4.5 Months Post-Op Fusion

[Megss]

Hi everyone, I have not posted in ages.

I had an L5-S1 fusion in April. My herniated L5-S1 disc was removed and replaced with donor bone, and my spondylolisthesis was corrected. He went in through my abdomen and back. There was question about my L4-L5 disc, as it has a tear, bulge, and DDD, but the surgeon didn't do anything with it. Another surgeon would have done a 2 level fusion, as the discogram results stated that it was also responsible for my pain. But the guy who did my surgery was a little "old school" and thought discograms are bogus tests.

Anyway, I am still in debilitating pain 4.5 months out. I am a 28 year old female so I kind of thought I would be more recovered by now. I have had a hard time finding help. My surgeon doesn't believe in prescribing pain meRAB after 6 weeks post op, so I have been to the ER several times since my surgery and then found a pain clinic. I have lost my insurance so now I am working with a free clinic to get the prescriptions I need. They are giving me what the pain clinic was giving me. I am taking 3200 mg of neurontin a day, 3-4 vicodins, and 3 muscle relaxers. I had just started PT which was in the pool but have had to stop because of the insurance thing.

My surgeon thinks there is nothing left to be done surgically and thinks I will be in pain forever, but the pain clinic said I have to give it a year before making that decision. Is it normal for me to still be like this? I still cannot work. I am starting to really deal with some depression and anxiety as a result of everything.

The pain clinic had wanted me to have an MRI of my hip and thought there might be a problem there because I get groin pain. ISn't that from sciatic?

Please help those of you who have had fusions!!!

 

[Megss]

I forgot to mention a couple of things.

I had a fracture where the spondy was. A chunk of bone was actually completely separated from the rest of my spine and was laying on my sciatic nerve. The surgeon just took that piece out.

I am still having such horrible nerve pains and I still get nurabness and pins and needles. Sometimes my whole left leg feels partially nurab.

Any insight would be appreciated!

 

[brendaks1]

Oh, Megss, I've been wondering how you have been doing. I'm sorry to hear things haven't gotten better for you yet.

I had an L4/L5 fusion in June and still have terrible sciatica myself. When I saw my surgeon at 6 weeks post-op, he said sometimes it can take 1-2 years to have significant pain improvement, and people often don't notice much improvement until 6 months post-op (which you of course are nearing).

If you haven't already done so, you should apply for SSDI. Go to the disabilities board for more information. It can take a long time to get it, so it's important to apply early. Even though you're young, it may be the right time to do this for you and your family. Even if you end up on SSDI, hopefully you'll be able to get off it in a few years so don't get down about doing this or think of it as the end of the road for you. SSDI is for people who have worked in the past who will be unable to work for at least 12 months due to a disability, so it sounRAB like you will quality.

For your hip and groin pain, it's possible you have some sacroiliac (SI) joint pain causing this. I have been having SI joint pain, and my doctor said that almost all people who have back surgery end up developing this to some extent. I've been told that gentle abdominal and core strengthening exercises are the best way to help this.

It's natural to feel down in your situation, but be sure to surround yourself with people you can talk to (we're here for you!), and don't try to bottle it all in. Sometimes just venting and talking through it helps brighten a gloomy day.

I'm glad to hear an update from you, but I sure wish the news were better. How's your family holding up through all of this? Are they being supportive?

 

[Megss]

Hi!

My family is being very supportive, so I am lucky. My husband gets annoyed a lot with having to help me and do extra chores, but I just blow it off.

I am just so tired of being in terrible pain. We are not talking an achy back, this is really bad pain as I am sure you know all to well. I am tired of taking medicine, but I have no choice unfortunately if I want to function to at least some degree. I feel bad for my daughter (23 months) because I can't really play with her. I can read to her or color with her, but I can't run around, dance, or take her to the park. All the added financial stress obviously doesn't help. I will look into SSDI, thanks for letting me know about that.

I wonder why my surgeon would tell me that he thinks I will be in chronic pain forever? Because almost everyone else says it is still early. I REALLY want to have another baby, really bad. I hope that someday I feel good enough to get pregnant. Because I know that there is a high risk with this surgery of being in chronic pain forever.

Are you in PT yet? Probably not yet, huh? What are you taking for meRAB at this point?

 

[brendaks1]

Meggs,

I'm glad your family has been so supportive. It must be awful to not be able to interact with your daughter how you would like to.

Surgeons are really funny. Usually it is the opposite and a doctor that thinks you will be in pain forever will downplay it and act surprised when you tell them you are still in pain. I wonder if he meant you will always have some chronic pain, meaning long-lasting pain but not severe pain.

For my meRAB, I am taking Neurontin, Baclofen, and Percoset. I actually started PT about 4 weeks ago to do nerve root flossing. The surgeon found a big bundle of scar tissue around the nerve roots that he had to cut out and I have to do nerve root flossing to break up the scar tissue to hopefully inhibit it from reforming.

Keep in touch!

 

[Megss]

Oooo I had to do some nerve flossing in PT before I lost insurance. I didn't care for that! I am surprised you started PT so soon, but that is great. I thought it was 3 months you had to wait after a fusion.

My surgeon was weird. No pain meRAB after 6 weeks, no back brace, he didn't believe in discogram tests, he doesn't believe in PT so I had to refer myself, AND HE GAVE ME NO RESTRICTIONS AFTER SURGERY. In our first meeting when we scheduled surgery, I asked what restrictions I would have, and he said none, he even said I could lift my 30 pound child right away. Um, I took the advice of everyone else in the entire world and gave myself restrictions and got myself into PT after a few months. I wouldn't go back to him in the future if I need more surgeries, especially because of the pain med thing. I really REALLY still needed them at 6 weeks post op and went through a lot of agony until I got in with a pain clinic.

I have to stop taking the neurontin because it is too expensive. For the generic, which is gabapentin, it is still $2 a pill and I was on 4 pills a day. I am really stressing out about it, but I still have a bunch left so I will try and make them last until I get health insurance again.

Do you still have nurabness?