Dad's Fusion is over

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manchak99

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Update:
After a long 9 hour surgery......for what was supposed to be a L2-5 fusion, he is doing very well. They found that the disc below L5 was underdeveloped and wouldn't have held up with the fusion on top of it...could be another cause of his pain over the years, so they did an extra level of fusion-L5-whatever comes after that.......
I didn't know what to expect when i saw him..he was very swollen in the face and so out of it because he was out for 9 hours. I was very happy to hear that he is doing very well this am! Nurse said he's handling the pain very well and no longer on the pain pump. He walked 8 steps and is tired but it's a very good sign..no pain from usual pains..just surgery pain...is this a sign i can take as positive that the problem was fixed? I'm so hopeful that this was a well worth it surgery.......and that it removes him from the pain he's been in for so long.
 
I am glad your Dad is doing ok. I got a flash back when you mentioned his face being swollen, I made it a couple steps to the mirror in the Hosp. room after my fusion surgery and I couldint recognize myself!! Right now he will need plenty of rest but the physical therapists will be getting him out of bed and walking even more. 9 hours is a long time in surgery so dont be surprised about getting normal functions back (anesthisia really knocks out the bowels) and pain meRAB dont help either! I was begging for coffee and the nurse tricked me with a warm cup of.....prune juice lol. Recovery takes time, but it gets better! The worst part is over, and that broth and ice chip diet tastes sooo good for the first couple days ;) Keep me updated please.

Rich
 
The area below the lurabar area is the sacral area so perhaps they fused to S1? If you look up a picture of spine anatomy you'll see how the sacral area is very different from the rest of the spine (in it's structure and form).
 
couple things after having him home for two days now-i'm not there but these are observations from my sister:

anesthesia fog still there a bit? normal? he was under for 9 hours...but last wednesday.....

he had to have blood transfusion the day before he went home-still tired but i guess this is normal-having his blood checked on wednesday.

he seems a bit depressed or frustrated that he can't get comfortable-he knows he's doing very well for what he's had done but how long does it take for him to sit and sleep comfortably?

good news is he's not had ONE leg pain or any back pain (unassociated with surgery pain) since his fusion!
 
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