Thanks for the responses for my inquiries regarding recovery time. Things moved quickly since my last post in June. I'm not one to wait around; once I make a decision I move quickly, so here's what's gone down since then:
I had fusion of L4-L5-S1 on July 20 2011. I keep hearing double fusions like that take longer to recover from and I think they're right. I am almost 6 weeks post op, and while I definitely feel better than I did at week 1, I know I still have a long way to go to recover. I was back at work after 2.5 weeks, but could only work for 3 or 4 hours at a time. I'm back at the gym, but am only allowed to walk on the treadmill (I went from a 9 min/mile to a 20 min/mile......talk about depressing! LOL) No weights allowed! Aaaaggghh! I'm going crazy! I still need my cane to get in and out of my car or getting out of bed, but for the most part I keep it close by "just in case". I am getting sick of lugging it around, though. (It IS pink and flowered, but I think my fashion statement is getting old at this point.)
I am having one symptom that troubles me, and I'm hoping someone out there has an answer for me. When I arise from a lying-down position, it seems something at the fusion site has shifted, and I have pain on my left side, approximately at the fusion site and to the left. It's like something has temporarily gone crooked. If I sit, it will take a moment to readjust and I can get up with little problem. Has anyone else experienced this? If so, what the heck is it? Do I need to worry? I'll call my doctor this week, but it's nice to hear if anyone else has dealt with this issue as well.
All in all, I'm not a complete wreck, but am very impatient to be back to normal. I'm dying to hit the gym again for a REAL workout. <insert heavy sigh> I know I must have patience, but enough already!

Thanks for the update, please keep up the posts as its good to hear progress.

Hello Mike! Thank you and all the others for posting positive stories.

I am 31 yo and scheduled for L4-L5-S1 fusion on Sep. 14th. I'm terrified and on the verge of cancelling the surgery. I have been dealing with the pain (leg numbness/and back pain) off and on for over 3 years. I have a 2yo son and and am anxious to have another child. At this point, I am unable to hold my son without my leg going numb. I can only imagine that the numbness will get worse if I get pregnant. For that reason, I am resorting to the surgery prior to trying to conceive. I'm terrified that having this surgery will prevent me from having another child.

Would like to hear from those of you who have had the surgery. Do you think that having another child (within 1-2yrs post surgery) is possible? This is honestly a major deciding factor in whether I have the surgery. I would much rather deal with the pain for 2-3 more years, than to not have another child. On the other hand, if there is no limitation to having a child, I would rather have the surgery now and be able to enjoy my family pain free.

Thanks in advance!

Howdy, and I am sorry I don''t get her often enough, although I do see the thread updates pop up!! I am 6 1/2 years post op from L5-S1 discectomy/laminectomy/fusion. The thing about the fact of having had it performed was that I was at the time 9 months out from having been involved in a bad car wreck on I-70 where traffic had slowed and two cars behind me missed the reality of physics and ran into me at full speed. My little Lincoln LS became a nonmusical accordion. I was concussed, both my arms were messed up, and I came to realize my back was ruined when the scream causing pain began due to multiple disc herniations as though they had become seive like.

I became well experienced at surgery and disgnostic procedures over time. Thing was, no surgeon would touch my back despite my pain doctors concurring I had to be addressed. One purported physician whom I saw as a surgical candidate said he would not treat me, I demanded my file, he oh so very kindly dictated a letter to file where the first introductory words were "Patient is a lawyer." I am so glad I do not pack weapons, else we would have been one doc less and I would be in prison.

Problem came along that my lack of surgical treatment was working two effects in my body. On the one hand, as a physiatrist did tell me, sometimes with physical therapy, meds for pain, and time, a disc can basically scar over, forming a repair of itself. This did occur for me at one upper levels of disc herniation. Bad part on the other hand, as I have read in medical articles, if a disc requiring repair is not addressed within the first six months of injury much worse problems can occur. Naturally, after the physican wrote his Lawyer letter to the file, I began to worsen. Ultimately, my situation deteriorated to cauda equina syndrome. I no longer had any control over that part of my body below the waist.... period. Weakness, no control over bladder or bowel and I could not make anything happen. THANK GOD, and I mean this, a young neurosurgeon to whom I was recommended by my treasure of a physiatrist said he could help just a couple of weeks before onset of the syndrome. Once he was informed of my predicament, I was an emergency case, and I was on the OR table within 36 hours of letting him know.

Upside? That pain which had reduced me to screaming my lungs out [I used a pillow to muffle them so as to try minimizing distress of my family] deep in my lumbar back was SOLVED, and the pace of spasms which were more than 2 per second began to slow [this process continued for years, and now spasms occur during pain flareup when I experience it]. The nerve serving my legs was irreparably damaged. This was apparently due to WAITING TOO LONG for the surgery my ruined back needed to correct the mechanical problems.

