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NeuroTalk Support Groups (https://www.neurotalk.org/)
-   Spinal Disorders & Back Pain (https://www.neurotalk.org/spinal-disorders-and-back-pain/)
-   -   L4-S1 Fusion Success Story (https://www.neurotalk.org/spinal-disorders-and-back-pain/15857-l4-s1-fusion-success-story.html)

kiwimike 12-04-2008 06:46 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by EWSW (Post 416982)
I've posted once and I am happy to say that I had the S1-L4 fusion done on November 7. It is now my three week anniversary of the surgery and I can't explain enough how much better my back feels. My two week X-Ray already showed that the bones are fusing. The original pain that sidelined me is completely gone and I'm dealing primarily with post surgery pain. My biggest complaint is that I still feel stiff but Doc says the majority should subside within the next 30 days. Note of caution due to me being as lazy as possible during recovery, as the doctors recommended, I got a blood clot in my calf that put me back in the hospital for a couple of days, exceptionally painful. The clot is much better but set me back a few days and now I'm on Blood Thinners. Doc wanted me to be walking a mile a day by week four, I just got done with 1.2 miles (two days in a row now). I can't wait to have my 3 month evaluation to hopefully get my back brace off. My optimism is running very high. Another note of caution is even though I feel fairly good I have to remember to dial back my activities, which consists of only walking, sitting, standing and not lifting anything heavier that a coffee cup. I'm taking the doctors rules very seriousily. I'm exhausted by 6:00 every night with the little bit that I do. So far so good. I hope I have the success of Kiwi Mike and others. I'd like to start playing golf this summer. That may or may not be a stretch.

Good luck to everyone considering. Do your homework and heavily consult with your doctor and family. It is a major undertaking. First two weeks were very difficult. The third week was a breakthrough. As of right now I am so happy that I did it. By next week I will hopefully be off all pain killers.

This is the best forum I've found on the web for capturing information when I was trying make a decision.
Thats awesome to hear mate!...don't worry about the stiffness, that will go in time, trust me :winky:, 3 weeks is still early days considering what you have put your body through....yes, walking is the key!..but only as much as your body will let you..and not lifting anything heavier than a coffee cup is great advice....i know you will continue on to have a full recovery. thanks for sharing mate.

Kiwimike

libra 12-06-2008 08:23 AM
great to read
 
I haven't read all of the replies but enough to be very encouraged. I too have been enduring back pain for many years. I was told I have the back of an 80 yr old, and I am 60. My pain is l4-s1 also. My doctor is pretty conservative, trying everything before surgery to make sure he is doing the right thing in the right place. Next week I have to go thru final hoop before surgery. I will be put in body cast from armpits to hips and down one leg. This will keep my back immobile. I wear it for 3 weeks and if the pain is reduced alot then he goes in and fuses. He hasn't told me if he will fuse all 3 vertebrae but I will find out this wednesday. He is supposed to be the best in our area but the thing I don't like about him is that he is so busy, I don't always have good communication with him. His nurse is very helpful tho.
I just want to get it over with, I am soooo tired of hurting and hurting and hurting. It is constant. Last week I had a discagram and injections before that, I feel like a pin cushion. I want to be done with it all.
Thanks for your efforts to be helpful and encouraging to everybody, that is a wonderful thing you are doing. There is nothing better than help from someone who has been in same situation as you are.

batfish55 12-06-2008 02:48 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by libra (Post 420332)
I haven't read all of the replies but enough to be very encouraged. I too have been enduring back pain for many years. I was told I have the back of an 80 yr old, and I am 60. My pain is l4-s1 also. My doctor is pretty conservative, trying everything before surgery to make sure he is doing the right thing in the right place. Next week I have to go thru final hoop before surgery. I will be put in body cast from armpits to hips and down one leg. This will keep my back immobile. I wear it for 3 weeks and if the pain is reduced alot then he goes in and fuses. He hasn't told me if he will fuse all 3 vertebrae but I will find out this wednesday. He is supposed to be the best in our area but the thing I don't like about him is that he is so busy, I don't always have good communication with him. His nurse is very helpful tho.
I just want to get it over with, I am soooo tired of hurting and hurting and hurting. It is constant. Last week I had a discagram and injections before that, I feel like a pin cushion. I want to be done with it all.
Thanks for your efforts to be helpful and encouraging to everybody, that is a wonderful thing you are doing. There is nothing better than help from someone who has been in same situation as you are.
with regards to your doctor's time and attention, i totally sympathize. everyone in socal knows who my doctor is, but the guy is insanely busy. usually, when i see him, i get to his office on time, and have to wait around an hour and a half PAST my appointment time just to get a room. then i still have to wait for him. ....but on the plus side, he seems to have great bedside manner, and answers all the questions i put to him. so, the good with the bad, i suppose.

