Anyone Had a T5 to L5 Fusion?

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vaneerraa

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I just can't take the pain anymore!! :( Since my second PT appt. and all this snow we've had, my back has REALLY ached. As I said previously, my surgeon doesn't want to deal with it anymore. I don't want to see my regular doc because he'll just say to go to the PM doc- and you know how I feel about them. They make you feel like your drug seeking. I do think I @ least need Zanaflex, because I feel some of the pain is due to spasms; I can feel some of my back muscles twitching. The worst thing is, I can't continue my PT exercises @ home, and I have another PT appt. on Monday:( What should I do guys?? Maybe I should talk with my Physical Therapist- She has years of experience in a big city, and she said she never saw anyone with that many levels fused, plus all the other work done. I saw my x-rays, and there are ten big drill type looking roRAB in my back. No wonder I'm in so much pain!! Again, any advice out there?? Vaneerraa:(
 
Hello, I'm new here and have been reading a lot of your posts. I am five months post-op from multiple diagnoses, including: T5 to L5 Spinal Fusion, Harrington Rod Removal, Reconstruction and Decompression, Laminectomy, Spur Removal, and a few other things I can't even remeraber; loll! I'm still in pain and wondered if this is normal? I am only taking ES Tylenol and/or Ibuprofen. Just started P.T. I haven't seen anyone on the boarRAB write about having this many levels of fusion being done. Is this true? Or have I missed some posts? ....Vaneerraa
 
Maybe you can talk to your therapist and have her see you in pain while you try to exercise and then let her call your doctor. My therapist and doctor talked somewhat regularly. If she can communicate to him that she feels you would progress better if you had some pain control, maybe he would listen to her.

Don't despair. It will get better, even though it probably doesn't feel like that right now!

~Emily
 
Hello and welcome.

There are a couple ladies on the board who have had multiple vertebrae fused. I'm sure they'll see your thread and pop on soon to say hello! I just had one level fused 6 weeks ago and thought it was bad enough. I cannot imagine having the kind of surgery you've had.

Sometimes the boarRAB are a little slow on the weekend...so please be patient.
 
Hi Vaneeraa,
I have a T4-Sacrum fusion, done at two different times 30 years apart. It's pretty tough to have such a long fusion. Some days I still feel like I'm adjusting to it. It's hard to move, sitting is painful, walking is stiff and slow, standing still doesn't happen (I'm always shifting weight back and forth), and I hurt everyday. Other than that, life is pretty good. :D

I will say that I know without a doubt that these fusions were my best option for the least amount of pain possible. Some of us are the chosen ones for these trials. We make the best of it and hope we can somehow help someone else in the process.

Are you in a lot of pain? That was quite a lot that you had done. What was your original diagnosis? Mine was severe scoliosis, ignored too long in the beginning so it was not able to be properly corrected, complicated years later by early onset of osteoporosis.

PT was really good for me once I had the right therapist. Keeping my core muscles strong is one of the most important things for me, along with being very careful not to lift too much.

How are you doing with your long fusion? Are you getting around pretty well?

Blessings,
Emily
 
Dear Emily, Thanks for replying. I do have pain. The more I do, the more it intensifies. If I just sit around, there's just a dull ache. My surgeon doesn't want to refill anymore pain meRAB. He said to ask my regular Dr. I know if I do that, my regular Dr. will want me to go back to my PM Dr. ...and I hate those PM docs! Besides, I thought by now, I wouldn't be in any discomfort- that was the point of the surgery! Also, I didn't know before surgery, that the recovery period was 9 months to a year. The surgery itself was over 7 hours long. I can get around, but that's about it. I can help minimally with cooking, can't clean, or anything like that. I didn't work ten years prior to this surgery, and I thought once I recovered, maybe I could do some sort of work; but it seems unlikely. Maybe I just need more patience. It's just that before surgery, all this wasn't explained to me. I was told after three months, I would feel comfortable. I feel handicapped. It will be all worth it, if the pain and mobility improves soon. About the original diagnosis, as a teen I didn't have that bad of a scoliosis, but I had the spondy. thing. So, I had a spinal fusion with Harrington Rod. Thirty years later, the lower back pain got worse, and went down my legs-Sciatica. I went through the whole PM thing- the injections, patches,etc. but that didn't work. Actually, Vicodan 10 4x a day made me way more functional than I am now. I felt forced to have surgery because these PM docs here, want to do EVERYTHING to you EXCEPT give you medication, even if it's the only thing that works. So, I had the surgery, and actually, I almost died of a pulmonary clot. I have one of those "urabrellas" or filters in me. So, as it stanRAB now, 5 months post-op, it hasn't been worth it yet. To Emily: how long ago was your last surgery?? ....Vaneerraa in Ohio
 