Thing that really angered me was my well trusted physiatrist had performed a diagnostic surgery on me called discogram. The test is done in a radiographic OR specifically for the purpose, allowing the surgeon to see first hand what is occurring as contrast medium is injected into the suspected disc of the patient at risk. No anesthesia is allowed, because patient reaction is part of the empirical evidence of something dreadfully wrong or a lack of a problem. If the disc is whole or able to contain the injected medium the patient will generally not react at all except to the discomfort occasioned by the injection itself. Someone like moi presents another dimension. unsedated, I could hear my doc murmur "it's like swiss cheese in there" and I started screaming and thrashing on the table. Apparently all of the fluid leaked right out of the injured disc since it was so badly herniated and pressing on the nerve. Six people were holding me to the OR table in an effort to get a good image of the test result. I began sobbing in addition to screaming. My doc was so compassionate, and it was he who ultimately got me beyond the phalanx of nay sayers to a surgeon who would treat me.

So, were I injured thusly ever again, would I press harder and harder for proper treatment as opposed to waiting out the onset of symptoms I reported above? Answer, I would not trade the work performed by my neurosurgeon for any other approach. He helped when others refused.

I think this addresses the concerns of RangerGrl, with the caveat that your physiatrist is your best advocate for treatment if diagnostics indicate whether you need help. On the issue whether a person subjected to fusion may later bear children, the only thoughts I can offer, of course, are brought into this message- my neurosurgeon told me and my wife that the low lumbar fusion was generally one of the most successful from his perspective, and that once fused it would be stronger than the original structure. Additionally, he held hope that I would ultimately be able to resume dancing with my wife, alpine skiing, wilderness hiking and the like if my nerve did react as he hoped with regrowth. His thoughts included the reason such a fusion tends to be more successful is that it forms a new foundation for the spine, and is not subject to the nuances of mid back and higher fusions which can destabilize spine structures over time due to the flexion and and retraction of the spine put upon anyone who thereafter attempts to live a more normal life.

My case? Permanently damaged nerve ultimately resulted in implant of Spinal Cord Stimulation technology so pain might be managed better through the use of electronics than by meds prescribed, but then that is the subject of my thread on the SCS subforum. I do use a Wheelchair if the distance is too far, because I am unstable since I cannot feel below my knees [another symptom of the nerve permanently damaged], and I can and do walk with the assistance of a cane if the distance is short enough so I feel privileged to be able to rejoin ambulating folks, and my three canes are black, black, and red. The red is for use with my new mountain bike. Yes, I do ride on pave surfaces so far, but even today riding along with my wife, I still have trouble keeping my uncooperative feet on the pedals the way they should, and I could not use the toe straps, because once in, I could not retract my feet soon enough when a stop was required, so a fall was in order........

Now, as to our bellydancer Heather..... I am glad you are so UP after your surgery. If you were caught early enough and diligently proceed through your therapy, you may see many things come back online, including self regeneration of your nerve if the damage was not too long as was mine.

Post surgically, here is what I felt EVERY TIME I moved whether in bed, arising, walking, sitting, or using the bathroom on one of those nifty seat raisers [docs should forwarn everyone to outfit their toilet thusly before arrival back home from the hospital]...... I literally felt as if I was pulling my back apart. Now, you know I am a screamer from earlier in this too lengthy post [and my tolerance for pain is pretty high]... well, I would scream at the moment of attempting movement. SO, in hospital, I asked the nurse for a washcloth... DRY, not shaken [] and I rolled it up, put it between my teeth, and murmured to her "OK, I am going to try everything you want of me." This being spoken around a washcloth filled mouth.

You see, the guy in the room next to mine was a screamer and a moaner. If it was not my pain from the day of surgery, it was this fella crying out which was keeping me awake EVEN with the intravenous MORPHINE [Ahhhhhhh]. I was determined not to give that unwanted gift to anyone else. The nurse thought it odd, but she supplied the washcloth, and to this day it is in my nightstand drawer, a reminder of obstacles overcome. So, it is not unusual to FEEL as though you are coming apart, that something has shifted, that something is awry, but my neurosurgeon described it this way when I told him I felt I was pulling myself apart, "Mark, there is no way.... you are bound together with rods and screws directly into your vertebrae. The space formerly occupied by your disc is now packed with bone we took from you and bone growth medium. During the healing process, the fusion at that level will become the strongest part of your spine," and to prove it to me, since it had been long enough after surgery at about three or four weeks out, he ordered up the MRI to prove everything was exactly where it was supposed to be. The reason I felt so "falling apart" was the drastic retraction and scraping of muscle tissue away from bone to make for a point of entry for the rest of the several procedures. Those muscles were ANGRY, and week by week of healing they did resolve to a point of insignificance as I wore the newest and more popular of my personal attire.... as my wife put it, my lace up girdle, that brace formed from tough polymers to fit my shape and size, with intricate laces holding the back in place and nice velcro to bring everything tightly together in front. Uncomfortable, yes. A good friend while healing, definitely. Something I ultimately discarded as I decided THAT memory and the humor Mark's girdle inspired in my workplace, at church, and with my blessed wife was something I might rather just remember without a trophy.

