I had this done on the 16th. ALIF with synfx-lr only, and about 1 1/2 hours of surgery for spondylolisthesis at L5-S1 with a grade 1 1/2 slip. I am a petite woman, who was in shape, but had nerve pain due to a collapsed disk. My nerves are still sparking a bit, but that is to be expected. I feel stability where there was not much before, and though my muscles are adjusting a bit to the added height (about 1/2"), I have no more spasms in the back.
It is important not to push the limits. Still no bending, twisting, lifting, and I wear a lurabar medical support when I am walking around. I walked the hall the day after surgery, and went up stairs the day after that. I was a little nervous about whether I was going to do anything to cause the device to move, but my doctor assured me that it would take a lot to do that. I was sent home after two nights in the hospital, and I have been able to control my pain spells with hydrocodone every six hours or three times a day (one before bed, and one in the middle of the night). I was not on any meRAB before this, aside from the occasional advil.
I feel positive about my choice for the instrumentation, and the recovery. I saw 10 doctors over a year, and 3 of them said I could do this route without the instrumentation in the back. I spoke to a guy that was a success with it through my doctor as well and he was over 6' tall. Not everyone qualifies for it though.
The vascular surgeon did about a 2" incision below and to the left of my belly button. He did not cut the muscle, and I think that once the incision heals I will be even better. I would make certain whoever you use uses a vascular surgeon, because one doctor told me he would use a general surgeon.
I am happy to be on the road to recovery. I was told the back segment of my L5 vertabra that was detached already may move, and I have felt that a couple of times. If it really poses a problem they can remove it after the fusion, but ideally I don't want my back cut into. We'll see in a couple of months.
Very glad that my husband stayed home with me this week. The first two days were especially needed.
