KathyEarhart; Active L; L4/5; March 2009

[treefrog]

Kathy, I hope you are feeling better. You need all your energy for surgery recovery, having to battle a virus isn't going to help, is it? Well, I hope it's not taking too much out of you, and that it doesn't last long.

[steve55]

Kathy, I overdid it also 2 weeks ago. Thought I was doing good enough to go clothes shopping at the mall for 4 hours, ran a bunch of errands etc, I d say it set me back a good 2 weeks. (Sigh). Still havent gotten back to where I was. Im 2 months post op and some days are pretty good and some are not so good, still have moderate pain issues but I think its a very gradual improvement trend. Though at least I know the pains I have today are nothing at all like the old pre op pain. I guess your body gets worked up pretty good during these surgeries. Im thinking at this pace, it may be 4-5 months before I REALLY feel good. I was hoping for 6-8 weeks. : (

[Cindylou]

Kathy, have you kicked that bad bug yet? I woke up yesterday morning with a bad sore throat out of the blue. Don't know if it's allergies or if I'm coming down with a viral infection. I'm jealous you are starting pt this week. Let me know how you do. Every day I don't get to exercise I blow up like the pillsbury dough boy! Can't wait till I get the thumbs up. Hope you are healing nicely.

Cindylou

[Kathy]

Thank you all for the well wishes! I was sick as can be all weekend and finally feel good again today. I went for a bike ride with my kids today, feeling a little bad now, so I'll take it easy the rest of the day. I am so excited to start therapy tomorrow! I am ready to be able to do what I want to do. I am not doing very good at the no bending, twisting thing... tomorrow is 6 weeks, so I don't think it's too big of a deal. My doctor switched me from percocet 10mg to hydrocodone 10mg, and the hydrocodone just isn't doing anything for me. I feel like just quitting cold turkey, going through hell of withdrawls for a while and be done with it. The slow withdrawal is almost cruelty to humans Guess well see, Kathy

[Justin]

Kathy, good luck with the withdrawals. I have very bad memories.

The no twisting, bending is a pain in the butt but it will serve you well down the line if you stick to in the "early" days (<10 weeks).

I'm glad you are over your cold. Finally.

[Kathy]

Wow, it really doesn't seem like 5 1/2 months since surgery, it really does pass quickly.
I have been seeing Dr. Blumenthal of Texas Back Institute for my follow up, as he is an investigator in the trial. He said early on the only way it could be better placed was if he did it. LOL I take that as a compliment and him tooting his own horn!

My old pain is gone; but I am having different pain. I knew going into this that I had 2mm herniations on the disc above and below this one; but none of the surgeons I visited (Dr. Bradley, Dr. Zigler and Dr. Garcia) all felt these were not my pain generators. During my discogram, these discs were injected and caused no pain, only L4/5 caused pain, at a level of 10/10. I also had facet arthritis prior to surgery; but once again, all 3 surgeons still felt I was a good canidate for ADR. I had to be within certain medical guidelines for the clinical trial, so I was not beyond those limits. I had also had a facet rhizotomy prior to ADR and had no relief from it. The surgeons also took this in account and felt that my facets were not my pain generators.

I asked Dr. Blumenthal the other day why he thought I still have pain. He said that in like 10-20% of the population, facets will cause problems after ADR. He set me up for facet injections and thinks this could fix it completely (which I have heard of from fellow spineys who had/have to get them every few months post-ADR and feel great). I asked Dr. Blumenthal if I was a good canidate for ADR. He said that I was, that my disc was placed perfectly, is moving exactly as it should and looks great; he said Dr. Garcia did a wonderful job.

I also feel like this could be muscular pain, as I haven't been doing my PT like I should. I really need to schedule a time in my day to do it and make myself do it. My main issue has been that my pain management doctor is so eager to get me off meds, that they keep cutting me back and I'm on just enough to function my daily duties and no extra. I am currently taking 3-5 10 mg vicodin a day, plus Lyrica, Cymbalta, and Zanaflex. I also had run out of Lyrica and did not call for my refill and was off of it for about a month and think that caused my temporary increase in pain.
I have also noticed that on the days that I make myself be active, that I feel better the next day and vice versa, the days that I lay around, then I feel worse the next day.

I am glad that I had ADR, as I have seen my pain going from a 9 or 10 daily to a 3 or 4 daily. I have reduced my meds from 40 mg of Morphine and 60-80 mg of Vicodin a day to 30-50 mg of Vicodin a day. I am also able to completely get rid of my pain with meds, whereas before it would only go down to a 3 or 4 with meds.

Another plus, since I was in the clinical trial, all of my post-op visits and x-rays are paid for 100% by the sponsor! They also give you $100 gift cards at your 1 year, 2 year, etc visits. They told me they do this, because people will have the surgery and feel great, so they won't come in for their follow-ups, not realizing that they are important for the study to be done correctly.

[dshobbies]

Hi Kathy,

It's been awhile since we heard from you and I'm glad you're doing well.

As a non-exercizer and one who doesn't like to sweat, I know what I should be doing and so do you. It's hard to get motivated but something we both need to confront and get going. Stretching is equally as important.

I was first diagnosed as a 4 level but my non-anesthetized discogram revealed L2/3 as a non pain generator. I believe it became one and as my pain began to interfere with my level of activity I knew I had to do something about it. Currently, anymore back surgeries are not my option!!!

I just started Pilates a month ago and already regret not doing so much earlier. I don't mind saying this is not within my comfort level but these slow and controlled movements are designed to maximize core strength and for the first time in about 6 years, I sat through a movie in relative comfort. (I highly recommend Julie and Julia)

Nobody but you can make you get up and go to pt. I'm older than you and have come up with many more excuses but we both know they are excuses.

One more thing - I think it can be dangerous quitting Lyrica cold turkey. Starting and stopping should be gradual. And if you're truly unhappy with your pm doctor, either tell him or find another one. More than just functioning is not an unrealistic desire.

Keep up the good work, Dale