- Joined
- May 18, 1999
- Messages
- 15,395
Well I just had my latest checkup with Dr. Gaede my neurosurgeon earlier this afternoon and got the good and bad news.:grumpy: The good news is that my L-4 to L-5 joint has completely fused over.:thumbup: 
The bad news is that my L-5 to S-1 joint has not.
And on top of that the pedicle screws in my S-1 joint has wallowed out, which is causing a great deal if not all of the pain I've been having.
All of this means I am going to have to have another back surgery to remove the existing hardware and then add new hardware between the L-5 to S-1 joint along with the crushed bone that's used for fusing bad joints in the back, shocking it again to promote healing and new bone growth and hopefully this one will take.
This one will be the fifth back surgery for me and hopefully will be the last but the odds are only 50-50 that it will be successful, better than nothing I guess but still not good odds at my age and not as good as I would like.
:grumpy:
At least I am in much better shape than I was when I had my last one and I weigh sixty pounds less so we'll see.
It will take a while to get all of the ducks in a row to get ready for the surgery such as getting clearance from my heart doctor and the like.
I'll keep y'all posted as to the progression and when it will take place if I get the clearances I need to have it done.
It'll be a while yet anyway. 
The bad news is that my L-5 to S-1 joint has not.And on top of that the pedicle screws in my S-1 joint has wallowed out, which is causing a great deal if not all of the pain I've been having.
All of this means I am going to have to have another back surgery to remove the existing hardware and then add new hardware between the L-5 to S-1 joint along with the crushed bone that's used for fusing bad joints in the back, shocking it again to promote healing and new bone growth and hopefully this one will take.
This one will be the fifth back surgery for me and hopefully will be the last but the odds are only 50-50 that it will be successful, better than nothing I guess but still not good odds at my age and not as good as I would like.
:grumpy: At least I am in much better shape than I was when I had my last one and I weigh sixty pounds less so we'll see.
It will take a while to get all of the ducks in a row to get ready for the surgery such as getting clearance from my heart doctor and the like.
I'll keep y'all posted as to the progression and when it will take place if I get the clearances I need to have it done.
It'll be a while yet anyway.
Is a second opinion possible? Maybe I'm an optimist, but when I hear bad news I keep looking for more info... Doctors err sometimes and there have to be options...
