In Need of Positive Fusion Stories

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phoebejack

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Hi Erin,

I have never posted here but have been a steady lurker for over two years. I was 29 (two months after my wedding :() when I injured my back. It was a mild "tweaking" and nothing dramatic, but over the next month I developed constant and worsening pain down my left leg. The MRIs only showed a slightly bulging disc at L4L5 with a small annular tear.

I spent a year and a half and thousanRAB of dollars going through physical therapy, pain medications, trigger point injections, epidurals, discograms, etc. Nothing. I just knew that something bigger was going on. I found a young brilliant surgeon who does minimally invasive back surgeries and my husband and I had several consultations with him. His percentages were no better than 50% for success, but after much research, soul-searching and prayer, we went ahead with fusion on May 18, 2007.

Funny thing about MRIs: none of them showed that the L4L5 nerve was "smashed flat, deeply erabedded and blue" according to my surgeon. Nothing short of this surgery would have ever helped me.

I spent a week in the hospital and the next 12 weeks at home. My first day home from the hospital I started walking. My husband measured the length of our hallway and I walked four times a day, seven days a week faithfully. I could only do 1/2 a mile total (1/8 of a mile at a time) the first couple of weeks.

At times, I certainly thought I had made a mistake having surgery. The spasming was the worst, but the pain in the back was nothing to sneeze at. But I kept on walking and praying.

At the end of 12 weeks I was walking four miles a day. My surgeon was pleasantly surprised with the results and I felt better then I had in almost two years.

If you met me today, you would know I had back surgery soon after seeing me. I am very stiff and slow in the mornings. I don't sit for any length of time in a straight-backed chair. On car trips, I stop frequently and stretch. I am definately not a typical 31 year old now. But I have my life back, can bike 15 miles at a time, get to finally enjoy my newlywed period, and am nothing but thankful that I had lurabar fusion.

Hope this helps!
 
mine was successful. I shudder to think where I would be right now if I hadnt done it.

I had many many times in my recovery where I doubted my decision as its a looong recovery with lots of ups and downs.

hang in there. at 4 weeks I was still a hurtin unit. 2-3 months is usually a turning point.
 
I am 4 weeks post op from a 2 level fusion. Although I feel relatively good I have hip pain and can't extend my leg to straighten it which worries me. Nighttime is the worst. I have a hard time sleeping because I can't lay flat on my back because my leg won't straighten and the pillow under my knees causes my toes to go nurab. Side sleeping hurts my hip. I feel much worse than before surgery and can't walk without limping. So I am at the "Did I make the right decision?" stage. I have always been very atheltic and active and fear I will never be able to enjoy sports again. I went in search of positive stories of people that have undergone fusion and resumed an active lifestyle but unfortunately I am only finding negative, failed surgery stories. I could really use a ray of hope right now. If you have had a positive experience PLEASE share I know it would help me and maybe others that are having post op blues.
 
Honestly, I don't know if I would opt for the ALIF I had in Deceraber knowing now what the outcome is, at least the outcome thus far.
My back pain is alot better somedays, but somedays its exactly the same as it was pre-op. However, my legs are horrible, the nerve pain is just awful, this I didn't have prior to surgery. I have a surgeon who just doesn't get it nor does he care, imo. I am due to go in for my six months check up to see if I fused, at the 3 month check there was no fusion at all.
I know there are positive stories out there, as well as horror stories about fusion, I think the experiences run the gammut. I was like many on this board, before surgery I was miserable, had tried everything and was very hopeful this would work.
I have been told that even after six months post op I can still improve. So, I will hang onto that hope.

Lori
 
Erin,

My daughter had a two level fusion at the age of 16 for congenital spondylolisthesis and stenosis. Yesterday marked her three year post op anniversary. It may be because of her age, but she is out enjoying her life again. She went water skiing on one ski this past Sunday, she was cleared her senior year to be on the tennis team. She neeRAB to use her head and think about the activity, but she pretty much has no activity restrictions. She went to Disney World last month, but was smart enough to stay away from all roller coasters or rides that would jar her back. Very rarely does she have any back pain any longer.

Best wishes for a pain-free recovery. cas
 
I am waaaaaaay better off than before my fusions. I still have pain, but it's nothing like the pain I had before. This was definitely the right move for me!

