got a bum disc?

my son's popular science arrived today listing the top 100 tech advances of the year. the fda is expected to approve the charite artificial disc by the end of this year....first major breakthrough in back surgery since the 40s. the procedure should take as little as an hour and promises a more natural range of motion than fusion surgery...

Really? Keep me updated!

~* Robin

Oh, I certainly hope so, have some friends who are putting off the current type of "fixing" back problems.

It's about time! Sorry if I sound inpatient, but I've been waiting for over 8 yrs. for the U.S. to catch up to Europe, when it comes to making artifical discs for the spine. Different countries in Europe, as well as, Australia have been very successful in disc replacements. The "Charite" artificial disc, if my memory serves me correctly, was "discovered" in Germany.

Unfortunately, I was not able to "trial" or be a candidate for this surgery, since my back problems were much more complex & I had already had one prior cervical fusion. However, I wasn't able to put off any longer having a major & extensive lumbar repair last December. I relish the idea of less invasive & shorter procedures to help thousands of people who suffer from herniated/ruptured discs. Hopefully, that also will mean a shorter & less cumbersome healing process as well! Please check with your own Doctors to see if you are a candidate for this "new & revolutionary" procedure.

* Please also put this thread in the Disabled Forum. A lot of people would love to get this latest update.

Thanks! :~)

http://charitedisc.com/charitedev/domestic/patients/about_worldfirst.asp

I just found another article, "All about the Charite artifical disc: now approved for use in the U.S., dated 11/17/04, written by one of the Orthopedic Surgeons, Dr. Paul McAfee at St. Joseph's Hospital in Towson, Maryland. He was one of the Dr's I went to for my surgical consultation. http://www.spine-health.com/topics/surg/charite/charite01.html

This message was edited Nov 21, 2004 3:15 PM

hi shirley - actually the disability forum is where i originally posted this, but it was moved here.
i'm biding my time for my discs to go again. it's been long enough so that i could get a couple more epidurals....still trying to avoid surgery at all costs. i don't know if my other problems could be fixed with this sort of thing, but am definitely going to keep abreast of the potential.

I didn't know there was a disability forum, unless it was gardening with disabilities. Did it get trashed in the purge?

Glad to hear that the epidurals are helping you. I couldn't tolerate them well and was still having mobility, numbness, tingling issues.

This revolutionary surgery will help a lot of people. However, I would definitely ask how many levels can be safely fixed with this new hardware. Hopefully, many more Neuro & Ortho Surgeons have been trained to perform this new sx.

yes - it was on the gardening with disabilities forum. and yes, thank goodness the epidurals worked for the discs - i cant think of anything more painful than sciatica. additional epidurals did not work for facets arthritis so that's what my chronic back pain now is all about [besides the normal ddd] im doing everything possible to avoid a rizotomy...including paying for therapy out of my own pocket....

Hi , I'm new, my hubby is disabled due to a 'fusion' of the L4/5. He is in a great deal of pain, on oxycontin,ect. The pain patch did not work (made him too ill) and some drug they tried on him last year ..... cant remember the name but ex-herion users receive it to come down off herion, it also made him so ill he became dagerously thin. And he is not a candidate for the Meditronic stimulation device that could be implanted under his skin - they say that device is mostly for people with leg pain.It's really hard to see him in pain day after day, ironically he injured his back while working in our 1st garden together when we were married in 1998. He really misses working, friends have dropped us (we can never do the same things anymore - cant blame them, and no one ever knows what to say to him or how to treat him) He cannot play his favorite sport any more....pool and he cant dance with me (he still calls me his bride) anymore, it really bites. The latest thing the doc's told him is that if anything else were done to his back it would be risking paralysis. We deal with it but its awful. If anyone ever hears of a 'new' pain treatment then please let me know, I would really apprecite it! Thank you , Jill

im actually considering acupuncture....will let you know when i get up the nerve and how it works for me....

Thanks Hand helpers

What happened to the Disability Forum? I can't even find it anymore....

Actually, Acupuncture is so easy & very little discomfort. A good Acupuncturist will teach you how to breathe properly when the needles are inserted. I had Acupunture done for several years prior to having my surgery. In fact, it was my Acupuncturist who suggested that I seek medical advice, which then lead me to various Ortho & Neurosurgeons.

momof2d - I feel for your DH. I've been in the same type of pain that he's in. However, I never tried the "pain patch" or Meditronic stimulation. The only thing that helped (somewhat) was reflexology. I'll try to find you that thread & post it. Here's a link to the thread about reflexology. I can get you more information if interested. http://davesgarden.com/forums/t/468663/

This message was edited Nov 21, 2004 8:51 PM

I just had my MRI today to see if i have a ruptured disc-I have NO idea what to expect!
I guess there my be more to this than i thought! yikez

The disability forum may have been retired for lack of traffic, along with a few other forums that were. If you write using the "contact us" link below and mention specific threads which were active recently, they may move those threads to another forum.

This artificial disk must be what a sales clerk at Lowe's told me about. He's been trying to hold out on having back surgery until this one was availble. Howie had fusion surgery on L3-4 in 1996, with bone taken from his hip.

