NFT: Spinal stenosis

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Sorry you have to deal with this. I've had a few spine surgeries, but not the laminectomy you are considering. There may be some commonalities that I can pass on though.

The rods and screws are not painful - you won't know they are there. I had 1 set that was painful but the screw must have hit a nerve. That is rare and they fixed it with a relatively easy 2nd surgery.

They remove the part of the bones that are compressing the nerves, but typically not the entire vertibra. There would be the obvious "discomfort" after the surgery, but once it heals you should not be getting any pain from what they removed or the hardware.

The bones will heal and can grow out a little. So for me, after 6 months to a year I would get some bone growth that gave me a little compression again but it was mild compared to what it was. Not everyone has this happen, but that was my experience.

I had a friend who had this surgery and did really well - pretty much back to normal. I sure hope you have the same experience if you decide to go forward with it!

about 2.5 years ago. Had the same fears but … the recovery was faster than anticipated and overall, no issues since. I should add that she’s a competitive power lifter and while she doesn’t compete in CrossFit, she’s active in it and some of her times/reps/weights would be competitive. I mention that because I feel like you want to remain in the gym after the surgery.

it sucks that i cant run/ride the bike/ and it even hurts when i do dumbell workouts standing up.

i can still golf but i'm a shell of what i used to be, thank goodness for handicaps (no pun intended)

I'm going to see how this shot goes and try to get in another year before getting this done

I had a very bad herniated disc and the spine doctor said there was nothing for it but a laminectomy. I don't know if they are all the same procedure, but for me, I had part of the back of one vertebra removed (the 'lamina' I suppose) and all the bulging disc material was trimmed away, alleviating the stenosis. On an xray those vertebrae are now really close and the surgeon said eventually I'll get arthritis there, but no avoiding that.

While he did warn me that there are risks (he said 10% chance you will have other nerve issues up to and including paralysis - but I think he was exaggerating somewhat just to make sure I was all-in) it went perfectly well and aside from a scar on my back, I have had no further issues with it.

I was out of the hospital the next day and immediately my legs worked normally. However once the hospital meds wore off, the recovery was kind of harsh. At times it was quite painful and I think I recall that it took about 2 weeks before I really felt I was getting over it. After about a month I started feeling good and within a couple of months, all better.

I wore a summit hard back brace for about 3 weeks after surgery. PT lasted about a month, if I recall right.

With the risk being that your leg could eventually become permanently impaired, plus the risk of falls and just limitations on life, it is well worth doing if your doctor advises it.

I also have spinal steonosis in my lumbar spine. About five or six years ago, I had a nerve impingement at my L5 level. Instead of undergoing a traditional surgery, I underwent a minimally invasive laminectomy to clear the impingement. There are no screws or rods or deep incisions, and the recovery time is so much smaller and easier. It's a small incision where they simply removed the portion of the bone in my spine that was causing the impingement. It eliminated my nerve pain and a great amount of the lower back pain I was suffering from. I'd strongly suggest you get a second opinion from a surgeon who does minimnally invasive surgery.

have also had other back issues, including multiple herniated discs and a couple fractured vertebrae (different incidents). I've had 5 surgeries so far. First one was a discectomy about 40 yrs ago. A few yrs later, I fractured the vertebrae in a flying accident (I was flying in my car). I was a young guy at the time and regret getting bone fusion and herrington rods implanted following the accident (had the rods removed a few yrs after, bc they were affecting my uh, dancing..).

I was in another accident last fall (this time not my fault) and now have 7 herniated discs and I found out I have stenosis. I'm looking at a 6th back operation. A local orthopedic doctor recommended fusion for me and I said to myself that's prolly not happening and I'm prolly never going back to that doctor.

Long story, but I only trust one surgeon (Dr. Anthony Mork); he's the one who performed my last 2 procedures in '04 and '10. Before I found Dr. Mork (thank God), I discovered multiple doctors including at the supposedly renowned Mayo Clinic (of Jax) aren't nearly as smart as they think they are (over multiple months and visits they couldn't figure out what was wrong with me in '04 (I was in severe pain).

It took Dr. Mork about 30 seconds to figure it out (seriously) and he successfully operated on me the next day (also seriously, they have people travel from long distances, so they take care of everything over 2-3 days) and then he did further cleanup about 6 yrs later). Dr. Mork is a hero to me.

He specializes in minimally invasive surgery and really tries to steer people AWAY from fusion when possible (which I believe is fairly often. It seems a lot of doctors are quick to recommend unnecessary fusion). I highly recommend checking with him before you have fusion.

If you send him your MRIs, he can tell you whether he can help you or not. I just had a tele-health consultation with him about 2 weeks ago. He has an office in Naples FL and Irvine CA. As I said, people travel long distances for his services.

FYI, they don't take insurance directly. If you go with him (out of network), you should discuss with your insurance co. ahead of time. Dr. Mork's office will give you an invoice that you have to submit to your insurance co.

I don't know if there are a lot of other surgeons who specialize in minimally invasive surgery like him, but even if you don't have him perform the procedure, I think it would definitely be worth getting his opinion ($100 telehealth fee, I submitted to my insurance co, and they reimbursed $80).

https://drtonymork.com

Sorry it's so long (that's what I said). Good luck!

his wife's name is Mindy

In comment 16128024 cjac said:

Quote:

his wife's name is Mindy

ha ha. I know it's a funny name, but as I said, the man is a hero to me. I was in deep shit in '04. Was starting to wonder if I would ever be able to hold my then 1 yr old daughter or have a semi normal life (I couldn't stand or even sit up for more than about 1 minute without extreme pain. Had to take heavy duty opiates, which I hated).

Multiple doctors couldn't figure it out. Even if they had, I have no confidence they would've fixed it. Dr. Mork did. I thank God that I found him (it was very much worth traveling about 10 hours round trip, lying in the back of a minivan).

nanu nanu

steroid injections work for a herniated disc but not for spinal stenosis. Loss of function of a leg is a serious problem. Every University Medical Center has excellent neurosurgeons.

No advice, but best of luck cjac!

I'm reminded that gf had the hard back brace as well. I'd guess a few weeks. I recall her not loving it, but wasn't the worst thing by any stretch.

If it is affecting your leg function, you need to address it.