Post op pain/issues
 

Hello, I'm 4 weeks post op and still a mess. It took me 3 years to find a surgeon that would help me, I had a lot of issues, Scoliosis (16mm off center), 6 vertebra with virtually no disk space, cracks in my sacrum, left leg completely numb, and a few more things I hope you can get a picture from this. My surgeon was confident about fixing all of it. I'm home now and was in so much pain I just laid in bed, I was able to take steps with my walker and fulfill the hospital requirements to go home. At 3 weeks I felt some relief, my pain level @7, then this last week it steadily increased but it was a different pain, is it possible that the surgical pain has subsided and I'm now left with a pain they said I might have? The Dr. Said he could just fix so much and it's very possible I'll still have issues. I was a solid 8 to 9 pre op and now I'm feeling a solid 6 to 7. I'm sure I've left out critical info. I'm 54 in great health but I still struggle to walk. Any info would help, I don't know what to do any more. And this is my 1st post.

Hello Biogen!
 

Double spinal fusion
 

Hi Biogen, I had a double spinal fusion last June on L4,L5 and S1. Mine is 17mm off. I have whole new set of screws and rods and my scar is not dissimilar to yours only perhaps not as long. What level was your fusion done at?

I recovered in the hospital for 7 days and they were very surprised with my range of movement, that said, I supposedly have a high pain level threshold. They kept me in an extra 2 days as I was unwell. About 3 weeks after the op I had been following all the do's and don'ts and doing my PT exercises. I had graduated from 3x10 min walking sessions to a full 30min walking slowly and the pain had been well in control. Out of nowhere, my back froze and the pain was excruciating. I could not even lean down to get the milk from the fridge door. I saw my surgeon and he explained that my back muscles were in spasm and to stop all exercises. Which I did. When I saw him again, the muscle spasm had gone but the new pain which was different to what I had before the procedure had remained. On further investigation we learned that my levels L2 L3 that are now having to work harder are also damaged. Because the fused area is solid the vertebrae above are having to move more and be more flexible. This new pain radiates out to my hips and is as bad, if not worse than the pain I had before the fusion. I was sent off for nerve blocks and Rhyzotomy to no avail and by November my pain management specialist and I agreed it was time to trial an SCS. Did that and had a permanent SCS implant done in the December, but that's a whole different story.

This was my 4th spinal fusion and not the first time I have had trouble post op. My first fusion result was wonderful, 5 weeks after the procedure I remember being told off for running in the corridor of the hospital. This was back in the 1970's and I had been in hospital for 8 weeks. A very cooped and fed up teenager. I had 15 wonderful active years, not completely pain free but I was young and just got on with it. My high pain threshold did me no favours in the long run as I did things in hindsight I should never have contemplated. Never mind we only live once.

2nd spinal fusion in the 1990's was a nightmare, I fell in the bathroom at hospital on about day 3 and I complained of back pain. No one paid any attention and for two years I complained bitterly. Finally after much anguish and frustration they agreed to X-Ray and realised the screws and plates had broken so they had to be removed.
Waking up from that third operation, I could feel instantly the hardware had been removed and the pain was gone. Yes the surgery site hurt a bit, but that deep intense pain gone gone gone.

From my experiences, 4 things.
1) make sure you have no fever. Take your temperature very morning at the same time for 5 days and again each evening. (Not after drinking or eating anything hot.) You want to rule out possible infection in the spine, your doctor should also do blood tests to check.
2) you should be having post op X-rays at about 6 weeks, get them to closely check the hardware and see if it's pressing on a nerve.
3) make sure they look at the hardware for signs of stress fracturing in it. Titanium is supposed to be the strongest alloy in the world, but my bones managed to snap those plates and one screw clean in half, because they left it so long, when they did the op to remove them, they could only get the top half of the broken screw out. So now I have a half a screw embedded in the bone adjacent to my new screws. Nowadays they do rods and screws so the hardware is less at risk. To this day, I believe I fractured the screw when I fell and in time it broke clean in half.
4) don't let them fob you off or brush you off post surgery, if you don't have a pain management specialist already, get your surgeon to refer you to one now.

