L5-S1 Charite Revision Surgery 8 day post op

[Blairsara]

Hi everyone I hope you guys are doing well. I thought I'd give my weekly update

Good stuff first:
I've been doing really well still! i can now go in a car. I'm now walking for 25 minutes at a time instead of 20. I have been out to lunch 3 times (but I can only sit for a really fast lunch - has to be under 30 minutes). I've gone shopping twice!!! I now have clothes that fit me since i lost a lot of weight and have cute shirts that fit over my brace! NO MORE WALKER!!!!!!!! I now have a four pronged cane as of last week. They wanted me to go to a one pronged cane but i want to take it slow with the big changes.

My stomach problems are better. My pain management doctor gave me some kind of prescription that's in powder form and you put in a drink. It's helped a lot and I feel so much better.

My friend's husband had back surgery about three months ago and she recommended getting the "Zero Gravity" chair from Sharper Image. This, besides the pain pump, is the best invention known to mankind!! I can sit in it for hours and hours and am fine. It's not too expensive only 150ish and so worth it. Relax the Back Store also has it - I found that the one from this store was more comfortable and had more padding than the one from Sharper Image.

So besides the next few things I am doing really well. I am still really positive and am actually really happy. I know the pain is going to suck, but I went through such terrible pain for so many months that I'm kind of used to it. I also found out one of my grades and I kicked major butt!!!! I was hoping for a C- and I got a B+!!! Now I just have to wait to see how i did on the final that was the day before my surgery.

So now to the not so great news:

My legs have been twitching for about a week or two. Sometimes it gets so bad where my entire body moves. Does anyone know why my legs are doing this? Also, I have more pain on my right side than my left as of a few days ago. I have the tingling sensation across my lower back and across my stomach but i expect that to be normal considering they opened me up in the front and drilled 6 holes in my back... so its normal right?

I'm still not sleeping as much as I'd like but it's better than what it was.
And I can't put as much pressure on my right side when I'm lying down than I can on my left. I'm trying to keep my back stick straight but it's really hard. I'm not bending or twisting or anything cause I'd probably hit myself before having someone else do it. :P

Hope everyone is doing well!

Blair

[Maria]

Blair,
Sounds like your recovery is progressing very very well! I'm amazed that you can do as much as you are now so it does sound like the surgery was successful!

I don't know much about the symptoms you're feeling except I know after my 2nd spine surgery which was just a percutaneous discectomy at L4 (L5S1 had been an open discectomy) I had some very weird sensations in my lower body/extremities such as numbness/tingling for a few months.

The leg twitching may fall under RLS or restless leg syndrome and I would venture to guess that will be transient as well as nerves are reacting to surgical intervention and now recovery. I had this when sleeping and it used to literally move me on the bed and I felt like I could feel my low back spasms thru the bed (kinda like the Exorcist w/o head swiveling)!! That lasted at least a month, maybe longer as I remember it freaked me out but the Neuro had said it was normal (oh yeah..real normal)~

On weight loss, WOW!! Often one hears of weight gain after surgery but it's really great hearing about weight loss (if necessary). I know what you mean re cute shirts/clothes as I went from 125lb to 104 lbs over 6 months and I fit into size 2's and 3's now vs. 6's and 8's.

However, in my case, age being against me.. I need to head to the gym to tighten up. Am hoping to do this before surgery! What I had forgotten about was a brace in the summer... shouldacouldawoulda had surgery in May?!

Anyway, continue on with your stellar recovery and congrats on kicking butt with your final grades!!!! Whooohoooo!!! (we all knew you're a brain)

[dshobbies]

Blair,

It sounds like you're doing very well. Also, strange things happen to nerves when you're talking about back surgery so I would think that your twitching, etc. will work itself out as well as your pain. If it persists without improvement, this is something you need to take up with your doctor.

As for the zero gravity chair, I completely agree. I purchased one that's electric and even now, after 19 months post op, and I thought I would sell it, it's the place I go when I've done too much. I don't like the leather though... too cold. I would also recommend the tush cush, which is a seat cushion with the tailbone section cut out. Relax the Back has them and it allows me to sit comfortably for longer than without. I keep one in my car and at my desk, I even take one if I go to the movies.

Keep up the good work and all my best, Dale

[Blairsara]

Hey everyone

So I'm a month and 10 days out of surgery and I'm doing well. My pain has been worse this past few weeks because in the increase of my activity. So these past few days I've decided to lay low and just go for my walks (my cousin is getting married over the weekend so I have to be somewhat ok so I can last for more than 30 minutes). My legs are hurting a lot, especially both hips. The twitching thing is still going on, but has decreased a tiny bit. One day my right side hurts then its fine the next day but then the left side hurts.

