Thanks for the welcome, I am learning a lot from the site. It is good to know others have made it through these back surgeries.

Lotus, thanks for the welcome. I love your quote. It fits me to a tee. I am a chronic worrier, so not a good person to be having these back issues. I am trying to re-schedule my surgery date because my kids will be on vacation with their dad at that time, and I want to be home so I can worry about them separately from worrying about me, if that makes any sense

Hi Julie, thanks for posting. I am sorry to hear your insurance company is giving you problems. Mine has been cooperative. They are probably tired of paying for my LESI'S. I think my surgeon is the best in town, but I have wondered if I should try to go to UCSF or UC Davis or somewhere with a spine center. They would be more likely to have the latest techniques available. My surgeon says he has done minimally invasive fusions and will if I want him to, but he prefers open. I figure I'm safer if he does what he is used to. I am still struggling with this decision, hoping it is the right one. So many fears about surgery: death, disability, pain, not being able to work, etc. (I tend to think negatively, which is something I am always working on and praying about.) My surgery is only one level, so I am hoping that keeps the incision smaller than 6 inches. My surgeon has been instrumental in bringing lots of new technology to my place of employment including the O-Arm and some type of computer assisted brain mapping neuro-surgery. So he's not exactly in the dark ages or anything.
Hope you get your insurance issues resolved so you can get on with things. Take care, Sue

Hi Mel, thanks for responding. I watched a minimally invasive fusion on the internet. It was very informative with lots of cool diagrams as well as the video. You can watch it at http://www.or-live.com/genesishealth/1677/
They use a retractor that is like a tube that opens, it is called a Quadrant. They put the pedicle screws in percutaneously (through the skin, using a C-arm xray machine to check their placement). I've been researching and looking up everything I can find about my dx and surgery. (maybe too much) Less muscle damage sounds good, and yet I also like the idea of my surgeon being able to see what he is doing REALLY well. Hopefully he only opens me up as wide as is necessary Thanks for the response, good luck with your surgery, and keep us posted. Sue

Hello 5kids, I told my surgeon to do the method he has the most experience with. I asked him how many PLIF's he has preformed and he said so many he couldn't even count, so that sounded good. He did say he prefers anterior fusion, but with my back he needs to go in posteriorly because of my unstable pars fractures. I think maybe it is because I am too chubby (working hard on that one, down 30lbs so far).
So, are you happy with your results, was it worth it? I have read the good and the bad stories (scarey). This whole process has taken so long that I am quite a bit better now, but still with left leg pain and limping. I wonder if I should wait until it gets really bad again, cause I am sure it will eventually. Then again, maybe it is better to have surgery when your nerve isn't so intensely flared up. Not sure....
Thanks for the info, Sue

Beth, thanks for the welcome and well wishes. I can't help but think you could have called yourself Misery in Missouri I have a friend who's in-laws are in Missouri and every year she travels there. She calls it Misery
Hope you are well, thanks again, Sue

Thanks for the info, I have looked at their website. I am in Modesto, so about 5-6 hours from LA. I know of a couple people who went to UCSF with good results. One had a 360 degree fusion and the other had a lateral approach for a thoracic vertebrae problem and recovery included a chest tube (collapsed lung). If I don't chicken out, I think I will have to stick with my guy here in town. He does come recommended by nurses at my work. One is the hospital's risk management nurse even, so she should know. Take care, Sue

Pars defects can be from DDD, but in younger people they are more likely from injury. Not sure which category I fall into. I have even read that they can be congenital. You often don't know you have them until years of wear and tear make the disc start to slide out from the others and ouch, pinch something

Dessicated means dried up, I looked that one up a while back. My disc space between 4 and 5 is very short compared to the others. My symptoms actually follow the nerve chart for L3-4, yet it is L4-5. I think it may be because the loss of disc height is making my L3-4 nerves get pulled on. My surgeon said this is possible. My surgery is on
L4-5 not L3-4 at all, so hope it works.