What surgery are they going to do? Is there to be any fusing, for instance?

I think so, I'll ask him.

I've had it scheduled at least three times and cancelled. Have a great surgeon too.

Here's the challenge according to my doctor....if you're doing fusions, the one above and below the fusion site takes on more stress and eventually you most likely end up with additional fusions. My sister is considering her fourth fusion surgery (albeit she had much more radical surgery to begin with.)

Some surgical options now might include artificial discs. If forced, I would totally do that, assuming I'm a candidate. I know they can be done in the lumbar spine.

I cancelled because I am a chicken. And with a c4/5 fusion, any mess-up is pretty serious. Mine started over 20 years ago. I have some nerve damage in both arms, but I don't drop stuff. I suffer sometimes debilitating headaches, but have a pretty good protocol for them. I do Pilates and walk, but there are a lot of things I don't do as a result. However, most of them are not something I really want to do either.

Get a few different opinions and make sure you under the downstream implication both for the surgery and if you choose to try something else.

Spanish is right on. The weakening is biggest risk of spinal surgery. Doesn't mean it shouldn't be done. It could well be worth the pain relief.

No personal experience but I hope he's able to be seen/treated at Jefferson or UPenn. Best wishes.

He's seen one doc at Rothman (which is part of Jefferson/Abington), and has appointment at Penn in two weeks. Thanks.

Awesome, two world class places. You're fortunate to have them in close proximity to your new digs.

I had spinal surgery in 1992. It was a laminectomy, for a herniated disk way down low. I don't believe they did a fusion. When they did the surgery, they found that the disk had fragmented and that my spinal cord was severely impacted. The surgeon who did it was the 3rd one we had seen, going back to the time that I blew the disk 10 months earlier. Please have recommendations for the surgeon. Luckily, the person who did mine came with great referrals and my outcome was also great. Thank goodness we didn't have the 2nd surgeon we saw do the operation as I don't think I would have been as fortunate.

Please don't let others try to talk you and your husband out of surgery if that is what your doctor and you believe is the right course. I had people who tried to do that, and lost a friend over it. The pain was completely overriding my quality of life. I don't think I would be here today without the surgery, as I had begun to think about driving myself into a tree. Post surgery, I am here 26 years later with no residual problems. ( But I know that not all people have such a good outcome.)

For me, the recovery was not a picnic. I guess I thought that I'd be pain free right afterwards, but I wasn't. Part of it was because the spinal cord needed to recovery from being blocked, and the post surgical pain. I felt like I was a stick that would break if I bent over. But I did take my kids trick-or-treating 11 days after the surgery, in the rural area that we lived, which was a lot of walking!

Good luck to you and your DH. I've been in his shoes and you'll both be in my thoughts and prayers. (Apologies for such a long answer.)

Yes...I had fusions done in the upper spine (neck area) 18 years ago. The surgery was successful and I got the feeling back in my fingers. I asked the neurosurgeon what the chances that I did not need it and he said, “Zero”! I have been pretty much pain free there, but the vertebrae are hinged on the first one and that has so much arthritis in it that I now have pain if I look up or down too much.

Then four years ago, I had an emergency Laminectomy in my lumbar area at 9 o’clock at night, because the nerves had become so severely damaged and I was unable to urinate...and had terrible nerve pain in my thigh. I still have my 4 herniated discs and do have quite a bit of pain and was so disappointed that he did not take care of both things at the same time, but because of Medicare reasons, he was allowed to only do one type of surgery at a time.

I have been very interested in the Laser back surgery...and maybe at some time in the future, I will see if I can get that done. Good luck and I hope he gets along good if he decides to have it done.

I also have had a laminectomy, down at the base of my spine, about 15 years ago. My quality of life had become very poor as I literally could not sit down. I was reduced to laying flat or (painfully) walking short distances. I truly believe I would not be here today if not for the laminectomy because I was at the end of my rope.

The surgeon said I had degenerated discs with pieces bulging into the sciatic nerve. The pain was horrific and neverending. When I awoke from surgery, I felt 95% better. An amazing, miraculous and almost immediate recovery. I was walking one hour after I awoke and went home on the morning of the third day. My husband says my scar is about 4 or 5 inches long, right above my tailbone.

I try to be very careful now to not have a flareup. I watch what I lift (like my granddaughter) and I walk almost every day, aiming for 10,000 steps a day. Weight gain is bad, so I am careful with that too. For many years I could sit only on very firm surfaces (I had a butt board I sat on, on my chair at the office, for probably 5 years), but for the past several years I can sit on the couch. Sitting in an Adirondack chair is impossible, though, because I must have my back and my butt at a 90 degree angle. Some cars are very uncomfortable for me as the seats will not adjust to the 90 degree angle, and recliners are bad too.

My husband had surgery on July 6th. He's still recovering. His was the C5& C6. They removed the disc (his wasn't herniated, it was crushed) and replaced it, then added a plate with 4 screws. The surgery was done through the front of his neck. He's still in a lot of pain from the surgery. It'll be a few weeks before he's over that part. Then physical therapy to get full range of motion back. He's already driving the car. He is out of the Oxy pills and takes Tylenol. He does have a medical marijuana card, so I encourage him to use the oils and pot to help relax his muscles to alleviate the pain.

I've had three herniated discs removed via the microsurgery procedure. The first surgery they did two and then, years later, I needed more. There were no screws or rods put in and I recovered from both of them in a few weeks. I went to MGH in Boston and it was day surgery although they kept me overnight as my bp is normally low and it bottomed out for a bit. My sister had the rod put in as she was in agony and she's done well. The only thing she has trouble with is bending over too often and then it acts up. I just had a ct scan done a few weeks ago and I have another crushed disc at waist level but I choose not to have surgery. There is pain but I can handle it.

Back surgery. Yikes. The problem is only about 1/2 of them are successful in alleviating the pain that usually brings the patient in in the first place.

Dh had a herniated disc in his neck and they put in a spacer using pig bone...result of whiplash from decades ago. The surgery was probably in the 80s. He still has a cranky neck. He has found much relief and has maintained range of motion with stretching exercises he does daily. If he skips for too long, he muscle contractions and spasms, inflammation and loses all range of motion.

I had arthritic buildup which was herniating the disc in my neck so the doc went in and removed the excess bone and the disc re-expanded. I still have issues if I'm not careful...jogging for instance causes shooting pains down my arm....but it's a vast improvement.

My cousin had not only herniated discs but he also had some of the sheath missing off his spinal cord. They did major surgery, fusing, and screws and metal and he still has his original pain and is permanently disabled...he's not allowed to lift more than 6 lbs.

My advice is to get the absolute best doc you can to do the surgery. This is one of those things where the quality of the surgeon really matters. My guy is a top doc and I was able to go home the same day...a sure sign of a skilled surgeon.

The other advice that I got from one neuro I saw is that you need to really assess the pain you're in now as the success or failure of the surgery is going to be whether or not you're better off and the improvement was worth the pain of getting it done. If the pain isn't so bad or you have nonsurgical ways of coping with it, then surgery may not be the right answer. But if all other options have proved fruitless, then surgery may be the answer.

And that's the problem. You really don't know ahead of time, and unfortunately in medicine, there's no "undo" button where you can go back if you don't like how it turned out.

Best wishes to you and your DH!