surgery

[Guest guest]

I saw Dr. Reeg today. He agreed that I need surgery, now or later, whichever is most convenient for me. What put me in shock was what he said the surgery would involve - an anterior and posterior approach. He will make an incision through my abdomen to get to the vertebrae, cut out the bad discs, wedge huge chunks of bone in the disc spaces to restore the height, and restore the natural curve of the spine so I my spine is no longer flat; then he will flip me over, cut me open in the back, cut the Harrington rod in half and remove the lower portion, fasten down the upper portion, then fasten new rods and screws to hold all the new "stuff" in place. The new rods would go from my thoracic spine down to my pelvis. I will have to wear a brace after surgery. Recuperation time will be 4-6 months. I will be able to drive after approximately 2 months. Right now surgery is tentatively scheduled for June 25. Most importantly he did say that surgery would take care of the pain and the imbalance.

Since the pain significantly increased after starting to work full-time, I did tell him I was quitting my job and returning to working from home where I could rest or change activity when the pain starts. I asked if it was possible the pain might return to pre-work levels and I could cut back significantly on the pain killers, and he said it was very possible. So if I find being home again full-time eases off the pain and I'm able to stop taking all the meds, I will probably cancel surgery and wait until later. If I find I still have to live on pain meds, then I'll go ahead with the surgery in June.

I'm still pretty much in shock right now. I wasn't expecting to hear that I need an anterior as well as posterior approach and I was never expecting to hear that part of my Harrington rod would be removed!!!! I will schedule another appointment with the doctor as a million questions are now coming to mind that I didn't think to ask.

Peggy