Opinion & Thoughts about Back Surgery

[Brandonf150]

OK here's the deal, I have a herniated disc and 2 others that are in bad shape in my back. I was hoping to get injections to get me through until I lost the weight and developed support muscle. Well apparently the slippage is pretty bad. I do have pain and will get down in my back from time to time but it has been like this for 4 years, so I have been able to handle the pain and issues without pain medications.

Here's my options as I see it:

Option 1 Have back surgery in October/November (3-4 months after WLS) my concern here is getting laid up for 6 weeks on no travel but being able to walk some but limited exercise. I have been told the first 6-10 months after WLS is the most important to get as much weight off as possible. Obviously a 6 week hiatus from exercise 3-4 months after WLS will mess with that. I do not want to work against the WLS after waiting sooo many years and shelling out $12K of my own cash.

Option 2 is waiting until April which will put me out to 8-9 months after WLS. I am thinking by then a good portion on the weight will be off provided I stick to diet and exercise.

Option 3 is waiting until October/November 2016 (if I can).

My job requires travel. There are some things that happen at certain times of the year that I have be able to travel to so I am scheduling around those things.

I am leaning towards Option 2 but I am curious to everyone's thoughts on my concerns in Option 1.

My back was an issue I was hoping would take care of itself once the weight was off. It won't be. I did WLS to enjoy life again, I am not coming this far to let another issue hold me back. (pardon the pun)

[Ann2]

Brandon, I have zero expertise around back issues, so I won't opine on what you should do about that.

However, I want to say that your commitment to getting healthy is so admirable. I know you'll find good advisors about your back surgery decision. But on your eating / moving (as much as you can that doesn't damage your back further), you go, man!

[Brandonf150]

Thanks Ann,

Am I thinking right though regarding I need to get as much weight off within that first 6-10 months? Have you been told or read that also?

[Aydensmomma]

From everything I have heard, and myself as an example, you do loose a lot of weight in the 1st 6 months then it slows down but with a steady loss.
I have not had back surgery (hopefully never will) but my mom has and she was laid out for 6 months. She gained a lot of weight during that time. I would think anyone being laid up for a while is probably gonna gain a few, and that's not good if your trying to loose :-)
But if the first 6-10 months is the "honey moon phase" and you have the option to wait......well, if it was my choice I would wait. I think that your recovery may go better once you loose some weight too.

[Luann]

My 2nd back surgery not doing well is why I ended up gaining so much I chose to have a gastric sleeve. First back surgery I gained 20 pounds in just a few months but was able to lose it doing south beach diet.
2nd surgery did not go well at all, fusion but the new fused level never became solid. Over time I had gained a lot of the weight back that I had lost before, but after the 2nd surgery & lots more pain I just kept gaining & gaining. I hope you do better than I did. I think it depends on the sort of back surgery - for some reason I just gained rapidly both times even though I was conscious of how much I was eating & didn't pig out. Maybe it was the stress, I don't know. I gained it all around my middle - most unhealthy place to put on weight.

I tried my best to diet but the best I could do was to simply stop gaining with hard dieting. Then when I slipped I would gain. I could not manage to lose any significant amount just through dieting & with the pain I could no longer exercise, which is how I kept my weight in check my whole life before. I felt like a huge failure.
I don't know any stats on back surgery immediately following sleeve, but I think you are right in wanting to take max advantage of that golden year right after your sleeve. I have heard too that most of the weight you are going to lose will come off during that time frame.

[mem222]

Brandon, I have not had back surgery but have lived with some arthritis and scoliosis. The pain/flare ups are almost gone since losing 72 lbs in 9 mos (today !). Of course everyone is different but I did the cortisone shots and was told that I had as many as u could (in my feet too for heel Spurs/plantar fasciitis). I occasionally get a little back pain but when I go to the personal trainer he has me do exercises that make it go away! I am thrilled.
My mother is a different story. She lived with back pain for years with stenosis. She was afraid to have back surgery because she knew someone who had had back surgery probably 30 years prior and was afraid of the recovery. She was taking ixycodobe/OxyContin around the clock and still had pain. She was on her was to being housebound and she was only 65!! She had an amazing outcome -the Dr was even surprised. It was a very quick recovery period and she kicked herself for not doing it 10 years earlier! She did not gain any weight even though she had been heavier during her life. Everyone is different. She happened to find an excellent Dr and went in with a positive attitude.
As far as exercise, I basically did nothing for at least the first 5 mos. no energy. Had flare ups of heel Spurs when I tried and I still lost consistently. I slowly increased my walking and started working with trainer. The training is going well but still have to limit walking and now I have a shin soling because I felt so good I started using my treadclimber. So now I am dealing with this. I have 20 lbs to go. I know it will be slow but it is what it is. I can only do so much -surgery won't help. I am just so thrilled and amazed that I've come this far with my limitations.
I think you should discuss this with your back surgeon- why wait if you are cling to do more damage?
My Hubble had surgery 7/14 and has lost 58 lbs since pre-op diet 43 since surgery. He foolishly went back to work (chef) after 1week. Has has a lot of weakness due to low potassium levels -now sees a cardio and they are working on it. He has not increased his exercise level at all even takes shorter dog walks. The point is he is losing because he had the surgery, ears so much better, much less, and stopped drinking beer.
Sorry so long.
I wish you the best! Remember everyone has different experiences.

[niki k]

Brandon,
I have degenerative disk disease, and had back surgery. L5, S1 were severely herniated, and pinching a couple of nerves, that was so painful that I couldn't even get in the car. The surgery went very well, and have had very little back problems since. If I could plan it, maybe I would do the stomach surgery first. Although I had the back surgery first, I wonder if it would have helped if they would have been in reverse. And I know that the back issues is not entirely because of the weight, but not exercising and schlepping around 75 extra pounds certainly didn't help!

[Brandonf150]

Thanks for the posts. It helps a lot. I have 3 discs that are in bad shape not sure of the numbers because I was kinda in shock. 2 have stenosis and the middle disc is gone.

I think it best to hold off until April. I'm able to walk did 45 minutes tonight. So I can exercise in order to get the weight off.

Thanks again for all the input.

[Ann2]

Thanks Ann,

Am I thinking right though regarding I need to get as much weight off within that first 6-10 months? Have you been told or read that also?

Hey, Brandon -- just saw your question above.

Yes, I've been told by many WLS vets that the honeymoon period (especially the first 6 months) is the fastest-loss period of all. It makes perfect sense -- during that time we're heavier, our ghrelin and hunger is GONE, our tummies are extra-small because they're still swollen and healing, and we're so encouraged to "be good" because we're finally losing after years of dieting failure.

That doesn't mean our weight loss is over at 6 months. Not at all! But the speed with which we lose weight does start to slow down, on average. I say that based on having followed so many VSG patients online who post their monthly losses here and my own experience (see the monthly losses recorded in my signature block below).

You should know that I chose to ramp up my calories at 5 months (to 1,000 cals) and 7 months (to 1,200 cals), which understandably played a role in slowing my weight loss. My motivation in doing that (at the encouragement of my bariatric P.A.) was to discourage my body from "learning to live on a starvation diet." I think it worked because I am now maintaining at 143 pounds while eating 1,700 cals/day. But not everyone wants to conduct that kind of science experiment; it took a leap of faith for me to eat more at those points.

Anyway, those are just my observations and personal experiences. As always, others' mileage may vary.