On Monday I had my bending xrays to determine what the plan was for surgery.
First the technician took a really good full-length shot while I was standing and then she called Dr. T and he positioned me while I lay on my back. First I bent as far as possible to the right and she took a couple xrays. Then I bent as far as possible to the left. The doctor made sure that I was really stretched as far as possible. I stretched enough that I was a little stiff the next day.
While he was talking to my husband and I, the doctor marked up the full-length xray with his measurements. My husband took a picture of this and I'll try to add that as an attachment.
First Dr. T marked the vertical mid-line and measured that I was leaning 3.5cm to the left of mid-line. Then he marked and measured each of the curves and finally he looked at each of the bending xrays and measured how much correction I was able to get just by bending. The top curve corrected to 25 degrees, the middle curve (the largest) corrected to 22 degrees! He said this was very encouraging and he should be able to get a lot of correction during surgery.
Then he discussed my options and his recommendation. The big question was how low to fuse. He wants to fuse me only to L4. He can't guarantee that it will last but he thinks it will. The two disks below L4 look to be in pretty good condition so we may be able to save them.
By stopping at L4, I will only need one posterior surgery instead of a longer A/P approach (possibly 2 surgeries) and I will retain some lower back flexibility.
The risk is that if my two remaining lumbar disks rupture in the future (ouch !) then he will have to go in and fuse the rest of my low back, but that may not happen and if it does, the surgery won't be very long.
I like this idea. I was so happy after the appointment. To me less is best.
What kind of discussions have the rest of you had with your doctors about how much to fuse or not to fuse? What did you choose and why?
First the technician took a really good full-length shot while I was standing and then she called Dr. T and he positioned me while I lay on my back. First I bent as far as possible to the right and she took a couple xrays. Then I bent as far as possible to the left. The doctor made sure that I was really stretched as far as possible. I stretched enough that I was a little stiff the next day.
While he was talking to my husband and I, the doctor marked up the full-length xray with his measurements. My husband took a picture of this and I'll try to add that as an attachment.
First Dr. T marked the vertical mid-line and measured that I was leaning 3.5cm to the left of mid-line. Then he marked and measured each of the curves and finally he looked at each of the bending xrays and measured how much correction I was able to get just by bending. The top curve corrected to 25 degrees, the middle curve (the largest) corrected to 22 degrees! He said this was very encouraging and he should be able to get a lot of correction during surgery.
Then he discussed my options and his recommendation. The big question was how low to fuse. He wants to fuse me only to L4. He can't guarantee that it will last but he thinks it will. The two disks below L4 look to be in pretty good condition so we may be able to save them.
By stopping at L4, I will only need one posterior surgery instead of a longer A/P approach (possibly 2 surgeries) and I will retain some lower back flexibility.
The risk is that if my two remaining lumbar disks rupture in the future (ouch !) then he will have to go in and fuse the rest of my low back, but that may not happen and if it does, the surgery won't be very long.
I like this idea. I was so happy after the appointment. To me less is best.
What kind of discussions have the rest of you had with your doctors about how much to fuse or not to fuse? What did you choose and why?
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