Here is all the good Karma and good wishes I have being sent to you. Don't you feel better already.? Best wishes for a speedy recovery.

NP, my best thoughts are with you for a speedy and painless recovery.

elly

sending you my best "good health" & "good karma" thoughts!

Please look up non invasive endoscopic spinal surgery. I wouldn't have anything else. It is literally outpatient and the latest in back techniques.

I have a good friend who is a spinal surgeon and one of the few in the USA who does this and I have learned loads about how the medical world and its bs works.
Even if you have to travel somewhere to have it done, it will well be worth it because you won't have the risks and complications of being splayed open or have the downtime with normal back surgery.

I also have several good friends who have had it done and it's the only way to go.

Prayers going up for you ninapearl. Speedy recovery too!!

I wish you the best Ninapearl and will be thinking of you.

Hi Ninapearl....please check all your options first. Do not rush into surgery.......Once it's done you can't go back........a couple weeks to thoroughly research is not life threatening. My Husband is going through this right now too. Please please do a lot more research before you have it done.!

thanks for the good wishes, everyone.

lisa, unfortunately i do not have a lot of options. i'm very isolated, only have access to a couple of hospitals but they are both excellent. i will have this done at the same hospital where i had my hips replaced 11 years ago.

i know back surgery is not to be taken lightly and believe me, i am not going into this blindly. i am at a point where the pain and weakness in my legs has rendered me pretty much useless. after i have met with the surgeon, i will do as much research as i can with the limited time/resources i have. traveling is out of the question for me, it's all i can do to get to my job and back, a 20 minute drive.

thanks again, i will keep you updated. :)

good healthy thoughts coming at you.... hope you can get this over and done with quickly and get on to the recovery!

Pam

thanks, everybody! i had my appointment with the surgeon today. he's not jumping into anything just yet. i have to have another MRI with contrast dye done so he can see exactly what we're dealing with. he did say that surgery is a definite possibility but he said it is not as urgent as i was led to believe. the pain is bad, really bad, and i'm anxious to get it fixed but i will be patient until he figures out the best course of action. :)

I hope your appointment went well and you will consider all options. Back pain can be brutal..ask my husband, but do what you're comfortable with. Best wishes going your way. Where will your dogs go if you have the operation?

thanks, lily. i am getting all of my ducks...errr...dogs in a row in anticipation. they will stay at doggy daycare in the same city where the hospital is and where my son and his wife live. i have already contacted them and they will have a spot ready. they are more than willing to go with my dogs' raw diet so that will be good! i am expecting delivery of a meat grinder tomorrow and will spend the next few days grinding, packaging and labeling enough meals for 2 or 3 weeks, at least.

my daughter-in-law's sister is a nurse's aid but works "freelance". i talked to her over the weekend, she will be here when i get home from the hospital and will stay with me as long as i need her. she LOVES my dogs so that's a big plus!

by the time everything is arranged, i hope to just jump (well, ok, crawl) in the car and take off, having everything ready in advance. :)

Nina, I will keep fingers crossed that you won't need surgery. But in case you do, it sounds like everything is well planned out and will work out fine. Best wishes!!

I'm so glad that this is taking it's time. Hubby has had his first round of injections feeling much better and goes in for the 2nd set Thursday. There is a much less invasive procedure for compressed spines these day where they insert a needle with a kind of what I would describe as a "Caulk" you know the kind you get that you spray and then it turns hard..only this is injected and acts like a "silly putty" kind of thing that decompresses the spine and is flexible. Wish I knew what it was called. You know how they put a pole in a basement of an old house that is sagging and crank it up? It's kinda like that.