Nerves Compressed Again After Spinal Facet Joint Injection
Life After Spinal Fusion Surgery:
A Month-Past-Calendar month Breakup of My Spinal Fusion Recovery
I get a lot of messages from people who've had spinal fusion surgery. Many are in the first few months of their recovery. Most enquire some variation of the question, "is my recovery normal?"
"I'chiliad 6 weeks postal service-op and tire subsequently 15 minutes of walking. Is that normal?"
"I'thousand 12 weeks post-op and my surgeon lifted all of my restrictions already. Is that normal?"
"I'grand iv months post-op and I'thousand yet exhausted all the time. Is that normal?"
The reply in my head is always the aforementioned: "I have no idea."
Considering honestly, I don't even know if my own surgery recovery was/is normal. Was it quicker or slower than average? Did I accept more or less pain than normal? Did I take hurting meds for likewise long? Or for non long enough?
The answer to all of the in a higher place is yes. Because there is no normal. Each one of us volition feel spinal fusion surgery differently.
"Hope is non about proving anything. Information technology's near choosing to believe this i thing, that love is bigger than any grim, bleak shit anyone can throw at united states." – Anne Lamott
I totally sympathize the need to compare notes though. I exercise it too. What selection do we have? In that location'southward no guidebook with an estimated timeline for your recovery – a "What to Expect When Your Bones are Fusing," if yous will. And even if yous have the near circumspect & empathetic surgical squad in the world, they don't want you calling their office every day with questions about weird symptoms or your poop. Neither does your pharmacist or your physical therapist.
We all just want some sort of benchmark – something to reassure is that we are, in fact, normal. And more importantly, that things will get better.
I don't know if I'm normal or non, only as always I'm happy to share my feel with you lot. I'll break it down for you lot as much as I can, to the best of my recollection (some of it is a little hazy). And so let'due south compare notes. Share your ain feel for others who might need to hear it. (Note: I'm including some of my weblog and Instagram posts from those start few months to aid me paint a clearer moving-picture show for y'all.)
What to Expect After Spinal Fusion Surgery
Recovery from Spinal Surgery: Calendar week i
My surgery was on a Thursday morning time. I spent two nights in the hospital. I had some visitors and my hubby was with me the whole fourth dimension, merely I think mostly I just slept a lot.
I was sent abode with a cold therapy car and prescriptions for Robaxin and Oxycodone. My insurance company provided a walker, and we borrowed a shower chair (an absolute essential for at-dwelling house recovery).
"oh, my darling, it'southward true. Cute things have dents and scratches besides." – @writtenbyhim
On the way home from the infirmary, we stopped at the pharmacy to pick upwards my prescriptions. I wasn't able to walk, so Vic pushed me in a wheelchair. When we got home, I somehow managed to walk through the front door, hobble up the stairs, and boost myself into bed, where I would stay for most of the adjacent x days.
I only got out of bed to utilize the bathroom, take a shower, or when my physical therapist made me. Getting in and out of bed was brutal. I was in a lot of pain. Way more than than I expected. I spent most of that first week sleeping and counting the minutes until my next dose of pain meds.
Week 1 at a Glance:
- I could go to and from the bathroom myself with the assistance of my walker.
- I needed help with just about everything else, including getting in and out of the shower and dressing myself.
- The just exercise I got was in-home physical therapy twice a week.
Recovery from Spinal Surgery: Calendar week 2
During the start two weeks, I had terrible, scary nerve pain in my left leg. This was especially frightening because my pre-op hurting was almost entirely in my right leg and hip. Simply my surgeon reassured me with some statistics (that he probably made up, now that I think about information technology) nearly leg pain being common later on a spinal fusion.
I relied less on the walker, but I still spent near of my time in bed, only occasionally getting upwardly to shuffle effectually my sleeping room.
Week two at a Glance:
- I could walk effectually the house without a walker.
- I could walk upwards & downward the stairs.
- I was able to shave my legs.
- I was sleeping fairly well at night, commonly only waking when I needed hurting meds.
I wrote this web log post at solar day 13 of my spinal fusion recovery – information technology goes into greater detail about my experience.