This week has been really tough. I've been trying hard to remain positive, but things with my brother went to crap - he didnt do anything physical like last time but it did constitute as verbal abuse. I have tried to make it so I'm not around him by myself before this had happened. And although I'm not surprised that it did, I didnt think he was that much of an idiot to treat me the way that he did. Anyways, I thought that during my recovery things were going to be fine, and it wasnt going to be until after where I had to deal with all of his crap. Well I was wrong.

Anyways, I could tell immediately how my frustration, anger and hatred towards him affected my pain level. So I have decided, both for the sake of my recovery and for my safety, that I will not be near him by myself, wont talk to him by myself, will only deal with him when other people are around - basically the same plan that I was going to do once my spine fused. The thing that is the scariest is that he is bipolar and is not on medication... and I am always the one who is attacked, whether verbal or physical, when he has one of his "tantrums" and although he hasnt come near me since the surgery I don't know what may happen and that scares the living crap out of me.

The one thing that I didnt want was for my recovery to be about him, because everything always has to be about him, and now it has turned into that. And that in itself makes me frustrated and pissed off. Sorry for my rant.. but this has been going on for the past week and it makes me so mad that my pain level has shot up because of him when I am trying so hard to be positive. I had to delete him from my AIM contacts list because every time I saw his name I became filled with anger, which obviously is not good for the fragile state that I am in. I was thinking of writing a letter that I will give him after my spine fuses, but I don't know if I should even bother with that now or deal with it later..

I go to the doctor next week and will give my new update. I have now switched to a regular cane from the 4 pronged cane and am very happy! That thing was so friggen heavy. I'm starting to get bored out of my mind. Any ideas? I'm reading 3 books at a time, catching up on tivo, watching movies, seeing friends.. but still bored.. Any suggestions?

I hope everyone is doing really well.

Blair

[annapurna]

Blair - it's wonderful that you're making some progress. Slow is okay - you've got plenty of time.

I'm so sorry about the situation with your brother. You're right that the anger, completely justified as it is, will compromise you physical and mental state right now. If you have a spiritual or religious advisor of any kind that you feel comfortable speaking with, it might not hurt to get help. The mind-spirit-body link is very poorly understood, but widely acknowledged to be real. Perhaps you could take advantage of your sugical "downtime" to get some emotional healing for your very difficult family situation. By the way, in suggesting this, I in NO WAY mean to imply that any of this is your fault in any way.

Thanks for keeping us posted on your progress.

Best!
Laura

[dshobbies]

Blair,

You are experiencing a whirlwind of both physical and emotional states. The physical you can do little about but the emotional is definitely in your control. Your brother is bipolar and you are his target. You know this and your family knows this. You don't need or want his emotional state to affect yours which in turn affects your pain and healing levels.

Sometimes, however difficult, it is in our best interests to remove ourselves from a volitile situation. Making the decision to curtail or cease contact with a loved family member is never easy but with age comes wisdom. You say that you didn't want your recovery to be about your brother but that is what is has become. BUT this is within your own control. YOU are making the decision to remain in contact with him. YOU are making the decision to allow him to affect your control. If he hurts you emotionally, YOU have the power to stop it. If he hurts you physically, it may be something you regret for the rest of your life.

Your brother will always be your brother. This is already written, period. Whether you stay in contact with him will never change that. The love you have for your brother will always remain intact. He is your brother, pure an simple. You don't have to like him. It's OK to hate him. If his behavior is affecting your life, you have the obligation to yourself to do whatever you can to correct the situation. Correcting him is not your job. I realize that you want to help and 'fix' him but you can't. Perhaps, at least for awhile, it's time to stop trying and let him go.

Blair, he scares me. He's capable of really hurting you. Only YOU can prevent that.

I hope your pain subsides soon and your recovery goes smoothly. I also hope your brother doesn't put another foot into your back. I'd hate to read about this in the newspaper!

End of sermon. Please keep us posted, Dale

[ans]

Blair: I don't mean to sound abrupt but I think that it's not reasonable to expect your brother to change as there is no guarantee that he will not maliciously (ok, maybe this is in the "up" phase of bipolar) injure you and ruin your life. I hope that you can get the hell out ASAP, get your bearings as you *fuse*. I'd sleep on friends' floors/sofas if it would not injure me if in your shoes.

Unsolicited advice: if your brother's over 18 years old and is unmedicated, how about your parents considering moving him to a group psychiatric home where he'll learn responsiblity towards others and adult skills.

Wishing you well. - Allan