this time to my neck etc. In the future I will consider that I am just getting old before I hit the panic button. But then my first doctor's visit was so lame. fyi, the ortho-guy knows not only about scoli and spines but Pain Management. He is not going to leave me in pain and living dysfunctionally. He's sure as hell is not going to laugh at me. He "will" ascertain if I am a junkie and looking for narcs. fyi, his office never offered or even considered narcs.

                  Linda, shouldn't MaryHou have a moon-shaped scar on her hip if she had bone removed?
                  Traction at 13, body cast 1 mos., Milwaukee, first plastic (severe allergy, abdomen skin burst, watery) then leather. Harrington Rod @ 15, 9 mos body cast, hips up. 9 more mos being careful and protective. Degenerated disc C4-5 I think well above the rod. Degenerated disc below the rod now? Probably.

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    LaGrone moved up my appt

                    Thanks for your posting CK43. You've given me much to think about, specifically about aging. Yep, aging is certainly a factor to consider at 43, only physically though. In my mind I'm still young..lol I don't have a scar on my hip as I think my doc took bone from my iliac (spelling?) to do my fusion back in the stone ages, in 1976. lol

                    Dr. LaGrone's office was wonderful and moved up my appointment to the end of this month and not the end of January. Awesome! Can't wait until I see him. I already have a long list of questions for him...poor man.

                    I can't believe the good fortune that I have; I thank God immensely for my friends. You see, my husband, mom, and dad...none of them can accompany me to see Dr. LaGrone who is in another city. Every time that I see an ortho doctor I am so affected. It is difficult for me to sit there and hear how bad my back is and sometimes I go blank as to what the doctor says due to my shock. You'd think that after so many times I'd be used to it, but no. Well, after sharing with a friend, she volunteered to go with me so that I am not alone. She is using 2 days of her 2006 vacation. Wow...what an awesome friend! I insisted for her to save her vacation days, but she insisted back to me the desire to go with me so that I am not alone in a strange city and getting hit with much bad news. I know that no one here knows me or my friend, but I thought I'd mention it so that everyone here knows there is much good in this world!

                    Well, I've rattled on and on. Sorry.

                    1975 Clear hard plastic body cast worn
                    1976 Operated for high grade Spondylolisthesis; lumbar fused from L2-Sacrum and Harrington rods inserted
                    1976 Wore regular type body cast and in bed rest for 1 year
                    1977 Rods removed
                    2006 Diagnosed with Flat back syndrome with sagittal imbalance
                    2008 Scheduled for wide pedicle subtraction osteotomy, sooner if pain increases


                    My email is ahlan_warda@yahoo.com

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Iliac crest

                      That's where they took my bone graft and I have a scar on my right hip.
                      35 y/old female from Montreal, Canada
                      Diagnosed with scoliosis(double major) at age 12, wore Boston brace 4 years at least 23 hours a day-curve progressed
                      Surgery age 26 for 60 degree curve in Oct. 1997 by Dr.Max Aebi-fused T5 to L2
                      Surgery age 28 for a hook removal in Feb. 1999 by Dr.Max Aebi-pain free for 5 years
                      Surgery age 34 in Dec.2005 for broken rod replacement, bigger screws and crosslinks added and pseudarthrosis(non union) by Dr. Jean Ouellet

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by ck43
                        Linda, shouldn't MaryHou have a moon-shaped scar on her hip if she had bone removed?
                        Nope, not necessarily. Bone can be taken from the iliac crest from the spine opening. And, by the way, my bone graft scar is a straight, horizontal line.

                        --Linda
                        Never argue with an idiot. They always drag you down to their level, and then they beat you with experience. --Twain
                        ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                        Surgery 2/10/93 A/P fusion T4-L3
                        Surgery 1/20/11 A/P fusion L2-sacrum w/pelvic fixation

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          pain in left hip

                          I have had three spinal fusions and now have a total of 45 bits of metal in my back. Since I am unable to bend from any joints but my hips the tendons have developed tears and I have bursitis in my left hip. My surgeon ordered an MRI and has prescribed physical therepy. perhaps your pain is due to an over use of your hip joints?

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by jennifer b.
                            I have had three spinal fusions and now have a total of 45 bits of metal in my back. Since I am unable to bend from any joints but my hips the tendons have developed tears and I have bursitis in my left hip. My surgeon ordered an MRI and has prescribed physical therepy. perhaps your pain is due to an over use of your hip joints?
                            Yikes! There's barely room on the spine for 45 pieces of metal. Since there are 25 vertebrae, you'd essentially have to have 2 screws or hooks in almost every one of them. Any chance you have a picture of your xray?

                            --Linda
                            Never argue with an idiot. They always drag you down to their level, and then they beat you with experience. --Twain
                            ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
                            Surgery 2/10/93 A/P fusion T4-L3
                            Surgery 1/20/11 A/P fusion L2-sacrum w/pelvic fixation

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              3 fusions and 45 bits of medal...wow!

                              Jennifer....

                              Goodness!!!!! I just cannot imagine having 3 fusions and 45 bits of metal one's back. I also had no idea about overusing the hip bone and what that does in one's back. Thank you for sharing. I am so sorry to hear about all that you have been through and continue to go through. Have you started your physical therapy yet?

                              1975 Clear hard plastic body cast worn
                              1976 Operated for high grade Spondylolisthesis; lumbar fused from L2-Sacrum and Harrington rods inserted
                              1976 Wore regular type body cast and in bed rest for 1 year
                              1977 Rods removed
                              2006 Diagnosed with Flat back syndrome with sagittal imbalance
                              2008 Scheduled for wide pedicle subtraction osteotomy, sooner if pain increases


                              My email is ahlan_warda@yahoo.com

                              Comment

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