Hi RichT:

Interesting topic, I too, would like to hear from others as well . . .
C

I'm having laser surgery at The Bonati Institute this Monday and will keep you informed of my progress.

Best wishes and God bless!

Hello Carol and Carrianne,

Carol, I thank you for your interest in laser spine surgery. Welcome aboard to what I hope will be a rewarding thread for many.

Carrianne, YOU are just the person we need to help us. To give us feedback on your experiences to be encountered with laser spine surgery.

My thoughts and prayers are and will be with you on Monday and the coming days.

Take care.

RichT

Hello
I went to every spine surgeon in my area over 13 and all said that they
could not take away my pain and I would have to live with it.I then
found the Bonati Institute.I had surgery in july 2007 on my facets
and L5/S1 disc. I am now 90% pain free and feeling better every day.
I feel like I have my life back.


Joe

Hello Joe,

Thanks very much for your post, and especially for telling us of your experiences with laser surgery at Bonati Institute.

Did you or do you have slipped vertabra at L5/S1? I ask because that is one of my problems.

Do you know of others that have been to Bonati Institute and if their surgery was sucessful?

RichT

I just noticed that there have been 82 "views" of this thread. That's GREAT!!!

I would encourage all of you to post. Whether you have had spinal surgery with lasers, or if you have questions about laser surgery. Perhaps Joe can answer some of your questions. Together we can learn.

RichT

rich
I had a ruptured disc. I saw many folks at bonati that were so
much better after surgery.I would look at this before you have any surgery
Fusion must be a last option.

Joe

Hello Joe,

Your experience and reference to others in their success with laser surgery is very encouraging. Thank you!!!! for sharing.

I will look into it.

At this time the epidural injection is keeping me functioning, however, there still is much I cannot do. I cannot stand in one location for more than a couple of minutes. I cannot sit in a wood or uncomfortable chair without pain beginning.

On the 20th I will be seeing me PM doctor. I hope he can help give me a plan for when surgery will be needed.

I, like you, literally fear having fusion because of extremely long recovery times, the reported "failures", and the loss of motion.

I will look forward to an update on how your recovery progresses.

RichT

Hi Joebob!

I'm having my surgery at L5/S1 also. I'm having a discectomy, lamenotomy, and foramenotomy. Is that what you had as well?

Best wishes and God bless!

Hello Carrianne,

WOW, that's three of us with L5/S1 issues. Is this another one of those "common" problem spine areas? Carrianne, do you have slipped vertabra at the L5/S1? If so, will the surgery at Bonati correct that?

My thoughts and prayers are with you in your upcoming surgery on Monday and for a successful surgery and recovery.

RichT

Hello Rich T and Joebob....I have fought back pain for seven yrs. and spinal fusion is not an option for me because of the discs involved. I would be very interested in laser surgery as an option because I am just about out of them....I am in pain managment now after getting off major-league pain medication for four yrs. (not an easy thing to do by the way).

I have had four epidural injections, two complete nerve blocks, radiofrequency ablation, six facet injections, a discogram and several other not-so-pleasant procedures. I also have involvement at L5/S1 and two other discs. None of the procedures lasted more than a couple of months for me.

After a lifetime of sitting, I was forced to retire early on disability. It seems as you age, your discs dry out, become rigid, start to bulge and hit on the nerves. I have that scenario plus one disc is almost flattened.

I would be interested in what everyone has to say on this post. Thanks

Hello Lonestarguy,

Welcome to this thread. I hope together we can all learn about laser spine surgery and determine if it is the right thing for us.

"after getting off major-league pain medication for four yrs. (not an easy thing to do by the way" SOOoooo very true, it is not easy getting off of pain medication. That part of it for me at least was almost as bad as the pain itself.

Lonestarguy, you have had your share of injections. Better than the knife if they work. I'm not even in the same league as you for I had my first epidural the end of April. Its effectiveness seems to be wearing off , but it has helped to keep me functioning.

A question if I may - What is the difference between an epidural injection and a facet injection? Does the facet injection also contain cortisone? Also could you tell me what a discogram procedure is? Thanks

"It seems as you age, your discs dry out, become rigid, start to bulge and hit on the nerves. I have that scenario plus one disc is almost flattened." Yes, seems like I and a number of people that I have communicated with would unfortunately agree that as you age our bodies aren't as good as they used to be. It would seem that is why as we get older we get shorter. My doc told me my dics were less than half what they would be in a young back. What really disturbs me today is the number of people in their 20's and 30's that have back problems.

