I'm so sorry to hear about your back problems, but it sure sounds like you're doing the right thing to take care of it now. At least that way you can look forward to a pain-free walk in your garden next year.

Those daylilies will still be waiting for you -- only bigger and better.

Chris

I am so sorry to hear about your impending back surgery. Will be praying for you. I had to jump clear of the horse I was riding when he stumbled and fell, and landed sitting on a rock. (Was in my twenties, then.) While I wasn't injured nearly as badly as you, I can certainly empathize with you all the way. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

Nancy

Aw, I'm sorry. I hope you will have recovered by the spring time to tend to your garden again.
Wishing you a fast recovery!

Hopefully you will heal quicker than expected, you do sound like a real trooper in being able to follow through on your recovery.

Thanks so much to everyone who has replied... I don't think it's quite as serious as it first sounds... at least I hope not. I am hoping that I will be able to postpone this surgery as I really, REALLY don't want to have it. The limitations that will be placed on me will make my life not as enjoyable as it currently is.

Although when it comes to healing most of the time I do a lot better than the doctors think I will... they don't understand what mind over matter means. I surprised them back when I first seriously injured my back... and I will again!! I may not be as young as I once was but I'm still young enough to heal quick (I'm 36) so I am hoping to be able to start my gardens in the spring... I might even plant something this fall if I feel up to it... who knows it might just be good for me.

Thanks once again to everyone for your kind words and prayers as they are all greatly appreciated!

Just remember... MORE PHOTOS!!!! LOL :-D

ttfn
Mystic.

Soooo sorry to hear about what you're going through. I have worked with horses for over 40 years. I've had two bad accidents....one of them involved a kick to my spine that sent me chest first to the stall ceiling (which I hit). I couldn't move or feel my legs for over 15 minutes from the time I was dragged out of the stall by a friend. Now I have two fused vertebrae in my spine as a result...discovered some years later (I was a hard head and refused to go to the hospital).....young and stupid JMO . I will pray that you get a quick resolve with the surgery and back to enjoying your garden ASAP.

Linda

Like everyone else, I'm sorry to hear of your impending surgery, but sounds as though you must go through with it if you ever want to garden again. Anyway, you will get through it and will be able to enjoy your garden again, I'm sure. In the mean time...stick around, there'll be lots of photos and conversation to keep you going through your recovery. :)
You will also receive an abundance of prayers I'm sure. Good luck and God bless you in this.
Jan

So sorry about your news, but you sound like you have a sensible attitude about it. It is a bump in the road for now, but best in the long run. Good luck, hope you have a really speedy recovery.

I am very sorry to hear this.
I wish you a successful surgery and speedy recovery.

I am wishing you courage, patience and strenth for the road ahead, but also encouragement to come back better than ever!

Hi Mystic, I am sorry to hear about your injury and I hope you make a full recovery. I will try to keep you in pictures for a while. On the bright side your daylilies will look that much better with an additional year of growth. Don't forget to boss DH around. He can always bring the best looking blooms in for you to look at.

My heart and prayers go out to you. Like everyone else said "The lilies will be there waiting on you to get well."

Marianne

Please let me add my hopes and prayers for your speedy recovery. Just a thought, but it might ease your anxiety about the surgery if you could talk about it with someone who has had it and recovered. Perhaps your doctor's office could help you with that. I know some doctors are not as empathetic as we might hope and it can make it difficult to place your trust (which you have to do) in them. If the surgery will make the rest of your life better, it is something to think about.

On the other hand (can you see why decisions are difficult for me, too....lol), my father had a major heart attack twenty years ago. He was told he must have a triple bypass. (You have to know my dad to appreciate this....) My father decided that he didn't need it...the surgery. And, he is going strong these 20 years later....(he is 79). In fairness, his heart condition did place some limitations on him, which he realized, but he still appeared (appears) to do what he wanted (which is what it is all about). We were amused how he would whip out the heart condition to either not eat (as the case may be) or eat what he wanted.

I have often thought, though, to get back to my point...that had he had a doctor he liked and been able to talk with others (as I have suggested) who had had the surgery, things might have been different.

Who knows. Life is full of choices. I wish you the best with yours. How wonderful that you have such a supportive DH.

Take care now.

Mystic,

My prayers to you... your tale hits way too close to home. My father had been going though chronic back pain due to old injuries over the last two years. It had gotten to the point that he could no longer walk the gardens that he had helped my Mother and I build. He went through a fusion surgery this spring, and his estimated recovery time was a minimum of 6 months. He was able to start walking with us again for the first time this March, only two weeks after his surgery. Limited, yes, but he was back outside with us. It was such a joy for him to feel like he was a part of the world again! I will leave out my sad ending, as it was completely unrelated... but I want to emphasize to you..... DO WHAT YOU CAN TO ENJOY LIFE TO THE FULLEST!!! Recovery time is nothing when it comes to a future of being able to enjoy the things that you love to the fullest.

