I just wanted to clear up a couple misconceptions you might have about this procedure. They don’t remove any organs, so don’t even worry about that, when they go in the front, they just gently push them over to the side.
The procedure you’re going to have “An Anterior/Posterior Lumbar Fusion” is also known as a 360° spinal fusion. It probably has the best fusion rate of all Lumbar procedures. They actually fuse both the front and the back of the vertebra. As opposed to the fusion I had, which was done only from the back, I needed a laminectomy as well so that’s why my surgeon used a posterior approach. You must have some instability issues too because this type of fusion is also known for providing additional stability and support.
With this procedure, you fuse faster, which means you recover faster, which means that you’re out of pain faster.
As to whether or not to go through with it, that’s a decision only you can make, you must have some issues if this surgery was recommended. But if you feel that your pain can be managed adequately or you’re having serious 2nd thoughts maybe this isn’t the time. With me, I really had no choice about surgery, I was relatively young, and my back and leg pain was so bad that it couldn’t be managed by medication, and even if it could have been, I couldn’t walk. As a result I couldn’t work and I couldn’t live. So it wasn’t a very difficult choice. The surgery gave me my life back.
If you do decide to go through with this, go into it with a positive attitude it makes a world of difference and like I said, if you’re having serious 2nd thoughts (It’s perfectly normal and we all have had them) maybe you might want to postpone it for a little while. I don’t mean to step on any one’s ideas here, but it’s not a good to watch these surgical animations a week before surgery, it’ll just make you more nervous.
If you are going to go through with this, its time to put your faith in your Doctor’s expertise, they know what their doing and the chances of anything going wrong are very infinitesimal. And by the way, all Surgeons have lousy bed side manner.
If you have any questions about the surgery, recovery or anything, feel free to post on the Neck and Back forum, it’s what we deal with.
Here's the link:
http://www.medhelp.org/forums/Back--Neck/show/6
Take Care