Hi Everyone.
First I would like to send warm wishes to all of those scheduled, those who have recently undergone this surgery and encourage all of those who are considering this surgery to think about all of the benefits and negatives before agreeing.
My neurosurgeon team in one of the best in the tristate areas, they have performed some miracle work for me and this is my 3rd spinal surgery in 8 yearsl The first 2 were laminectomy/discectomy and scar tissue/nerve damage cleanup's/ this time we had no choice since this last one lasted only 1 year and we simply cannot keep opening me up for more surgeries every year. My 3 level/4 vertabrae fusion took 7+ hours for a complex surgery - then I woke up with a black eye and damaged chin form being upside down - intubatted on that foam and for so many hours.
I have custom made brace made specifically to my measurements and neeRAB by a skilled physician who specializes in working with patients like us, this of course made me feel so much better. Last year I had a gastric bypass in preperation for this surgery and he was able to make the brace in a way that I could cut it myself if I kept losing weight, unfortunately during my week in the hospital I lost an additional 18 lbs. and already need a new brace since it is as tight as it can be at the moment. Of course, as long as I keep sitting here/standing here I can count on gaining it all back right? LOL. Actually no, I've lost 146 lbs. and am now a 140 lb. woman and proud - YES, I do know I have a ways to go since I am on only 5'1" tall
BuT it is not easy to lose all that weight when all excersise makes your pain increase 10 fold so I do all the treadmill walking I can without the nerve pain making me crawl in to the fetal position and leave the rest to my beliefs.
My fusion was L3,L4,L5 and included 4 vertebrae sections, pedicle screws and hardware and the additional complication of a cracked facet joint that was unseen until we got inside. Since this was my 3 spinal surgery (though my 8th surgery in as many years) there was an enormous amount of scar tissue/calcium buildup that needed to be cleaned up. My surgery took 2 top neurosurgery professionals and 7+ hours under. During this time we also had an incident where my face collected a lot of fluid, causing black eyes and my chin skin to be rubbed off. 3 weeks later and I still have to wear a bandage on my purple chin to avoid further infection/fluid collection - YAY just what I needed - cause the big plastic brace doesnt give that away!! LOL. So now I have to see an out of network plastic surgeon too, but since it happened during surgery so far everything has been covered as it should have been.
It has been 2 weeks since I returned home and almost 3 weeks since this major fusion occured, the pain has finally decreased somewhat except for rainy days (still in agony there), I'm doing so much better than anyone thought I would!! I am cooking for myself (with many limitations of course)and doing some of the household things that do not require bending or over stretching . Any one who has had a lamy or discectomy (have had both) knows how weak your spine feels when you stood too long (especially at the beginning like taking showers - reaching up and washing hair caused my spine to feel as if it would collapse. I no longer have that feeling. I take off my brace to shower and just dont feel like I'm going to fall over This alone is worth it, you know something is there and keeping you supported.
Others have complained about the brace, I have a custom fit brace in the outer turtle plastic. It looks a lot scarrier that it actually is and the tighter the better it feels and less it moves. I will be holding on to this thing for any lifting work I may have in the future. Of course I am also praying that wont be often. The pain hasnt been too horrible, the first 2 weeks were really bad but now it is mainly on rainy days that I suffer. Since I have been suffering since the age of 8 I've been working with a pain management doc since my last back surgery I have been on high doses of pain meRAB for over a year and a half at this point, when I had this fussion they merely raised my meRAB (same ones just higher doses) and it was really hard BUT I did make it through and you will too. Now I'm still allowed those doses but find they arent as needed as they were a few days ago so it is getting better.
The main thing to remeraber is that this is major surgery and is very different that the previous laminectomy and discectomy surgeries had in the past, but that is likely because of the large hip incision that goes along with it. I had over 200 internal sutures and over 100 staples total (3 of which were done at my bed the day after surgery and with no nurabing agent! when they pulled the drain - I thought my roomate was going to faint when she heard that going on, LOL - I've had them before and knew what to expect but she was next and hadnt done this before so I felt bad for her).
Again, I am so sorry that this post is so long but I'm new and in pain from my recent fusion, I've been in the house for a couple of weeks (except for short trips with the hubby) and have a lot to say.
Best wishes to you all~~ and happy recovery~~ if I can ever be of help to any of you, please just let me know. I'm happy to be of service
Liz :angel:
32yo
History - Cancer - rare and treated in 2005, spinal problems since age 8, 16 herniations throughout the spine with several areas of stenosis ranging in severity neck will require fusion soon as well, severe nerve damage, a fracture in my L4 facet joint, fibromyalgia, several forms of arthritis in several parts of my body (including RA in hanRAB, hips, knees, elbows and feet), 2 abdominal surgeries, obese all of my life and have now proudly lost 146 lbs. Totally disabled (on SS) since 10/2006 although I've tried changing my career in order to avoid disability but to no avail.
