H
healthyfocus
Guest
Hi Everyone,
I had Anterior Luraber Interdiscal Fusion (ALIF) surgery on January 4th at the L5 S1 vertebrae as a result of a herniated disc that I had lived with for 20+ years. The surgery went well, although the space between the two vertebrae were so compressed after all this time that the surgeon had to jack the vertebrae up to make room (the space was 7 mm and the spacer they used was 13 mm). They were able to take a core of bone from the vertebra above and used 4 screws to keep the spacer in place. Waking up from the surgery, I had a lot of pain from muscle spasms.
The recovery has been challenging, but from the second week I was walking and by the third week I was using an elliptical absent of the arm motion as that would be twisting. I have worn a hard plastic brace (goes from the tail bone to just under my arms) all day long and have, for the most part, not lifted any more than 5 lbs. This is really hard with a 2 yr old and 3 yr old. There were two times where I was in excruciating pain and thought the fusion failed; once, going up north, 6 weeks after the surgery, the frost heaves were really bad this winter and it was like hitting a speed bump every 15 seconRAB - this really set me back and put me back in the prone position for a few days. The second, is when I picked my son up last weekend in an emergency situation - I had not choice. Again, 2 days prone on ice. I have alternated heat and ice every night and morning and often times throughout the day. In terms of going back to work it took 4-5 weeks before I went back in and really took it easy. The only other time I find a set back is if I use the elliptical too much.
My problem/question is this: 11 weeks after the surgery, I am still in a lot of pain right in my lower back. It is almost as if the surgery did not improve it. Could this be because my core is so weak having not used it in 12 weeks? And, could it also be because I have not stretched any muscles in 12 weeks?
I also awoke from the surgery with leg pain. Prior to the surgery, I never had leg pain – only back pain. Both legs were in pain and nurab after the surgery. Now it is limited to the right leg and I take 1800 mg of neurontin which really helps tremendously. Another question; does this leg pain (burning and tingling) eventually go away? My surgeon said it is because the nerves are stretched (they had to really arch my back to open the spine and pull the compressed disc out.
My fear is that perhaps the problem was not the disc and is something else? I am also in fear that perhaps the fusion did not work.
I go back in to see my surgeon on April 3, which is 3 months post op, to see if the fusion is on track through an x-ray and to then get cleared for physical therapy. I'm very hopeful that PT, stretching and aggressive core strengthening will make the difference. If not, I do not know where to go from here (should I see a neuro surgeon as my surgery was done by an orthopedic surgeon?). If the fusion did not take, we will have to do another surgery from the back with all the accompanying hardware (I’m trying not to even think of this as a possibility).
I had Anterior Luraber Interdiscal Fusion (ALIF) surgery on January 4th at the L5 S1 vertebrae as a result of a herniated disc that I had lived with for 20+ years. The surgery went well, although the space between the two vertebrae were so compressed after all this time that the surgeon had to jack the vertebrae up to make room (the space was 7 mm and the spacer they used was 13 mm). They were able to take a core of bone from the vertebra above and used 4 screws to keep the spacer in place. Waking up from the surgery, I had a lot of pain from muscle spasms.
The recovery has been challenging, but from the second week I was walking and by the third week I was using an elliptical absent of the arm motion as that would be twisting. I have worn a hard plastic brace (goes from the tail bone to just under my arms) all day long and have, for the most part, not lifted any more than 5 lbs. This is really hard with a 2 yr old and 3 yr old. There were two times where I was in excruciating pain and thought the fusion failed; once, going up north, 6 weeks after the surgery, the frost heaves were really bad this winter and it was like hitting a speed bump every 15 seconRAB - this really set me back and put me back in the prone position for a few days. The second, is when I picked my son up last weekend in an emergency situation - I had not choice. Again, 2 days prone on ice. I have alternated heat and ice every night and morning and often times throughout the day. In terms of going back to work it took 4-5 weeks before I went back in and really took it easy. The only other time I find a set back is if I use the elliptical too much.
My problem/question is this: 11 weeks after the surgery, I am still in a lot of pain right in my lower back. It is almost as if the surgery did not improve it. Could this be because my core is so weak having not used it in 12 weeks? And, could it also be because I have not stretched any muscles in 12 weeks?
I also awoke from the surgery with leg pain. Prior to the surgery, I never had leg pain – only back pain. Both legs were in pain and nurab after the surgery. Now it is limited to the right leg and I take 1800 mg of neurontin which really helps tremendously. Another question; does this leg pain (burning and tingling) eventually go away? My surgeon said it is because the nerves are stretched (they had to really arch my back to open the spine and pull the compressed disc out.
My fear is that perhaps the problem was not the disc and is something else? I am also in fear that perhaps the fusion did not work.
I go back in to see my surgeon on April 3, which is 3 months post op, to see if the fusion is on track through an x-ray and to then get cleared for physical therapy. I'm very hopeful that PT, stretching and aggressive core strengthening will make the difference. If not, I do not know where to go from here (should I see a neuro surgeon as my surgery was done by an orthopedic surgeon?). If the fusion did not take, we will have to do another surgery from the back with all the accompanying hardware (I’m trying not to even think of this as a possibility).
M