So glad to hear that you are getting along well after surgery. Dr. Clavel is quite a man. I too was in room 501. I watched a little bit of soccer from the window during my room walks. :) Getting back to 100% may take awhile for you. Don't get discouraged if it takes longer than you expect. It took awhile to get messed up and all your soft tissues have to get used to moving properly again. I wish you all the best. :)

~Buckeyeback

Amy,

Congratulations on a successful surgery and welcome to the other side! I hope they have you up and around soon; that helped me feel better fast. Wishing you luck on swallowing, hoping that you'll be up to touring Barcelona and that you're recovery will be as successful as was your surgery.

Good luck, Jeff

Great
 

Great news! Welcome to the other side.

Dean

I am Jealous
 

Amy great news...Congrats. From what they say, it will be like a new life. Makes me smile. Don't overdo it and continued luck! ;)

Dustin

Neck & shoulder pain - how long?
 

Hi all,
I'm about 65 hours post-op. I was released from the hospital about 11:45 am yesterday. It's good to be back at the hotel. The physical therapist came & helped me with some stretching & massaging. I have quite a bit of pain on the right side of my neck & my right shoulder. It helps a little if my husband rubs it deeply, but he can't do that 24/7 and the meds aren't doing much so it's 2:30 am and I'm wide awake (even tho I took a sedative at 11 am, per Yolanda's instructions). It hurts as much if not more than it did before surgery, and it's constant. The pt said my body needs to get used to my discs having the right amount of space again but ouch! How long did this last for you all? The swallowing is getting better, I can now feel swallows more in the back of my neck than the front, as I did at first. But this shoulder & neck pain is really tough to deal with. Suggestions/advice?

Amy,
Your symptoms sound very much like the ones I had when I had my two level m6c with Dr. Clavel last May. For me, I identified it as distraction pain. Meaning that with the two implants my neck grew 1/4" over the height of about an 1". I saw it as the nerves stretching beyond the amount that was comfortable. I woke each morning in Barcelona with a pain level of 6-7 which got my attention.

This pain decreased to zero in 4-5 weeks. I found that when I was walking that the pain greatly diminished and that waking from a nights sleep was my hardest time of the day. As long as I was moving I was fine. Subsequently, I had a strong inducement to walk all over Barcelona. I took Celebrex and the acetaminophen (from the hospital) and that seemed to help. Please check with Clavel about the Celebrex. He was ok with my taking it but he might have another thought about it now.

I also noticed that my nerve pain diminished in the hospital when I got an IV of metamizol. It is a short acting pain reliever that is neither a NSAID nor narcotic. I found out that it is available without a prescription at the Barcelona pharmacies (so is Celebrex). Metamizol is only taken for a few days at a time. Lastly, please take everything regarding the above with a large grain of salt. I don't want to come off as pushing medications but relay what helped me. I am only another spine patient that was trying to figure things out. Dr. Clavel would not want you to unduly suffer and he should be able to help with the pain.

In case you are wondering I am now in zero pain and I am profoundly grateful for the treatment I received in Barcelona. I hope that your recovery goes as well.

Mark

Post-op pain
 

Mark, thank you for your note. If I still feel like this tomorrow, I will call Dr Clavel and ask for his recommendations. My pain is varying from a 5-7, but it's constant and usually closer to the 7. I had some relief after pt today for about 30 min. It rained today, so we didn't make it outside until about 2 pm. We walked about 3 hours. The walking does seem to help, but I am also having some trouble regulating my body temp and I felt extremely warm, even though it's a chilly day. I don't have a fever, but I feel the need to be cold or else I feel worse. Hopefully that too, will pass soon. I'm taking Motrin every four hours, and paracetamol every 4 four hours. I do have some nolotil that Yolanda said just to take when needed, no more than every 8 hours. It hasn't helped much.
Funny, I was prescribed all these drugs in the US when I was in my accident, but never took anything. Now's when I need them!
Will update tomorrow...hopefully another night's sleep will help.

Room 501 --- I was there too!

Hope you are feeling better & enjoying the city!!

Amy,

Funny you talk about being warm! I also felt too warm for days after surgery, and then suddenly I flip flopped and felt cold all the the time!!! I wonder if its the Meds???
I had some pain, I think mostly nerve pain & maybe distraction pain walking seemed to help up to a point, but after a point it would get worse... I would try to stretch the arms back to ease the pain & that did help. Leila, the PT, was a miracle worker... The Fisiocrem helps even now when I feel fatigued & achy. I even bought a tube to bring back with me! My nerves were severely compressed & I still have lots of lingering nerve pain. I have high hopes that with time the nerves will settle down.
Hopefully your pain is temporary and you will be feeling better soon.
Honestly, we did not see as much of the city as we would have liked, but between the pain & an unusual level of extreme fatigue I did not play super woman post -op and try to see everything... I just did not have the energy and by mid day a nap was all I wanted! Resting, napping & the wonderful massages that Leila did every evening eased the pain more than anything....

Don't know about anyone else, but the surgery wiped me out.... I'm almost 12 weeks out & still become very fatigued, exhausted by about 3:00 daily. I'm usually a very energetic person, but there are days that I stop (self Employeed) and head home for a nap!

Take it one step at a time & don't over do it! Feel better soon!!!

Mark,

Did your nerve pain go away in that 5 week time frame you mentioned??? My right arm is driving me crazy, with pain under the shoulder blade, across my shoulder & down my arm, no longer down to my fingers, except on rare occasions. The left is much better since the surgery& only bothers me if I am on my feet too long or over do it. I am so hopeful that it will completely go away and that I did not wait too long for surgery & cause permanent damage.....the effervescent acetaminophen helped along with Novotil the I got from Dr. Clavel. Not sure if that is the same Meds you took or not.

Thanks for your input!

D