Lumbar L4-5-S1 (revision) - CathyDownUnder

[cathydownunder]

Here I am 6 days post-op second surgery in 2 years. First day home and Very sore and sorry.
Surgery went smoothly Mon 26th. A few decision changes by M S-Y once my spine was exposed. He went for a non-bone fusion with BMP at L5/S1, left the small herniation as it went back in naturally once I was flexed and did the Dynesys over the Maverick at L4/5 to stabilise it. With the existing previous fusion and ADR plus the new hardware it's pretty ugly in there
Mon night was bad with lots of vomiting and of course a migraine from the Fentanyl PCA. I react the same to morphine too so had no choice really. Regretted having the second surgery of course, thought I was crazy to do it again!
Tues, still bad migraine, using PCA and taking oral paracetamol and Imigran for the head. Nausea drugs spinning me out and prolonging the anaesthesia "effect". Inflatable leg pumps removed hooray and had a sponge bath.
Wed, catheter, wound drain and all the IV's removed. Assisted with a really quick shower and into own nightwear, yipee!
Oh, still had the migraine though lessening.
Thurs, walking with aid of wheelie-walker. Incision along spine extremely painful and impossible to lay in any position for more than a few mins. Sleeping fitfully and nursing staff very inconsiderate with the amount of noise thay made at night. Why is it necessary to yell to each other down corridors with a floor of post-op patients?
Fri, decided I'd had enough. Had managed all the physical therapy requirements and M'S-Y was happy enough for me to go home if I wanted. YES PLEASE.
So here I am, first day and already itching to do home chores. I will be good and pace myself this time. I've learned my lesson the hard way. Slow and Steady isn't it Harrison?
Will post again soon and once again thank you my cyber friends for all your prayers and positive wishes.
Cathy

[Adam]

Best wishes to you. We are pros, so you know that the first days, weeks are the most important. Rest, and let us know how you are doing.
I have my up and down days. But I never loss hope.

Be Well,
Adam

[Rosie]

Hi Cathy,

You're brave, Girl. Remember the worst is over.
Yes "steady and slow wins the race".

May God be with you in this recovery. Please post often if you can.

Love

[Liz]

hi cathy,

i'm glad you are on the other side and on the road to recovery! i'm sorry surgery was so rough on you in many ways... you are a strong one since you went back for round 2 and you will get through this. week by week i hope you see improvement.
i sent you a PM.

wishing you all the best and some much deserved relief soon,

liz

[ans]

Despite your nightmare, you sound remarkably well for six days post-op. Take care, slowly. - Allan

[Dean]

Hi Cathy
Hope you are feeling good, I have not seen you on the site for some time.
Can you breifly tell me what happened to you, since I last spoke with you, 6 to 8 monnths ago. Made the move and had surgery back in Feb,did not go with S Young for I had to wait to long to see him.
The procedure was very simular to yours,Mavrik at L4 5, and osty-protein non bone fusion at L5S1.
I will be 4 months post opp on the 12th of June. Walking up to four times a day, 2 KM each walk, and doing a small amount of streching in the shower each day.
Driving is no problem now, but I am unable to stand in one spot for any thing longer than 30 minutes,or I tend to have pain in lower spine.This will stay with me most of the day untill I have pain meds at night before I sleep.

Love to here from you Cathy,and wish you many happy days in the future.

Dean (victoria Aust)
Mavrick L5,4 Fusion L5 S1.
(Did not were a Brace)

[Harrison]

Slow and Steady isn't it Harrison?

You bet! Although I can't take credit for this (I think Alastair coined it for the spine community).

Thanks for sharing, Cathy. I hope you feel better and stronger every day!

[OsteoRach]

hi kathy,

glad your surgery went well. yes, slow and steady wins the race,

good luck with your continued recovery,

rachel

[Slackwater]

Originally posted by OsteoRach:
hi kathy,

glad your surgery went well. yes, slow and steady wins the race,

good luck with your continued recovery,

rachel

Best Wishes for Both of You.

Wow, take a deep breath, ok.

The surgeons chart progress / improvements for two (2) years in most of the studies. My version of reality is we are planning to live for a few more decades, so ... best decisions on surgery we may be reading about here. The drug side affects you describe are just hellacious. I just wish it never happened to you.

You both have a smile from California,

Slackwater
mva: 2-level lumbar surg. candidate

[cathydownunder]

12 days post-op and I'm having a "flat" day. Thought I'd been lucky as I got the blues by day 4 last time....oh well.
The combination of being basically house bound except for my little walks with the dogs (who can't understand why we're going so slow mummy) I'm pretty much going crazy. And the pain is not being conrolled with the Capadex at all. Even the occasional Tramadol isn't doing it for me. Can't take anything like hyrocodone as they give me migraines. Any sugggestions?
I visited my endocrinologist yesterday (yay a big 15 min trip in the car!). The good news is my thyrotoxicosis is resolved and the nodules will just be monitored yearly for growth. Bad news is I've hit early menopause at 47. Or is that good news LOL?

So how long did everyone spend lying down at this stage post-op? I really cannot bear to lie down during the day and I'm sure it's making the pain worse. Same thing happened last time. So much for my good intentions, I'll have to be strapped down I think.

Here's a laugh.....Got hubby to change my dressing last night and take a photo so I could see the damage.Well he has a very weak stomach God bless his little heart, although the site's clean he still nearly vomited. Probably why he wouldn't look at it in the hospital....Ha Ha.

Dean, to answer your question, much has
happened (or not) since we spoke. Had facet injections and an epidural at L5/S1 none of which helped. It was decided my small herniation was causing the major leg pain and weakness and the best bet was to do Dynesys stabilisation at L5/S1 and also over the Maverick. There was still too much movement there effecting my existing scoliosis. Once in surgery the plan changed again and I now have a non-bone fusion with BMP at L5/S1 as well as the Dynesys.
I'll post again after my surgery visit next Thurs when I find out why the change?