Hi, I'm Dingledongle! Has anyone had successful surgery for back issues?

We want to hear from you: please tell us about your experience of the online community.

Dingledongle

Hello, I am a 67 year old female, who up til 14 months ago used to run several miles daily with weekly long runs, cycle, walk and generally keep active

Last march whilst out running the pain in my leg stopped me in my tracks, no warning just instant unbearable pain

Long story short it took 10 months before I was given an MRI scan and the conclusion was as follows

L4 first degree anterolisthesis. L4-5 level severe central canal, lateral recesses stenosis and bilateral L5 nerve root impingement

Surgery has been mentioned but it seems that most comments on here are against/not recommending this, is there anyone who has had successful surgery

Sorry for the long post but it is getting me down now

Thank you for reading

Rosie_Scope

Hi @Dingledongle, welcome to the community. Sorry to hear you've had so much pain, that must have been a huge adjustment after how active you were.

It's worth mentioning that sometimes people are more likely to post about negative experiences than positive ones, so that may skew things slightly. But it's always difficult to say how much this happens.

If you've spoken to your medical team and they're recommending surgery, it's worth taking into account their views while making your decision as they'll have seen your scans and treated similar patients before. Have you been able to ask your medical team about what kind of outcomes their other patients have had from surgery?

I hope some of our members will be able to share their experiences and advice soon, it's a really tough decision to make.