Recovery from Spinal Surgery: Week 3
The nerve hurting wasn't gone by calendar week 3, but it was more manageable. That's when I really started to detect the discomfort in my back. Not pain, exactly. More like I had a brick strapped to my lower back. In a way, this was scarier than the leg pain – I was convinced that this was my hardware poking through my peel and that my back would experience this way forever. (Spoiler: it didn't.)
I had my first post-surgery outing – dinner at The Loop with my husband.
I as well had my first follow-up visit with my surgeon during week 3, and I had my offset set of post-op ten-rays. Vic and I were stunned to see the size of the screws in my back.
My incision site was cerise and itchy, merely it turned out to exist an allergic reaction to the cast agglutinative. I was healing well and moving around the house with more ease, simply I continued to spend the majority of time in bed – largely considering lying on my back with my legs propped up on pillows was the almost comfortable position for me to exist in. Sitting upright was uncomfortable, and I could only represent short periods at a time.
This week was also my last week of full-time recovery. Vic was back at work, simply my kids were at overnight camp. I didn't have much to do besides resting and healing.
Week 3 at a Glance:
- I no longer needed the walker. I walked slowly, simply I was steady on my feet.
- I was able to do modest household tasks, like folding laundry and making a grilled cheese sandwich.
- I was still taking pain meds throughout the day but had started weaning myself off the Oxycodone.
- I was able to tolerate short motorcar rides.
Recovery from Spinal Surgery: Week 4
Past week 4, I was officially back on full-fourth dimension Mom Duty, at least during the day. I still needed Vic to do a lot around the business firm – cooking dinner, bath time, making our morning coffee. He also took over the grocery shopping, which he connected to practise upwards until adequately recently. (Even now, it tin still be hard for me to carry the groceries and be on my feet for that long. Plus I merely like having him do it. Not gonna lie.)
I was able to bulldoze brusk distances, which as well meant that I was able to go without pain meds during the day.
By the end of the day, I was usually in a fair amount of pain, which meant pain medication and dorsum to bed with water ice on my back. I don't recall if I was still having leg pain at this betoken, merely if I was it must not have been as well bad. Most of the hurting was in my back at the fusion site. Some of the swelling had subsided, but the feeling of having a brick in my back wasn't completely gone.
And speaking of bed – yes, that'southward where I was all the same spending a lot of my fourth dimension. Nosotros moved a TV into the chamber, so the girls spent a lot of time laying with me and watching Netflix. We don't normally take televisions in whatsoever of our bedrooms, so this was a treat for them. And they also enjoyed the temporary lift of the "no eating in bed" rule. After spending much of the past few weeks alone, I enjoyed their visitor very much.
Week 4 at a Glance:
- I was able to bulldoze for short distances.
- I was mostly weaned off of daytime pain meds, but I all the same took them in the evenings and before bed.
- I didn't do whatever intentional exercise – just relied on caring for the kids and walking up & downward the stairs 100 times a day to keep active.
- I tired very hands and napped daily.
Recovery from Spinal Surgery: Weeks 5-6
Past weeks 5 and 6, I started feeling a fiddling anxious/guilty about the tiresome pace of my recovery. I'd expected to feel nearly recovered by then, which wasn't even remotely the example. I was still slow and stiff and tired all the time. I was back on my feet, though. Life was normal-ish. I took the kids to the pool and out on trivial errands, and I was even brave enough to take Sophia (just the two of us) to the beach for a few hours.
At my 6 week follow-upwardly visit, my surgeon cleared me to practice very gentle yoga, but I didn't feel at all set up. I was very worried nearly re-injuring myself. I walked when I could, but I still wasn't doing whatsoever existent exercise, including my physical therapy exercises (I wish I'd been more than diligent about them).
Weeks v-half-dozen at a Glance:
- My hurting was manageable; most of the time I felt stiffness and/or discomfort, rather than actual pain.
- I was only taking pain medication at nighttime, and then my head was clearer.
- Still tired, still taking daily naps.
