LOL, just some common sense stuff I
learned. Seriously though, we tend to
overdo way to qickly sometimes. Hard to
keep me down on any set day.
Take care hon and keep us up to date.
Hugs,
Carrie
|
littleonefb
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 11 Aug 2007 Posts: 228 Location: ,
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Posted: 07-04-08 22:57pm
RichT
wrote:
Hello Fran,
I hope today finds you in less pain from
your surgery.
I did go to the link you suggested.
Information of concern regarding the
corticosteroids. Unfortunately, I did not
notice that Kenalog was included in the
publication. It is similar too but not
the same as our natural cortisone. Very
definitely the information in the
publication needs to be put into the
overall risk/benefit equation. (Sure is
getting to be a BIG equation.)
Take care Fran, be patient, and give your
body time to heal.
gentle HUGS
RichT
Rich for the good
wishes. I am behaving and time, lots of
time to heal. This one will take lots of
time to heal.
Off hand I don't remember if Kenalog was
specifically mentioned in the article or
not. But either way, the article was
talking about corticosteroids for pain
relief, man made corticosteroids that are
man made and Kenalog is a man made
corticosteroid.
That risk/benefit equation is huge now.
everything is in it and we have to
carefully weigh it all the time.
Sometimes we have done it and found the
answer and just continue on doing whatever
it is, because the risk is worth taking.
The hard part is when we have to weigh
that risk/benefit and it is one that is
hard to decide on. To many things are
getting into that side of the equation all
the time.
A perfect example is a steroid injection,
ESI, Nerve Block, trigger point one,etc.
Deciding when the risk outweighs the
benefit is tough.
When it relieves the pain with an ESI,
like it does with you, then you can avoid
surgery, but it is important to know what
the risks are so that you can make an
educated decision on whether you want to
take the risks or not. And it angers me
to no end to see and hear how many people
are denied that opportunity to make a
really educated decision. To me that is
criminal and in some cases could cause
some really serious harm. It makes me
appreciate all the more my spinal surgeon
and his associates, my pain management
doctor, whom I adore as well but hope I
never see again except when I have to have
follow up visits with my spine surgeon and
he's also there at the same time.
It also makes me all the more aware at how
important it is to have your surgery as
close to home as possible, surrounded by
the doctors that you regularly see and
that they can all communicate with one
another when it is important to do so.
An example of that is when I had to return
to my spine doc about the knee pain the
week before surgery. Since he had already
talked with my eye doc about the problems
with my eyes and checked with him as to
what he could do to try and prevent any
further problems; when it became apparent
that I needed a trigger point steroid
injection to my knee, it was call the eye
doc first.
Even when I told my spine surgeon what
they eye doc told me about getting the
steroid shot only if necessary. The eyes
we can deal with if we have to, falling
over in pain is not acceptable to deal
with, my spine doc had to hear it from the
eye doc first. So right in front of hubby
and me, he called the eye doc and was told
"shoot her away with the needle and the
steroid and I will see her in 2 weeks to
check the pressure in her eyes."
And now with this surgery, I appreciate
even more the lack of steroid injections
used before he closed me up. The steroid
may have relieved a lot of the pain, but
it also had lots of risks and would make
it far more difficult to deal with the
limits of doing things in the first few
weeks to be totally pain free. i already
had that and it drove me nuts the first
time.
Don't get me wrong, I would enjoy no pain,
but pain is the body's message to you that
something is not right and it needs to be
investigated, unless you already know why
the pain is there. In post op, it's
telling you that you need to slow down and
rest, take it easy and don't do things you
aren't supposed to do. It's the best
reminder and body healer you can get post
op.
It's just unfortunate right now that it
isn't going to slow down as quickly as I
would like it too. But that too will
pass.
Fran
|
littleonefb
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 11 Aug 2007 Posts: 228 Location: ,
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Re: All Day June 27 Posted: 07-04-08 23:07pm
Marie B.
wrote:
Fran, I thought about you
all day on June 27.
I am glad to see that you are doing well.
Glad that the decompression of the disc
ended up being AOK and the flattened
nerves hopefully will return conpletely to
their original state causing you no more
pain.
I would love to meet your doctor. He is
really very good at providing you
information on your condition. If I
lived near his clinic, that is definitely
where I would be going for treatment.
Stay well.
