#discectomy

my biannual X-ray flex

technically they only replaced the disc in my neck. the others are just broken and fused

Ya girls out of surgery and back home with some food. Besides some soreness in my back and calf from the compression machine, I'm feeling great! I walked more today than I have in the past 4 months just making a loop around the recovery area, and just something as small as doing that or sitting g without fire going down my leg is so exciting. I'm so happy

Discectomy is a surgical procedure to remove a herniated or damaged disc from spinal cord. The purpose of discectomy is to cure the symptoms caused by pressure that created by a herniated disc placed on spinal cord.

They generally don’t. My case is unusual - though not completely unheard of. Severe complications from long fusions are being increasingly described in medical literature. This is because they are performed more, and because people are living for decades with them. There is currently no blanket diagnosis that explains what is happening to my spine. It’s something like a combination of:

Postoperative Flatback syndrome (flattening of the normal curves of the spine) following 10-level spinal fusion + Cervical disc replacement post-disc herniation with sequestration + 3 herniated discs with Anterolisthesis in the cervical spine with severe central canal stenosis + 3 herniated discs in the lumbar spine below the fusion

In plain language, my body is not reacting to my spinal fusion well, and my discs are getting shredded to bits and crushing my spinal cord. This is an issue because removing a spinal fusion is near impossible. The technology does not exist currently

My disc arthroplasty was a bandaid solution until they do a 2nd fusion. Or god forbid, they extend my original fusion up to my neck

My neurosurgeons’ main concerns have been the longevity of my spine and therefore my life . I am 26. I am currently waiting to get more imaging done to see how the damage has progressed.

Exercising, steroid injections, and a good attitude have been keeping me going and keeping me calm about my fears of a short life. I can’t stop what’s happening to me, but I can do things to slow it down. I am fighting every day to build useable muscle and maintain my spine. It’s very hard (and painful) (and expensive) but I don’t have a choice.

I will likely be having another surgery in 2026 to correct broken pedicle screws in my thoracic spine (I am just living with it rn). I really can’t predict when the 2nd fusion will happen because right now, they are letting me decide when enough is enough in terms of symptoms

This was around 10 years ago, but I had a 10-level fusion which is pretty invasive. I spent a week in the hospital, a month at home doing nothing but recovering and relearning how to do things (like shower, dress myself, etc) and I wasn’t really better for another year (or my new ‘better’).

I have also done physical on and off for a decade

I also had to have more surgery later on to fix damage the big fusion caused to the vertebrae above and below my fusion.

If you get a fusion, prepare to do a lot of physical therapy and light exercise for the rest of your life to stabilize the rest of your spine

Granted, most people do not have 10 or more vertebrae fused. I think the average is much lower than that, and surgeons are a bit more conservative about fusions now.