I just found out today that I most likely will require a two-level lumbar discectomy w/ fusion (L3/L4 & L4/L5) sometime in the near future. I will find out more on Monday when I meet with the Neurosurgeon (I just met with the Nurse Practitioner today to discuss the MRI results). I've already had one round of epidural spinal steroid injections about a week ago, but it didn't seem to help much. The disc at L4/L5 is so bad that they are surprised I'm not experiencing more pain than I am. I've had progressively worsening pain starting in my left buttock and spreading down my left leg over the past six months.

For those who don't know, I've already had two prior cervical discectomies w/ fusion (C6/C7 in 2004, C5/C6 in 2007). They are attributing my problems to Degenerative Disc Disease (DDD), which really means they don't know why, but my discs seem to wear out much faster than "normal" people.

I'll let you all know more next week...

My mom had discs degenerate after her back broke in two places when a patient was inadvertently dropped on her in the early 80s.

My thoughts are with you.

jesus, man. Best of luck, eh?

Woah. I hope all goes well.

Damn, good luck with that, man.

I know your pain. I am sure a second surgery is in my future. I just hope it is later rather than sooner.

Keep us posted on how it goes.

best of luck

Damn dude.

Damn dude. That's rough news to get.

My dad is contemplating his 7th back surgery right now. His discs gradually dry out and put pressure on the nerves emanating from around them. He doesn't really want to get cut on again, but speaking realistically it's probably the best course for him to get some pain relief and heal the nerve damage. He had a nerve block done a few weeks ago and the effects wore off after about a week.

But anyway, back to you. Have plenty of people around you who can help out and just tackle it head on. Back problems and their remedies are a thing where you pretty much have to go big or go home.

back pain is pretty much the reason why half of the doctors in this country are employed, its a phenomenal problem

actually, if it were just "back pain" you guys could probably deal with it but the radiculopathy and nerve compression is for the fucking birds and that shit is tough to work through

the epidural steroids are actually pretty effective treatments and usually it takes a series of them to really calm down the inflammation

part of me would love to see his films, part of me would hate it

Yeah, I'm thinking about just pushing for more steroid injections and putting off the surgery, but my MRI looked BAD... much worse than I thought it would. My nerve root is almost completely pinched off at L4/L5. Since my symptoms aren't too bad (yet), maybe I can at least put it off until July (June is looking like a pretty busy month for the family... one I don't really want to be stuck at home for). We'll find out more on Monday.

damn, that sucks. i had a couple steroid injections for sciatica last year and my back/leg feels better but there's still a lingering bit of numbness/pain. i'm sure that's nothing compared to what you're going through tho.

Praying for you on this, bro.

Other than cancer, back problems have to be the worst of medical dilemmas. So many friends with so many different back problems and so many different results.

Be careful, man. Back surgery should truly be a last resort. I wouldn't get too worked up about what the MRI looks like if your symptoms aren't that bad. Most pain management doctors will do a series of those epidural injections (ie at least 2-3) before really being able to tell for sure whether you're going to have any luck. So, at least give that a chance. I am a primary care doctor, and I think I could count on one hand the number of people I know who've had back surgery and don't still have at least some form of back pain. The surgeries are usually better for the radicular type pain. So, if you've got a lot leg pain/numbness/tingling, etc, you might have better luck getting rid of that, but it's a hard road no matter what you do. I'm sure you know the deal if you've had 2 surgeries already, but I think the low back and neck are a bit of a different beast. Anyway, listen to the specialist. I am by no means an expert in this. But definitely be careful.

I hate back pain. We are the only species to walk completely upright, and clearly it has not been perfected yet.

Damn, I thought you were all bionic n shit now after the last surgery.

Best of luck.
Thoughts, prayers, and vibes to you.

Am thinking you of you, Scott. Take care of yourself.

Terribly sorry to hear about this, Scott! Hope the surgery goes well and helps alleviate the pain.

sorry, man. i hope that you can get some relief soon.

Good luck man..The little back pain I've had in my life has been for the birds..But I could never imagine your situation.

i mean i agree totally with this but it sure sounds like what everyone in this thread is describing is more radicular in nature (i.e. shooting pain down the leg, numbness in weird distributions) not true "back" pain per se

if its really bony compression of a nerve root then there isnt much else to do but prop that bone up...if its inflammatory which may ultimately resolve (discitis, herniation) then conservative therapy can be appropriate.

mri will have the answer

I've seen the MRI... it's disc herniation with major nerve root & spinal column compression. And the pain is all radicular, progressively worsening every day.

I know that I'll have to have surgery, the question for me is whether to go with fusion (which will most likely lead to more disc herniations in the future to the discs directly above & below the fused sections) or to look into more experimental solutions, like artificial disc replacement (which isn't done by that many doctors, and isn't always covered by insurance).

Plus, since it's a two-level issue, there aren't many (if any) doctors that do that (at least in the U.S. - in Europe, it is much more common).

I'm only 35, and this would be my third spinal surgery. To just keep doing fusions would probably mean that eventually all my discs would herniate. That's why I'm looking at more radical solutions & experimental procedures. There's a bunch of clinical trials that I may qualify for as well. I just need to keep researching.

Thanks to everyone for your thoughts and concern!!!