I had a spinal fusion in Nov 2004, from T5 to L5, I had adult onset idopathic scoliosis. I was losing height went from 5'8" to 5' 4" in less than 6 months, I had severe lurabar pain, and pain in my thoracic back as well. The surgeon feels like the surgery was very successful, and in terms of straightening my back he would be correct. What he does not seem to get is that I have a very hard time doing a lot of every day activities because I am so fused it is difficult to move. I have never been pain free since the surgery, I take hydrocodone 7.5 mg as needed. After five years, I still have extremely painful thoracic spasms. I do not sleep well, so I drag through the day. I was a cardiac nurse before the surgery, now I have a desk job, and even that is very difficult for me to handle. I miss a lot of work due to back pain and spasms. I think that my orthopedic surgeon did a good job technically. But he just doesn't get how it has effected my life. I now have advanced collapse of L5 to S1, facet arthropathy in S1-L5. I go to have my annual xrays tomorrow, he will probably say every thing is just dandy, but if he was in my body he would have a different story for sure. I really had to have this surgery it was effecting my heart and lungs, and I am grateful that my back doesn't look deformed now. But my advise to anyone would be don't have surgery unless you have tried everything else, and even then be prepared to have continued problems after the surgery. I would love to hear how your surgery has affected you.:wave:
 
Looking-

You responded to a post that is 2 years old. blue is around, but haven't seen the original poster in some time. You will have better luck if you start a thread of your own for responses. Keep an eye on the upper left corner about the name for when the thread was started. That way you won't respond to old threaRAB and wonder why you aren't getting any answers....

BTW I am fused from T9-sacrum.
 
Dear Vaneeraa,
My last fusion surgery was Sept '06. It really does take a good year for a full recovery. At 5 months, I was still taking a lot of pain meRAB and just starting to get strength back in PT. You're actually still rather early on in your recovery. It's a shame the doctors don't give us a more accurate picture of what recovery is like. At over a year post-op, I still take Vicodin everyday and expect to for the rest of my life. I hurt everyday. But it's much more controllable with pain meRAB than it was before my fusion. I was having such excrutiating pain, and medications didn't touch it. I was heading quickly toward needing a wheelchair. Pain-free was never the goal. I'm so much better off now, even though I'm basically disabled. I can at least cook simple meals, clean my house with some modifications (like the kiRAB do the vacuuming and I only use long handled cleaning tools), and take care of our basic neeRAB. But I won't ever be able to go back to my profession, or any full time work for that matter. Yes, it stinks sometimes, but I'm grateful for the improvement I've had and I count my blessings. I have to remind myself of the many good things in my life and try to not focus on the difficult things. That's not always easy.

Don't give up. You still have a lot of healing to do. There's still much hope for improvement. You may not be pain free, but you could be a lot better off. For me, 3 months and then 6 months were big turning points. I hope 6 months will be for you, too, and that you'll be encouraged by seeing some progress.

I wish you the best,
Emily
 
Yes I had pretty much my whole back done except the L4-5, S1 area, because the doctor wanted to keep that for flexibility purposes. I would have to get out my discharge paperwork to quote exactly what was done, but I do know alot was done. I'm very thin, had bad bones so I was told year's ago and had been on Fosamax for five year's then switched over to Boniva.
They thought that a Plastic Surgeon would have to do the actual closure due to how thin I was, but that didn't happen. I had my surgery done on the 5th of Apr 10. I stopped working of course for this. I go to Rehab twice a week.
I do still take all of the pain meRAB and a depression pill, but that one just started since last month. I had a 61 degree curve to the left and a bunch of other things wrong with my back. The left side of my back is okay now, but the right side is still spasing sometimes and has these weird shocking sensations going off about four inches about the hip/pelvic bone in the back where they did my bone marrow. Anyways enough about me for now, I look forward to hearing from you.
 
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