Soooo much pain!!!!

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Hi Musiccitygirl,

Hoping you are doing better today. I also had a 2-level fusion. Mine was on dec.6th. The 1st two weeks were the worst. I was in the hospital for 2 days.
The second day home I had muscle spasms really bad. It took 3 days before they subsided, totally. Then, it was just eating right, walking some, and obeying the boss (wife).

The third week I started walking more. Feeling better now. Not 100%, but I know I did the right thing by having this surgery. I walked 30 min. today at the gym, and my right leg feels better than it has in a long time. Back still hurts and can't bend or raise up very good but walking is getting much better.

Make sure you stay ahead of your medicine. Especially for the 1st month.
If you have any muscle spasms, I recommend eating a banana a day or something else with plenty of potassium and calcium and drinking lots of water.
It will get better. I wish you nothing but the best.:wave:

Keith
 
I am newly home from posterior two level lurabar lurabar lateral fusion. Today is day 3. I am in so much pain!!! When does the initial pain die down?:dizzy:
 
Keith, I am glad to see that you are beginning to do better and that the muscle spasms have stopped.

My right leg continues to be weak and still will not take my weight. My foot also swells a great deal and I don't know what would cause that. Right after surgery I thought that it was temporary, but am beginning to wonder. I can find nothing on the internet to explain it. By evening it is so swollen that it hurts to walk on it in spite of trying to elevate it some during the day. It's really unnerving me to no end.

Speaking of nerves, I have weaned off the lyrica as of yesterday and have had no nerve pain at all, so in that regard, this surgery did it's job and I am very greatful to be able to sit without enduring that burning in my leg.

Keep on being good to yourself and continue to improve!

Carol
 
PS. I also forgot to report I walked 12 min on my treadmill today. And, I think the sweating is due to breaking fever. I have had low grade fever almost everyday. When it breaks is when I think I sweat!
 
Do you have anyone else to get pain meRAB from (like a PM or PCP)? Were you only given percocet? Usually they give you an extended-release pain med, a break-through pain med and some sort of muscle relaxer. Then if the nerve pain is bad, they add on neurontin or Lyrica. At least this has been pretty standard for many people I know who had similar surgery, and what I was given for my two fusions.

That's great that you were able to walk. Try to walk as much as you can. Walking frequently for a short time and distance is more effective than taking one longer walk. The point of walking is to stretch out the spinal nerve roots. This not only gets freshly oxygenated blood to the surgical site (which is not blessed with a lot of vessels going through it), but, more importantly, it helps to keep any scar tissue from attaching to those spinal nerves while you are healing, and the body is filling in the void with scar tissue. So even if it is just walking around the house, try to walk.

I moved a twin bed into our den because I didn't want to be up on the 2nd floor by myself during the day when our dogs were down on the first floor. I would stay in bed except when I ate or walked, at the beginning. Most doctors want time spent sitting limited to about 20 minutes at a time, then you're walking or reclining, to get the pressure off your spine. I would plan my day around my trips to the bathroom. It was an ordeal to haul myself out of bed, so once up, I would walk to the bathroom, and then take my walk around the house (I had surgery during the icy/snowy months) until I tired; then back to bed. That was my routine for the first two weeks or so. I could not have walked for 12 minutes so soon!!

So, I think you're doing great! Take it easy. Don't push it...and walk and rest. You'll feel a teeny bit better as the days go by.;)
 
I trust you were sent home with a sufficient supply of pain medications. Be sure to take them as your surgeon prescribed them. Otherwise, I would say the first week is the toughest...but it is so individual that it is difficult to make a generality.

Try to be good to yourself, rest and walk. These are the most important things you can do when early in recovery. You should be over the worst of it soon.
Then the healing begins....Wishing you the best.
 
The first 1-2 weeks tenRAB to be the worst. I would second that you need to take the pain meRAB as they were prescribed - don't try to be brave and not take them. It's easier to take them in the first 1-2 weeks and stay ahead of the pain instead of trying to catch up after you are in severe pain. After 1-2 weeks you can try to start slowly weaning off or down from the pain meRAB as your pain allows.

