Nairek L5-S1 ALIF Fusion January 2009

[Terry Allen Blackburn]

I agree with Justin about the pain medication. Many people want to; "Suck it up" and be brave about pain or, they are so afraid of getting addicted that they want off of them as soon as possible. This is the least of what you should be focusing on in recovery. Strong pain interferes with the healing process. There is plenty of time to get off of them in the future. Now it is important to allow them to block the pain messages to the brain so that your body can heal. This also helps to keep you in a spiritual place of taking care of yourself. I am so happy that you are working towards a successful recovery.

That was funny about the staples. As far as those little pieces sticking out, I cut mine off with a pair of scissors. They were the dissolvable ones from inside but, left little tabs sticking out. They would catch on shirts and pull, so it was easier to just cut them off. Use sharp scissors so you don't pull them and hurt yourself in the process.

Hang in there and post when you can. If you have any problems, or weird things happen, post it so we can help normalize what you are going through.

Terry Newton

[Nairek]

The TENS unit I have is currently out of commission. I have a feeling that there is a "back up" battery in there which is shot so I have to send it in for service. I wouldn't use it unless I clear it with my doctor first. With my luck the TENS unit & bone stimulator will fight it out

I was happy to get off of the Oxycontin since I had the Percocet to fall back on. However, the way the Percocet has been prescribed is that I take 2 every 4 hours up to 8 pills per day. Somehow I think I would have been better off with the Oxy since I only took 1 pill every 8 hours. The Oxy was for long term relief & the Percs were for breakthrough pain.

The "new" pain in my lower back can be down right Hellacious! It's below one of the incisions & the best way that I can describe it is that it feels like a tearing/burning feeling which is quite painful. It is made worse by some movements & shivering. The Lidocaine patches take a slight edge off but not enough. The Percocet helps a little bit but again, it still hurts enough to be bothersome. I tried gently massaging the area with no luck. So it's a bit depressing as I'm hoping that this isn't permanent. This is as bad if not worse than the pain that I had before surgery.

Terry, thanks for the info on the "whiskers" as I call them. I was beginning to think that maybe they forgot they were there. Do you recall how long you had abdominal pain? I still feel like I did 100 sit ups out of the blue.

I had a list of questions to ask at my appointment but for whatever reason, I don't recall the question about the "whiskers" being on there. For some reason I get flustered & forget to ask things when I'm in his office.

Thank you everyone for your support. I really appreciate it!

[Nairek]

Before I had my surgery, I was suffering a great deal with right leg/foot pain/numbness. When I initially woke up in the recovery room, I was still suffering from pins & needles sensations in my right foot. However, when I woke up a few hours later, it was gone! After 7 years it was finally gone!

The pain that I had in my lower back also feels like it is gone. Since I can’t bend or twist, I can’t say that it is 100% gone as those motions tended to set me off. But I can say that there is a noticeable difference in my back since the surgery.

Unfortunately, I do have a “new” pain in my lower back which is quite troublesome. It is located below one of the incisions in my back & can be extremely painful at times. The best way to describe it is that it feels like a pulling, tearing, burning sensation. The pain feels just as bad if not worse than the back pain I had before my surgery. I mentioned this to my OS & he stated that the muscles are very inflamed in that area & that it’s possible that this is causing my pain. I was prescribed a Lidocaine patch for the pain but it really doesn’t do much for me. Sadly the oral pain meds don’t help much either.

I still have pain in my abdomen from that incision as well. It’s not debilitating or as bad as the pain in my back, but it’s still uncomfortable. I feel like I did a marathon of sit-ups.

The pins & needles appear to be gone from my right foot but it has been replaced by an odd warm feeling which is made worse by walking. I mentioned this to an ortho resident in the hospital as well as my OS & neither could give me an explanation as to what it is. I assume it’s from the nerves being all funky for years. Again, I am hoping that this is something that will go away as time passes.

I find that a lot of times during the night, when I try to turn over, my legs just decide that they want to stretch out on their own & I can’t stop it from happening. I know that stretching isn’t recommended so soon after surgery but what happens if you can’t stop it from happening? I can feel the stretch in my abdomen & my lower back & I hope that it’s not hindering my recovery. It’s really freaky. I’m hoping that if I try to walk more that maybe it will stop happening so much.

I’m still a little slow with the walking. I usually start out pretty well but slow down quite a bit after about 10 minutes. I have managed to make it out of the house & to a few stores for very short excursions. I’m usually wiped out after those & fall asleep for a few hours so I can re-energize.

A week after I got home from the hospital I was able to take a shower on my own which was really nice. I’m able to get dressed with the help of my trusty “grabber do-hicky” except for putting on socks. I still need help with that.

The other day I spent a little over an hour in the kitchen preparing dinner which I wasn’t able to do before surgery. I did have to pop some pain meds afterwards but it was a huge step for me.

That’s about it for now. Thanks for reading.

[Justin]

Wow, cooking in the kitchen for an hour--it sounds like you are doing incredibly well!

About the pain in the back, this sounds normal to me and should pass with time. Concerning the "burning" sensation this is also a frequent complaint of patients post-op that does take time to move past. Actually when I had my surgery in Austria, there was a patient that had a 3-level with Dr. B and she had a burning sensation in both her feet for quite awhile (we talked frequently post-op and still do to this day). About the spontaneous stretching of your legs--I wouldn't worry about it...it sounds very benign and it's a way for your body to "deal" with what just happened to your spine.

Funny you mention the sock issue. I remember those days clearly--it was like I was a kid all over again.

Well, keep us posted and keep an eye on your pain levels. I wish you the very best.

[chasswen]

sounds like you are doing great please pace yourself as to give yor body time to heal.
chuck

[Terry Allen Blackburn]

I would encourage you to talk to the doctor about getting on Lyrica. Lyrica will help with the nerve pain or distraction pain as it sounds like that is what is going on for you. The other pain sounds like from the surgery itself. They cut through muscle and bone which takes a long time to heal from. Have you tried ice or heat to see which one may work for you?

The Lyrica was a God send for about a year after my surgery. I was on up to 400 mg per day and it helped significantly with the nerve pain.

Hang in there.

Terry Newton

[dshobbies]

Ditto on the Lyrica. Start slowly, increase slowly until you get the relief you seek. I was on it 2 years post op and though it would still help a lot, I chose to deal with the pain because of the side effects. But what a difference this drug makes, as does Neurontin.

Good luck, finding the right combo of meds can take awhile.

Dale