Upcoming PLIF fusion surgery L5-S1

  • Thread starter Thread starter dogwalker321
  • Start date Start date
D

dogwalker321

Guest
Hi Emily,
I wanted let you that I have cancelled my surgery. After talking w/marlosmom and hearing what you had to say, I realized that I am just not ready for this. I thought I was until reality set in and now understand that this would be the most complex surgery that I would undergo. Don't know what the future holRAB but I have asked the neuro doc for any other alternatives so will wait to see what he has to say.

Thanks for your suport and I wish you well,
Nancy
 
Hi Marlosmom,
I want to thank your for you interest and here are some of the details of my history.
My back problems started from an injury 30 years ago and later developed into a ruptured L5-S1 disc. There is no leg pain involved right now but there was a couple of months ago. The main problem is that I can't lay down flat (on anything) to sleep and use a pillow under my legs or between them if I am on my side. That's about as comfortable as I can get... oh, and with the aid of Darvocet or Lortabs to help me sleep thru the pain. Morning brings another challenge as getting verticle again after being horizontal brings the most pain ever. I do not like taking pain meRAB which is why I chose the surgery instead of narcotics as was suggested by my doctor as an option.

I was very hopeful last week when I decided to have the surgery and I do realize that it's a BIG one. That is one of the reasons I am being so cautious as I have a lot of animals and my 93 yr old Mom depending on me for care. I'm just afraid that my "support network" is not large enough to help me with all of my normal day-to-day tasks. The dogs will be fine in the fenced in yard but that seems like the least of my concerns now.
Take care,
Nancy
 
Hi there, I am new to this site and have been reading the threaRAB with great interest and also some fear! I am scheduled to have fusion surgery next Monday 2/25 and am really having 2nd thoughts. I have a great Neurosugreon but he did not give me any idea as to what to expect AFTER the surgery (ie. recovery time and limitations). I have 3 dogs who will be kenneled for about 5 days (3 of which I will be in hospital) and then 2 after I'm home. Am I expecting too much? My fiance works about 60 hours a week so I don't have any help during the day.

The posts about wha to do after surgery make a lot of sense but I'm wondering why the doctor doesn't mention any of this?? It really makes me want to cancel the surgery - especially after hearing how many folks still have pain following their surgery. Maybe not being able to lay down or sleep isn't so bad after all... I really am scared about the surgery.

Any thoughts? I know that many of you are very experienced at this stuff and I thank anyone in advance who replies.

Best wishes,
Nancy
 
Hi marlosmom,

If you read my reply to BlueAtlas you can see that my doctor gave me the same answers to my recovery questions. My doctor is fellowship-trained and his credentials are outstanding. I feel very comfortable and confident with him. I plan to talk to some of his patients this week to see if I can find out more information. I'll keep you posted.

tgald
 
I'm glad you cancelled until you can arrange more of a support network. If I were you, I would schedule surgery when your fiance' can take vacation time to help you. For one, you won't feel like moving much at all, and you must not bend, lift or twist, PERIOD. Walking is mandatory and you most likely won't want to do that at all. Fiance' will have to encourage you through the pain.

I had the PLIF fusion at L5-S1 in Deceraber 06, although it was my third surgery in 12 months. My doc, opposite of yours, was VERY blunt on recovery time. He said it would likely be a month before I would stop cussing him, and he was pretty right on!

My husband was off for 2 weeks (shutdown during the holidays) and then my mother was able to come up and help as well. I have 2 teenage boys who also were very helpful. There is no way I could have done one thing for either of our dogs, one is outside 55lb, and the other is a high maintenance 18lb indoor Pekingese. lol

My sunday school class ladies took turns coming to pick me up every day after lunch to take me walking at the local mall. It was winter and bad weather, but my doc requires we walk, up to 2 miles by a month and half after surgery. The indoor mall was my only option. I wasn't allowed to drive until I was off all pain meRAB, so they had to pick me up to take me. It really helped my recovery because I was able to visit with others. (This was a brand new class for us and I literally only knew one of the women who picked me up - strangers literally helped me out, and of course they became frienRAB, but it was weird at first. .lol) They class also brought us meals for 4 weeks!!!

The pain after surgery is bad but for me, it was better than the pain I had before and also, it is pain that we know goes away, so it is easier to handle. And the thing is, if you overdo it one day, you may have to spend 2 or 3 days in bed until you recover. With only a fiance' who is gone 60 hours a week, that would be tough.

