Laminectomy
 

My name is Maggie. I'm scheduled for a Laminectomy on May 15th. The reason for the Laminectomy is a SCS. I would greatly appreciate any information. Needless to say I'm very scared. My surgeon said that the recovery will be much easier than the recovery I have experienced related to the 15 abdominal surgeries I have had. Any words of advice and prayer would be so appreciated. Thank you

Dear Lucky
 

I have arrived here to help you find the forum which is really going to produce more by way of help to you for SCS, namely the SCS and Pain Pump subforum found here on NT at the following location http://neurotalk.psychcentral.com/forum118.html . If I were a moderator, which I am not, I would delve into persuading you to opening your thread on the said subforum and aid you in moving your thread thus; however, in the desire to provide you help anyway, I write here, hoping you will reopen a new thread on the SCS and Pain Pump subforum so the very active helpers there may gather around you more easily and lend support.

I have survived 29 surgeries after an auto accident on I-70 in the Denver, CO metroplex during rush hour as I steadily attempted to make the drive to the airport for a flight related to my work. Among the many surgeries I have lived, laminectomies have occurred. The most recent being the laminectomy at T9-T9 for the implantation of the Boston Scientific Precision Plus Spinal Cord Stimulation [SCS] unit which I fully credit with my ultimate resumption of my professional practice for the sake of others. With the benefit of the SCS I have been fully able to withdraw from pain meds and my mind has totally cleared so no professional impairment presents any further, and I am in the process of attaining licensure to practice in other states.

Now to the laminectomy of which you write. Comparatively, the laminectomy itself was the lesser of the tripartite procedure of the introduction of the SCS into my body. The pain associated with the routing of the wires from the paddles inserted through the laminectomy to the pocket created for the SCS generator was by far the greater of the discomfort to overcome.

As shortly as possible after I was aroused from sleep post surgery in recovery, I began to take up the IV pole and walk, the first stop was the restroom, as I REALLY had to go. Thereafter, I returned to bed and lay a bit, getting my wits about me, pain in perspective, then consulting with my wife and the recovery nurse, I was allowed to walk the floor, and walk and walk I did, so much so that I was released into my wife's capable and tender care to return home a short 13 hours after having arrived for the surgery that morning.

I did learn post surgically, a hospital bed is truly no different from my own bed. Post surgical pain is post surgical pain, and you SHALL feel it regardless. The difference from the times when I had deep back surgery with muscles retracted, and the whole routine, was I had no sensation post surgically of "pulling myself apart" as was a rather interesting but unreal phenomenon I felt after fusion et al.

Most importantly post laminectomy, routing of wires, and creation of the pocket, is to treat your body with due care as you convalesce. Your doc and nurses will prescribe a variety of care enhancing methods to watch for infection and the like. One term I coined on these forum threads is BLAST relating to the means by which you recover, and remember always the Log Roll.

Log Roll first, once in bed post surgery, as you feel the need to arise, lay your body on an axis parallel to the edge of the bed so you are in control of your movement. Taking your legs together as a paired unit, begin to swing them down into a sitting position as with your arms, you push your torso up into a sitting position. To lie down, merely reverse the maneuver. Once seated, take stock of your body, noting the pain, and being careful, preferrably with stability assistance from a family member or close one, use your leg strength to arise to a standing position. I promise you if your loved one does more than assist in mere stability you will hurt like hades. Just work to rise to standing on your own. You have prepared for surgery, and you have the strength.

Walk carefully to the restroom, if that is your first stop with baby steps. There is no pride to be gained in being over zealous here. Go into the restroom, slide garments out of the way carefully and lower carefully onto the seat with the reverse abdominal muscle exertion which produces standing. Once finished, all maneuvers back to walking carefully and resumption of place in bed are mere reverse functions of what I described.

BLAST, no bending, lifting, stretching or twisting until surgical physician releases you to do so, and likely after physical therapy has been carefully fit into your routine. Why avoid BLAST movement? Simple, doing so can completely ruin the implant so carefully placed into you by hypoexpensive surgery. Do nothing to mess up the works. SQUAT to retrieve anything you drop, or have a helper get it for you. NO LIFTING more than the prescribed weight limitation so you do not mess with the works. Stretching to get that shirt off of the hangar is not a good idea at all. Presurgery, move all high things to a level you may reach from your waist. Twisting.... well, that just bolixes up your wiring, a pretty bad move at all. So getting into an automobile, remember your bedside behavior in part, the Log Roll stuff. Sit into the car seat, swing your legs and torso to face forward, and have help hooking the seatbelt and shutting the door. Shutting a door requires stretching. Be mindful and you will be fine.

NOW, get yourself on over to the SCS subforum and introduce yourself there with a new thread called something like Laminectomy, and I will copy this reply to your thread. Then a whole crew of folks will hug you up for your approaching quest to pain management.

Hopeful,
Mark56:hug:z

Hello and Welcome to NeuroTalk!!
 

Praying for you
 

A laminectomy will be a drop in a bucket after all the ab surgeries you've had. Any surgery procedure can be scary. My husband, mother in law, and cousin have gone through these. That doesn't make it less than scary to you! A laminectomy is invasive but not as much as major back surgery. Maggie, I will pray for you. I cope by reading all I can on the subject. You will do wonderfully. I will also specifically pray for your surgeons hands as well. Follow the doctors instructions afterwards. Don't be tempted to lift or do more than he or she says afterwards. Especially when you're feeling better and tired of the restrictions placed on you for your recovery at home. Ask for help, if you need pain meds take them. A zero gravity chair that you can get at ace, home depot, is helpful for recovery if your bed is uncomfortable. Take stool softner, drink more water, prune juice, whatever works for you. Keeping bowel movements helps lessen any pain you may have. You're going to do great!

Wonderful Support!
 

Thank you Inthesameboat, Maggie needs this help to know all will be well, the healing will occur, and life will step by step come back into the normative. As for me, SCS has been a miraculous wonder which gave me back my professional career helping people, so I look forward to Maggie's results.

Praying for you Maggie,
Mark56:hug:z

I greatly appreciate all prayers

dear maggie

praying you a smooth easy breezy
experience your Angels wings wrap
your body

God is good

someone who cares

2nd opinion?
 

I don't know exactly why you're having this surgery. What else have you tried? Have you seen a second doctor, I sure would. Back surgery is pretty serious business and I've been told that laminectomy provides a quick relief but can lead to collapse of the area they worked on. I get epidural injections for my sciatic nerve and so far they are helping. They told me I'm a candidate for surgery but I'm waiting until the injections stop helping. I'm waiting for more progress on the effectiveness of minimally invasive laser surgery. Recovery time is supposedly a day! Anyway, hang in there, and I encourage you not to do anything too rashly just because some Dr. wants to cut on you.:( KEEP US INFORMED!

I have tried all the conservative methods for 5 years. The latest MRI shows that the disk in my back are torn approximately starting at midway down. It is believed that all these problems have developed as a result of having 15 abdominal surgeries. I had severe diverticular disease, in 2002 I had an illeorectal anastosmosis. As a result of having no abdominal muscles to support my back I ended up with torn disk

Prayers for your surgery today.

I pray you recover Godspeed...