Originally Posted by Original post Sept 8, 2003

SURGERY DATE: March 4, 2003

AGE AT SURGERY DATE:

SURGEON: Dr. James Zucherman

SURGERY LOCATION/CLINIC: St. Mary's, San Francisco

DEVICE(s) LEVEL(s): l5-s1

COST =
AMOUNT BILLED: 55,000, i think
INSURANCE ALLOWED: Blue Cross PPO was great, covered it at their usual PPO rate
OUT OF POCKET:
TRAVEL:No
EXPLANATIONS?


ONSET OF LUMBAR PROBLEMS, DATE OF INJURY, CAUSE, ETC...: July 1999

PRIOR SPINE SURGERIES AND PROCEDURES (IDET, ESI, etc...): ESI and nerve blocks, facet blocks, SI injections, IDET, foraminotomy

PRE-OP MEDICATIONS: Oxycontin, made me sick had to back off to percocet

PRI-OP DIAGNOSTICS (discogram, nerve root blocks, etc...): Discogram and l5 nerve blocks

PRE-OP NEUROPATHIES (what, where, & degree of pain, numbness, tingling, sexual/bladder/bowel symptoms, etc.): pain in right butt, hip and thigh and occasionally all the way to foot

PRE-OP CONDITION (Please include %leg pain/% back pain, pain levels, ability to work and function, disability status, etc.... be direct, but be as verbose as you need to): 50% back, 50% leg, pain level 6 all the time. Worked full time, but barely made it through the day. No ability to function recreationally.

TIME POST-OP AT ORIGINAL POST HERE:

(In the following sections, rate your surgical success and comments as described in the first post of this thread.

DESCRIBE YOUR SURGICAL EXPERIENCE:

RATE FUNCTIONALITY/ SATISFACTION AT INTERVALS BELOW:

FUNTIONALITY:
1. Very poor: much worse...disabled after surgery.
2. Poor: worse after surgery.
3. Neutral: no improvement, or improvement offset by new problems.
4. Fair: some improvement, limitations are still serious.
5. Good: sunstantial improvement, some limitations.
6. Excellent: no limitations.

SATISFACTION:
1. Very sorry I had the surgery.
2. Somewhat sorry I had the surgery.
3. Too soon to tell, or I'm ambivalent about the surgery.
4. I'm somewhat glad I did my surgery.
5. I'm very glad I did my surgery.


RATE SUCCESS / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / DESCRIBE CONDITION 1 MONTH POST-OP (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]): Still had to rest and lie down a lot or leg pain would come on

RATE SUCCESS / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / DESCRIBE CONDITION 3 MONTHS POST-OP (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]): Able to be up and about much more at 3 months, but leg pain would flare easily

RATE SUCCESS / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / DESCRIBE CONDITION 6 MONTHS POST-OP (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]): Currently at the 6 month mark. Back to desk job 1/2 time. Back pain gone and much more range of motion in back. Butt,hip and thigh pain remain unchanged. Doctor belives it to be from another pain generator, possibly the SI joint. We are currently investigating that possibility.

RATE SUCCESS / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / DESCRIBE CONDITION 1 YEAR POST-OP (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

RATE SUCCESS / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / DESCRIBE CONDITION 2 YEARS POST-OP (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

RATE SUCCESS / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / DESCRIBE CONDITION 3 YEAR POST-OP (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

RATE SUCCESS / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / DESCRIBE CONDITION 4 YEAR POST-OP (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

RATE SUCCESS / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / DESCRIBE CONDITION 5 YEAR POST-OP (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

RATE SUCCESS / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / DESCRIBE CONDITION 6 YEAR POST-OP (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

RATE SUCCESS / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / DESCRIBE CONDITION 7 YEAR POST-OP (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):