Please keep in mind, Erin dear, that you're very early on in your recovery process. It will take several months before you start feeling like you again. Most of us have had an increase in pain at 3-6 weeks due to the nurabing agents used during surgery wearing off. The hip pain where they take the graft from can be pretty painful, but don't despair. It will get better.

I couldn't straighten my legs from a sitting position after surgery. They were straight when I was standing, so I could walk okay, but when I was sitting, I could only raise my feet about 2 inches from the floor. In PT, that was something we worked on. I had a special exercise for that. My PTist said I might not ever get all of it back, but she figured I'd get 80%. At 1 1/2 years post op, that's about where I am. I actually feel like my legs are continuing to slowly improve. A large part of that is that I'm slowly getting a little bit of muscle back in my legs. I never had much leg muscle, but what I had pretty much wasted away during my long recovery. If you're athletic, I wouldn't expect that to happen to you. I had a lot of levels done, so my recovery was longer than most people.

As for not seeing many positive stories, you need to realize that those people who have had successful surgeries, about 97% of people who have been through it, aren't hanging around on message boarRAB. They're back at work, going to the movies and parties, carting kiRAB around, etc. They've gotten their lives back. A few of them might pop in here every now and then to encourage people like you, but for the most part, you aren't going to find them online.

Hang in there, Erin. It's a long, slow process. Take it a day at a time.

If you have other questions as you go through your recovery, please post. We'll do our best to help you.

I hope you start feeling a little better soon.

Take care,
Emily
 
Thanks so moch spud i know i wasnt happy at 4 weeks either. I am still taking the neurontin but it is better. Just cant extend the right leg in a sitting postion but it is fine in bed.

Erin i know things will get better for you, I still hurt sometimes(quite a bit) but my 3 kiRAB dont let me slow down sometimes.

Oh and spud i still have my kiRAB help me to put on socks especially the right foot and i would hurt whoever that reties my shoes can i can just slip them on. LOL
 
Hi Erin and i am so sorry for the blues but i understand it all perfectly.
I had a two level fusion at L-4 to S-1 anterior/posterior with all the hardware on March 28 so it has been 10 weeks and i was just like you worried about the SEVERE hip butt and leg pain and i could not extend my leg.

And everyone told me it should get bettter in time and i was hurting i was just so upset and wanted it to hurry. Im almost to 11 weeks and the pain has really decreased. So hopefully soon it will be gone.
I have not had anything to be said about the fusion taking but from a prior fusion not taking my spine was really unstable and now it feels wonderful.

I am doing good and i know you will to just hang in there and ask all the questions you need or vent all you want.
Im always here!

Im 31 also and i thought i would have to walk with my cane but i actually havent had to use it at all.
Best luck to you!
 
Hi new to this and looking for help. I had back surgery 7 weeks ago which removed most of one disk. Hobled around but gradually got off pain medication and thought I was on the way--I was able to swim in my endless pool at 4 weeks with zero pain. Presurgery I had minimal to no back or leg pain--I did have occaisions when both legs/feet would go nurab. I could sit and in 1 -2 minutes the nurabness went away. My surgery sounded simple. A few weeks ago I started having right leg nurabness and pain in right butt muscle. Just started medrol dose pack and hope this clears up. Problem most severe when I sit for a while and then get up--if I walk thorugh the pain it will reduce but nurabness still there. I stopped PT and home excercises based on docs recommendation. He believes I have nerve swelling and is trying to get that quieted down.

I don't have a clue as what is going on or next step after this medrol dose pack.
Any help appreciated.

Thanks,

Ted
 
Hi tm,
I'ts Spud, I think you responded to a post I made several months ago.
Remeraber that most people who had good outcomes from their surgery are not posting here often. they are now out enjoying life. I am 18 months post op from 3 level fusion lurabar.I played tennis 3 times this week and spent 4 hours mowing the lawn last saturday.I was where you are a year ago. I know its hard to be patient, but the healing for this kind of surgery is extemely slow.So hang in there things will get better.Hope this helps.Now if somebody can help me tie my shoes;).
Spud
 
