Surgery and multiple sclerosis
I am just wondering what, if any, have been folks experience with having to have surgery after your multiple sclerosis diagnosis. To date I have had three surgeries since my 2009 diagnosis. I’ve had both knees operated on and last year I had L5/S1 decompression and fusion surgery and now it looks like I am going to be having a lumbar dissect ectomy this year at L4/L5. I’m just curious because I know that every surgery that I’ve had since my diagnosis there seem to be extra measures that they take for people with MS. As far as I can tell having surgery didn’t really affect my disease, one way or the other but I know that it’s different for everyone and I was just curious.
thanks for starting this conversation. It's a great question. First, I'm sorry to hear that you had to have several surgeries over the years. I'm glad to hear that you recovered relatively well, but nonetheless, surgeries aren't fun. I've had one surgery since my diagnosis. It was a knee surgery as well. And, like you, I made sure that the surgeon was aware of my diagnosis but it didn't really change or impact his plans. I recovered well without it affect my diagnosis. I'm sure it's different for each person, specifically if they're in an active flare at the time or not. So, for me I just did the best that I could - which is by no means perfect - with taking good care of myself before and after surgery. When is your surgery scheduled for?
Best
Alene, moderator
Hi,
!
This is a good conversation to start and the topic of surgery and MS does come up from time to time here. One of our contributors chronicled her knee replacement surgery in a series of pieces here (she also has rheumatoid arthritis, too). You might find her story interesting -- https://multiplesclerosis.net/living-with-ms/knee-surgery. And here's a post from a community member about a rough recovery from hip replacement surgery -- https://multiplesclerosis.net/stories/hip-replacement-surgery. You are right that people respond differently to surgical procedures. Some people do quite well and some really struggle. And, it's pretty hard to pinpoint sometimes why that is.
I do hope your next procedure goes smoothly and your recovery goes well, too!
Best, Erin, MultipleSclerosis.net Team Member.
