Spinal Fusion Surgery For Me...

For those of you that do not know as of yet, I am going to have Spinal Fusion surgery soon. I have had back problems centered in the L4/L5 lumbar region ever since I was pregnant with Kiya. I assumed that once I had her, all of my back problems would go away - you know like the other pregnancy issues like heart burn and such. Unfortunately, it has not only NOT gone away, but it has become worse - to the point that I cannot stand for longer than about 15-20 minutes without being in extreme pain. I have not known a day without pain in about 2 years. My sleep is disturbed (I toss and turn all night since I cannot find a position that diminishes the pain), it has limited my ability to live as I cannot do the things I want to do with my family like backpacking, hiking, exercising, etc. I cannot even pick up and carry Kiya or lay her down in her crib without experiencing a blinding pain.

I have tried pretty much everything from chiropractic to physical therapy. I am not on any meds as I do not like to be medicated, and I don't think it would help all of that much anyway. I have gone to a number of doctors, but finally sought out a well respected surgeon. He explained to me after X-rays and another MRI that my L4/L5 disc was broken. Since there are no cells in this area it cannot regenerate. My options are really to adjust my expectations of my back and live like this (which frankly is not an option for me) or have Spinal Fusion surgery.

While I am not looking forward to the surgery, I am looking forward to living my life again. There is a 3 month recovery process. Basically, they are going to take a femur bone from the Bone Bank (a cadaver), file it down for me, remove my L4/L5 disc, take bone marrow from my pelvic area and then put in the femur bone and affix it with two screws. There will be two surgeons (an orthopedic surgeon and a vascular surgeon). I will have two scars (which I'm pretty bummed about considering I was able to escape childbirth without any scars). One will be horizontal midline on my stomach. The other will be vertical on my lower back. I will be in the hospital for a little less than a week (another thing I am not looking forward to), but hey it will be worth it if I can live my life again, right?

After the three months, the doctor states I should have no limitations, so that is what I am looking forward to. That and a real diminished sense of pain. Apparently this is pretty major surgery, but I'm trying not to think of it. The doctor already thinks I'm a wuss because I asked if they could put me out with gas rather than an IV. He laughed at me. I guess that was a no :p

I go in for surgery soon, don't have a date yet, but it should be within the next few weeks. Wish me luck, and keep me in your prayers if you think about it. :)