i did the cortisone, too. on the downside, i burned it off after two days.

that's an interesting approach, what with the body cast and all. but the idea is sound. good luck with that.


me? on the downside, worker's comp denied my surgery request, for the second time. i dunno why. i still have no personal or family history of stenosis, or degenerative bone or disc disease. and they're paying me salary replacement, so.... i'm just waiting. still. i wonder if a second or third opinion would help them make up their minds.

hopefully i'll have something more definitive to post at some point.

libra 12-07-2008 12:15 PM
That is terrible that you have been refused again batfish55. You said that your cortisone injection worked for a couple days? Maybe that is why= they figure if injections work at all, then surgery is only a last resort and you're not there yet unfortunatelly. I had all kinds of injections, physical therapy, massage therapy, chiropractic, periformus injections, blah, blah, blah.. I have taken so much pain meds that it doesn't even phase me anymore. Nothing works at all. I couldn't believe how long this process has taken-I have been dealing with this for years.
I was in a severe car accident in 1971, broke 14 bones in legs, foot severed and reattached with rods in legs. I have one leg 1 1/2" longer than the other due to bone loss. That is what has screwed up my spine over the years even with a shoe lift. I have had an ankle fused, multiple leg surgeries and knee surgery. I have taken so much pain med that it doesn't work anymore. With my last surgery on my knee, the pain was so bad because none of meds worked.
And that is what worries me the most - the pain. How will I deal with it if none of meds touch it. I have only taken hydrocodone, but don't want to go any stronger than that. I am pretty nervous about all this but I am overjoyed that I have gone the route and am now finally, finally ready for surgery.
I hope batfish that you will find relief soon. I am there with you.:hug:

batfish55 12-07-2008 02:41 PM
WOW, libra, that sounds so horrible, i almost feel like a pretender over here.

i did gymnastics for ten years, and that probably set me up for this, but what caused my rupture was just a short fall of a foot or two, and landed square on my butt.

oh, i THINK i burned off the cortisone so fast because my body seems resistant to a lot of chemicals. at the dentist i need to get shot with 3-4 times the normal dose, and still feel the drill. vicodin does NOTHING for me, even the percocet the doc prescribed for me after my discectomy faded after a couple of hours. codeine and derivatives still seem to work tho; right now i'm on ultram.

with all you've already been through, let's hope that fusion is what you need to get over that daily pain.

libra 12-07-2008 09:51 PM
sorry
 
by telling my story I don't mean to diminish anyone else's pain. Your situation is just as real as mine, our history is just different. I hope things work out for you. It has been nice for me to read the success stories here. I am very nervous because of all the bad things said about back surgery, but you get to point you just can't go on like this anymore. Please let me know if you get approved okay?

batfish55 12-07-2008 11:14 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by libra (Post 420975)
by telling my story I don't mean to diminish anyone else's pain. Your situation is just as real as mine, our history is just different. I hope things work out for you. It has been nice for me to read the success stories here. I am very nervous because of all the bad things said about back surgery, but you get to point you just can't go on like this anymore. Please let me know if you get approved okay?
oh hell yes i will. this is about the only forum i've been the was about people with injuries and no other problems.

and i know what you mean about backgrounds and stuff, but you gotta agree with me, a horrendous car accident at least gives you some kind of excuse to be in that kind of constant pain, as opposed to some guy who was sweating in the sun for 8 hours and slipped and fell a foot or two. hehe... i even came up with a BS story i'd tell my friends for laughs about what REALLY happened.... and it included my hospital experience too. zap me an email and i'll forward it to you. just beware it's R rated. ;-)

and finally, really, from what i understand, if you have some goofy intern doing the surgery, you should be worried. but if you search around for the best guy ANYWHERE near you, your odds of success go waaaaaay up. my doc was one of like 10 guys nationwide that were ASKED to participate in disc replacement surgery experiments....15 years ago. therefore, combined with the couple of books he's written on the topic of back surgery, i feel pretty confident in him. plus everyone i talk to says something like "oh him?? good for you!".