And as you recover, you will have what most of us slaves to the garden only dream about... full time to continue to carefully plan what will for sure be a beautiful garden that you can build when you have recovered!

And as I have had to convicnce myself this year... tomorrow is another day... the weeds will still be there to pull, and the plants will just be bigger and stronger!

Keep your spirits up!

Julie

Keep your chin up mystic and be positive, we all have choices in life that we don't like to make, i am sure you will know whats best for you.
I have back issues all my life so i can understand where you are coming from, and i really hate when it gets in the way of my garden.
Take care of yourself.

I never realized before just how many people on here had issues with their back... and just how many of them are horse related!! It must be quite common for us "outdoorsy types" to be involved with horses in some way or other...

I want to thank everyone once again for all their well wishes and such... y'all have no idea just how it makes me feel that y'all are so supportive of someone you don't even know. Y'all must be very loving people in real life!! Thanks!!!

BTW, just to clear things up about my gardening... at this time I don't have anything planted other than what I inherited when we moved in here... I have been in the planning stages of my gardens so I was going to start from scratch this fall. I guess I'm going to have to wait until next spring from what the docs say until I can do anything though. I am scheduled for surgery on August 18th and I have to be there at 6am!! Yikes!! I don't do mornings!! LOL

Anywho.... a big heartfelt thank you goes out to everyone here who took the time to reply. It's nice to know there's that much kindness in the world.

ttfn
Mystic.

Mystic,

You will be in my prayers for a successful surgery and recovery. I have had majoy surgery myself,(not back-related) and I know how it slows you down for a while, but you sound like the type that will heal quickly with your positive attitude. The timing will be just right for you to get a beautiful Spring garden planted.

Julie

Mystic,
Some suggestions for you if, as it sounds, you are not planning to have surgery. First, get a second opinion. You are entitled,based on the Health Information Act (federal) to have a copy of your records sent to the any other physician of your choice.

Second, get a written copy of your diagnosis(also your right) and go on the internet yourself, and find out what you can. information will make you feel much less powerless.

Third, do not rush to do anything until you are satisfied that you have figured out the best route for you.

Fourth, I fully understand that you are confident in your ability to heal yourself. You are so correct in thinking that attitude makes a tremendous difference in healing time.

Having said all of that, I also want to caution you that sometimes neither your attitude towards healing, nor your will, as important and as strong as may be, is enough to make recovery go on the timetable you expect and recuperation, whether after surgery or with therapy can be much slower, and less complete than your goal.

I am an intensive care nurse, not a physician, but I will say that from what I have seen at work and with my spouse who finally had to have it done, back surgery is something you do as the last resort.

I will also mention interventional radiology to you. There is a procedure called ventriculostomy, done by an interventional radiologist, where a substance (think of a cement) is injected into the pertinent area of your back and causes a release of the pressure on the nerves in that area. Patients feel instant relief. No general anesthesia is needed for this procedure, only local anesthesia is needed.

Lastly, I want to tell you that you have my utmost sympathy. I will remember you in my prayers. I will go back to work myself tomorrow, seven weeks after I had knee arthroscopic surgery. I was absolutely certain, based on past experience, that I would be back at work after only two weeks. The knee is still far from recovered.

Please let us know how you are doing. I'm sure we will all be looking for you messages and thinking about you.

Kay

I am so sorry to hear about your back and I can understand the pain and worries.

I have a bad back same as you I have bone degeneration, RA and scoliosis. I have been to 5 doctors hoping to fine help and found nothing long term. All have said that my back inoperative. When I tried to tell the doctor's about falling off a cafe when I was 16 that my troubles started, nothing that kept me from doing what I wanted but I'd loose feeling in my right leg and it wouldn't hold me up. I now can't even sit a most chairs for more than 30 minutes without having to get up and move around.
My gardening is limited but I still have found ways to work around getting thing's done.
There is a lady that lives near by and she's in a wheel chair and let me tell you she get's out there in her chair and gardens, it is a beautiful garden too.
Your in my prayers. I hope your able to find help.

If you don't mind letting me know how it goes and what your doctor tells you he can do, I'd love to know to see if I can get help myself.

I've had injection of steroids and after that they go back and burn the nerve ends so you can't feel the pain but I find out that it's very risky and it only last a year if that long, then you do it all over again,After I'd already had it done this last time my MIL found a sight telling how it can make it worse. The last time I had this done it made me worse.

Barb

Dear Mystic, As everyone has expressed, you are in our thoughts and prayers.

Take care of yourself so that you will be able to enjoy the good times to come.

Jane

PS: What is your favorite color of DL?

Mystic, I'm so sorry to hear that ER doctors are saying that you need spinal surgery and from what you said right away.

I have to agree with mystic kitten though. Before you have any spinal surgery please get a second and even third and fourth opinion.