Sounds like many are in the same boat as my DH, I think I'll get a reflexology book for him to see if it will help. he also lost some bone from his hip in that invasive surgery, i wish we knew then what we know now, the only relief he has from the surgery was less leg pain, but even with leg pain before that 3rd invasive surgery he was able to walk all over Cabo San Lucas with me, I think he would trade those days for how he is today in a heartbeat.

notmartha - Please let us know how your MRI results turn out. I hope everything will be okay.

GW - I remembering you posting on my thread in the previous Disabilities Forum about your DH, Howie. Hope he is feeling much better these days. I will try to find that specific thread by your very helpful instructions above. I am assuming that television, press, magazine coverage, as well as, word-of-mouth will make people more aware of this new surgical proceedure to replace spinal fusions. Howie had a bone graft taken from his hip and used to fuse L3-4 together. I had the same done 7 yrs ago in my neck (C6-7). I refused to have another bone graft with my lumbar surgery, because of the pain from the graft site. My surgeon was able to use a new bio-enzyme which had been recently created that was proven very successful in spinal fusions. No need to be cut twice!!

momof2d - Has he exhausted his search for Dr's in Orthopedic teaching hospitals? That is where I found the Neurosurgeon who fixed my lower back. It may take several Ortho & Neurosurgeons appointments, until he finds the right one to help him. It took me several years in my search. Don't give up! There is someone who can help him!

Thanks Shirley, I wont give up and neither will he. But they've told us that nothing more can be done for him or he would risk paralysis. He has had 3 surgerys, the 1st 2 with a neurosurgeon, and the 3rd with an orthopedic surgeon. So at this point we are hoping for a 'miracle' pain reliver. At one point he was on the wait list for the Mayo Clinic and then Mayo nixed their program to help people like him before he was chosen to be next.My ears are always open! Thanks, Jill

Jill, what about the implant Jerry Lewis has? I heard him talk about it on Conan O'Brien one night.
http://www.postgazette.com/pg/04261/380758.stm

Jill - Don't give up! There has to be someone who can help him! Are you willing to travel outside your area for a consultation? You may need to widen the search. My thoughts & prayers are with you & your DH. Shirley

Thanks Shirley , I wont give up! Garden wife, apparently -- so says the pain surgeon in our city....DH is not a good candidate for the Jerry Lewis thing, that was quite a disapointment for him, we had high hopes but the pain surgeon said that the implant really only helps people with leg pain. So that surgeopn then went and tried to burn out DH'd back nerves only to find out later (after an MRI) that the nerve burning did nothing and DH is too close to losing total mobility that they refuse to touch his back again. He's had disapointment after disappointment.

I actually wrote the Oprah show....a few months ago, hoping she would know of a famous doctor that might help, I have'nt heard back yet, I'm sure that my e-mail is one of millions she must get daily of people asking for help, so even an answer back from her staff would be a shear miracle in itsself , LOL!

Take care you guy's and have a great Thanksgiving! BTW ... DH and I still have alot to be thankful of and there are people worse off. :) Jill

This message was edited Nov 23, 2004 7:29 AM

Truer words were never spoken, Jill! Blessings for you & your family!!

TEST are Negative!!! :)

dori - negative what? negative tear? bulge? any other ideas from the results? [ps your seeds are on the way]

The problem with a negative MRI test for a herniated disc, is that if you do have a herniated disc, it can be "fixed" with exercise and/or surgery (of course back surgery will cause its own problems as well). Most other back problems require lots and lots of hard work to fix. I have bulging discs in my low back and thoracic back; doctors can't do anything for me except therapy and exercise. Thanks to exercises given by therapists and a few I've devised myself, I can push a bulging disc back in myself in very little time - like minutes. Before I discovered them, I had trips to ER for morphine/muscle relaxant shots and prescriptions that destroyed my mind and stomach for days. I don't tolerate drugs well it appears.... ER docs always called them "pinched nerves".

I guess it means im OK! :)

Glad to hear the good news, notmartha!

notmartha, if you're "ok", what's causing the pain that made them think you had a herniated disc? I was "diagnosed" with a herniated disc when my problems first started but no doctor ever thought an MRI was necessary, because they "knew" from my "symptoms" what was wrong with me ... I know now (6 yrs later) that I do not now, nor have I ever had a herniated disc, yet my symptoms point that way.

handhelpers made a point asking what the MRI was "negative" for - just the herniated disc or did they think to look for something else that may be causing the pain. Do your docs have any ideas at all? Have they suggested physiotherapy or exercise?

notmartha, if you're "ok", what's causing the pain that made them think you had a herniated disc?

That was my question too!!! they said stay on the meds and see how it feels next week!

im hoping it feels lots better!!

notmartha, you have mail.

I went through a bunch of tests including an MRI before the fibromyalgia diagnosis and although the test was negative, that negitive was one of the clues that lead to a correct diagnosis. The muscle spasyms that would last for months at a time were pulling my spine and other bones out of place. I still have problems with a disc that never fused in my tailbone but now I get shots of lidocaine and cortisone in trigger points that free up the tendons and muscles enough that my spine is mostly straight. It has taken three years of the shots but the pain in my legs is finally responding. It is a relief to find out there is something that will work. I hope it is the same for you. Jessamine