XLIF Surgery

  • Thread starter Thread starter onthebeam
  • Start date Start date
O

onthebeam

Guest
well...getting more n more flexing in quad. can raise it but only bout 2" sitting and less lying down. (like the description of knee exploding) am on 600mg neurontin 4x's day and it does help alleviate that sensation for me? certain would not want to be without. inner calf is, i say almost total nurab, but, starting to get nerve pain like electrocution which PT Says is good of course. she (therapist) mentioned her aunt always drove 2 footed, so i tried. works for short trips, but friend drives longer jaunts. i'll take all the independance can get. so sorry to here have to repeat test. hope mine comes out ok. will be glad for you to see neuro. you will feel alot more power in just having them see you and discuss it. mine was very sympothetic and angry that so much went wrong. no one's mentioned knee brace to me. i do take off (with prayer) without walker or cane, but feel that buckle. so far haven't fallen for over a month now. that's just "without" at home. i've lost 10 lbs. have you lost weight? it gets aching so bad just to prepare food and i've lost total appetite on some days, but do nibble some to keep safe. will hit buffet hard though if someone take me. lol. i feel like i get work out just forcing this leg around. starting to be able to step into drawers somedays.lol.(saw your comment on that). you'r not suppose to strain back, yet you have to pick up whole leg and stick thru underwear/pants legs. i didn't even want to wear underwear cause it hurt groin worse. i snipped some old ones up around the inner leg...helped a little. though, groin is aching/hurting less and less now. anyway, this sure did through me a for a curve. thanks for letting me know how it went. dang, dang, dang it's messed up. always good to here from you. Mary.
 
I had 3 level fusion done from side and back. One thing they didn't tell me is that due to coming in from the side, my iliopsoas muscle on the side they came in from was spread apart during surgery. For me this left very irritating nerve damage and considerable muscle weakness in the leg/thigh. For a few weeks I couldn't even tolerate having pants rubbing on that leg. It started to get better at 6 weeks and now at 3 months it's not bad, but still have to work on strength issues. Good luck.
 
Hi. I'm scheduled for XLIF surgery at L4-L5 at the end of the month. I had similar surgery last year, with a plate put in at L4-L5, but from the back, this will be from the side.

Looking for real recovery info., like what can I realistically expect the day of surgery, right after, and days/weeks/months down the road?

If anyone can share their personal experiences I would really appreciate it. All I know right now is, no riding in car first two weeks, no driving for 6 weeks, and I have to wear a back brace for 6 wks.

Thank you very much!
 
Thanks, I am scheduled for the same surgery in two weeks. I felt it was a no brainer compared to a traditional fusion.
 
Would like to know what your surgeon said to you about you post op recovery. Were you told of these possible complications. Have you gain any feeling back?. Is your quad muscle working yet?. When I mentioned I had a muscle bleed. I know that I bled during surgery and it compressed the nerves. I don't know why. Does your surgeon have an explanation for you?
 
If I understand you correctly, you had XLIF last year at the same level as is now being done. Did that surgery not work out and now they are redoing it from a different approach?
 
Glad the Neurontin is working for you. I can't take it tried and it felt like I was brain dead and wanted to die. It seems like your seeing some improvement and that is great. Having some of your independence back makes you feel like a normal person. Be careful walking don't get over confident. A fall could really set you back. As to weight loss I wish for me it has been weight gain. Lack of movement and side effect of one of the medication I'm on. I want my life back so bad miss working exercising and just being able to get out of bed without having to think about it. Let me know what happens with your test. Take care
VLaud
 
I had a thoracic XLIF, which is probably quite a bit different. It was a difficult recovery. The only benefit is that the incision is not as big. You still have all the internal healing to do, so be prepared! I had a revision from posterior, and it was much easier. But, again, this is thoracic. For the XLIF thoracic, they had to deflate a lung and I had difficulty with breathing for several weeks and you won't have that problem at your level. I think at lurabar, people are liking the XLIF better.

I wish you a successful surgery and a speedy recovery. But, prepare for the same challenges and time frame.
 
It seem like the surgeons are not giving out any information or explaining the complications of going through the psoas muscle in the XLIF surgery. Does your quaRAB contract? Are you having problems with your knee buckling?I wonder how many people opted for this procedure because of being told that it was less invasive and that there would be no fooling around with the nerves. And it has a high success rate.
Vlaud
 
been on that neurontin for 3 1/2 yrs. took while to get use to. thankyou for your support. i have been improving alot and i wish you were too. the worst for me is the knee and groin. do get overactive though like you warned and had some frightful NEAR falls. do have to keep myself paced. have recently notice some atrification of butt, side of entry. that's along with rest of leg of course. mom has alzheimers and think maybe that has made me push self and do more than i would generaly feel like. see if someone can take you to a lake or something outdorsy with your walker and maybe help you feel like taking those few extra steps? then maybe, you shouldn't if it's too much added to your general daily routine? i'm going to call hosp. tommorrow see if can get resuls of mri.
 