Marie B.
Marie for thinking about
me on my "D day" My doc isn't planning on
going anywhere anytime soon. Trust me,
he's too young to do that and as he says,
"I will retire with the scalpel in my hand
at a ripe old age. I have 3 young kids to
get though college and by the time they
get there, no one may be able to afford to
go."
One thing he loves to do is provide all
the information that he can to his
patients. The more they know and
understand the better informed they are
and better able to make an educated
decision on what is right for them and
what isn't.
One thing that does anger him though is
the amount of incorrect information there
is on the net about spinal surgeries and
he gets far too many patients coming in
that think they are headed for disaster
with massive surgery and there are far to
many doctors that are out there ready to
do a fusion for every single spinal
problem going, when all they need is a
simple laminotomy and lateral recess
shaving or 8 weeks of PT to strengthen the
cores and they are fine.
He is a lover of surgery and using his
surgical skills to help a patient, but
only if that is the best course for his
patient. Unless the patient is going to
die without his surgical skills, they
won't see him in the OR without the
conservative approach first, and all the
tests he needs to be sure that he is doing
the correct surgery.
But, when you meet up with him in the OR
you can't have better or a better skilled
surgeon.
Will e-mail you this week.
Fran
|
RichT
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 22 Jul 2007 Posts: 910
Thanks: 21
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Posted: 07-05-08 06:44am
Good Morning Fran,
Nice to see your post. I hope your
recovery is going well from your surgery.
Fran, your above post makes me about ready
to get on a plane and fly to Boston to
seek the advice of your spinal surgeon.
HE is the kind of spinal surgeon that I
have been looking for!!!! After six or
seven spinal doctors here, I honestly have
not been to one who really took the time
to explain things to me. Even the good
doctor he suggested I see in my area did
not really take the time to explain things
and "feed" me information.
WOW, you are most fortunate to have the
doctor you do. HE is a keeper!!!!
Wish you a good day!
RichT
|
Marie B.
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Aug 2007 Posts: 231 Location: Ohio
True Words. Posted: 07-05-08 09:18am
True, True, True, Fran, your words spoken
which I have copied below I believe are
truer words have never been spoken.
"Thing is he's right about the pain. With
the last surgery it was a constant
reminder that i couldn't do things because
I had no pain. It was everyone around me
going, don't you dare stoop down, don't
even think about doing that, sit down
before I put you in that chair myself."
When I had no pain, I would forget my back
and fall back into my hyper, never ending
activie lifestyle. I always had to be
reminded to STOP!
In May when the weather here got warmer
and the sun came out to stay for a day, I
began to walk longer and more frequently.
No one told me that with Fusion of the L4
& L5 muscle spasms could develop. May
was 6 months post op for me. Who would
have thought!. What started suckers
spasms in the back after getting up from a
sitting position turned into a selection
of discarding certain chairs and going
back on my Tylenol Xtra Strength pills .
They did nothing and I became convinced
that something had happened to my Fusion
and I was going into big problems. I
called my doctor and was told that I could
take anti-inflammatory OTC now.
I was avoiding that because those were the
orders post op. I just didn't know how
Post Op to take that order.
Well I began dosing my self with two Advil
3 times daily. No help and at night I
would be wakened by a lot of aching and
spasm upon turning.
I put Advil and Tylenol X-tra Strength
together taking 600 mg of Advil and within
an hour taking the Tylenol. I did that 3
times a day. It took me the rest of June
and the first week of July, adjusting
meds, and adding warm moist heat and cold
to the back. I am finally slowly reducing
the meds. b ut very carefully.
My PMC physician really yelled at me for
overdoing.
I never had a muscle spasm in the back
before and now that I have had them and
post op to boot, I never want to have them
again.
So remember, even if you don't have
cutting of the muscles during surgery just
the stripping of them away from the bone
takes them a long time to recover and
obviously for older people even longer.
So I am now walking not so long and not
every day.
Hope this helps people who are struggling
with post op surgery.
Fran, take your time in regard to those
core muscles. They talk back to you for a
long time.
Marie B.
|
RichT
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 22 Jul 2007 Posts: 910
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Posted: 07-05-08 09:29am
Hello Marie,
EXCELLENT words of advice for all us
spineys, even those who have not had
surgery. Exercise is important, and even
more important is not overdoing it. Of
listening to your body. Easier said than
done I well know.
