Help!! Dont know what to expect after 3level fusion

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Chrissy0109

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Hey Everyone,

I'm 24 and in 3 weeks i'm having a minimally invasive 3 level fusion on L3,L4,L5- S1..(please correct me if i'm wrong not to sure exactly how to identify the area). In Sept i had discetomy b/c i had a herinated disc that was covering 90% of my spinal canal, which cause me to have nurabness and tingling in the lower left side of my leg, and also almost had drop foot (2 months I could barley walk).

Now for why i'm on here trying to get some advice.. I wanna know if anyone who else has gone thru a fusion what to expect after surgery..i MEAN A DOCTOR CAN TELL U SO MUCH BUT NO ONE WOULD KNOW BETTER THEN A PERSON WHO ACTUALLY WENT THROUGH IT. I just wanna know things like- am i gonna need alot of assistants with normal daily activities as showering, dressing, getting out of bed,?? N i'm getting a brace but its not a plastic one (from what i been reading most people seemed to be wearing a plastic brace) The brace i'm getting is cloth material and its only for the waist area, now is the brace uncomfortable and about how many hours a day you wear it?? and i heard that after surgery that u are very sensative example just being in the car and hittin a bump or the acceleration of the car really hurts the back?? anyone experience that?? N is a shower chair a nessecary ?? N iknow everyone different but how many weeks after surgery will i be able to do some things myself? i know i have alot of questions , but if anyone can help to answer one or some or any advice i would be very greatful... i'm relaly scared the closer it get ( surgery) n i dont know what i should be doing before the surgery to prepare and i dont know what to do just to calm down from being so stressed about it... Thanks for your time..Hope to here from someone soon..

Chrissy
 

Hi Chrissie,

As has already been said... don't worry! Your surgeon will know what he is doing, and the nursing team will be experts in dealing with people in your same position.

I don't know how a 'minimally invasive' fusion is done, so can only speak from my own experience of having an L5/S1 fusion 2 years ago, which was corabined with the removal of a Pro-Disc (prosthetic disc) at that level. I had the Pro-Disc surgery in 2002, but problems continued & in 2007 discovered that it hadn't been placed properly. So in the summer it was removed via my stomach (same way it went in) and at the same time I had an 'anterior fusion' (i.e. fusion at the front of the spine). Seven days later I had another operation for 'posterior fusion' (the back of the spine) at the same level. So my L5/S1 level is thoroughly glued & screwed together!

I was up & walking the day after the second op, but carefully & under nurses' supervision only! By day three I was allowed to walk unsupervised and the physiotherapist was with me when I first attempted going up & down stairs. I live alone, so they weren't going to let me go home without being certain that I could cope. The biggest difficulty I had was putting socks on - they sold me a clever gadget which helped (it was about
 
Hi Chrissy,
Excellent coverage by Lynn. I used the walker for maybe two days after coming home but probably didn't really need it. Just insecure. Needed help getting in and out of the shower and dressing for a couple of weeks. I didn't use a shower chair either but did use a raised toilet seat as our toilets in the house are really low (as well as being low flow!! HA). I have two grabbers that you can pick up at a hardware store or drug store. One I keep in the back of the house and the other for the kitchen, laundry area. As far as riding in the car I was driving at six weeks due to restrictions, riding in the car was not so uncomfortable, just getting in and out was a chore for a while and is still one of the more uncomfortable things (had my surgery mid Noveraber). I spent my days walking, reading, lying on the sofa with a heat pad to my muscles for the first few weeks but after that I could get up and do some light chores around the house, go to the store with my hubby, etc. My brace was a plastic one and you are lucky if yours is going to be cloth. I found the most uncomfortable thing about the plastic was it was hot (and I have the occasional hot flash and it just seemed to bring them on!) But I'm out of that now (although I still wear it when driving for extra coverage.

I'm sure you will do fine and there is so much good info on this health board and very nice folks who will provide encouragement along the way. Just remeraber, walk as much as you can and don't sit for prolonged perioRAB of time. No antiinflammatories such as aspirin or NSAIRAB either as it interferes with the fusion process. But you should get all that kind of info from your surgeon. Best wishes and stay in touch.

Jan.
 
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