'I really apologize for the length of this post!! - this is my first time'
First I would like to send warm wishes to all of those scheduled, those who have recently undergone this surgery and encourage all of those who are considering this surgery to think about all of the benefits and negatives before agreeing.
My neurosurgeon team in one of the best in the tristate areas, they have performed some miracle work for me and this is my 3rd spinal surgery in 8 yearsl The first 2 were laminectomy/discectomy and scar tissue/nerve damage cleanup's/ this time we had no choice since this last one lasted only 1 year and we simply cannot keep opening me up for more surgeries every year. My 3 level/4 vertabrae fusion took 7+ hours for a complex surgery - then I woke up with a black eye and damaged chin form being upside down - intubatted on that foam and for so many hours.
I have custom made brace made specifically to my measurements and neeRAB by a skilled physician who specializes in working with patients like us, this of course made me feel so much better. Last year I had a gastric bypass in preperation for this surgery and he was able to make the brace in a way that I could cut it myself if I kept losing weight, unfortunately during my week in the hospital I lost an additional 18 lbs. and already need a new brace since it is as tight as it can be at the moment. Of course, as long as I keep sitting here/standing here I can count on gaining it all back right? LOL. Actually no, I've lost 146 lbs. and am now a 140 lb. woman and proud - YES, I do know I have a ways to go since I am on only 5'1" tall
BuT it is not easy to lose all that weight when all excersise makes your pain increase 10 fold so I do all the treadmill walking I can without the nerve pain making me crawl in to the fetal position and leave the rest to my beliefs. My fusion was L3,L4,L5 and included 4 vertebrae sections, pedicle screws and hardware and the additional complication of a cracked facet joint that was unseen until we got inside. Since this was my 3 spinal surgery (though my 8th surgery in as many years) there was an enormous amount of scar tissue/calcium buildup that needed to be cleaned up. My surgery took 2 top neurosurgery professionals and 7+ hours under. During this time we also had an incident where my face collected a lot of fluid, causing black eyes and my chin skin to be rubbed off. 3 weeks later and I still have to wear a bandage on my purple chin to avoid further infection/fluid collection - YAY just what I needed - cause the big plastic brace doesnt give that away!! LOL. So now I have to see an out of network plastic surgeon too, but since it happened during surgery so far everything has been covered as it should have been.
It has been 2 weeks since I returned home and almost 3 weeks since this major fusion occured, the pain has finally decreased somewhat except for rainy days (still in agony there), I'm doing so much better than anyone thought I would!! I am cooking for myself (with many limitations of course)and doing some of the household things that do not require bending or over stretching . Any one who has had a lamy or discectomy (have had both) knows how weak your spine feels when you stood too long (especially at the beginning like taking showers - reaching up and washing hair caused my spine to feel as if it would collapse. I no longer have that feeling. I take off my brace to shower and just dont feel like I'm going to fall over
This alone is worth it, you know something is there and keeping you supported. Others have complained about the brace, I have a custom fit brace in the outer turtle plastic. It looks a lot scarrier that it actually is and the tighter the better it feels and less it moves. I will be holding on to this thing for any lifting work I may have in the future. Of course I am also praying that wont be often. The pain hasnt been too horrible, the first 2 weeks were really bad but now it is mainly on rainy days that I suffer. Since I have been suffering since the age of 8 I've been working with a pain management doc since my last back surgery I have been on high doses of pain meRAB for over a year and a half at this point, when I had this fussion they merely raised my meRAB (same ones just higher doses) and it was really hard BUT I did make it through and you will too. Now I'm still allowed those doses but find they arent as needed as they were a few days ago so it is getting better.
The main thing to remeraber is that this is major surgery and is very different that the previous laminectomy and discectomy surgeries had in the past, but that is likely because of the large hip incision that goes along with it. I had over 200 internal sutures and over 100 staples total (3 of which were done at my bed the day after surgery and with no nurabing agent! when they pulled the drain - I thought my roomate was going to faint when she heard that going on, LOL - I've had them before and knew what to expect but she was next and hadnt done this before so I felt bad for her).
Again, I am so sorry that this post is so long but I'm new and in pain from my recent fusion, I've been in the house for a couple of weeks (except for short trips with the hubby) and have a lot to say
. Best wishes to you all~~ and happy recovery~~ if I can ever be of help to any of you, please just let me know. I'm happy to be of service
Liz :angel:
32yo
History - Cancer - rare and treated in 2005, spinal problems since age 8, 16 herniations throughout the spine with several areas of stenosis ranging in severity neck will require fusion soon as well, severe nerve damage, a fracture in my L4 facet joint, fibromyalgia, several forms of arthritis in several parts of my body (including RA in hanRAB, hips, knees, elbows and feet), 2 abdominal surgeries, obese all of my life and have now proudly lost 146 lbs. Totally disabled (on SS) since 10/2006 although I've tried changing my career in order to avoid disability but to no avail.
I know some of this medicine I am on puts on the weight and my sister keeps telling me to stop worrying about that for now but I still get disgusted.