Anyone fall asleep?
Sorry,
Praying for the best for you,
Mark56

Wow Mark, you went through so much! I'm glad you came through so well, and are now inspiring the rest of us.
I'm now a little over 9 weeks post op and am feeling pretty darn good! I'm back at work full time, and back to my 4:30AM gym time as well. I can do weights for both upper and lower body, and moderately intense cardio for up to 45 minutes. I can even do hanging leg raises from my trusty ab-straps, just not as many as before, but I'm working on it! The hardest thing has been stretching, but I know it's important so I do it every day, especially for the lower back and hamstring area. Ugh. I know exactly what you mean about feeling like your back was being torn in two. It's not really what I would call pain, though. It's more like a weird, pulling, stretchy kind of "oogy" uncomfortable feeling. (You can thank my mom for that super-descriptive work. Personally, I think it's a perfectly accurate assessment.) I know that will resolve itself in time, just like my leg and foot numbness did. I only use my cane to get out of bed in the morning, but that's only because my bed is a little low. Once I'm standing I put it aside for the rest of the day.
I can definitely feel the hardware in my back when I touch the area. Again, this is strange feeling, but a small price to pay to have things be structurally sound.
To all of you contemplating the surgery, all I can say is that despite the pain, so far my experience has been positive. If you want a good result you have to work at your recovery. That means getting in the best possible shape beforehand, making sure your core is strong, and that you're eating the best possible nutrition for your body to replenish cells and heal. No junk food! I know my doctor could only do so much; the rest has been up to ME!
I wish you all well and will continue to update my progress!

During recovery under my physical therapist's direction I was provided a strap for stretching which is a Wonderful tool for the legs and low back as you heal. It appears to me YOU are inspiring those who heal with your increasing workouts. Ultimately, I did return to spending up to 3 hours in the physical therapy gym repeating myriad routines in order to heal. Since my nerves were irreparably damaged due to the length of wait for corrective surgery my lower legs and feet have never and probably will never return to me; however, I can ambulate with my cane, and for that I am grateful. My wife, who joined me in the therapy pool a few times said "I have NEVER seen anyone work as hard as you do" but then that is because I have been motivated to improve body strength. So, now we actually go on bicycle rides and I carry my cane so as to ambulate at our destination. Things are looking up as with you!


Mark56z

This is the most awesome blog site on back surgery I have found. Only wish I could have found it a year ago. I searched constantly and only just found it. Anyway...
I'm 2 week out today from having the L4-S1 fusion with screws. I got an excellent surgeon who is among the first to do the less invasive micro surgery and used bone cells extracted via needle from my hips, plus bone from the hospital bone bank.
Have been keeping a journal with thought of posting it, but think it's probably too lengthy for here. Everything went excellent (abbreviated) except Saturday (day 10) I started out feeling sooo fantastic that I walked three blocks to coffee, then after an hour walked back ; baked brownies (squat instead of bend) and then upon getting up from my recliner in the evening (sitting on a heating pad) my affected leg gave out. I did not fall, but ended up with sciatica pain. Doc put me on prednisolone to take the inflamation out. Said it's normal, but, of course it worries me. I was given a bone stimulator to use every nite for 30 minutes.
Your site has encouraged me. As I said, just wish I had seen it even two weeks ago.

Hi Tarrynsgrams, I agree - one of the best blogs I've found about the positive side of fusion. Thanks to the original Mike for starting.
I've had ongoing L5-S1 pain for 10 years with progressive deterioration of the disc. Had a left side L5-S1 microdiscectomy in 2008; went great and even ran a marathon 6 months later. Over the last few years, pain developed on the right side (with recurrent pain on the left but relatively minimal). Now, it's become severe - sometimes I can't move - trapped in a position and the the pain is unbearable. Being evaluated tomorrow at UCSF Spinal Center for fusion - 2 local surgeons recommended fusion and one another microdiscectomy. UCSF surgeon is Dr. Serena Hu. Last MRI shows some deterioration at L4-L5 so I'm concerned that I'll be one of the multiple level candidates. I'll post her evaluation.

Buddysharp:
Oh, so sorry! I know my doctor, Jeffrey Kleiner, said there is a fairly good (bad) possibility that I will need the L1-L3 at some point as these two discs are a bit degenerated. I am supplementing everything I can find to help disc health, but we'll see.

I don't know what a microdiscetomy is? Did you post your doc's evaluation? Maybe I don't know where to find the attachment.

I have been dealing with major chest cavity gas pain the last two days and unable to sleep lying down. Aargh! And exhausted all week. I think I expected to much of myself too quickly. I'll be 66 next month and it takes the old bodies a bit more to heal I guess. Did try going in to work for two hours Monday. Was ok, but I'm just not there yet. Maybe next week.

I've had to resort to a sleep aide at night due to leg and back pain so I can appreciate the discomfort your experiencing. I had a portion of a bulged disc trimmed by a surgeon using a microscope - i.e. micro partial removal of a disc. Got evaluated at UCSF spine center this week and the recommendation was for spinal fusion at L5-S1 as my disc has degenerated completely.