I hope Joe will respond to you regarding laser spine surgery as he has "been there" and thankfully so far the surgery has been successful.

Carrianne wil have laser spine surgery this Monday, and I hope all goes well for her.

My thoughts and prayers are with you for what you have been through and are going through. I hope that through this thread you will be able to find some promising options.

RichT

Thanks Rich for your kind words. I do hope Carrianne comes through okay after her surgery Monday.

As far as the epidurals, they usually start you off with the cortisone (to reduce inflammation) and lidocaine (for numbing) first. The facet injections do not have cortisone, but a combination of pain meds and anti-inflammatories to deaden the area. They did work better than the cortisone for me, but again the staying power was not there.

Don't even ask about the discogram. It is a medieval torture device disguised as a back procedure. Before going into surgery, the surgeon wanted to pinpoint which discs were hurting me the most. So, without anesthesia, they use an eight-inch needle and inject dye so they can see on a fluoroscopy (x-ray machine). Then you are supposed to tell the doctor which discs hurt the most. That's why you have to be awake during the procedure. As it turned out, I had two bad discs but they were separated by a good disc and the fusion wouldn't help me.

I have had many painful things--wounded in war, four major operations, kidney stones, broken kneecap--and nothing was as painful as the discogram. It has such an innocent-sounding name doesn't it?

I'm also surprised that so many young people have back problems today. I never had any problems until seven years ago. I'll be interested to hear from Joe and Carrianne about their operations and results.

LSG

Hello LSG,

Thanks much for answering my questions. Now I know the difference between and epidural injection and a facet injection. Thanks.

And the best info you shared was about the innocent sounding "discogram". It really hurt just reading what you went through. Thanks to your description there is NO WAY any doc is going to get me to go through that!!!!

I'm learning a lot from you and your experiences. THANKS!!!!

I only hope that others can help you as much regarding their experience with laser spine surgery.

RichT

Hello all
I have researched arthroscopic laser surgery for almost 6 months
before deciding to have surgery. There is no miracle cure and this
may not be for everyone.Bonati and laser spine in florida are 2
of the best places I have found.As far as facets the use of the laser
to clean out the dead tissue and deaden the nerve is permanent unlike
other proceedures and is far supirior than anything else avalible.
For me Bonati was the bestter choice for insurance reasons. I have never been to more carring doctors.They give you all the time you need.
The biggest difference is the diagnostic proceedures they use to pin
point you source of pain.You are awake for the whole surgery and
are walking right away. No bloodloss,no general anastesia,no tramma
to back muscles(no cutting) and no stitches as the entry is 3/4 of an inch.
No overnight hospital stay. I have become frends with many that I have meet there,you trully need to see it to believe it.Both places can be found
on the web and both have great web sites and do free evaluations to
see if you may be a canadate for this type of surgery. I will be glade to answer any questions you or anyone may have.
I hope I am not breaking any rules by posting the links.
Joe
(links removed)

Hey Carrianne
Yes I had the same plus S1,L5 facet ablation.
I wish you all the best on your surgery,and cant wait to hear all
about it.

Joe

Just wanted to pop in and say hi.

Carrianne, best wishes and success on Monday's surgery. I'll be thinking of you and waiting to here how you are doing.

Fran

Hello Carrianne,

Just to let you know I'll be with you in mind and spirit tomorrow.

RichT

Hey everyone,

Just logging in here to say hi! This morning I went to LSI this A.M. and looks to them like there is no other way to fix me except for Surgery. Pain? Um YES! from my left Upper Buttox to my toes. Feels like the inside of the bone itself is on fire 24/7. Ive been dealing with the pain for about a week when i finally fell pray for all the drugs to mask the pain.

LSI (Laser Surgery institution) told me there was NO other way to fix my back except Surgery. Well this sounds like a plan, but i'm 39 and there is no way i can afford 32,000.00 for this surgery. Seems like all the Laser Surgeons around here are do not take insurance, they bill you and you bill the insurance to get your money back... OUCH that hurts about as much as the back pain itself.

It is worth it? If anyone can tell me if this surgery really works i would be indebted to you. If i can get this pain leveled out at about 25% of what i am feeling i would be very happy.

Thanks for all your help.