Originally Posted by Ruthy on October 19, 2004

SURGERY DATE: 09/08/2004

AGE AT SURGERY DATE: 39

SURGEON: Dr. Richard Balderston

SURGERY LOCATION/CLINIC: Pennsylvania Hospital

DEVICE(s), LEVEL(s): ProDisc, L4-L5, L5-S1

COST = $44,000
AMOUNT BILLED: $44,000
INSURANCE ALLOWED: $0
OUT OF POCKET: $44,000
TRAVEL:
EXPLANATIONS?

ONSET OF LUMBAR PROBLEMS, DATE OF INJURY, CAUSE, ETC...: minor back problems since 1988, latest incident March 6th 2004, much worse and did not go away.

PRIOR SPINE SURGERIES AND PROCEDURES (IDET, ESI, etc...): 3x Epidural Steroid Injections, 2x X-Ray Guided Steroid Injections, Physical Therapy, Water Therapy, Chiropractic, Acupuncture ... all without any success

PRE-OP MEDICATIONS: Oxycontin 20mg 2xday, OxyCodone 5mg as needed, Duragesic Patch 25 ug every 3 days, Nuerontin 300 mg 3xday

PRE-OP DIAGNOSTICS (discogram, nerve root blocks, etc...): DDD of L4-L5 and L5-S1 confirmed via discogram

PRE-OP NEUROPATHIES (what, where, & degree of pain, numbness, tingling, sexual/bladder/bowel symptoms, etc.):

PRE-OP CONDITION (Please include %leg pain/% back pain, pain levels, type of pain, ability to work and function, disability status, etc.... be direct, but be as verbose as you need to): Pain: 80% back, 20% legs; Back: constant level 6-8, throbbing, stabbing, aching, you name it; Legs: minor pain level 2-4 + numbness, tingling, particularly left sided.

TIME POST-OP AT ORIGINAL POST HERE: 10/19/04

DESCRIBE YOUR SURGICAL EXPERIENCE: Guess major surgery is major surgery. It hurt (a lot) after the surgery, and I could not move much. The nurse did OD me on too much medicine and I needed lots of stuff to wake me up.

RATE FUNCTIONALITY / SATISFACTION AT INTERVALS BELOW:

FUNCTIONALITY:
1. Very poor: much worse... disabled after surgery.
2. Poor: worse after surgery.
3. Neutral: No improvement, or improvements offset by new problems.
4. Fair, some improvement, limitations are still serious. 5. Good, substantial 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.

FUNCTIONALITY: _4__ SATISFACTION: _4__ [6 WEEKS POST-OP]

FUNCTIONALITY: ___ SATISFACTION: ___ [3 MONTHS POST-OP]

FUNCTIONALITY: ___ SATISFACTION: ___ [6 MONTHS POST-OP]

FUNCTIONALITY: ___ SATISFACTION: ___ [1 YEAR POST-OP]

FUNCTIONALITY: ___ SATISFACTION: ___ [2 YEARS POST-OP]

6 WEEKS POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ECT... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]): General improvement from day 1. Walking 1 mile 3xday. Pain level 1-2. Starting PT tomorrow. Medications: Down to 25 ug Duragesic patch (started at 75 ug patch, 30 mg Oxycontin 2xday, 300 mg Neurontin 3xday).

3 MONTHS POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ETC... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

6 MONTHS POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ETC... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

1 YEAR POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ETC... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):

2 YEARS POST-OP - DESCRIBE LIFESTYLE / PAIN / MEDICATIONS / NEUROPATHIES / ETC... (discuss surgery induced symptoms [leg pain?]):