I am prob. not the best person to answere since mine is so new, I had a 3 level surgery on June 16. It is not fun obviously. I had L1-L4 fused and the worst part now is the nerve pain in my right leg. I put of the surgery for many years and the nerves were impinged for a very long time, so it is going to take a long time to get better. I just started on gabapentin a week ago and it may be helping, can't tell yet. The back pain was bad the first week and they put me on steroids for a week and it helped. It is too soon to notice any lack of mobility but I already had a lack of mobility because of how damaged my back was. I also had 3 dr recommend a fusion but I put it off because of the fear and how severe of a surgery it is. It is such a hard decision. Took me a very long time to decide. I wish you luck!!
Autumn

I am not against fusion's; cervical fusions or one level fusions, if you have nerve impingement or have cauda equina syndrome, the fusion will help, but if you go to any medical website, you will see that multi level fusions (2 or more), are risky, and it almost no respected surgeon will recommend it.

Case in point, I had a multi-level/360 lumbar fusion in 2007, and I got worse after the surgery, and I lost my job, my house and other things that I worked hard for, and now I am in pain all of the time, so to me, and to many, multi-level fusions are not the answer. Another thing, fusions only fix the structural issues on the spine, it does not take pain away, and this is the reason why about 90% of people that had a multi-level fusion does not get pain relief.

I was in the hospital for 11 days during my fusion, 5 of those days, I do not remember at all, since I was put on a medically induce coma. Talk to people that had the surgery with your Doctor, ask the Doc/surgeon to give you the names of people that had the same operation that he is reccomending to you, everyone is different, but talking to others that had the same sugery can make you decide what you want to do. BTW, the recovery of a fusion takes a whole year, so that is another thing to consider, if you have a job that you don't want to loose, or children that depend on your care.

Hugs,

That is good advice Tipper gave. I forgot to mention I did talk to 3 of my surgeon's patients who had the same surgery. One of the patients turned out to be a friend of my best friend. She had her surgery 5 years ago and had all good to say. I also scheduled my surgery in Oct of 2010 mainly because he was booked until June of this year but also it gave me plenty of time to research him and try 2 more nerve burns, that failed. I had a scan in Nov and one at the end of May and had more degeneration and detereation so I knew this was just going to continue to get worse. The scans did not show how bad the nerves were impinged. I also looked him up on the internet to see if there were any malpractice filed on him or complaints. I talked to as many health professionals as I could to see if they knew him, or knew of him. Every one (and there were alot) that knew him had all good to say and said if they needed back surgery that's who they would go to. Guess that is why he is so booked up. Do your homework. Find out all you can about your surgeon. I truly believe that is very high on the list to help you decide. I would not have done this surgery with any other dr. It took me a long time to find the right one then it took a long time to get in but I feel it was worth it. I have heard all the stories on here about failed fusions and I am glad I did because it got me to be very aggressive in my decision. Now knowing how damaged and impinged several nerves were I know I would not have gotten any better, but like I said it is too soon to tell. ~ Autumn

I am not against surgeries I have had two one on my neck and one in my lower back. The only thing to consider I dont know if this is your first surgery or not but every surgery you have makes your back weaker then it was, so if it is your first I would be in 100 percent, gotta try right.

I know for me I was going to exhaust all treatments before I accept this pain and that is what I did, I never wanted to think what if.

The recovery is not to bad a few weeks so just make sure you are set up and ready to be out of commission for a bit.

Ive read many, many stories about people who have had fusions.
IMO there are many factors that determine the outcome. so each person is different.
In my case there was far more damage then any test had shown & it took over 2 years to find my problem. Till this day my husband & I wonder if I would have caught it sooner would I be in better shape. Anyway there are those who come out feeling better after, but I believe its the minority. We tend to hear more from those who have not had success, makes sense.

Mine was a success in some ways, My pain was so severe I begged for relief. So in some ways I traded one type of pain for another. I don't regret it & know there was no choice. Not one test indicated the extent of the damage found by the surgeon. That alone scares me. If I would have had it done sooner the damage would have been less, as my vertebrae was gone & splintered into my dura. Now I have pain I did not have before.

The recovery is just as important as the surgery in some ways.
It is a long recovery, even for one level, the fusion takes time.
There are a lot of restrictions & they need to be followed to a T.

I went the 3 months as I had one level with the level above & below in rough shape basically off my feet. Then I kind of jumped back into things. With in one month I had nerve pain bad enough to end up in the hospital.
Now I had a friend who had multiple fusions, not done at the same time who had enough success to continue nursing school & resume her life. So you just never know.
I wish you the best of luck & the same to Autumn with her recovery.
Sammy