RichT
|
RichT
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 22 Jul 2007 Posts: 910
Thanks: 21
Thanked:0
Posted: 07-05-08 09:32am
Hello Fran,
Super words of wisdom from Marie. I know
you are a GO GO lady, just try to be
patient and let your body heal in its own
time, not your time.
AND, thanks again for your advice. I will
have a good chat with my PM doc when it
comes time for another epidural.
Take care.
RichT
|
littleonefb
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 11 Aug 2007 Posts: 228 Location: ,
Thanks: 6
Thanked:0
Posted: 07-05-08 20:55pm
hello again,
Now this is getting to be a bit much. I
go to check on my email this morning and
get greeted with this.
To the Biggest Pain in the @@@ patient I
have ever had in my career but the best
seedling grower in the world.
NO BENDING
NO TWISTING
NO STOOPING
NO TURNING
NO REACHING FORWARD
NO RAISING ARMS OVER YOUR HEAD
NO LIFTING ANYTHING OVER 3 POUNDS
NO WALKING ON THE LAWN, EVEN TO DO THE
WATERING AND NO EXCUSES EITHER CAUSE IT
KEEPS STORMING EVERY DAY AND I'M WATCHING
WHERE THOSE STORMS ARE GOING. YOU'VE BEEN
DUMPED WITH MORE THAN ENOUGH RAIN TO LAST
MORE THAN A WEEK.
NO WALKING DOWN THAT EVIL SLOPING
DRIVEWAY
NO TRAVELING IN THE CAR TILL YOUR APPT ON
MONDAY AFTERNOON AND THAT INCLUDES NO
SNEAK TRIPS TO THE GARDEN SUPPLY PLACE OR
THE 50-70% OFF PLANT SALES.
GET LOTS OF REST BUT NOT TOO MUCH REST,
MOVE GINGERLY AROUND AND WEAR YOUR DAMN
SHOES AT ALL TIMES, NO BAREFOOT.
TAKE THAT FULL DOSE ASPIRIN ONCE A DAY TO
BE SAFE WITH BLOOD CLOTS AND DON'T CALL
ME IN THE MORNING.
OH YES, HAVE A PLEASANT RECOOPERATIVE
WEEKEND, TRY AND BEHAVE AND I WILL SEE YOU
MONDAY AFTERNOON.
YOUR FRIENDLY SPINAL SURGEON AT YOUR
SERVICE.
Now the message was in print size of 1/2
inch letters. Yup, i got the message loud
and clear. My spinal surgeon knows me
too well, and he's not going to trust me
either and let up on me.
I keep telling people not to worry, I will
behave, believe me I will. It still hurts
to much not to.
Just wonder if he has any good ideas about
keep those nasty mosquitos from biting me
when I do go outside to walk where I'm
supposed to.
Fran
|
littleonefb
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 11 Aug 2007 Posts: 228 Location: ,
Thanks: 6
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Posted: 07-05-08 21:12pm
Now if that wasn't bad enough, hubby
needed to get some groceries for us and he
was gong to drive our neighbor across the
street to the market with him. But, he's
not going to leave me here alone. Not so
much that he doesn't trust me to behave
because I wouldn't try and go out the door
alone, but he was going to be overly
protective while he was gone for no more
than hour.
So, he had a plan. He waited for my son's
best friend to call to check on me before
he went home from work. New hubby was
acting kind of weird this afternoon, but
never thought it was because of his plan.
He gets a babysitter for me. a yup, he got son's
best friend the police officer to stay
with me. I'm sitting at the table reading
the newspaper and in come "the kid", the
one that grew up in my house, thinks of me
as another mother, calls me Ma. There he
is in all his glory, full uniform and
fully equipped to no less, minus his
service revolver because he never brings
that home with him He strongly believes
that there should be no guns in any
homes.
So to replace the gun, he has his prized
baseball bat, the metal one that hubby and
I gave him for his birthday when he was 10
years old.
I was like OMG, you have to be kidding me
and the "kid" says "no we aren't kidding,
we know you all to well. you will sit
here for another 10 minutes, then you will
get up and walk around the house for 10
minutes, then you will sit for 30 minutes
and start walking again."