I think when it is time for you to have surgery, you will have a peace about it. Have you gotten any other opinions? I had my first 2 surgeries with orthopedic surgeons (in 2 different states) and finally went to a highly highly respected neurosurgeon for my last surgery. It finally worked, hallelujah!!

I'm having trouble now because I fainted and hit a wall on the way down. Based on the pain I am now in, I am sure it did a nuraber on my back and I am truly hoping it is something that will improve with time and not surgery!!!
 
Hello Tegald ~

Welcome to the board.

I am truly speechless that your doctor told you that you could go through a 2 level PLIF, be in the hospital 2-3 days and, this is the part that left me gasping, back to work in one to two weeks. If you are able to do this, you would be among the top 1% (I'm guessing here) who heal so quickly. Most of us are still on major pain pills 2 weeks out; most of us are not driving yet. I could go on and on, but you get the idea!!

I had a one level PLIF at L4-5 7 weeks ago. I was in the hospital 3 days and then came home and slept and napped through the next week. I didn't really start feeling OK until the 6 week mark. I still don't feel like "myself." I don't know what your work entails, but I really think it would be a miracle if you could return in one-two weeks.

In any event, good luck with your surgery.
 
BlueAtlas and marlosmom,

Thank you so much for responding so quickly. As you can understand by me reading your comments, I am very concerned. I do not do physical work for a living, but my job is very stressful and I usually work 10 -12 hrs a day. I do not expect to put that kind of time in after the surgery, and from your experiences, it will be quite a while before I am able to do so. I have gone to 4 different surgeons to get as many opinions as possible to make sure I am doing the right thing. I still believe I must have the procedure to have any chance of having a normal life again. What still is troubling is the difference in recovery from what my doctor is telling me. I will speak with him about it this week before my surgery on the 3rd. I am not expecting a miracle, but just really am looking for what I can expect after surgery. Thank you very much for your support and encouragement. I wish you both the best as well.

Tgald
 
Hey tgald ~

I am delighted you have found a doctor you like and trust. And I will be delighted if his predictions turn out to be true. (delighted and astonished...:eek:) I will look forward to future posts from you and wish you well!!
 
Hello. I had the exact surgery in 2006. I was so scared and had major anxiety & depression so I had to seek therapy. I even listened to meditation cd especially designed for patients that were going to have surgery.After the surgery I had absoluetly NO pain, nurabness, muscle tweaking, nor muscle weakness right after surgery. I didnt even need to take my pain meRAB. The only thing that hurt sooooo bad was the dr taking out the tube in my back and My stitches.
I wish you the best and alot of support from your family and frienRAB.
 
yes I have one doctor who says instrumentation is trouble enough down the road.I know being careful about moving and not bending if the fragments of bone come loose and get into spinal canal you be paralyzed rest of life.
 
Hi Nancy,

Have you tried more conservative treatments for your pain? Have you gotten a second opinion?

If not, I am really concerned that your expectations for this surgery may be a bit unrealistic. For many of us, it seems as though we trade one type of pain for another. The surgery will not restore you to the way you were when you were younger and painfree. If you're lucky, it will get you part of the way there!

I don't mean to be negative, but I want to be sure you know what you're getting into!!

xx M;)M
 
Yes Nancy. I have some thoughts for you! I'm glad you started your own thread...I almost wrote on the other post because your attitude sent up a tiny little red flag. Could I ask more about your back situation? Have you had problems for a long time? Was it an injury? Do you have back or leg pain? Please write in more detail why you are having the surgery. Then I will post back with more answers to your questions.

I just had PLIF at L4-5 about 6 weeks ago so it is still fresh in my mind.:eek:
 
Hi Cherir, thanks for responding. I am still in pain but relieved that I postponed the surgery. My gut just tells me that there might be another way that is less invasive. Have you or anyone else ever heard much about a Laser therapy? I know that it is done in Dayton OH and Tampa FL at the Laser Spine Institute. I am curious what they think about my diagnosis and MRI report so I signed up for the free consult. Figured it couldn't hurt to find out but it sounRAB like it provides more relief for herniated disc patients rather than those such as myself that have failed back surgery syndrome. I have very little disc left at L5-S1 so that type of procedure may not be of any help to me.

I am happy to hear that your fusion went well and it sounRAB like you had tons of support from frienRAB, family and "instant frienRAB". Unfortuantely, I do not know many people down here and there is no one in the family I can ask to come and help.