If you find yourself unable to sleep several days in a row, don't hesitate to contact your doctor and let them know that you are in such severe pain you are unable to sleep. It's normal to have difficulty sleeping or have a night here or there where you can't sleep shortly after surgery, but if you can't sleep night after night that's a strong indication your pain is above where it should be.

Best wishes on recovering quickly from here on!
 
carol,

The swelling may be due to the fact that your lymphatic system isn't draining. Because I had lost use of my left leg, it was weaker than my right one. My PT was wise enough to realize the problem. With whatever she did, she took the swelling down 75% in a week.

What she told me was that sometimes the gates within your lymph system don't operate as good as they should and as a result you will swell. By working on the nerves, she got every to loosen and fire correctly. It felt like little bolders turabling through my veins. I haven't had any major trouble since she corrected this. My accupucturist also told me that was the issue.
 
That must be painful-Wish you all the best. I believe pain is different for each indivitual
 
Thanks!!! The NS did send me home with 21 days of LA. And, I have my pain mgr appt Th, and I plan on letting them handle my medications to the point I no longer need them. I really appreciate the advice I get here! Maybe I am doing better than I actually thought. I know it will be a long time before I am in less pain than before the surgery! I am experiencing nerve pain that I never had before but from everything I read that is normal.... Thanks again!
 
It took me about 5 days to really feel like the pain was going to be manageable. I slept for the first week in a recliner and it was the only way I could get up and down without being in excruciating pain. Make sure you are taking your meRAB Before you are in great pain. The doc told me it is easier to manage pain when you have meRAB in the system and take them on a schedule to maintain a consistent level in your body. Hang in there, and if it is not easing off, call your doctor. Good luck!

PS, If you have had the damage for a long period of time, I have been told by the doc that it can take a longer period of time for the nerves to heal and "calm" down from being irritated.
 
Thanks everyone for your comments. I am ending day six post surgery and I have been able to get up and put on my brace and walk around the house with my walker on my own. Still in a great deal of pain but, becoming more and more independent. My NS said he had to cut about 5 inches deep to get to the base of my spine. He said it is one of those things that you can't tell untill you get in there. Also, he could not do an interbody fusion but rather had to do a lateral fusion, still have some questions regarding that. And then the pain meRAB, NS's do not know anything about pain meRAB. My nurse said I got 21 days worth of percocet to take one every 4 hours. But, he only gave me 40 pills, you do the math....I have these perioRAB of intense sweating that I can't explain. So overall, I am doing better but, still a long road ahead. Keep the conversation going, it helps me so much. Thanks Heather :dizzy:
 
Sometimes the surgeon has to dig around a bit and even tug on the nerve to free it, if it is badly compressed. This is extremely irritating to the nerve and really can cause a bad flare that can take awhile to calm back down. If the nerve pain is worse than prior to surgery, or just really bothering you, be sure to tell the PM doc when you see him. They can give you neurontin or Lyrica which usually helps with post-surgical nerve pain.

We're here cheering for you. It sounRAB to me like you are progressing "normally" if there is such a thing.:dizzy:
 
Musiccitygirl,

I was sent home with a break through med (roxicodone), percocet, and flexeril. For the 1st week I took these pills faithfully. My pain would let me know when it's time for another dose.I would ask your PM about them.
It was my PM that wrote me prescriptions for the percocet and roxicodone. When he wrote them he told me to call him after I got home and then start taking the roxicodone.
I was going to him before I seen my orthro and NS; that's why I had these prescriptions as soon as I got home.

Heather, I can't believe you are walking on a treadmill. When I left the hospital, my instructions were to not walk on a treadmill. They told me to take short walks in my house as many times as I felt like it. They said no walking outside for the 1st 2 weeks.
I wore a soft brace for 3 weeks and when I went back to my orthro he said I could wean myself off of it as I seen fit. Only days when I hurt more than normal, did I wear the brace.
What kind of brace are you wearing? Did they say how long?