I was so startled that i just burst out
laughing and he says to me, "excuse me
please a little bit of here. See the
uniform, see badge, see the handcuffs, see
the billy club, see the baseball bat. You
don't want me to have to use them do you?
and Ma, don't think I wouldn't. and don't
try any of that 'this is my house crap
either', you are in my prison now and it's
my orders, my rules and it's for your own
good."
All I could say is "do i really have this
kind of reputation" and I was told "Yes,
you and mom always put everyone else first
and forget yourselves and it's gotten you
into too much trouble before. Not this
time, no way, no how."
All i could do was
roll the eyes and behave, because I knew
this "kid" really meant business. There
was no way getting around his orders.
This is a 6'2" police officer, army
reserve bet with a 19 month tour in Iraq,
a medic and military police officer as
well, and none to afraid to take what ever
drastic measures needed to keep me in
line.
I behaved, did as I was told and was
promised that when I get released from
"full medical prison" there will be a
party in my honor to celebrate.
Fran
|
littleonefb
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 11 Aug 2007 Posts: 228 Location: ,
Thanks: 6
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Re: True Words. Posted: 07-05-08 21:30pm
Marie B.
wrote:
True, True, True, Fran, your
words spoken which I have copied below I
believe are truer words have never been
spoken.
"Thing is he's right about the pain. With
the last surgery it was a constant
reminder that i couldn't do things because
I had no pain. It was everyone around me
going, don't you dare stoop down, don't
even think about doing that, sit down
before I put you in that chair myself."
When I had no pain, I would forget my back
and fall back into my hyper, never ending
activie lifestyle. I always had to be
reminded to STOP!
In May when the weather here got warmer
and the sun came out to stay for a day, I
began to walk longer and more frequently.
No one told me that with Fusion of the L4
& L5 muscle spasms could develop. May
was 6 months post op for me. Who would
have thought!. What started suckers
spasms in the back after getting up from a
sitting position turned into a selection
of discarding certain chairs and going
back on my Tylenol Xtra Strength pills .
They did nothing and I became convinced
that something had happened to my Fusion
and I was going into big problems. I
called my doctor and was told that I could
take anti-inflammatory OTC now.
I was avoiding that because those were the
orders post op. I just didn't know how
Post Op to take that order.
Well I began dosing my self with two Advil
3 times daily. No help and at night I
would be wakened by a lot of aching and
spasm upon turning.
I put Advil and Tylenol X-tra Strength
together taking 600 mg of Advil and within
an hour taking the Tylenol. I did that 3
times a day. It took me the rest of June
and the first week of July, adjusting
meds, and adding warm moist heat and cold
to the back. I am finally slowly reducing
the meds. b ut very carefully.
My PMC physician really yelled at me for
overdoing.
I never had a muscle spasm in the back
before and now that I have had them and
post op to boot, I never want to have them
again.
So remember, even if you don't have
cutting of the muscles during surgery just
the stripping of them away from the bone
takes them a long time to recover and
obviously for older people even longer.
So I am now walking not so long and not
every day.
Hope this helps people who are struggling
with post op surgery.
Fran, take your time in regard to those
core muscles. They talk back to you for a
long time.
Marie B.
Marie,
I'm so sorry to see that you have been
going through muscle spasms 6 month post
op. That spine is never going to stop
talking to us and I am really convinced
that it's sole purpose in it's life is to
make us miserable if we don't take care of
it. There is one huge on our backs and it
isn't going anywhere any time soon,
certainly not in this life time.
The life of a spiney of any kind, with or
without surgery is exercise those cores on
a daily basis. All the repetitive
exercise that we may or may not do in a
day is no substitute for the core
strengthening that is part of our daily
lives now.
When we ignore doing those cores, life is
hell with the back and we will pay for it
for some time to come.
That's part of the problem that I have now
in recovery. My cores where doing well
till this accident happened and then
things slowly fell apart. After the nerve
block kicked in I was backwards for about
3 weeks and built up again and all was
fine, till it finally started to wear off.
That took it's toll and the cores started
to weaken as the block wore off more and
more. Then, because I really wasn't
walking correctly I started pulling one
muscle after the other till it got both
feet, the right achilles and the quads and
the tendon to the patella on my right leg.
Now everything is a mess and it's worse
than back to square one to get things
strengthened out again. Time and hard
work will do it though.
