I guess I had a similar experience.....I had a few other opinions that ended me at Dr Tribus. My 1st (original) back doctor advised that I would def. need surgery & it would most likely need to end at L5 possibly into the sacrum. This level of fusion was out of his "league"....that is not what he said but it just seems fitting...so he referred me to a Doc in MN who I did not like one bit.(bad bed side, taked down to me,etc) He said I would need to be fused into the sacrum no questions asked & basically was trying to talk me out of the surgery. I left confused obviously. I went back to doc #1 and said do you have another referal.....which left me w/Doc Tribus. He took xrays which included the bending ones & also a MRI. After reviewing them he said he felt very confident that he could achieve good results going the a/p approach & would fuse me from T5 to L4, as this would allow me more flexability, etc. He did tell me however, that in the future....15-20 yrs donw the road, he may need to finish the fusion but it was choice. It ended up only being a posterior fusion, thank goodness & I obviously decided to end at L4 & personally Im glad I did. I actually notice more of the fusion/hardware in my thorasic area than I do in my lower. I easily bend at the waist when I need to or use a combo of squating and waist bending. I dont regret where it ended & if I do take it easy, perhaps I can hold off even longer on the last 2.
Oh...and I never did the tub scrubbing to begin with, so my back wont know the difference!
Oh...and I never did the tub scrubbing to begin with, so my back wont know the difference!
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