Best of luck to you and please take care after that fall - it sounRAB like you need some TLC.
Nancy
 
Hi again,

The surgeons office just called back and he said that my back problem has been going on way too long and that he feels I have tried just about everything except the spinal cord stim and the intrathecal pain med pump. He feels the surgery is my best bet but understanRAB that I need to be okay with doing it before I can accept the recovery time etc. Whew! never thought that it would be so intense just trying to decide the next step. So for now I have put it "on hold" and will do some soul searching or whatever it takes before ruling the surgery out completely. Thanks again...

Cheers! :D
 
Hi Nancy, and welcome to our back world,

I think it's pretty common to have second thoughts as the date gets close. I had to remind myself how I felt on my bad days and why I had decided to have the surgery in the first place. I realized that I couldn't second guess myself. I had made the decision for good reasons, and those reasons weren't going to go away.

My experience with doctors has been that they don't tend to tell us what the recovery will be like. For one thing, they'd scare off a lot of patients. For another, they really don't see what it's like for us day to day. They see us for 5 minutes every now and then after surgery, when we've gotten our act together enough to get to their office. I'm afraid I tend to do the opposite, tell how my recovery was and not sugarcoat anything, but I had a lot of levels done. The more levels you have done, the longer and harder the recovery will be. Several people have commented on here recently that it has been much easier than they expected. I expect that was partly my fault. It IS a big surgery, and it WILL be a long recovery, but if you need it, you'll get through it and be glad of it. I don't think you should expect to walk dogs for quite some time. They'll be likely to pull on you, which will not be good for your back. If you have a fenced in area where you could just let them out, you'd probably be fine. Several people have said their dogs seemed to know that they were in a more fragile state than normal and actually watched out for them, protecting them and not jumping on them.

You'll be needing and wanting to just rest after surgery. If your fiance can leave you food and drink where you can easily get at them, and you're able to get yourself in and out of the bathroom by yourself (I never needed help in that area), you'll be fine by yourself while he's at work.

I saw that you posted on another thread, so I won't be repetitive, but I will urge you to read the thread on the sticky at the top called, "post surgery tips." It's been very helpful to a lot of us as we prepared ahead of time for surgery.

Please let us know what other questions you have, and please don't let us scare you from a needed surgery.

Take care,
Emily
 
I just finished feeding my dogs and it reminded me to tell you that depending on the size of your dogs and where you feed them, this could be a problem for you. Any time you have an epidural injection or certainly surgery, you are not allowed to bend, twist or lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk. I feed my dogs on the floor and it is just about impossible for me to do this without bending. This is just one of the little things you don't think about when you decide to have spinal surgery.

Do you walk your dogs or is your situation such that you can open the door and let them out on their own? Unless you have a miraculous recovery you will not be able to walk very far after your surgery. It varies very much from patient to patient how the recovery will go, and what procedure was done...but people don't get discharged from the hospital and start walking blocks at a time.

Realistically, you will need someone with you for about the first week after fusion. You will be heavily medicated and will sleep or nap most of that week, but you will probably be walking with the aid of a walker and may not be too steady on your feet. It is nice to have someone there to prepare your meals and generally wait on you.

You will not be driving for anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months -- that varies a great deal, as you can see.

From your first comment, I got the feeling that you do/did not realize that this is a BIG surgery. It's not like having a gall bladder removed, for example...where you go in, have the surgery, are released, have a short recovery at home, and are on your way. Fusion is much more complicated with many unknown variables. Anytime you are dealing with nerves and nerve endings there are no predictable outcomes. A doctor can only tell you what the odRAB are, or how things usually turn out. That's why everyone will tell you that you only engage in a fusion as a last resort, when you have exhausted all other treatments. And, interestingly enough, fusion is considered an elective surgery!
 
10-12 hours a day would be tough. I had a 15 minute sitting restriction for the first month. But I really couldn't sit for longer than 5 minutes for quite a while.

Hope you get answers you're satisfied with from your doc.
Emily
 
Hello to all:

I just joined the message board after reading all of everyone's experiences. It has been very helpful to hear all of the information. I am having PLIF fusion surgery L4 - S-1 on 3/3/08. My doctor told me I would be in the hospital for 2-3 days and would be able to return to work in 1 - 2 weeks. He also said I would be able to play football in 3 months. I do not intend to be playing any football, but my passion is baseball. After reading some of the information from some of the posts, I am very concerned / confused. I realize this is major surgery and I have already been through one Lurabar Laminectomy back in 2004. Am I being way to optimistic??

Appreciate any thoughts,

Tgald
 
Back
Top