New kid on the block

[TiredofPain]

Greetings. I had my 2 month appt today and the doctor is very happy with the xrays and my recovery. He said I'm where he would expect or maybe a little bit better. Two weeks ago 2 of my grandkids ages 3 and 5 were here for a week. Both of them boys and if you could bottle their energy you could provide enough electricity to light up California for a year or more. When they left I was ready for a rest. I'm doing PT three times a week. Still taking quite a bit of pain meds, but I can see that changing in the near future. I'm able to do alot more than prior to surgery. I cooked dinner once last week, first time in awhile. I had to do it in stages but I'm ok with that. I try to walk about a mile a day. It's hard to do sometimes because my knees are bad. I sometimes get frustrated, as I'm sure most people do, because I want to do more. I have learned to relax and not worry so much about that, I feel confident at this point that as time progresses so will the complexity or difficulty of things I can do will change. At this point I couldn't be much happier with the outcome. Still a ways to go, but I can see some light at the end of the tunnel. Tomorrow I'm going to join our community rec center. They have some great indoor facilities that I can use. The heat here in TX is unbearable to walk in. I've been cleared to walk in a pool. Can't wait to give that a shot. Will be refreshing. Will keep you posted. I hope all are doing well and thanks again for the support.

J

[jsewell]

I've been wanting to try to jog in a pool for a while now., I have to ask a few doctors if it is allowed!!
I hope you have a great time in the pool and continue recovering
judy

[dshobbies]

TOP,

Glad that you're doing well. You probably know that taking is slow is the name of this game.

Now that it's pool season, I like sitting on a noodle and 'walking' in the deep end. I actually walk around the perminiter of the whole pool, including bouncing off my toes in the shallow end.

Keep up the good work, Dale

[TiredofPain]

Sorry it's been so long. I will be going to my 10 month surgical appt on 29 Feb. I had a high for a short period of time. A litlle bit of painting around the house, cleaning, vacuuming....all thses things cause me discomfort but I mad it through them. I was able to leave the house at least 3 or 4 days a week. That ended about 2 months ago. Now once a week for an hour or two and I get very uncomfortable. Now I'm haveing other problems, my hips and knees. Have had knee probs, hip probs are new. Back above L4/5 L5/S1 is starting to cause discomfort. Don't know if it's related but it may be. Also having major sleep problems, because the way I am now I will never be able to go back to work. Thats pretty depressing due to only being 45 years old. Right now the best I can do is feed my dogs in the morning, rest, then cook dinner for my wife in the eveing. Will see what happens in the next 6 weeks. Wish me luck.

[Maria]

Sorry to hear you're experiencing pain above the fused areas. Sounds like the disc above is aggravated tho perhaps ESIs would help calm that down or an injection of 60mg IM Toradol (non steroidal antiinflammatory med) for muscle spasms (you might start out asking for this at your PCP/Ortho/PM) and if that stuff fails and you don't "have to" have surgery (as in emergent reason) then perhaps you could try a pain medicine to at least cut the pain.

Sounds like you have other things bothering you and I don't know whether they're related to your back or aggravating your back because they're painful.

Good luck on something helping or perhaps just more time. Try not to think that what you are living with today is your life's sentence as things may change with time and/or some intervention (not necessarily meaning more surgery).

thanks for the update wishing you better days

[TiredofPain]

Hi Maria, Thank you for the response. My appt with the surgeon is at the end of this month. He is great and hopefully will be able to provide some insight. I'm still on pain meds and anit-inflamatory. I have taken hydrocodone for so long it's becoming less and less effective. But I don't want to take a med that will give me a high sensation. My next appt with the PM isn't until May. Will keep you updated. Again, thanks for your response. J

[jsewell]

Tired of Pain, I am hoping that your pain all gets explained to you on the 29th. I have had hip pain since my scoliosis and kyphosis surgery in Oct of 2010. I woke up from surgery with it. I since had a few more spine surgeries , but the pain remains. I had my hips checked out, my right was already replaced. It is definitely from my spine.
sleep has been a problem for me for years, until i went on a medication called trazadone. My primary, psychiatrist as well as other docs have all told me of no side effects associated with it and it works pretty good to keep me asleep for about 7 hours. I couldn;t survive with out it.
I am still on percocet and have taken it since my hip replacement in 2008. I have had so many surgeries since then and am left with some pain/discomfort when standing, or walking. I seem to do better with hiking which i have recently started. Must be the extreme angle. As i cant really stand up straight.

About working, my doc thinks i should be on disability, but i do not qualify as i worked for the schools and we don't pay into social security. My life circumstances now require that i work . It won't be pretty is all i can say.

But i hope for the best for you in some way. Take care and write any time . I do a lot of venting on here and elsewhere. It seems to help!!
judy