Recovery time for back surgery?

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Kelley Eidem - 11 Dec 2007 03:34 GMT

I'm looking into surgery for my Spondylolisthesis. I have great
trouble walking than 30 to 50 yards. It can take me five minutes to
walk 100 yards, with or without a crutch.

There is a bony "platform" at my S1 that seems to be holding the L5
from "falling out."

That's why other therapies don't work...the lumbar just won't go back
from chiropractic, acupuncture, etc. Meanwhile the nerve root is
compressed along with other nerves coming out of severely deformed
foramina.

So here is my question, since I work in retail, and need to bend, and
pick up boxes that weigh up to 25 to 30 pounds. How long is the
recovery time to be 100% able to do my job? The company won't let me
back without a note from the doctor saying I'm 100% able to perform my
duties.

The surgery will be minimally invasive, on the surface at least, with
a 1/2 inch incision. If I'm not mistaken, surgery will include a
laminectomy to remove severely deformed pars defects and a fusion.
Also the bony platform would need to be removed. So the surgery won't
be minimal on the interior. The ground-up bone will be put back in,
and apparently regrow and provide more stability.

Any ideas or experience with how long it takes, not just to 'recover'
but to be able to go back to work?

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Jeff - 11 Dec 2007 05:08 GMT

> I'm looking into surgery for my Spondylolisthesis. I have great
> trouble walking than 30 to 50 yards. It can take me five minutes to
[quoted text clipped - 23 lines]
> Any ideas or experience with how long it takes, not just to 'recover'
> but to be able to go back to work?

What did your neurosurgeon or orthopedic surgeon say when you asked him
or her?

Jeff

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Kelley Eidem - 11 Dec 2007 12:48 GMT

> > I'm looking into surgery for my Spondylolisthesis. I have great
> > trouble walking than 30 to 50 yards. It can take me five minutes to
[quoted text clipped - 28 lines]
>
> Jeff

When I asked him, he said 6 weeks, but I didn't ask the question the
same way I'm asking here.

Also, I'm looking for additional input from more than one source.
Would you happen to have any, maybe from your own experience? By the
way, I'm 57years old and not physically active.

Kelley

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Jeff - 11 Dec 2007 21:34 GMT

<...>

> When I asked him, he said 6 weeks, but I didn't ask the question the
> same way I'm asking here.
[quoted text clipped - 4 lines]
>
> Kelley

You're not going to get any good input here. We can't examine you and
don't have the expertise that a neurosurgeon has. My suggestion is that
you get a second opinion from another neurosurgeon and ask the question
the way you asked us to both the original neurosurgeon and the second one.

Jeff

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Kelley Eidem - 12 Dec 2007 00:59 GMT

> <...>
>
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
>
> Jeff

Jeff, one doesn't need to be a neurosurgeon to know how long it took
for them to recover from their own back surgery.

As for your suggestion to get a second opinion, I'm having the
surgery, so I don't need a second opinion. I'm just trying to get some
information to tell my employer and to make my own plans.

Reply to this Message

Jeff - 12 Dec 2007 04:27 GMT

>> <...>
>>
[quoted text clipped - 13 lines]
> Jeff, one doesn't need to be a neurosurgeon to know how long it took
> for them to recover from their own back surgery.

Yet, their back surgery is different from yours, even if the name of the
surgery is the same (e.g., laminectomy). We don't know your degree of
impairment, what exactly needs to be done, nor what the ultimate outcome
will be. The results of one person's surgery may or may not be relevant
to your case.

> As for your suggestion to get a second opinion, I'm having the
> surgery, so I don't need a second opinion.

To have a potentially life altering surgery without a second opinion is
your choice. It would not be mine, not matter how much I trusted the doctor.

> I'm just trying to get some
> information to tell my employer and to make my own plans.

The surgeon is going to get paid several hundred to a few thousand
dollars for his services. He is the person who will have the best answer
and best experience in the matter. I would ask him these questions.

I am not trying to be difficult or anything. I just think the surgeon
who is trained in these matters and who will have your life in his hands
is the best person to get the answers to these questions from, not
someone one the internet who doesn't know your situation.

Jeff

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Kelley Eidem - 12 Dec 2007 06:40 GMT

> >> <...>
>
[quoted text clipped - 39 lines]
>
> Jeff

Jeff, I appreciate your thoughts.

I don't just want the surgeon's opinion. I am looking for additional
opinions, based on real experience. Sometimes surgeons aren't as aware
of the patient's real life experience because they are on to their
next surgery.

BTW, the surgeon will be getting a lot more than a few thousand
dollars. A whole lot more.

I would appreciate if, now that you've expressed your opinion on what
I should do, to let it go. Maybe no one will have an answer, or
maybe they will. That's what the newsgroup is for, to allow people to
share what they know and have experienced.

You never know what you might discover by asking a question and
getting some answers.

Kelley

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