- Joined
- Mar 2, 2007
- Messages
- 46
Well, first and foremost I hope everyone here at PM had a Happy and Safe Thanksgiving Holiday!!
I underwent my back fusion L-4 thru S-1 on Novemebr 23rd, and according to the four doctors they are especially pleased with the outcome thus far. They were able to go in and repair the first fusion, by removing all the rods and screws previously placed in during the surgery in 2007. Once inside they were astonished as how I actually made it the past three years the way I have. The first fusion never took and I had bone spurs that were crushing my nerves and I had tendons that were just a total mess. Although the rods and screws were in place I had movement in the disc itself which would have caused a ton of pain over time. They went in and cleaned everything out, did a ton of scraping down to new fresh bone and refused that section. Then they went down to L-5/S-1 and removed what was left of that disc which was minimal. They placed a spacer in and then fused that one up as well. I now have 2 new rods and 6 screws. They said my nerve roots and tendons were absolutely some of the worst they had ever seen. They removed "Lamina of the vertebral" which is the bone section directly at the back of ones spine. This was to open up a canal for any future scar tissue and or swelling that may occur. They said by doing this that the nerve roots themselves will have more space and I shouldn't get that serious leg pain I had previously. They did say I had a lot of scar tissue damage from the first surgery and based on that they could see why I was in so much pain.
The doctors said that my tendons and nerve roots were double in thickness compared to the average size due to my history of lifting and the amount of pressure they have endured through time.
Well, needless to say I was in and out of surgery within 5 hours and I was placed in my room fairly quickly. I woke in extreme pain, which was expected and I remained there overnight. I wasn't able to eat anything except a couple spoons full of soup. I do not do well with pain medicine and I was getting a lot at this point. The following morning, Physical Therapy came in and they had me up and walking by 8:30 AM. They were impressed, as I got right up, walked with a walker of course and walked the entire floor. I even did a set of stairs up as far as my IV would allow me to go. I then went back into my room and sat up in a chair for the next 5 hours. After dinner I was exhausted and requested to go back to the bed, and oh that hurt really bad. I then had occupational therapy come in and they made me show them I was able to use the toilet on own and get dressed without assistance. All of this was a joke as I really new that they were just not trying to come in on Thursday the holiday to have me do this stuff. I did it, as trivial as it seemed.
Thursday came and I was released to go home, I was happy! Although I still had another new set of challeges to meet. The dog wanting to jump on me and me wanting to all the things that I can't do!! I am in a pretty restrictive back brace which is to remind me that I am to do NO Bending, Lifting and Twisting! Easier to say then to do when in the house.
All in all, I am weening myself from the pain meds to the bare minumum, just because I don't care for the way it makes me feel. I like to know what is going on around me and for a while I don't remember much at all.
I will go back to the surgeons in 2 weeks to have the drain removed, yes rather a hardship but they claim that it really helps in the healing process. I will also need to have the staples removed. This time I have a 10 inch incisision right up the center of my back where last time they did it minimumly invasive and I had two 3 inch incisions. So by them being able to get me opened up they claim it was a much better outcome compared to the last time.
God willing, I will continue to recover and have positive feedback over this long recovery process.
I hope to enjoy some turkey today, better late then never!!
Take care and everyone be safe out there!
"Semper Fi"
Michael
I underwent my back fusion L-4 thru S-1 on Novemebr 23rd, and according to the four doctors they are especially pleased with the outcome thus far. They were able to go in and repair the first fusion, by removing all the rods and screws previously placed in during the surgery in 2007. Once inside they were astonished as how I actually made it the past three years the way I have. The first fusion never took and I had bone spurs that were crushing my nerves and I had tendons that were just a total mess. Although the rods and screws were in place I had movement in the disc itself which would have caused a ton of pain over time. They went in and cleaned everything out, did a ton of scraping down to new fresh bone and refused that section. Then they went down to L-5/S-1 and removed what was left of that disc which was minimal. They placed a spacer in and then fused that one up as well. I now have 2 new rods and 6 screws. They said my nerve roots and tendons were absolutely some of the worst they had ever seen. They removed "Lamina of the vertebral" which is the bone section directly at the back of ones spine. This was to open up a canal for any future scar tissue and or swelling that may occur. They said by doing this that the nerve roots themselves will have more space and I shouldn't get that serious leg pain I had previously. They did say I had a lot of scar tissue damage from the first surgery and based on that they could see why I was in so much pain.
The doctors said that my tendons and nerve roots were double in thickness compared to the average size due to my history of lifting and the amount of pressure they have endured through time.
Well, needless to say I was in and out of surgery within 5 hours and I was placed in my room fairly quickly. I woke in extreme pain, which was expected and I remained there overnight. I wasn't able to eat anything except a couple spoons full of soup. I do not do well with pain medicine and I was getting a lot at this point. The following morning, Physical Therapy came in and they had me up and walking by 8:30 AM. They were impressed, as I got right up, walked with a walker of course and walked the entire floor. I even did a set of stairs up as far as my IV would allow me to go. I then went back into my room and sat up in a chair for the next 5 hours. After dinner I was exhausted and requested to go back to the bed, and oh that hurt really bad. I then had occupational therapy come in and they made me show them I was able to use the toilet on own and get dressed without assistance. All of this was a joke as I really new that they were just not trying to come in on Thursday the holiday to have me do this stuff. I did it, as trivial as it seemed.
Thursday came and I was released to go home, I was happy! Although I still had another new set of challeges to meet. The dog wanting to jump on me and me wanting to all the things that I can't do!! I am in a pretty restrictive back brace which is to remind me that I am to do NO Bending, Lifting and Twisting! Easier to say then to do when in the house.
All in all, I am weening myself from the pain meds to the bare minumum, just because I don't care for the way it makes me feel. I like to know what is going on around me and for a while I don't remember much at all.
I will go back to the surgeons in 2 weeks to have the drain removed, yes rather a hardship but they claim that it really helps in the healing process. I will also need to have the staples removed. This time I have a 10 inch incisision right up the center of my back where last time they did it minimumly invasive and I had two 3 inch incisions. So by them being able to get me opened up they claim it was a much better outcome compared to the last time.
God willing, I will continue to recover and have positive feedback over this long recovery process.
I hope to enjoy some turkey today, better late then never!!
Take care and everyone be safe out there!
"Semper Fi"
Michael