Jan’s Treatment

Share this video
ContributorJan, 73Read Full Bio

Biography

Jan, 73, is a widow with two children and three grandchildren. Jan had walking partners whom she hiked with every day. Around 2001 she started to feel pain walking her usual route. Her back began to hurt all the time and she felt “miserable.” She tried Pilates and physical therapy; the only thing that worked was icing her back. After having many epidurals, she had an MRI and found out she had a slipped disc. The only way to fix it was surgery. Jan was so scared at the prospect; she put off surgery until it was “unbearable,” and she decided it was the best thing for her.

  • The Journey
  • The Stories
ContributorJan, 73Read Full Bio

Biography

Jan, 73, is a widow with two children and three grandchildren. Jan had walking partners whom she hiked with every day. Around 2001 she started to feel pain walking her usual route. Her back began to hurt all the time and she felt “miserable.” She tried Pilates and physical therapy; the only thing that worked was icing her back. After having many epidurals, she had an MRI and found out she had a slipped disc. The only way to fix it was surgery. Jan was so scared at the prospect; she put off surgery until it was “unbearable,” and she decided it was the best thing for her.

  • Video Description

  • Video Transcript

Jan has had two fusions in her back and three in her neck. When she had one level fused, she needed to have more fusions as her discs continued to slip. This can sometime be the case for certain patients. At the time of Jan’s first fusion, doctors believed you should do no exercise post-op. She was depressed and anxious. Mostly, she missed her social life. Hearing from an old friend who said she had had a similar experience gave Jan hope.

The first disc fusion was L3/4 and since then in the last 16 years, I've had fusions through L1/2 through L4/5. My first fusion in 2003 was not only very painful, but it was a long and depressing recovery. The technology at the time and the beliefs at the time were that after your fusion you should do nothing in the way of exercise. Somewhere around the three month period, I got really depressed. I couldn't sleep, I was antsy, what do you do with yourself when you're home for three months? I started watching a lot of television which I'd never done before in my life. I was taking drugs. You get very withdrawn emotionally and you're not connected to your social universe the way you normally are, the technology with fusions has changed enormously. The first fusion they went in through the back and my second fusion they went in through my front and back.

More Related Videos


Discussion

HIPAA disclaimer:

Remember that your posts are public. Please do not include information in the text of your comment that personally identifies you, such as your your location, financial information, or other private information.

Other disclaimers:

PatientTalk reserves the right to delete comments that are vulgar, offensive or abusive, or which incite violence or contain fraudulent info, spam, porn, personal attacks or graphic images. Individual comments and responses do not necessarily reflect the views of PatientTalk.