Recovery from Spinal Surgery: Weeks 7-8
During week 7, I went on my offset post-op road trip for my grandma'due south 95th birthday political party. It was most a 4 hr bulldoze, and while it wasn't the nearly comfortable experience of my life, information technology wasn't also bad.
I pushed myself a little as well hard on this trip though, and I ended upwardly with some weird symptoms – muscle spasms, headache, etc. And, of grade, I was exhausted like ever.
I wrote a blog mail service describing life at eight weeks afterward spine surgery, and it describes things much amend than I could at present. It's called, fittingly, "Not Normal Is the New Normal."
Recovery from Spinal Surgery: Weeks nine-12
I'll but hitting the highlights hither.
Week 9: I finally started practicing some very gentle yoga and stretching.
Week 10: I went kayaking with my family for the first fourth dimension ever, and I didn't experience any pain!
Week 11: The kids went back to schoolhouse, and I took this picture show in my driveway. (I don't advise jumping at 11 weeks post-op – information technology hurt later.)
Week 12: I started a regular walking routine, usually solo morning embankment walks, simply sometimes with a friend.
Life Afterwards Spinal Fusion: 3 Months
I drove myself to my 3 month follow-upward appointment with my surgeon. I had x-rays taken, and he said that everything looked smashing. I asked if he could see any bear witness of os growth, and he told me that it was too soon for it to prove upward on an 10-ray. He lifted all of my restrictions – not just BLT (bend, elevator, twist), but ALL of them – he essentially said that I could do whatever I wanted, every bit long it didn't injure. The only things he specifically told me to avoid were sit-ups, crunches, and push-ups. Everything else was fair game.
He also said that I was free to start running and yoga once more, but that I should avert whatever activeness that caused pain. He stressed that there was no benefit for me to "button through the hurting," as pain (not muscle strain or discomfort) was an indication that something was non right.
And then he released me from his care, which I was not expecting at all. No 6 calendar month follow-up, no annual cheque-ups – just skilful luck, and phone call us if you have whatever bug.
Life After Spinal Fusion: four Months
Early in my 4th calendar month of recovery, we took a family holiday to Washington, D.C. It involved a lot of walking, and I came dorsum to the hotel and crashed every twenty-four hours around v:00 p.m. But other than that, the trip was a great success.
In the first year after my surgery, we also visited Disney World (7 months mail service-op), Colorado (9 months post-op), and New York (12 months post-op). I also took a solo trip to Colorado at 11 months post-op.
At the iv month mark, I was feeling relatively normal – still a scrap slower and stiffer than usual, and certainly non back to my pre-injury level of physical activity, but definitely a lot more than similar myself. The only major symptom that I was still experiencing at that fourth dimension was exhaustion. Constant, almost oppressive exhaustion. I yet required daily naps in order to make information technology to bedtime. But on the bright side, I usually but need to sleep for an 60 minutes or so, whereas I was napping for 2-3 hours at a fourth dimension in previous months.
Past this time, I'd stopped taking hurting meds nigh entirely. I occasionally needed a pill at bedtime when I'd overdone information technology during the day, but that was it.
Life After Spinal Fusion: 5 Months
This blog post describes pretty thoroughly what my life was similar at 5 months subsequently my spine surgery.
Life Subsequently Spinal Fusion: Your Plough!
There you have it – my showtime 5 calendar month of recovery in a nutshell. If you want to know more details almost any phase of recovery, or if you have whatsoever questions (general, specific, personal, weird, whatsoever) delight enquire me! I desire to help y'all as much as I can. Also – if y'all've had spinal fusion surgery, please chime in here. I don't desire this to be just about my experience. I want to hear yours as well, and then do others, trust me.
For more recent updates on my post-op life, read these posts:
One Year Post-Op: Spinal Fusion Update: 1 Year Later (A Letter to Myself)
Three Years Post-Op: Life Afterwards Spinal Fusion: I Went Skiing at 3 Years Post-Op!
Five Years Post-Op: V Years Afterwards My Spinal Fusion: An Update
Source: https://www.mommyrunsit.com/recovery-from-spinal-fusion-surgery-or-what-to-expect-when-your-bones-are-fusing/
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