Choosing my Spinal Surgeon for my Bad Back Problems

After spending countless hours on Google and the internet searching for answers to end my back pain and the associated problems from it I came across a web site by the name of "BadBacks". Try searching their forum here: http://forum.badbacks.com.au/ On there I continually found references to a spinal surgeon that operated out of the Gold Coast in Queensland that had marvellous results, and also carried out the surgery that had previously been recommended to me by my local ortho and neurosurgeons. He done a procedure he called a "Hybrid Procedure". This was one operation in which he did both a fusion and also an artificial disc replacement at the same time. Back here in NSW the surgeons were saying that I would need 2 separate surgeries. A fusion from the back or posterior side, and also an artificial disc replacement from the front or anterior side. This brought further problems in that I could only have one surgery at a time and needed to wait until I fully recovered before undergoing the other one. 2 lots of surgery, double the costs, double the risks, and double the time to recover was not for me. This Hybrid surgery looked like it was what was needed for me. An ALIF (Anterior Lumbar Interbody Fusion) and an ADR (Artificial DIsc Replacement) all done at once.

So after plenty of research on BadBacks and emails to members on there, (Thanks Joseph for all your advice and help. Joseph was only 22 years of age from Victoria and he was planning a Hybrid procedure with Matthew for exactly the same condition as me), I now had to research this type of surgery, the different types of artificial disc and the surgeon. Back to Google I went. Everything I found confirmed to me that this spine surgeon who operated from the Gold Coast in Queensland, a Dr Matthew Scott-Young, was the best Back Surgeon in Australia, and was the best back surgeon for me. He was part of the team that developed the Charite artificial disc, and had implanted over two thousand of them. He was very well respected and had excellent results. All surgeries have risks and not all go to plan. But I was very happy with my research and this was the man I needed to get my life back again.

But now I had another challenge. The best 'back doctor' for me operated in another state in Australia. Lucky for me my mother had moved to the Gold Coast and after telling her all about it she offered to act as nurse and for me to stay with her before and after any surgery that may eventuate, as well as run me around to appointments with doctors, physiotherapists, and for MRIs, xrays etc.

The next problem was the delay in getting to see him. I was suffering from both terrible pain and depression from the situation I was now in. (Depression is something I have never discussed with anyone, but I highly recommend finding someone to talk to about it. Do not handle it like me). I had decided that I needed to end this suffering somehow soon, and decided that I would undergo spinal surgery as soon as possible. Anyone suffering the pain I was in would understand that you get to a point that it all starts to be too much and you just want it all to stop. Or as I often said, "I just wanted my life back again".

Looking back I can honestly say I would have never ever thought that I would ever in my life be discussing or thinking about spinal surgery and everything that goes with it. It was a subject very far from my mind in my life. It just goes to show that life throws up some real challenges.

So an early appointment was necessary in my view and because Matthew had such a good reputation as a spinal surgeon I just couldn't wait for him to actually agree to get me on the table. His staff sent me plenty of paperwork I needed to complete, and asked that I send them all my scans, xrays and MRI's etc. Matthew had a procedure for looking after his interstate patients too. He reviewed the documents he received from his prospective patients, and from these he arranged an appointment based on the patients medical needs.

Luckily for me I received a telephone call within a couple of weeks to arrange an appointment for a discogram and an appointment the next day in his rooms to discuss the findings of both the discogram and his medical opinion from my documents I had given him. Unfortunately this discogram would be in about 5 weeks from their telephone call so I needed to be patient and wait. Lucky for me it wasn't any earlier as I needed to make arrangements for many things in the mean time to get me ready for the discogram and the early surgery that was about to eventuate in circumstances that I had not dreamed of.

By the way, a discogram is not something you should really research if you have plenty of time up your sleeve before having one. They are not a pleasant procedure to undergo and I have never met or heard of anyone who actually enjoyed the experience. But it is a necessary experience and one I would highly recommend you ask for if your own doctor doesn't (which I think would be highly unlikely if they know what they are doing)

Anyway, more about my discogram, my appointment with Dr Scott-Young, and my pending ADR and ALIF hybrid surgery, and my new Charite artificial disc will follow.

My back injury and the surgery that changed our lives

Well my life seemed to be fairly stable. I was in a job I was good at and enjoyed. I was happily married with 3 children in a home we built ourselves. I was on top of the world so I thought. But then it all began to change in early 2006. That was when I seriously hurt my back whilst at work. From there I battled my employer of over 10 years as I fought to keep my job, and their insurer as I tried to get the treatment and surgery I needed, and this dreaded workers compensation system that we have here in New South Wales.

It is such an unfair system that is geared around the insurer and the employer. The average person thinks it is there to provide security for the time when something goes wrong on the job. When you hurt yourself needing care and rehabilitation to get you back to where you were before the injury. If you think that is what it's for I am afraid you are sadly mistaken and I truely hope you never need to use it. And if you are one of the poor buggers paying out your high workers compensation premiums thinking at least it is there if I ever need it, well I am sorry the news is all bad.

Since I hurt my back I have had my claim approved, denied and then after a long and lengthy battle finally approved again at the last hour in the Workers Compensation Commission. I have lost my job that I had for over 10 years because of my injury. They told me to "go away and fix your back and then come back here and we will give you your job back". Well sorry but I thought that is what workers compensation was for. To look after me and fix me up when you are hurt on the job. To give me the necessary spinal surgery, to rehabilitate me and get me back on the job. I was wrong. I was told "it is a game and you better start to learn how to play if you want to get anywhere"

So amongst all the pain and agony and the depression when it all seems just too hard, you have your family there too. They are the innocent ones who did nothing wrong in all this but who also go along for the ride to hell and hopefully back and suffer along with you. They also now have worries: like how we are all going to survive, where will we get the money from to live, how to pay the bills, how will we ever afford the enormous cost of the spinal surgery that Dad needs, and ask are we now going to lose our house and everything too?

And while you battle the old employer and battle their insurer, you now are forced to deal with all the legalities, the solicitors and lawyers too just so you can get your 'compo' claim reinstated to cover the big pile of bills you had to somehow deal with. And all this takes its toll as your body tries its best to firstly recover from the shock of the injury and then the spinal surgery. The surgery that required two discs being removed from my spinal column in my lower back to be replaced with one artificial disc and another replaced with a little cage filled with bone fragments and something called BMP2 and all held together with titanium screws and a titanium plate.

And while all that is happening you all try to survive after losing your main source of income. Over the next 8 months the only money coming in is from the part time wages of my wife. She takes on extra hours. You cut corners to try keep things as normal as you can for the kids. You start having to somehow pay people to do the jobs around the home you used to do. And on top of all this you feel guilty for putting your family through a living hell. Your life gets turned upside down, but you somehow feel lucky because it could have been worse. Some poor people end up in wheelchairs or die on the job.

So now its about 8 to 9 months since my surgery and I am trying to let my body do its bit as I go through the recovery phase. I am trying to protect my fused spine as the fusion does its bit and the bone grows. I do not want to cause a problem after going through the spinal surgery or do something that stops me from fusing properly.

For anyone who has had a back injury, they look for the miracle cure. The thing that will fix their problem and get their life back. But it isn't that easy. Your GP probably doesn't give you the answers you need and you start searching for them yourself. This bad back you now have needs fixing and you may be looking at spinal surgery which all seems way too scary.

So what is a Hybrid Surgery? What is an artificial disc replacement, and which one should you get? What is fusion all about? That part of my story is to come. It isn't an easy road to take but it is now a necessary one for me and my family.....