Artificial Disc Replacement, Lumbar

[paudie o keeffe]

Hello everyone, My name is Paudie O Keeffe, I,m in ireland. I had Laminectomy- Discectomy in 2002. but put out 2 discs again. I keep hurting my back and it is very weak , I am considering Stenum and the m6 L I can only see it getting worse and I am only 37. Any info would be appreciated

Kind Regards

P O Keeffe

[KBear]

Hi Paudie,
Sorry you are finding yourself needing another surgery. My advice would be to get multiple opinions and research all your options before making a decision. I have no personal experience with Stenum, but have heard wonderful things about them. Several people on here have used them. Just curious, what is your diagnosis?
Kathy

[Cindylou]

Welcome Paudie,

I'm sorry as well that you are finding yourself in pain again. You have come to a wonderful support community. I do agree with Kathy about getting multiple opinions from different spine experts and asking questions about why each would recommend a particular surgery for you, how many have they done, have any former patients made themselves available to ask how their respective surgeries have gone, etc. As you well know, spine surgery is a major decision and you want to be as informed as you can be, before, and if, you bite the bullet. Good luck. Hope we can help. And yes, what is your diagnosis? Again, welcome. Cindylou

[ajj1001]

Hi Paudie and welcome to the forum. What opinions have you been given as to your long term prognosis? Finding the best option for a long term solution is important as I am sure you know after already having one surgery already.

Hope you find a way forward soon.

alison x

[paudie o keeffe]

Hi Paudie,
Sorry you are finding yourself needing another surgery. My advice would be to get multiple opinions and research all your options before making a decision. I have no personal experience with Stenum, but have heard wonderful things about them. Several people on here have used them. Just curious, what is your diagnosis?
Kathy

Thank you, I will be getting results of scan this week

[paudie o keeffe]

Hi Paudie and welcome to the forum. What opinions have you been given as to your long term prognosis? Finding the best option for a long term solution is important as I am sure you know after already having one surgery already.

Hope you find a way forward soon.

alison x

Thanks Alison, getting results this week hopefully. When i read the awful pain stories of the pain some of ye have gone through, I wonder if I am bad enough to justify surgery.

[paudie o keeffe]

Welcome Paudie,

I'm sorry as well that you are finding yourself in pain again. You have come to a wonderful support community. I do agree with Kathy about getting multiple opinions from different spine experts and asking questions about why each would recommend a particular surgery for you, how many have they done, have any former patients made themselves available to ask how their respective surgeries have gone, etc. As you well know, spine surgery is a major decision and you want to be as informed as you can be, before, and if, you bite the bullet. Good luck. Hope we can help. And yes, what is your diagnosis? Again, welcome. Cindylou

thanks Cindy, I'll let you know how I get on

[trkdoc714]

Paudie,

Welcome to SPS. The others are giving good advice, get as many opinions as you can before making your decision.

Depending on your symptoms, ADR may or may not be the solution to your problem. A lot of research should be done prior to your decision.

Like you, I had a discectomy/ laminectomy in 2006 and again in 2007 at L5/S1. As the symptoms recurred and got worse, I visited several specialists for opinions before I made my decision to go to Stenum. I got lucky as Dr. Ritter-Lang from Stenum just happened to visit the city I live near and I was able to get an appointment and the most conservative opinion to date.

Good luck to you. We're here to help!

Bob

[KBear]

Thanks Alison, getting results this week hopefully. When i read the awful pain stories of the pain some of ye have gone through, I wonder if I am bad enough to justify surgery.

That is one of those tough questions that only you can answer. As bad as I was pre-surgery, I still had second thoughts about whether I should have surgery. For each person this is a personal decision, some decide sooner rather than later and some wait to the point of no longer being a candidate for ADR. ADR is not for everyone and there are people with disastrous results from it, but it can be a lifesaver when used on the right people. My opinion is that the sooner in an injury someone has surgery, the quicker they heal and better results they have (obviously you need to exhaust all conservative options first). Some surgeons will even tell patients that the longer they have been in pain, the better the chance that the nerves remember the pain and cause pain even when the pain source is gone. Tough call, but pain is pain and no level of it is fun or easy.

[Cindylou]

Well said Kathy.