How long Will It Take?

[Carolina]

Adessa-

My husband would be the better person to reply to you, as he is the one who had the posterior fusion w/instrumentation at L4-5. Hopefully I can get him to pop in.

I just wanted to let you know that he still, fifteen years after the fact, can recall quite well the painful recovery from his fusion. His recollection is that even through the most incredible surgical pain he had ever had (and he had been through two prior back surgeries and brain surgery!), he could tell that the mechanical pain that drove him to fusion was gone. Never-the-less, the leg pain was much worse for a period of months (that seems to be his shtick), and much of the post-op pain was intense, but different.

If I can recall correctly, I believe his timeline went something like this:

1.)First two months just sucked beyond belief. Hard to know if anything would ever be better.
2.) Third and fourth month better, but still painful, and easily fatigued.
3.) 6 months - 18 months to really reach maximum functionality. Figure out what he could do/what he could never do again w/o causing a major flare (ride a horse)/what he could do that would result in pain that would "predictably" subside (drive for more than 6 hours.)

I hope this helps. Please feel free to ask any questions.