Good luck and keep taking panadol or paracetamol every 6 hours, it helps build up pain tolerance and you might want to think about getting laxatives to aid with intestinal discomfort that can also contribute to spine pain in those first months post op.:hug:

Biogen,

I had spinal Fusion L4-5, as well as a laminectiomy about 8 years ago. My vertabra was compressing a nerve soooo badly, the surgeon said he had never seen "such an angry red nerve". But, he also told me I had other issues that would continue giving me pain. He said he had taken care of the worst problem, as well as what needed immediate attention. My spinal cord was also tightly compressed; thus the laminectomy to open enough to give my spinal cord a little more space. I still have spinal stenosis; just not as bad. Even tho I still have quite a bit of pain; had I not had this surgery the nerve would have probably been permanently damaged so no regrets.


I have been on a pretty high dose of narcotic pain meds to cope with the 24/7 pain, which

averages about a 6-7 and up from there. Also, take breakthru meds when it spikes too
high I have been under the care of a pain management doctor for years. If you haven't already, you need to get with a PM doctor as soon as possible. Tried all the procedures; but pain continued so narcotic meds dose continue to be raised. I have been at my current dose for the past few years.

As Pam mentioned, the laxatives are an important part of the side effects. Unfortunately, in my case, the hospital did not see that I had a BM before leaving. It was about 11 days when I went to ER and they couldn't reach anything so sent me home with some pretty strong stuff. Finally moved on the 12th day.

Take your meds; don't wait until pain is out of control making it more difficult for them to work to help relieve your pain.

Wishing you all the best.


Gerry

Thanks Gerry & Pam, I do have a PM Dr. And when I saw her for the 1st time 2 weeks ago she immediately wanted to reduce/remove me from all meds. I think I had a massive anxiety attack, my surgeon sees no problem with the appropriate meds, mostly class 2 type but I have no idea what I can say to my PM Dr. When I see her in a few weeks. She is extremely conservative with my meds. I've been at a 7 for a week now at moments it drops to. 6 but not for long. So besides the few careful steps I make 6 X's a day I'm In bed, I have become exhausted from all this pain! Ugh

Pain diary
 

Hi Bio, get yourself a diary and begin to record each day your pain level, note when it goes up and what you were doing and what medication you are taking and times taking it. Note when pain reduces etc. pay extra attention to describing what type of pain it is, ie dull,piercing, throbbing, intense, knifelike, constant ache etc etc.make notes of each attempt you make to do your post op PT exercises, PM doctors like to know you are making an effort. As soon as they think you are just drug seeking they shut you down like a dirty old fish n Chip shop! Describe how your pain is before attempting exercises and what it is on finishing and then again an hour after. I know this may seem excessive but on this site we have all learned the hard way how best to communicate to doctors who are either terrified of being sued by family members down the track or they just don't believe us...:(

Hi Biogen,

For all of this great advice I don't have much to offer... except to say that you are not alone, and have come to the right place. Every one of us is trying to cope and deal with pain;there is plentiful information here as well as support. I am opting for a SCS if they will have me because I'm not in good enough health to go through with a L2-S1 fusion. We all learn together, and this is a great community.

Welcome! :hug::grouphug:

Hana

Thank you Hana! I so genuinely appreciate everyone that's replied and those who have just read my post. I was in so much pain for the 4 years prior to my surgery Jan 13th. and I'm not sure if I just expected some relief at the point I am now, and in fact it's a little worse as the surgery part is healing. I am realizing now that the Dr.'s have compassion but really have no idea how bad this pain can be in our lives. Just seems to be a constant struggle from the AM to PM every day! So as I read through the threads I now have a sense of calm, knowing there are others in the same situation, as bad as it sounds, helps from thinking your alone. So I see my surgeon on the 25th. And I'll see how it goes from there. Thanks guys, Kelly