9 Months Post XLIF fusion of L4-L5 - MAGIC!

[Jill Beckett]

I hope this get to the right folks!
Anybody here care to share what experiences they have had with the XLIF?
I can say that I am in constant pain due to herniated disc at L3/4 possibly 4/5, have an overly straight back with NO curvature anywhere and a previous surgery to correct congenital stenosis. Though the laminectomy helped for a few years, now I have another issue, the disc issue. Doc says it needs it to be removed and the area/s fused. Am concerned that if I have this done, I could end up in worse pain than I have already. The sacrum grinds painfully along 24/7 in addition to the foot misery bilaterally. I keep active but cannot play tennis (as of Dec.22 '09) anymore after 45 years of enjoying that. Mising it a lot! Do walking and hiking but always with # 6/7 pain. I just push through it with joy to able to move at all! Maybe I can have more in life than that??
Thanks to anyone who has some thoughts on this. Hope it is the best thing for me!
Jill

[dshobbies]

Hi Jill,

Welcome to the forum. You might want to start a new thread and tell us more about yourself.

Very quickly, you may have some choices or because of your straight back, perhaps not. Has your doctor mentioned artifical disc replacement? This is similar to an artifical hip or knee in that your own disc is removed and an artificial one is implanted.

Let me warn you that back surgery is always risky. Though most people do get relief, their lives may be forever altered. Some experience failures. The best thing you can do for yourself is;

Find the best doctors
Get second and third opinions
educate yourself in the various remedies, their benfits, risks, successes, failures.

Let me warn you, if your doctor doesn't perform ADR surgery, (s)he is not likely to recommend it. Trusting just one doctor isn't always to your best advantage.

Then again, your circumstances may eliminate you as an ADR candidate. Fusion may be your only option to eliminate your pain. Neither procedure is a walk in the park and neither has guarantees of success, which is why your choice of doctor is so important.

My best to you, Dale