Upcoming surgery w/Dr Zeegers

[henry4956]

L3-L4 ActivL (XL) spike type:
One selected remark on surgery report:
The disc L3-L4 is completely gone with dorsal annular tearL4-L5 ActivL (L) spike type:
One selected remark on surgery report:
General very severe worn out disc degeneration, without signs of infection. Repeating of cleaning procedures until nice overview of both bony endplates and nice view of big rupture of central and left sided
dorsal annulus.

Zeegers also told me that I had approx. 50% disc height loss at each level
I was exactly 6'3" before surgery. When I was in my mid 40's I was 6' 4 & 1/2 inches tall. I have not re-measured my new height. A little confused about what they said to me regarding that. I believe I was told I gained 3-4 centimeters (which should be somewhere between 1 and 1 & 1/2 inches)

[henry4956]

15 days post-op:
I have far exceeded my short term goals. Have reduced my Percocet daily intake from approx. 65mg/day during 1st week-10 days to about 1/2 that now. Walking twice/day for about 40-45 minutes each time. Spending no more than 18 hrs/day horizontal as opposed to about 22/day pre-op. The surgery report revealed some very severe disc tears and extreme degeneration. I walk with confidence now and feel better when the walk is done instead of being ready to collapse.

Slow and steady progress.

2nd best decision I ever made. Marrying my wife #1

[henry4956]

Today I was able to do my longest walk yet. 1 hour. I don't keep track of the distance. a) I do it in the privacy and comfort of my own big yard and b) I probably walk slower than most. and c) I must be careful with my right foot as I have had a long battle with plantar fasciitis for several years.
I do 2 walks per day, hopefully soon I will be able to extend all of them to 60 minutes. Some may not think this is that much, but I certainly do. When I think of where I am coming from. Slow & steady is so crucial in my mind.

My biggest problem with the walking is pure physical exhaustion. Lying in bed 22 hours a day for 3 years will do that to you. My back feels invigorated during the walk (no back pain at all).

I am currently dealing with loosing my primary care doc during my stay in Germany. How's that for timing? They are trying to reduce my Percocet by 50% at a time when I don't know what tomorrow will bring. More on that later.


I was using 65mg/day of Percocet thru day 8. got it down to about 32mg/day thru day 16 and last 3 days I am getting by on 22mg/day.
My pre-op intake was an average of 13mg/day - but remember I had to supplement that with being horizontal practically all day.

I have drastically reduced the ibuprofen from 1800mg/day to 400

I estimate that I am on my feet (vertical) about 4 more hours per day than pre-surgery. My worst time of day is always the morning when I get up, the back pain is present then, but for rest of day it's fine with occasional minor flare-ups. The AWFUL DEBILITATING 'BELT' PAIN IS GONE!!!!!!

[mmglobal]

Originally Posted by henry4956

... Lying in bed 22 hours a day for 3 years will do that to you. My back feels invigorated during the walk (no back pain at all).

Henry... this literally brings tears to my eyes! Take care... enjoy your recovery.

My real recovery didn't start until I was 7 weeks post-op. The first 2 weeks were hell on earth. The next 5 weeks were dominated by withdrawal symptoms as I did a fairly aggressive taper off my meds. I didn't care... I was in a hurry to find out what the rest of my life was going to be like.

After that... it was like every moment, I could feel the life being sucked back into my body. Every morning I'd look in the mirror and could not believe that I could stand up straight. It took 6 months for people to stop telling me how different I looked. (Funny, I thought I looked normal before my surgery but the pain was written on my face.)

I was never as bad off... your 22 hour/day prone is pretty extreme. The long, severe pain syndrome... the worse it is, the slower your recovery may be. Hopefully, you'll have a little slower version of what I experienced.

Note that I probably had 5 or 6 setbacks in the first 2 years that scared the crap out of me and made me rush to the doctor for xrays to see how I'd damaged my ADR's. Invariably, a few days later I'd be kicking myself for panicking. The odds of moving or damaging the discs (if properly installed) are astronomically low.

Good luck my friend.... keep posting your experience as we don't see as many folks in your situation as we do the "yoohoo, look at me, I'm water-skiing" patients.

Mark

[henry4956]

I am finding that maybe my most difficult part of this recovery is the pure exhaustion I feel from simple walk etc. My body has become so weak from my lifestyle (last 3 yrs). I am intentionally taking a day off tomorrow to help my sore knees and sore feet from the walks. I've been working hard for 3 weeks and deserve a break. I am starting to tentatively plan a Labor Day party to celebrate my rebirth. I have found out who my true friends are thru this ordeal. I have no room in my life for the fair weather friends who abandoned me in my darkest hour. My own brother, some from my wife's family etc. That's why this gathering will be a joy. True friends who are genuinely happy about my comeback

[Maria]

I was thinking when you mentioned your foot/feet prob (since I have posterior tibial tendonitis that I made much worse over a period of 5 years) that you may want to break up your walks into shorter walkers more times a day or do what you're planning on doing such as skip a day or however you need to do it. Like you said "slow and steady." Your whole bod has to get back into shape including any other injured or weak areas.

[henry4956]

That's exactly what I plan on doing. I have been doing (1) 1 hour walk in am, and (1) 30-40 min walk in pm. As determined as I was NOT to do too much too soon, I may have overdone it slightly. I am going to limit my walks to 30 minutes and do 2/day. Soon I will be back in the pool 3/week and I will supplement my exercising with aqua therapy (some walking in water and some light conservative cardio work in pool) Still waiting for incision to fully heal (almost there).

Maria, you should be applauded for your kind, supportive words. It seems that you lend your support to everyone who comes here.

God Bless
Henry