Erin, Please don't despair. It is way to early to start fretting about your outcome. I had fusion of L5-S1 on January 15th of this year. I also asked myself the same question, "did I make the right decision?" Weeks 2-10 were the worst for me. Leg, foot, and hip pain were horrible. Around the 12 week mark I noticed a huge difference and have been improving since. My doctor is not big on PT and said at my 14 week visit to live my life and gave me the OK to do anything that doesn't give me back pain. If it hurts don't do it and of course be sensible with general daily activities, lifting, twisting,bending,etc.
I am now doing 40 minutes on the eliptical and doing light weight work for muscle toning 4 times a week. I truly feel I am one of the sucess stories and would do it again in a heartbeat. I am 51 yearls old so you don't have to be a young thing to have a good outcome. I think most of it has to do with the surgeon and of course a positive attitude. Not to say that there are many who still have a very painful existance after surgery but I think we all went with it to improve our quality of life. It is true that most of the success stories are not on this board that is why I try to check in and give a little hope to the ones trying to recover. It meant a GREAT DEAL to me to read those stories when I was feeling so poorly. Keep your chin up and do what your doctor says and make sure you walk, walk, walk, and then walk some more. Good luck and keep us posted.............Debbie
 
I'm not sure what kind of surgery you had, Ted, but were you cleared for swimming at 4 weeks and were you told any swimming strokes to avoid? Depending on what is "wrong" with your back, certain strokes often put the back in a position that enRAB up compressing nerves. I imagine you have overdone things a bit and have caused a flare up. Did the doc tell you to use ice?

You should rest as much as possible while on the medral pack to give it the best opportunity to work on the inflammation. You're not allowed to take it very often, so you want to make the most of the experience. If I were you, I would not start exercising again, other than gentle walking until the doc gives you the green light. Then ease back in a bit more gradually. In my opinion, there really isn't such a thing as "simple" back surgery. :(
 
I just realized that erin started this post, Thought it was tmvincent,better get some glasses lol.Well anyway Erin I hope I helped somewhat , and good to see you progressing TM.
Spud
 
Thanks for the input. When I started swimming again it was very low level--kind of like slow motion and I had zero pain. I have stopped everything but short walks. My biggest problem is when I sit--I can feel the nurabness begin to creep in right leg and when I stand I get that terrible jabbing pain in my right butt. As I walk a few paces the jabbing goes away but not the nurabness. Most nights in bed I can find a position which is somewhat compfortable and do not get the nurabness in my right leg. My surgery was to grind out one disk and pack the grindings back in around the spine --no srews or metal or bone chips. Thanks again for your help--I am an engineer and hate to treat symptoms rather than root causes. Only input from doc to date is nerve swelling probably. I am on day 3 of medrol and hope I see some relief soon---does it kick in right away or take time? After reading all the potential side affects I reallized how much influence the trial lawyers have over corporate attorneys--you can no longer get an honest assessment of likley side affects as they must mention every possible effect known to man.
Thanks again--I hope you are right that I may have overdone it and it will fix itself.

Ted
 
To the OP, I guess I'm a success story. I'm a little over a year post-op from PLIF at the L5-S1.

It's been a very long year but I think I've done very well. Oddly, I was up and walking 2-4 miles a day within days of being out of the hospital. I did that as much as possible until it got too hot to keep it up. I did well in PT but I've unfortunately slacked off of that and all the excersises (I know...everyone go get their wet noodles!).

Before surgery I had constant pain. No amount of sitting or laying down would alleviate the throbbing pain. The more active I was the worse it got and I eventually just stayed on pain meRAB. After surgery I got dependent on the pain meRAB. I was still in so much pain many months post-op that I was afraid to stop the meRAB. But I also suffer with fibromyalgia which is just horrible in the winter time so in addition to the back pain I had/have all over joint and muscle pain. I knew that the pain meRAB were making it worse so at the first of this year I started weaning. At that time I was on 90mg/day and now I take only 5mg in the morning. Reducing the meRAB definatley helped me recover because I knew my brain was so messed up on meRAB that my body didn't know what to feel anymore.

If I spend a lot of time on my feet my back will get VERY sore. But the thing that is different now is that I can rest and the pain subsides. Before surgery the pain just didn't stop. I'm grateful for just that one improvement. At least I know at the end of the day, I can lay down and alleviate the pain.

This will always be with me though. It's in my mind nearly all the time and I consider it before I do any kind of activity...big or small. It's just a part of my life as is the fibromyalgia and I have to learn to live with it. But I'm very thankful I've seen some improvements and hope that in the future I will continue to get stronger and more improved. I'd say I'm probably 50% improved, and while I wish is was more I'm at least satisfied for now with that much of an improvement.
 
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