Most importantly, get these opinions from either a spinal surgeon who specializes in only spines or a neurosurgeon who specializes only in spines.

Spinal surgery is serious stuff to undergo. Take that from one who just had a second spinal surgery 4 weeks ago tomorrow.
It is nothing you enter into lightly, and is always considered a last on the list of options to treat spinal problems.

Based on what you said in your first post, you sound like you do not understand what the doctor said and why the surgery is so important. That is not the way to agree to surgery in any way.
You need to be able to understand everything the doctor has said, and have all your questions answered before agreeing.

Was this doctor a specialist in spinal surgery?

You also didn't say what kind of spinal surgery you are having.

Please get more opinions before undergoing spinal surgery.

and please feel free to e-mail me anytime about questions or anything about spinal surgery. I've been there twice, and will be glad to support you along the road of spinal issues.

Remember though, that once spinal surgery is done, it can't be undone. You need to understand everything before consenting to surgery.

Fran

Mystic, Here is the pic of IN CAHOOTS that you wanted to see. It's not as blue as on the Abijian site, but still very pretty in real life.

Linda

IN CAHOOTS
{{gwi:648846}}

Let me just say a big AMEN to what Fran has said. Once it (spinal surgery) is done, it can't be undone.

Spinal surgery is big, serious stuff. Listen to the voice of experience, and be sure you know what, and why before anybody does anything to you.

Any time you ever have any sort of invasive procedure done, you want a doctor who is very experienced in that particular procedure to be the one you entrust with your body,

You cannot be too careful because this is the only body you have.

kay

First off let me say thank you to Linda for posting that image... I still really want that DL ;-)

I would love to reply individually to each of you but as I can only sit for short periods right now due to the pain... plus the meds the doc has me on don't help my brain to function properly LOL... so I am just going to post a single reply.. even though so many of you were sooooooo kind to offer advice from your experiences, advice which I'm going to heed BTW.. I am calling up a specialist tomorrow as the doc that saw me was just an ER doc.. not a specialist and even he suggested that I go to a spine doc to get a more thorough review of my case but he told me that I better schedule the surgery now or I'd be waiting for at least a month or so from the date I schedule to get it done... so I did.

From what I read out of the paper the doc gave me the surgery is supposed to fuse my spine over the herniated discs... supposedly this will relieve the pain.. but what I was told 15 years ago when they wanted to do this was that it would reduce my range of movement and that is something I absolutely DO NOT WANT! That is the main reason I don't want surgery... I've done a lot of research in the two years following my initial injury back then and did some more tonight but I will wait until I get a copy of my records from the hospital to do more research as it should have the diagnosis written on them... somewhere.

The ER doc also suggested that I will have to get an MRI as the X-ray can't show tissue damage just bone... DUH!! Like I didn't know that already *sarcasm here*

I used to work in a vet clinic so I have actually seen a surgery done on a dog with a herniated disc.. and although the dog appeared to be better after he still had lingering problems... they did something called a laminectomy to the dog... something which I have read tonight they can do for me to help but something about the instability of the spine caused by degenerative disc problems... I'm not sure... and I'm not thinking all too clearly as the meds are kicking in.... so I'll let it go for now.. and post more when I'm more conscious. LOL

ttfn
Mystic.

Mystic, glad to hear you will be seeking the advise of a spine specialist, but please, please, please, get more than one opinion.

Don't be afraid you will look like a fool if you get several either. Before I had my first spine surgery, I had the original spine surgeon and then 5 others after before I returned to my original spine surgeon to do my surgery. He made all the sense in the world, he explained every little thing possible to me and my family and he made no absurd promises of 100% healed either.

You need to talk with these spine specialists about all your options and why the only choice, according to the ER doc who is not a spine specialist, why a fusion is your only option.

Fusion is certainly big time spinal surgery, and done over several levels is an even bigger one.

If you can, I would suggest you look into seeing a sports medicine orthopedic surgeon who specializes in spines only.
My experience with 6 spine docs showed me that they are the most up to date in various new and medically accepted procedures, do the least amount of cutting possible and fusion is always on the very bottom of their list of surgeries to do because of the invasiveness of fusion. On the other hand, when it is needed they will do a fusion.

One of the new techniques being used now for herniated discs replaces a laminectomy with what is called a laminotomy. The difference being that only a small portion of the lamina is removed and compression to nerves and discs are released. Doing this procedure also leaves the spine quite stable.
As long as there is no slippage of the vertebrae a laminotomy can be done on different levesl of vertebrae.

I have had 2 of these done, one on the L4/L5 and the surgery I just had 4 weeks ago was on the L3/L4.

Please check into the feasibility of having this procedure done before even consider the fusion being done.

As i said before, just e-mail me through GW if you want to talk or have questions. I'm not a pro but may be able to provide you with some answers to questions and further info.

Fran