Approx. 8 years ago my wife was having back pain problems. She went through all of the testing that the doctors requested and they found degenerative disks,, arthritis and other problems.

After numerous suggestions by the doctors she agreed to have a "plate" put in her back to stabilize the spine. She ultimately had the plate in there for approx. 8 years. In this time the pain that she oriiginally had was very minor in comparison to the pain that she wound up with, with the "plate" in her back. The pain eventually got to be worse and worse and the original pain was almost non existant. She eventually started to walk bent over like a 90 yr. old woman/man. I'm not mentioning her age but she is not even close to that. The plate had done its job by fusing the vertibre together. But the pain was still there.

One evening we were discussing the "plate" and how it was installed by a doctor and God did not really design our bodies to have foreign objects in them. We came to the conclusion that the plate should probably be removed.

My wife started talking to other people that had a "plate" put in their backs and she found that upon removal others started to have less or almost no pain. This was definately for her.

We went back to the Nuerosurgeon that did the original work explained our findings and told him she wanted the plate out. Surprisingly he then informed us that it is not unusual for the pain to ease up or completely disappear when the "plate" is remover. Naturally our thoughts were why the hell didn't the S.O.B. tell us this a couple of years ago. Well she had the plate removed last week and sure enough the pain is starting to disapate. She is feeling better on a daily basis. I hope it continues this way.

Now for those of you that have never seen a "plate" other than by Xray film I am posting a couple of pictures. I'm sure you, like me, will be surprised to find out that a "plate" is not a "plate" but a conglomeration of screws, nuts, a main support and 2 mouting brackets. So withoud further ado this is what a "plate" looks like. Mike.

This was for four vertibre. A total of 31 parts in that device.

Crap Mike, makes my back hurt just to look at it. Best luck to your wife. Carey

Looks like something you could put together with misc parts @ Home Depot lol.

It does but I do believe that the whole thing is made from titanium. Mike.

I wonder if it has any second-hand value? Maybe you could sell it to those traveling overseas cheap surgery hospitals? Best of luck with future.

Kip

I see how it could make her back hurt

I wonder how much they charged for it when they installed it

My wife had a sling put in her when she had her hysterectomy, to tilt her bladder, and it had 4 stainless steel screws I think they charged like $700 for them, ins paid for them but what a hose job, that thing was probably a million

Wow, you have two more screws in that one than I do.

I should ask my doctor about that. Mines been in 11 years.

When they take it out they have to fill the holes, so they use cadaver bone.

Mike,

I can sure relate. This is the hardware from my first back fusion which failed. They removed most of the hardware and added more on the re-do.

And my an x-ray of my current hardware.....

I would be interested in more information on how she feels now that the hardware is gone. I'm still having a great deal of pain which we(the Doc and I) feel is associated with the hardware. The ultimate plan is to remove some or all of the hardware once complete fusion has taken place. That's where my issues complicate as I have some problems growing bone like normal healthy people do. You may PM me with any information you are willing to share.

Matt

PM me with your phone # and I will ask her to call you. She is feeling relief or less pain from the hardware but the incision is still less than a week old so she is getting pain from that. The existing hardware in your back looks like hers. 8 deck screws and some other junk. Mike.

My 8 screws, 2 Harrington Rods, and 2 cages(artificial discs) have been in since May of 2006. My wife has 2 Harrington Rods and 4 screws since Oct. 2008. Our backs have never been better. She plays tennis and volleyball 2-3 times a week at age 54. We are keeping our titanium bionics. Charlie Henderson

ttt

Wow Mike...send my get well kwik wishes along...hope shes up and ready to hit the casino again real soon ; ))

Calvin, she was at the Casino yesterday. Mike.

Mike,

I hope she makes a rapid and full recovery. The scary part is that the patient often must take the initiative and not rely on a single doctor.

It sounds funny but when we older folks get together we often talk about our medical experiences and we something discover new things which can help us. It happened to me yesterday while a a Father's day party. I was put on to a new doctor and a recent surgical procedure which could possibly help me. I am exploring it it starting this AM.

Tony C

ps None of the several doctors I have seen in the last severalo months ever mentioned this to me.

This is good to know. My fiance has a spinal cord injury that left her paralyzed from the chest down, and has the same device from her neck all the way to her hip bone. Her xray makes her look like a robot... Even with the injury she still feels pain in her lower back on a daily basis.