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User offline. Last seen 2 weeks 19 hours ago. Offline
Joined: 06/22/2008
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XLIF Study on Obese Patients

Just some interesting stats on a recent study for those interested in an XLIF.

http://www.orthosupersite.com/view.asp?rid=44659

I know some surgeons believe that an obese patient should have gastric bypass or lap band before spine surgery, but this study makes a case for doing it AFTER spine surgery.

Rodgers told ORTHOSuperSite.com: “[These results] tell us that we as surgeons have to re-evaluate our own prejudices about whom we can and can’t help. … We have to be willing to reassess what we have taken as established dogma."

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"If you ever need holding, call my name, I'll be there. If you ever need holding, no holding back, I'll see you through..." Jackson Browne, whose poetry in lyrics and music have seen me through so many years.

kinpain's picture
User offline. Last seen 2 weeks 1 day ago. Offline
Joined: 06/20/2008
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This is quite interesting.

This is quite interesting. My OS said to my husband, who is a really big guy, that he would not expect him to do so well with a fusion surgery as I did because of his size. But then prior to mine he also did a fusion for a neighbor, who is on the heavy size, and she also did well. I wonder if there is some prejudice against obese people?

Kin

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SF Peninsula CA resident
Decompression and L3-S1 fusion with instrumentation, 5/1/08

User offline. Last seen 34 weeks 23 hours ago. Offline
Joined: 06/23/2008
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I think so

I really don't want to open a whole new can of worms here but I think that docs often blame health issues on the weight for overweight folks. I know that it is not good for your health to be overweight but not all medical issues with overweight folks are due to their weight. Kind of like smoking. Don't get me wrong I do know that smoking is horrible for your health. But I think that for smokers things are blamed on cigarettes that may have absolutely nothing to do with cigs. It is just too easy for obesity or smoking to be a catch all in my opinion.

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I am in no way associated with the medical field. Anything that I post comes from personal experience only.
DDD, Facet Arthropathy, DJD,Collapsed Disc, Sleep Apnea
PT, Epidurals, Facet Blocks,Medial Branch Block, Rhizotomy,Discogram,Annular Tare L3/L4 Endoscopic MicroD and PLDD,
Methadone, Percocet, Baclofen, Welbutrin

User offline. Last seen 5 hours 20 min ago. Offline
Joined: 06/26/2008
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Points: 266
yes i agree

yes i agree with....j.j.grey.they blame to much stuff on overweight people and smokers.

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had a 4 level pelvic fusion l-3-s1 on 11-19-09. also had a neck fusion c456, on 4-16-o8.and alot of other stuff.

hopeless-in-mn's picture
User offline. Last seen 10 hours 29 min ago. Offline
Joined: 11/12/2008
Posts: 232
Points: 482
thanks..

for finding this...one of the reasons that i was denied by social security for disability was for not following doctor recommendations to have the gastric bypass--knowing that i have NO OTHER MAJOR OR MINOR HEALTH ISSUES just back pain, and that bypass could/would cause problems.

thankfully, i have finally found a surgeon who is willing to work with me, and will send a copy of this report to my disability attorny as further evidence to support my claim.

again...thank you...

btw...after quitting neurontin,lyrica, and switching to topamax, i have lost 50 pounds! (that these meds helped me gain)

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chronic herniations L2-S1, full thickness annular tears L2-S1
DDD involvinging one or more lumbar discs(L2-S1)
spinal stenosis T8-T11, and L3-L5
neural foraminal stenosis from L4-5 and L5-S1
cervicalgia, and gait imbalance due to lumbar surgaries

lsteller's picture
User offline. Last seen 14 hours 23 min ago. Offline
Joined: 09/19/2008
Posts: 1268
Points: 2592
Not sure

I'm pretty sure my obesity helped my back degenerate into its miserable condition. Fortunately, when I fell and ruptured my three discs, I was already in the queue for gastric bypass surgery, which I had two months after my accident. Losing 85 pounds surely took a lot of pressure off my spine and helped buy me some time before I was finally forced to have the fusion. I must say that I move a whole lot better without all that weight on me, even with four vertebrae fused together!

Linda

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3 level 360 degree lumbar fusion (L3-S1) November 2008

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