Anyone have a Laminectomy?

jsippy73

Scheduled for surgery Dec. 16 at Cleveland Clinic. Been struggling with severe back and leg pain for over a year. Some days can't walk to mail box without kneeling down halfway there. Amazing all the BS one has to go through to get this far. Hard to get medications that actually help. Thanks in advance for any comments. Not looking forward to the recovery process.

sdandrea1

Had a Discectomy/laminectomy in 2008 to repair a ruptured disc and cut away some bone to make space for the sciatic nerve root. 12 weeks from surgery to golf and still pain free. 👍🙏

jsippy73

sdandrea1 How old were you then? I'm 73. Sounds like it worked perfectly for you.

sdandrea1

jsippy73 How old were you then? I'm 73. Sounds like it worked perfectly for you.

I was 56.

Taki27

Are you getting a fusion also or “just” a laminectomy?

jsippy73

Taki27 Hard to read what nurse wrote down think it is facetectomics.
L2/3, L3/4, L4/5

Taki27

They have gotten so good at these back procedures it’s crazy.

You’ll be better than ever in no time.

Weirfan

Taki27

Agreed. That goes for most orthopaedic surgical procedures . My good buddy had a complete shoulder replacement last November at 65, he was golfing , playing squash and Pickleball in 5 months.
In eras past, you had back surgery and were kept in the hospital , in bed for a week or two, now they get you up walking typically the next day and go home in 2-3 days

I suppose my concern would be more with the risks of general anesthetic in a 70+ year old, perhaps they will be using an epidural ?

jsippy73

Weirfan Was told I would be in the hospital for at least 2 days with a drainage tube in my back. Can't go home til there is no drainage. Hope it stops in 2 days. Hate hospitals.

Stu1961

Weirfan In eras past, you had back surgery and were kept in the hospital , in bed for a week or two, now they get you up walking typically the next day and go home in 2-3 days

I had my L4/L5 disc replaced two years ago, and walked out of the hospital about 2 hour after waking from surgery. Would have been sooner but they want to make sure the plumbing works without issue.

jsippy73

Has to sign papers that I agree that I could have someone come to my home to count my tablets in order to get a prescription for hydrocodone/acetaminophen.
Guess they want to make sure you aren't selling them?

johnnydoom

I haven’t had it done, but have been in the operating room watching. It depends some on whether it’s an open surgery or minimally invasive, but either way it usually requires a decent sized incision and a couple of hours in surgery due to the tools they need to use. It’s a little different than most orthopedic surgery in that it requires a delicate approach when using tools that cut bone, but are right against major nerve branches. It could go faster if imaging shows a very clear impingement point.

jsippy73

johnnydoom
Surgeon said would take about 2 hours.

backinit

Best of luck with this!

jsippy73

backinit
Thanks. Can't stand it much longer.

colej

jsippy73

If I make it to your age (family history isn’t great) I’m sure I’ll need some kind of surgery on my lower back.

Do what you have to do to keep your quality of life and keep you from the pain Meds.

jsippy73

Just found out the type of brain cancer my neighbor and former co-worker has. Glioblastoma. 59 years old and probably won't make it to 60. Been reading about it, and it has to be the worst illness that can EVER happen to a person. No cure.

mulegolf

I had a laminectomy in 2012. I followed that up with a microdiscectomy in 2014. This one was closely followed by infection in the surgery site. Nasty stuff. Anyhow, my laminectomy went pretty well. I recovered and was mostly back to almost normal after around 3-4 months. My laminectomy resulted in a spinal fusion of the L2 L3 joint. That doesn't mean I didn't and don't have back pain any longer. I still do but much less than before. I'm looking at another back surgery in the future because I have some vertebrae that are misaligned with one of them offset from the others. Not looking forward to it.