I underwent an L5-S1 TLIF surgery on 1-19-2013 at the VA hospital in Houston.
When I woke up my wife informed me that the Dr's told her that everything went well, except for the fact they started on L4. They told her that they had cut bone out of the way and also drilled holes before they realized they were at the wrong level. They stated that when they realized it they replaced all the bone fragments to allow them to re-fuse (hopefully).
The next morning when the Dr made his rounds he told me everything went well, my son was with me in the room. I asked him about the mix up and he said that yes, they had cut bone from the wrong vertebrae and that it would certainly cause some increased pain and that one side, the left, would someday fuse to the vertebrae beneath it. I told him of my concerns and he said that they would order a CTScan and review it, which they did.
After it was done, he returned to my room and told me that they had not cut as much bone out of the way as they had thought and that I should still have a stable spine.
That day when they got me up to walk, I noticed a large lump on my left side which was very painful, the skin around it was painful from the mid back all the way to the naval, super sensitive to the touch, it still is 5 months later.
Two days after I was released I went back into the Little Rock VA hospital for blood in my lung, they have not been able to determine where it came from, 5 months later it still hurts to take a deep breath, it feels like I have several, usually 3, spasms and then I catch my breath.
I have been to 5 VA Dr's and they all say the same thing, "Wow, that bump is not normal, but I have no idea why its there."
I have two 3 1/2" scars at the L5 level and two 1" scars at the T10 level all 4 from the surgery.
I have so much left leg pain, its almost unbearable, when I went back for my 3 month check-up the neurosurgeon brushed me off over my concerns about breathing and the soreness over the skin at the T9-10 area, he said that they had not operated in that area so it was from nothing they had done.
At this point I don't know what long term affects I will endure from the mix-up.
In the Op report they do admit to being in the wrong area, but they say they only cut soft tissue and then before they started cutting bone they checked by xray to make sure they were in the right spot, contradicting what they told me.
Oxray now it shows arthritis at T9-10, which is a new development.
My ratings are
50% PTSD
20% DDD Lumbar
20% Rt Ankle
20% Rt Femur, Hip, Knee with leg length discrepancy
Question
recon13
I underwent an L5-S1 TLIF surgery on 1-19-2013 at the VA hospital in Houston.
When I woke up my wife informed me that the Dr's told her that everything went well, except for the fact they started on L4. They told her that they had cut bone out of the way and also drilled holes before they realized they were at the wrong level. They stated that when they realized it they replaced all the bone fragments to allow them to re-fuse (hopefully).
The next morning when the Dr made his rounds he told me everything went well, my son was with me in the room. I asked him about the mix up and he said that yes, they had cut bone from the wrong vertebrae and that it would certainly cause some increased pain and that one side, the left, would someday fuse to the vertebrae beneath it. I told him of my concerns and he said that they would order a CTScan and review it, which they did.
After it was done, he returned to my room and told me that they had not cut as much bone out of the way as they had thought and that I should still have a stable spine.
That day when they got me up to walk, I noticed a large lump on my left side which was very painful, the skin around it was painful from the mid back all the way to the naval, super sensitive to the touch, it still is 5 months later.
Two days after I was released I went back into the Little Rock VA hospital for blood in my lung, they have not been able to determine where it came from, 5 months later it still hurts to take a deep breath, it feels like I have several, usually 3, spasms and then I catch my breath.
I have been to 5 VA Dr's and they all say the same thing, "Wow, that bump is not normal, but I have no idea why its there."
I have two 3 1/2" scars at the L5 level and two 1" scars at the T10 level all 4 from the surgery.
I have so much left leg pain, its almost unbearable, when I went back for my 3 month check-up the neurosurgeon brushed me off over my concerns about breathing and the soreness over the skin at the T9-10 area, he said that they had not operated in that area so it was from nothing they had done.
At this point I don't know what long term affects I will endure from the mix-up.
In the Op report they do admit to being in the wrong area, but they say they only cut soft tissue and then before they started cutting bone they checked by xray to make sure they were in the right spot, contradicting what they told me.
Oxray now it shows arthritis at T9-10, which is a new development.
My ratings are
50% PTSD
20% DDD Lumbar
20% Rt Ankle
20% Rt Femur, Hip, Knee with leg length discrepancy
10% left Knee
10% painful scar
10% painful scar
80% schedule
100% IU P&T since 1998
Do I have a case?
Edited by recon13Link to comment
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