I'm at week 6 now. Some days I feel better than others. All I can say, is don't over do it. When you think you can walk more you will pay for it later.
I've done that. Remeraber it will take a long time for our backs to fuse.
Oh, by the way! Your statement about knowing it will be awhile before your pain level will be what it was before surgery is oh so the truth. That was one thing I told me orthro before we decided to do the surgery. I know from my fusion in 2004 what it was going to feel like and how long the recovery was. My right leg pain was a 8 or a 9 when I walked on it for just a few minutes but if I stayed off it and just layed around I did okay. Being active and still employed, the decision was a easy one to make.

Keith
 
Sometimes the surgeon has to dig around a bit and even tug on the nerve to free it, if it is badly compressed. This is extremely irritating to the nerve and really can cause a bad flare that can take awhile to calm back down. If the nerve pain is worse than prior to surgery, or just really bothering you, be sure to tell the PM doc when you see him. They can give you neurontin or Lyrica which usually helps with post-surgical nerve pain.

We're here cheering for you. It sounRAB to me like you are progressing "normally" if there is such a thing.:dizzy:

Oh, I almost forgot. It is typical to have a hard time regulating body temperature for several days after fusion. I think it has something to do with the drugs they put it at the end of the surgery to try to keep any infection from forming and to keep the initial pain down. I can remeraber being cold one minute and really hot the next, and at the very beginning, I woke up in the middle of the night and the back of my gown was all cold and clammy from where I had sweated right through it. That only happened one time, but it was memorable!

Do keep tabs on your temperature though. You want to make sure you are not running a fever. That would be a sign of infection, and you'd want to report that right away to your surgeon's office.
 
Tentortoni, and Kieth,
I am learning so much from you guys. My NS said the treadmill was okay, he even released me with a 15lb lifting limitation. He is not even going to see me again until Feb 22 unless needed. He is pretty high tech. I have the stitches that dissolve internally, and the clear tape. I could take a shower at day 4, etc. I will call and make sure I understood the treadmill appropriately. I have soma, oxycontin and percocet, but I would like to down my oxy and get roxicet. I am on 40mg x 2 per day and I am taking between 4 and 5 perc 10/325 a day. I take the soma at night but, I can take upto 3 per day. I also have an old script for nuerontin that I have been taking. They gave it to me in the hospital but, didn't send me home with a script for it. DUH!!!! Anyway, I slept like 12 hours last night with a few potty breaks. I have walked 10 min on the treadmil today but, at a very slow pace. It si a brandnew treadmill and has great shock absorbers. Keep the info coming. I was amazed at how little infomation you got at the hospital. Also, I could write a book about the care I recieved. Nurses were either 100% great or 100% not. That was frustrating. I even had one nurse tell me I needed to slow down on my meRAB, (she oviously thought I was on too many), and didn't bring me my perc when I asked for it, (it was already late), I had to take my own. That really angered me. I need to report her or let it go. HC
 
I was not allowed to use a treadmill either, with either of my fusions, which were done with different surgeons. Mine docs were ortho. spine surgeons, so perhaps they feel differently about it than do neurosurgeons. All you can do is check with your doc, and follow his instructions.

I was also told not to walk on an incline or uneven surface. A friend who had fusion at the same level, was using a long stairway up the side of a steep hill as her exercise....I nearly died when I heard that, but her surgeon had OK'd it.

This is not relevent but thought I'd mention it anyway. My recoveries from the two fusions were very different. My second fusion was a much bigger surgery and involved some reconstruction, and yet was the easier of the two. I was off all meRAB at ten days. With the first, one level fusion I could barely reposition myself in the bed at ten days and took pain meRAB for eight weeks. I still cannot figure out what was the difference.

I would just caution you that sometimes spine surgeons are not all that careful in what they tell their patients for post recovery. It's almost like their job is over and the recovery is really just up to the patient. If I were you, I would not lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk for the first month or even longer. Why risk it??

Since he doesn't want to see you again for awhile, you will have to be extra vigilant on your own...so keep an eye on your incision to be sure it is not getting red, puffy or weeping. And be sure to walk on other surfaces too because one danger with a treatmill is the repetitious nature of the movement. You may use slightly different muscles and ligaments when walking on a different surface where you vary your pace, gait and stride.

Keep up the good work. We're all rooting for you!!:wave:
 
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