i live in LA. there's a lotta doctors here. if you don't live in a major metropolitan area, you should consider driving or flying to one, just to make sure you are doing the BEST you can for yourself. you already know what can happen if your back gets injured.

libra 12-08-2008 08:03 PM
Lol
 
Sounds like you have a wonderful doctor. And you're right, you must have a lot of choices in LA. I live in Spokane, Wa, but the doctor I am going to is supposed to be the best. I have spoken to several of his patients after their surgeries and they couldn't be happier-yea ;-)
So you were sun bathing for 8 hrs!? Good grief, that must've been hard. I hate sweating in sun. You were dazed and confused when you stood up. :D
Take care.

EWSW 12-10-2008 09:57 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by libra (Post 420784)
That is terrible that you have been refused again batfish55. You said that your cortisone injection worked for a couple days? Maybe that is why= they figure if injections work at all, then surgery is only a last resort and you're not there yet unfortunatelly. I had all kinds of injections, physical therapy, massage therapy, chiropractic, periformus injections, blah, blah, blah.. I have taken so much pain meds that it doesn't even phase me anymore. Nothing works at all. I couldn't believe how long this process has taken-I have been dealing with this for years.
I was in a severe car accident in 1971, broke 14 bones in legs, foot severed and reattached with rods in legs. I have one leg 1 1/2" longer than the other due to bone loss. That is what has screwed up my spine over the years even with a shoe lift. I have had an ankle fused, multiple leg surgeries and knee surgery. I have taken so much pain med that it doesn't work anymore. With my last surgery on my knee, the pain was so bad because none of meds worked.
And that is what worries me the most - the pain. How will I deal with it if none of meds touch it. I have only taken hydrocodone, but don't want to go any stronger than that. I am pretty nervous about all this but I am overjoyed that I have gone the route and am now finally, finally ready for surgery.
I hope batfish that you will find relief soon. I am there with you.:hug:
Libre,

I too was very worried about the pain and the pain medications. I was in the hosital for 5 days due to quite a bit of pain. I don't remember much of my stay since I was on a morphine pump for the first 3 days. Without the morphine I don't think I would have managed well. During the stay they put me on Oxycontine (strong pain med) and Hydrocodone which I continued daily. The two of those together did a fairly decent job of masking the pain. Today is 4.5 weeks since my surgery and I no longer take the Oxycontine and only take a dose of Hydrocodone before I go to begin and before I go for a walk. As for the walk I now do 2 miles a day. After 6 weeks I plan on being off all of it. Strangely enough I knew this would be painful and adopted the motto of, "Don't fear the Pain" because I knew I could get better. The doctors did a great job of managing the pain.

kiwimike 12-10-2008 11:35 AM
Hey All...just regarding the pain,seems to be a topic of late on here, yes it does hurt, like nothing i have ever felt before, (granted i wasn't on morphine due to a reaction to it, so all i could take was basic pain killers which did nothing!...the first time they tried to get me up i passed out from the pain which was a first for me)...but listen that is not my point, it hurts, like a mofo, but embrace the pain and i will explain why, the first week was hell, but the second week gets less and less and less as time goes on and with it your years of back pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life fades away to ...i suffered for 10 years with this , so that 1 week of pure hell was worth it and i would do it again for 2 weeks if i had to to be pain free like i am now and able to tackle anything, so be encouraged everyone, don't fear it, embrace it and look forward to it fading away and your new life beginning, that all sounds abit hippish and new age i know...lol...but its a good mindset to take in with you when you go for this op....trust me, i tried everything under the sun before this op. and nothing worked...don't fear it....its just part of the ride to a new life...oh and i believe its a proven fact that females have a higher pain threshold than men, so Libre judging by what i read you have already been through in your life, i think this will be a walk in the park for you ;)

Kiwimike


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