Well good news and bad..100% fusion

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nutinmch

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Well for those of you that know my husband's story there is good news to divulge. After L5 S1 fusion on June 2nd 2008, we went back to the ortho
yesterday and got the news that he believes he's fully fused which is ahead of the normal curve. Now for the strange part. Jody and I began hunting for a job for him 2 weeks ago and he got an offer last friday (Halloween). The weekend before Halloween him and I went on a weekend getaway for 2 days (4 hour drive one way). When we got home he started having some tightness and pain. He was truly devastated. It seemingly got worse and he actually had to get on some Hydrocodone a few times. The doc yesterday did an Xray and said fusion is gorgeous; and was puzzled as to why Jody was having this new pain. He put him on Relafen (Anti Inflammatory) and back on his muscle
relaxers and wants to see him back in 2 weeks. Up until the doc visit Jody really thought he'd done something to his fusion. Xrays confirmed that is not the case. Anyone ever experience this with recovery? Looking for some hope that the car ride did him in or he over exerted himself. He really doesn't know what he could of done?.....If he's not better in 2 weeks then we don't know if he can accept this job offer and an MRI maybe in order to determine problems at higher levels; however the ortho doesn't seem to think that is the case. Meanwhile I have him limiting activity to get this to go away...I will keep everyone posted....Please gimme some feedback esp you Veterans :)
Gentle Hugs,
Ginger
 
Ups and downs with back issues is pretty common, but it's still always a worry. It seems like such a coincidence that it happened after a long car ride. It would make sense that there's a link. I do sometimes have considerable stiffness and soreness after a long car ride, but I rarely go that long.

If your doctor is confident that nothing is wrong, have him take it easy, use ice and/or heat, with gentle exercise as he can tolerate, such as walking. Give it a week or so, but if it hasn't resolved by then, call and ask for an MRI.

Maybe some of the other old timers will chime in with other input. I hope it clears up on its own!

Take care,
Emily
 
Hi, I can imagine how scared your hubby must be. Just remind him that he did nothing wrong and sometimes the simpliest things we take for granted can cause an injury.

According to my surgeon, there are two things he told me to be extremely careful with after surgery and in fact, one thing he made his nurse do was walk out to my car with me and make sure that I was entering into and exiting my car correctly. This is one of the easiest ways to injure your back according to my surgeon.

The second area of injury comes from drying your body off after a shower believe it or not. Many times people throw the towel behind their body and move their arms back and forth and jerk the wrong way.

I bet more than likely that he injured or pulled something getting in and out of the vehicle and it will take him awhile to get this inflammation down. I know after my fusion and I pulled my back my doctor gave me a medrol - steroiRAB to get over this hump/inflammation. I don't know if this would be an option or not for him or not.

Another suggestion besides for icing/heat is maybe if you have access to a hot tub he can get in and use it a few times a day to simply loosen up the muscles.

Good luck and please keep us posted. I will pray for him that this is simply a bump in the healing process and that he will be fine in a couple of weeks.
 
Ginger glad to hear about your husband's fusion and also the job prospect. I am sorry to hear about the pain that he is experiencing but I can relate to that also. We made a short trip last week and we had stopped more going down and my back was okay but when we came home we didn't stop as often and I have had more back pain. I also talked to my surgeon's PA about my continued back pain especially when walking and she said that would still be expected. I can't say I am happy about this but that is what she said and I am sure it takes time to recover. Keep us informed on how he is doing.

Linda:angel:
 
I pray it's not nerve pain....it's unbelievable to say the least.It feels like you're on fire.....I truly pray your husband gets better,but truthfully he had best get ready for major changes.
 
Hi Ginger-I love your "gentle hugs"! Very sweet! Thank you!

Iam betting the car trip tightened him up. I drove an SUV for two years after my fusdion and sliding in and out was easy. I traded it in for a more gas efficient sedan and one of the criteria for buying the new car was "could I get in and out with pulling anything?!".It was really a struggle and my back was sore for a few weeks till I got used to it. I have been fused for two years. A four hour car ride is hard! He neeRAB to get out and walk around to losen up as much as possible.I am really stiff after an hour in the car!
I also use the heated seats in the car for my back-it does wonders.
I bet he didn't do anymore damage-just tested how close he is to "normal"
He isn't even six months out of surgery yet-a four hour drive is amazing.
I had to resort to steroid packs twice after my fusion to clear up inflammation. That may be the quickest route to calming his back down.
Keep us posted!
Blessings,
Momz :angel:
 
It is not nerve pain. that went away 3 months post op. I am thinking that this is just a bump in the road. I will stay in touch with his progression and see if we can do a medrol dose pack...have a blessed weekend all.
Ginger
 
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