newbie

[lizajane]

Hi Folk,

I've never posted here before, but have used a peripheral neuropathy board and spine board and found them helpful at different points. No one has anything to say about what I am currently dealing with, and I've been hard-pressed to figure out where to look.

I do have scoliosis, though it's mild. Mainly lumbar. I don't know how many degrees.

Three years ago I developed severe sciatic pain, and over the following year developed bowel/bladder issues, and then difficulty walking. I was finally diagnosed as having a cyst in my spinal canal, and in order to remove it I had to have a laminectomy and fusion with instrumentation.

This is where you folk come in---you seem to know more about instruments than anyone on any other boards.

I was given some drugs post-op which probably interfered with fusion and I had zero fusion. I was 55 and a non-smoker, so I had no risk factors for nonfusion. Because I didn't fuse, the screws became loose. I'm unstable from L2 - L5.

I've seen two surgeons who want to operate. One says that loose screws put me in risk of pedicle fracture and that it's dangerous to not get my spine fixed. I found nothing in any literature searches I did online about this. The other surgeon says there is no risk of harm from the loose hardware beyond the pain I feel. He says I need to have an AP fusion (everyone says that), but it should be done solely for my quality of life, not because of danger. He says i'll definitely fuse from this, and will be totally pain-free, since it is so clear where my pain is coming from.

Because of the scoliosis, he'd extend up to L2. Because I have butt pain, he wants a discogram, on which basis he will decide whether or not to fuse S1.

He says that's not a good fusion to have.

So, has anybody been told loose screws are dangerous?
Has anybody ever had a doctor look for specific pain generators to make sure the fusion was going to solve the pain problem? I'm afraid the pain may be something totally different, and don't know how they can find out.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. I'm figuring to have the surgery in the summer, thinking it will be easier to have recuperation then. He says it will take about 6 weeks to be back at work. I'll be sacrificing my favorite season, but it's also when work is slowest, and I imagine I can lie outdoors and not be cooped up.

All advice welcome. If I've come to the wrong place, because my scoliosis is so mild, I apologize for taking your time.

Thank you all,
LizaJane

www.lizajane.org

[Sharshe]

Just a thought, have you had a dexascan done? My mother had problems after breaking her hip, the screws were loose because of osteoperosis. This doesn't show up in x-rays. The surgeon figured the fracture was because she was roller blading not osteo.

[lizajane]

Sharse, thanks for your reply. Yes, I've had scans done. They're hard to read both because of the scoliosis and the hardware, but it doesn't seem that this is from that. Rather it happened because I was on steroids postop. My issue is concerns about going forward.

[Karen Ocker]

I would definitely get other opinions from revision surgeons. I am fused to the sacrum and pain free. I went to a metabolic bone specialist and found my Vit D levels were low and I was treated. This did not show in my essentially normal bone scans. I fused well the first time. Steroids can definitely cause osteoporosis.

[lizajane]

Thank you Karen. I am going to a bone metabolism guy, and he put me on Forteo. But after two months I developed a small fiber neuropathy on it. I take good doses of vitamin D, and my D levels are fine.