YEA, they didn't tell me either til morn after. I've just been lucky to be female cause i can wear dresses or shorts. Thanks for responding. Just don't know what's up with knee issue AND lower leg. from what read, could be pressure from cannulas and/or the cage insert at 4-5. been 9 wks now and am walking better, but with knee locked up so it doesn't buckle. This hasn't gotten ANY better yet.
 
Anxious to here what you find out. My mri not til wed. we'll just HAVE to compare notes. Lame! we're lame! i'm really not spazzing that much, but it is a bummer and i believe things will get better for us.
 
Haven't been on in a long time but wondered how you were doing. How's the pain ? activity level etc... I'm still the same. No change still can't lift the leg, no quad knee still buckles and the pain continues. i'm always in fear that one day they are just going to cut off my pain meRAB. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving so i guess we need to think about our blessings. Hope you have a lot to be thankful for
 
Well had my appointment with the ortho and he said the MRI films were bad and that he would need to call the diagnostic center and have them do another set with thinner splicing. He was also upset that the center did not have Ct films to give him so he might want this repeated. Seems like the appt. Was worthless. F/u in 2 weeks. Another thing he told me was instead of using a walker he wants to try another leg brace on me so I could use a cane. I tried to explain to him that the pressure of the brace is very painful and I can't stand on the leg for longer than 10 minutes before it feels like my knee is going to explode. My next course of action is finding a Neurologist. Then one he was sending me to doesn't take my insurance.
always something. In you blog you said that you had some improvement in your leg. Is your muscle working or do you have partial paralysis like me from the procedure? Hope you get better news
Vlaud
 
My surgeon whizzes in and out. Hasn't explained any "whys". Did say on scale on 1 to 10 at a -3 now (since surg) that i will on only rehabilitate to a -5. Seeing neurologist and have mri scheduled, then emg. neuro said "we'll get to the bottom of this". am using quad muscle quite a bit more now, but knee is worthless. just have to keep it locked up when walking and it wears on it alot. thanks for responding. how are you doing?
 
At Stanford. AMAZING surgeons, and amazing digs on the outside, but once you're a patient, so-so services. They seem to be facing the same money woes and budget cuts as everyone else. After one night in my private room I got wheeled off the ortho ward, to a semi-private in a half-empty internal medicine ward. The nurses didn't have a lot of fusion experience.

But again, the doctors are unbeatable. As long as I don't over-stretch, I'm completely pain free.
 
Hi I had XLIF surgery in Nov. I really didn't want to have fusion surgery after reading all the horror stories on pt forums, but my doctor convinced me that this surgery was less invasive and i would be walking 2 miles by the end of the month. Mind you I was walking 2 miles prior to surgery. I had back pain no leg pain or weakness. The back pain was tolerable but interfered with my ability to work my nursing job. Think long and hard before having this surgery. I did not find any negative stories on this procedure. So imagine my surprize when I woke up with one of my legs have paralyzed due to a bleed in the muscle. No explaination. Other that you signed the consent. And with time you might get you feeling and function back. Nerves take a long time to heal if they do. I'm using a walker and a wheelchair now and taking strong pain medications. The pain is 100x worse than what I ever had. Nerve pain is unbarable. My life as I knew it is over.
 
That's how I felt. Got 3 opinions and was offered 3 different methoRAB of fusion, including one who wanted to throw in a laminectomy for good measure. This surgeon had done over 50 XLIFs, with very good results. I never even really felt the two side incisions. When I woke up, it was the pedicle screws insertion that I felt (I was lying on my back), but not bad at all. By day 4 I'd walked around and done 2 flights of stairs. Might have done more sooner but I was gorked out on too many pain killers (I don't even take Tylenol -- I was heavily medicated first two days, they really knocked me out).

Good luck, Discojo -- my biggest problem has been feeling so good but having to limit activities due to the no bending, twisting or lifting rules. All in all, a sweet problem to have.
 
in reference to VLAUD 4/1/2009 below. the exact same thing has happened to me also, April 7th 2009. what exactly is a muscle bleed? hypersensitive on inside of thigh, mainly knee area. also, knee is completely nurab with neuropathy pins and needles. inside of rt thigh aches immensely. knee buckles and/or thigh flops to side when walking so therefore am also faithfully using a walker. also alot of aching and pain in groin area with nurabness in entire leg top to tip of toes. IT IS WORSE THAN MISERABLE!!! also put off surg for almost 5 yrs, but increasingly got worse back/nerve pain. could walk without walker though and other activities now history.
 
Back
Top