6 years post op - Cuada Equina Syndrome

Hi jaimie13. I’m glad you found us here. Walking and having continence is wonderful. Congrats. The rest sounds very uncomfortable. My condolences.

I don’t have any “hardware” either, and I’m glad. Other than not having hardware,, we are really different. I’m in a wheelchair. Here’s why I’m glad I don’t have hardware. I believe that having metal implanted into the body sets us up for diseases. The body is constantly trying to eliminate the metal, so it finds its way into the body’s fluids and moves out of the body, slowly, through the kidneys. This is a burden to the kidneys. Also, heavy metals in the body attract bacteria...who then want to live there. So, surgeries that implant “hardware” has pros and cons,...sometimes even more than the doctors might warn us about.

Alternative therapy advocates have a lot to say about metals in the body. Mainstream science is also concerned. Here’s a research article about it:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3710008/
“The effects on bone cells of metal ions released from orthopaedic implants. A review”

I admit ignorance on some terms you used. But I Google terms that I don’t know. In case it can help someone else, here’s what I learned.

“Discectomy is surgery to remove lumbar (low back) herniated disc material that is pressing on a nerve root or the spinal cord. It tends to be done as microdiscectomy, which uses a special microscope to view the disc and nerves.”
www.mottchildren.org/health-library/hw218424

“Laminectomy, laminotomy, foraminotomy, and laminoforaminotomy are related procedures in which a surgeon removes bone from the spine. ... A laminotomy is performed to remove a herniated disc during a microdiscectomy or to allow the surgical treatment of a synovial cyst.”
www.columbiaspine.org/treatments/laminectomy-laminotomy-foraminotomy-laminoforaminotomy/

Yes, jaimie13, good or you for not taking harmful medicines. Baclofen causes brain damaga. Doctors had me on it for maybe a year. I didn’t have internet at the time, so I took whatever they gave me. After I researched it, I quit taking it. I regret mot objecting to it sooner. Here’s a research article.

Baclofen side effects are explained in this medical research:
“...Furthermore, caution should be taken when treating patients in the recovery phase of brain injury because there has been some evidence of deleterious effects on brain plasticity.4 Withdrawing baclofen treatment has been associated with hyperthermia, seizures, and altered mental status,19 but these symptoms can be avoided by tapering off the drug gradually.”
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4349402/

Doctors also had me on gabapentine. As you said, it’s awful stuff. Here’s a list of its side effects.

Gabapentine may cause depression.
www.healthline.com/health/gabapentin-oral-capsule#side-effects4
"Serious side effects and their symptoms can include the following:
Changes in mood or anxiety. Symptoms can include:
thoughts of suicide or dying
attempts to commit suicide
anxiety that’s new or gets worse
crankiness that’s new or gets worse
restlessness
panic attacks
trouble sleeping
anger
aggressive or violent behavior
extreme increase in activity and talking
unusual changes in behavior or mood"

I don’t know, jaimie13. I haven’t seen a neurologist or any specialist since I was released either. But I have no useful movement of my leg,...nothing to rehabilitate. I fought my way out of nursing homes so that I could have my herbal remedies. I couldn’t even get medical bowel and urinary help when I needed it while in the nursing homes. Texas has the (documented) worst nursing homes in the nation. Give us a little more info on yourself on your profile beneath your avatar? If I click to check your story, I would loose what I’ve already written here.