My surgery date is October 6. I am terrified!

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sewlady

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My surgery date is October 6. I am terrified. These ideas and this site is helpful. How long will I need these helps...... 3 weeks or longer? I will be staying at my daughter's house so I do not have to worry about cooking. Thanks for the re posting of these. Diane
 
Thank you all for your replies. This is the first day I have gotten back to the boarRAB. I am sure I will have much much more time post op. My main question is will I be able to sit up and sew after the 1st week? I am having an L4-5 S 1 with the graft coming from the hip. Thanks.
PS I am not sure what the difference in a quick reply and another type of reply...I will have to re-read the instructions again.
 
Sewlady-

How long you will need help will truly depend on how quickly you heal. Getting in and out of the bed is the single hardest part (for me) and it took me a few weeks to be able to do do this.

On a side note: I am two years post op and feel absolutely fantastic. I do most everything I want to except ride roller coasters, skate, and ski. The recovery was tough and I am so glad that I had the surgery.

Best of luck with your surgery!
 
>>>>> Sewlady, we all heal at our own rate so it's hard to predict. Some people at 3 weeks along will be feeling pretty good, and others take longer. It's very individual.

I'm glad you are staying with your daughter so you will have the help you will need those first few weeks. Remeraber to obey your doctor's orders and that will give you the best chance for a successful outcome. So many people rush things and do stuff that really isn't wise that they end up causing themselves further suffering, so avoid that at all costs.

I really hope we will hear that the surgry went well and that you are doing good!

Carol
 
Right now build up your thigh muscles and arms because you will need them to get up. I did some squats and used the elipitcal a little prior to my sugery. After surgery to get up, I had to roll on my side and use my arm to push up to a sitting position. Then using my leg muscles I would get up to a standing position. Thank goodness I had some strength or it would have been tough.
It was uncomfortable but I was up walking the next day. Not much, but movement was very important. I went home on the 4th day. I could sit on the couch for awhile, then needed to lay down. I walked to the kitchen, and was able to get little things. However, I am very thankful my hubby retired two week prior to my surgery as I needed his help. I think a snail could have outraced me. I hurt and I felt really swollen but I didn't want to take pain meRAB.
I was terrified too. THe anticpation is the worst. Good luck to you.
 
Not all spine surgeries are successful. Your odd's are less than 50-50 it will be successful.

My XLIF made me worse and I wish someone would have warned me against getting the surgery. All there was on the internet in 2008 were positive things about the XLIF procedure. Not anymore.
 
you will be fine..dont be terrified...its good you have your daughters support..everyone responRAB differently, i had mine last noveraber and im just getting better now...obey your doctor..and be POSITIVE, it was the best thing for me ive just turned 53 so my recovery was a bit slower than a younger person, also i had a lot of nerve damage..ive had my down days, but it really does seem to get better if your mentally positive if you need a friend during your pre and post op respond to this and i will give you my face book details..the hardest thing for me was i felt alone a lot of the time as pain can be wearing...GOOD LUCK and all the best
 
I worry when people here who have not had successful outcomes indicate statistics that may apply only to them.

Each person is different and for many of us the chance of improvement is more in the 70-80% range. I am VERY happy I had mine done in February. I had a vertebrae moving forward at L3 and had a 90% chance of recovery and indeed the pain from the vertebrae sitting on the spinal cord and nerves was relieved. Recovery was not easy and I still say I continue to aim for more recovery. Godii has an XLIF which has not had as much success rate as more traditional methoRAB unfortunately (from what I've read)

@sewlady: Often sitting is discouraged in early recovery. I was told to recline or lay down as much as possible for the first 6 weeks so I didn't do any sitting activities for quite a while (aside from maybe a 20 minute dinner). Luckily for the computer I had a lap desk and a netbook so I could get back on line. Whatever you do "listen" to your body. If you being sewing and feel good, but then feel pain or discomfort that's the body's way of telling you to stop what you are doing. I think maybe after a week, with the doctor's permission, you can try sewing while sitting but don't get discouraged if the first day is 5 minutes. Maybe by the end of the second week you'll be up to 30 minutes at a time, etc. I have a friend who is very active in knitting and she said taking it away from her for a few weeks would be tough! So I bet you find as much enjoyment from sewing as she does from knitting. I found that for every activity I had to start slow and then gradually could increase my time doing the activity and other activities then became more possible as well. The graft from your hip may be painful for a while. So be prepared to lay back and put the sewing aside. The more you take care of your body during the recovery the better you may feel in the long run.
 
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