L4-5 Fusion w/ titanium rod

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catsaunders

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Week 7 today, next visit to doctor is February 8th, been out of work 10 weeks. Was told brace at least 3 months and out of work 3-5 months. Anyone else out there know how many months out of work for this procedure. after 6 week visit on the x-ray i could still see the bird cages clearly with the cadaver bone in them. Doctor told me could take up to 1 year for complete fusion. Have wrap around back brace. Perk and Valium as everyone else. Can anyone give me a better idea of how long being out of work? I still have 4 month of sick time left. I still hurt without meRAB especially in the morning and late evening after my walk with a cane. Finally off the walker. No PT as of yet.
 
Thank you for the reply, today was a hurt day, I have good days and bad days. It is week 7. Remeraber how many weeks you were out of work?
 
I was still on all the pain meRAB prescribed to me when I was discharged from hospital at 8 weeks...and, in hinRABight, it was too much. I really was over-medicated. I stopped taking everything that following week. By 12 weeks I was starting to feel pretty well. I hadn't been working prior to the surgery, so cannot speak to that. Sorry.
 
As much as we'd all love to be able to answer your question, it is impossible. It is like asking "will the fusion be a success?" We could look online and pull up the statistics which are probably the same as what your surgeon has told you...but there is no way to say when YOU will feel like and be capable of returning to your job.

I have one friend who returned to a nursing career at six weeks, much to everyone's amazement. I know a nuraber of teachers who thought they'd be back in three months, but it turned out to be four for one, and six months for several others. Two other frienRAB have not returned to work; one had her L4-5 fusion a year ago last Nov. and another in Jan. of 2008.

All you can do is follow your surgeon's instructions to the letter and do what you can to maximize your body's ability to heal. This involves walking and resting, eating nutritious fooRAB, drinking plenty of liquiRAB, and not pushing yourself and following whatever restrictions you were given for movement and lifting.

Sometimes people get in the most trouble when they are trying to meet a deadline. They ended up doing too much too soon in an attempt to speed up the process. The one thing I've found is that the body has no timetable. It does what it's going to do at its own speed and there is very little one can do it influence that speed.

However, I think four months is a reasonable expectation if you had an uneventful fusion, your body grows bone at a reasonable rate and you don't do anything that causes a big flare in your pain. Sorry I cannot be of any help.
 
Catsaunders, I know what your going through. I just had a 2-level fusion at L3-L4, L4-L5 on dec. 6th. I also hurt early in the morning and after my walk in the evening.
I just started walking slowly on my treadmill each day and got the okay from my dr. to do some activity in a indoor pool.
Fusions are major surgeries. The trauma to your back is tremendous. The recovery time can be long. You must listen to your dr. on what to do and not to do.Walking is the best thing you can do for your body.
I don't know how old you are or what you do for a living. That could be the difference of going back to work in 3months or it could be 6 months. If you over do it, you could easily set your self back for a month or two.
I'm 57yrs old and work in manufacturing. I have a deadline for myself of going back to work on march 1st.
I had a single level fusion back in 2004. I was off work for 16 weeks. When I went back to work I still hurt. I was probably 75%. At the 14 month mark, all of a sudden I started feeling much better. The dr. at that time told me that was when my fusion was totally fused. I still have the hardware in me at L5-S1.
The one thing I can tell you is your body will heal and your fusion will take if you follow your dr. orders.
Like tetonteri66 posted, drink plenty of water and eat right. Exercise but don't overdo. One day you might feel good and think you can walk 3 miles instead of your usual 1 mile and then later really pay for it. You know how you feel after walking in the evening. Well, it can be alot worse !
I know from past fusion that you just can't speed up the process of healing. I wish you well. Good Luck in your recovery. Keep in touch.
Keith
 
I had 5 leval fusion L2 - S1 - surgery was 5Apr 2010 - when the Dr. says 1 year they are not kidding... I struggle everyday, I went back to work at 6weeks post opp - most likely not a good move I sit all day and it has made it worse. My best advise is walk as often as you can, and keep good company it does wonders for your frame of mind.
 
Oh thank you a great reply. I thank you very much. I still hurt before meRAB and nurab left leg to toe after sitting, at 5.5 weeks x-ray showed no bone growth around bird cages. Hopefully on Feb 8th appt x-ray will be better.
RegarRAB
 
Thank you for the response, it is week 7.5 and I still hurt pretty badly. Next Dr visit Feb 8. Will know more then, no PT as of yet. I cannot sit for more than 15-20 without burning in feet and left leg nurab as it was before surgery.
I was told 3-5 months with 85% on correction of nurabness. I am thinking now more closer to 5 months the way I feel which would put me at April 10. Thank goodness I had 6 months of sick leave saved up, I work for the state. Any comments are grateful
 
I hate to be the bearer of bad news - the nurabness may never go away - I am at 9 months it is better but not great - the pain however is better - keep in mind you will always have to watch how you move - PT will help, but quite honestly it is up to you to fight through, and it is not easy. I have had 11 major operations, and this by far has been the most painfull -however the alternative was worse - I could be in a wheel chair - Keep you chin up and try to stay positive!
 
Were you told to limit the amount of time you spend sitting? Some surgeons don't mention it and some people do not realize that sitting puts about 30% more pressure on the spine than does standing or walking....Doctors who do think to mention this usually say no more than 15 to 20 minutes sitting at a time...and even after you are fused, it is a good idea to get up and stretch or walk a bit every hour or so, just to get the blood circulating.

When I had my first fusion in Jan. 2008 my surgeon did not believe in using X-ray to see if there was bone growth. Unless the patient complained of pain, he assumed things were going OK and he did one X-ray at 6 months' time. In a way it was great because I had no expectations....I just assumed I was growing bone and I never worried about it.

All you can do is follow your surgeon's orders and be sure you are doing your walking faithfully, whether you feel like it or not!!

Chances are -- you'll see bone growth at the next appointment!
 
I am fused from T9-sacrum. I had to learn to walk all over again. I was out of work for 5 months. Then my doctor said that I could start to go back easy. Part time. 4 hours a day for three weeks, then 5 hours for two weeks, then 6 hours for two weeks, then full time. Even with that it really kicked my tush.

YOur best bet is to keep it slow and steady...you have plenty of time to get there, so don't sweat it.
 
I don't know how typical this is but perhaps you will find it encouraging. I had a PLIF at L4-5 with a cage, roRAB and screws in Jan of 08. As I mentioned earlier, the first eight weeks were very difficult. However, between about ten and twelve weeks there was a great deal of progress, and I started to feel a bit normal again. At 12 weeks I was able to fly half way across the country and spent five days looking at real estate with my son -- I would stretch out on the floor at night to rest my back and I remeraber icing every night, but I felt OK.

By four months, I was getting my strength back and feeling more energetic and by six months I felt more or less back to normal.

Don't worry about not having started PT already. This is an individual decision depending on your surgeon's training and experience. Some believe in starting early and some don't like to start until there are signs of bone growth, etc. The surgeon my MIL had for the same surgery did not believe in PT as a general rule, because he had seen too many cases where it caused more problems than it helped. So you can see, opinions range all over the place. Again, I reiterate: walking remains your best activity. It is best to walk a shorter distance several times each day than to take one long walk. It helps to keep those spinal nerves stretched out unlike any other activity you could be doing. And early in recovery that is one of the main things you want to accomplish -- stretching out those nerves to keep scar tissue from forming attachments.
 
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