nwaters80

I was put through everything except epidural shots, I had 2 orthopedic surgeons suggest that due to the location that it will not provide relief if they was even able to do it due to location. I had my fusion in May of 2013, 20 sessions of physical therapy following surgery. I do not have pains in rib cage or shooting down my back into legs, or numbness in lower extremities, my pain is localized in the thoracic region of my back just slightly under my incision, and the surrounding area has a numbness sensation constantly, I deal with localized pain daily and if I move around a lot the pain will jump to a 7 or higher. I have perm lifting restrictions now. But hey I can walk at least! My surgery as far as explained was done to prevent the likelihood of paraylisis. The process of recovering from a thoracic fusion is tedious and slow going, if all other treatments fail and surgery is an option, make sure you have a good support group, it helps to have the extra help when you need it! I hope all works out well for you and that my post has helped with your question

I am still awaiting surgery, it is getting closer! My symptoms have increased with more pain and more frequent! I have now inherited a limp with a lot of weakness from mid back to legs! At first I was informed that my surgery was Posterior Spine Fusion & Inst T7-T8. Recently I spoke with my surgeons nurse and she had informed me that the procedure is called thoracic lumbar spine fusion, I have degeneration signs from t7-t11, but the disc protrusion which is flattening the left ventral cord contour is at t7-t8 where I am told the source of the pain is coming from. I am awaiting to hear back from the nurse to ask the question” Are they fusing t7-l1 or l2 or is this just the name of the procedure”? My surgeon had told me that this condition is rare and that he has never performed this surgery in the thoracic region, so he wanted to do more research before the surgery and he will inform me of how he was gonna perform the surgery the morning of! I’m a bitscared but anxious to the ppossibility of relieving this constant crippling pain! Any insight Dr. ?

I too am suffering from a t7-t8 herniation/protrusion that is pressing against my spinal cord, my pain onset was in Aug 2012, I recently was referred to another orthopedic surgeon for review, since my pain has not subsided and signs have gradually increased. I have done medicine treatment and physical therapy, which has not helped. After care full review of my MRI my new orthopedic feels that the only option I have is to have a posterior spine fusion and instr. of t7-t8 due to the protrusion to my spinal cord, we do not know the extent of damage to the spinal cord. My surgeon has advised me that this is rare very rare, but feels it is needed before irreversible damage is done to my spinal cord. My search online for information has not been very helpful, this is not a procedure that is common. I know what your going through, it is hard for me to deal with this pain day in and day out, while trying to manage a household and kids. I will be having my surgery in May, our goal is to get me back to some what the way I was before my injury, but it looks like I still have a long road ahead of me!