Getting my Rods and screws removed Friday

[NW-Will]

Outpatient surgery, 90 minutes.

Bit of a leap of faith I know, but finally getting them removed.

2 rods 8 screws.

Seeing as the rods straddle my injury I'm guessing I'm going to have some REAL pain in the area above my injury where I can still feel, hopefully that heals and the pain there subsides quickly.

Neurologist thinks I will be 99% recovered from the surgery in 3 weeks .

Sure is going to make the BP interesting for a couple of weeks..... eek

[Bonnette]

Very best wishes to you!

[nonoise]

I hope all goes well. You got guts as far as I'm concerned getting this done even if it is the best thing to do now.

[funklab]

I had rods and screws removed, only maybe one set of screws were above my level of injury, but the top of the incision definitely was. Recovery was relatively easy. Just a PITA to not be able to lean back on stuff for a little while. Probably a good thing that it’s partly above your level of injury so you can feel when it’s actually healing up and don’t start leaning on it too early.

[stephen212]

Outpatient surgery, 90 minutes.

Bit of a leap of faith I know, but finally getting them removed.

2 rods 8 screws.

Seeing as the rods straddle my injury I'm guessing I'm going to have some REAL pain in the area above my injury where I can still feel, hopefully that heals and the pain there subsides quickly.

Neurologist thinks I will be 99% recovered from the surgery in 3 weeks .

Sure is going to make the BP interesting for a couple of weeks..... eek

Good luck with your surgery!

Cause of my SCI was non-traumatic. I had a ruptured vascular malformation which required a laminectomy (T3-T6) to remove it, but I don't have any hardware in my back. Is it common to be offered the option to remove rods at some point post-injury?

[SCI-Nurse]

Removing the rods and crews helps to give you a little more flexibility so is not uncommon. It depends on why the rods were put in - non-traumatic cause versus traumatic.

I am sure it is scary - there are always the possibility of post-op complications - so I know that you must be a little scared. This is a much simple procedure than putting them in so there should be some comfort in that.

ckf

[Patrick Madsen]

Not sure how rods are now a days. Back in the early '80's we had a syne that those with rods either bent them, broke them or they eventually wore thru the skin. It was fairly routine to have them removed. I'm sure it's much easier and safer now. Good luck, I trust you'll find more flexibility with them out.

[NW-Will]

Thanks for the comments and positivity

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I like the way you think .. "Probably a good thing that it’s partly above your level of injury so you can feel when it’s actually healing up and don’t start leaning on it too early."


I get the feeling it's not too common to take them out these days.
I just have a lot of pain, so we're hoping this may help.
Plus when I have an MRI or CT scan, the images are hopeless because all the metal is in the way, so if nothing else I should at least get clearer images so 'THEY' can at least use the images I have in the future. or at least the images will be more useful from a diagnostic point of view.

[funklab]

Thanks for the comments and positivity
..

I like the way you think .. "Probably a good thing that it’s partly above your level of injury so you can feel when it’s actually healing up and don’t start leaning on it too early."


I get the feeling it's not too common to take them out these days.
I just have a lot of pain, so we're hoping this may help.
Plus when I have an MRI or CT scan, the images are hopeless because all the metal is in the way, so if nothing else I should at least get clearer images so 'THEY' can at least use the images I have in the future. or at least the images will be more useful from a diagnostic point of view.

That's why I took mine out. After losing all the meat on my back the screws were right there on the surface and it was painful to lean back on the ones above my injury level. The ones below my injury level were obviously causing irritation too because my back swelled up really big overlying them, so I took them out.

Ended up with a good bit of scoliosis a few years later, but who knows that might have happened anyway.

[ChesBay]

Wishing you the best with surgery.

[NW-Will]

Rescheduled for Monday the 30th September.

[Thaynes]

Best wishes to you. I've had mine in since '91. I always wondered if I should take them out. But if it ain't broke...

[NW-Will]

Best wishes to you. I've had mine in since '91. I always wondered if I should take them out. But if it ain't broke...

I have a lot of pain.. and the rods could be the culprit... once they are out it's one less thing to blame etc.

If I wasn't in so much pain I'd leave them alone.

[xsfxsf]

I had them removed for pain. It was a much bigger operation and definitely inpatient. This was decades ago. Didn't help the pain much but it did let them get MRIs which made it clearer what was going on.

[Brad09]

I had mine removed for pain 5 years ago and it didn't help either. Just don't want you to get your hopes up. I was out of work for about a month to recover. I do have more peace of mind knowing I don't have all that metal in my back though.