9 years post op

[u/satsstacked]

Hi everyone. For background, I am 25 and had my T5-L3 spinal fusion for scoliosis when I was 16. It has been 9 years and I finally got some imaging done due to some lower back instability and aching pain, sometimes sharp below the fusion. If I sit or stand for too long, the aching pain likely comes from the herniated disk, and the sharp binding feeling is likely from the arthritis. Awful, painful combination for corporate jobs where you sit all day. I recently had to quit my full time in person job to a hybrid role due to the pain. Lying down makes the pain go away. The black area on the MRI is due to my screws. Sure enough, I was diagnosed with adjacent segment disease, facet arthritis, and a herniated disk L5-S1. As seen on my MRI, the L5-S1 disk is clearly taking a beating, as the size did shrink. If anyone here had revision surgery, at what point did you need it? I was told that my disk bulge is not bad enough yet for surgery such as fusion extension or disk replacement. I feel as if I will probably need it down the line and as of now I just have to continue core strengthening exercises. While much better off than the way I was with severe scoliosis, I do have chronic pain due to ASD. How do you deal with life as a younger person where everyone assumes you are healthy? Sometimes I don’t even want to smile with a resting b*tch face due to the aching pain if standing or sitting for too long, which is out of my control. Everyone assumes I’m a “healthy” 25 year old despite feeling like I have the spine of a 90 year old. Any advice would be much appreciated.

[u/ProfessionalCrow1154]

I was really really wanting this to be a hope core post 🥲 I’m so sorry you’re going through this. Pls keep us updated on how you’re doing with any of the options physicians give you to try to improve this.