I wish you could get into a good PT
facility and get those core exercises
going for you. I know you can get them on
line, but it is not a good idea to really
do that. It's simple to try and copy
them, but even easier to be doing them
incorrectly and not know you are. Then
you create more and more trouble for
yourself. having someone trained in PT to
show them to you and be sure you are doing
them correctly is very important. Once
they are sure of that and even simple
things like you are walking correctly,
your gait isn't off etc. is so important.
We may think we are walking correctly,
but many times we aren't.
I love going where I do. I'm looking
forward to it, not because it is the next
step in rehab and is need, but because it
is such a good facility and they make it
fun and enjoyable to be there.
Now that's not to say they don't drive you
like a slave horse, push you when they
need to, back off when needed, but because
they do it in a way that makes it all
pleasant and you are part of a team
getting yourself well.
Once the full regimen PT is over I still
go at least twice a week for another 6-8
weeks on what is called the independent
program. I pay $3 each time and I come in
and use the same equipment that I was
using during the formal PT, but use them
myself. keep doing all the exercises with
their equipment. They keep an eye on you
just to be sure you aren't doing something
wrong with the exercises, but they really
no longer have any hands on with you.
After about 6-8 weeks i cut back to once a
week and in between do the home exercise
program every day at home.
In the winter I try and go 3 times a week,
but always go at least twice a week. It's
so hard to get really moving in the winter
when the air is freezing cold, there is
snow and ice on the ground and you are
afraid of falling and creating further
havoc to yourself.
What I do know, from personal experience,
not doing the core exercises and keeping
those cores good and strong, brings on
pain all over the place and then it can
take many weeks to calm it down again.
Hope you can find something to get started
with and maybe prevent this from happening
again to you.
Fran
|
Marie B.
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Aug 2007 Posts: 231 Location: Ohio
Physical Therapy Posted: 07-06-08 10:19am
Fran, Maybe I didn't say this in past
posts.
My surgeon would not permit PT. It is
printed in big letters on the discharge
instruction sheet. NO PHYSICASL THERAPY.
His reasons were that he had more Fusion
patients coming back to him with problems
because of some exercise a PT person had
been giving them. He mentioned one on
stretching the legs with a weight on the
foot. He had become disgusted with some
of those exercises for Fusion patients.
At least you have everything in one place.
Most surgeons here write out an Rx but
you are at the mercy of the place you go
to for the PT.
I have waited this long period of time and
plan to call his nurse and ask him if I
can start at this point in time. I will
wait and see what the answer is.
Marie B.
|
littleonefb
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 11 Aug 2007 Posts: 228 Location: ,
Thanks: 6
Thanked:0
Re: Physical Therapy Posted: 07-06-08 15:01pm
Marie B.
wrote:
Fran, Maybe I didn't say
this in past posts.
My surgeon would not permit PT. It is
printed in big letters on the discharge
instruction sheet. NO PHYSICASL THERAPY.
His reasons were that he had more Fusion
patients coming back to him with problems
because of some exercise a PT person had
been giving them. He mentioned one on
stretching the legs with a weight on the
foot. He had become disgusted with some
of those exercises for Fusion patients.
At least you have everything in one place.
Most surgeons here write out an Rx but
you are at the mercy of the place you go
to for the PT.
I have waited this long period of time and
plan to call his nurse and ask him if I
can start at this point in time. I will
wait and see what the answer is.
Marie B.
Marie,
I do remember something about your doc and
no PT, I didn't realize he might mean it
forever though.
That is really surprising to me as the
usual course of post op, even with fusion
patients with or without hardware is to
have some PT after a certain point in
their recovery, but not wait 6 months.
Not only that, the doctor has to write the
order for PT which usually says something
like the diagnosis, surgery if done and
then it will say evaluate and treat. The
doctor can also include or exclude certain
exercises or types of exercises he wants
done with the patient as well.
When I was going for OT for my arms, the
doctor has very specific things he wanted
done at the beginning and specified them
on the OT order form as well as stating
these and only these.
As for where I go for PT for my spine, or
any other part of my body, it is not at my
doctors offices. Though they do have PT
and OT there in the building, it is a
separate facility from the Doctors offices
and they are renting space to what they
consider a well qualified but chain
physical therapy facility.
That is the same with the MRI facility in
the building. The surgical center on the
first floor is a licensed out patient
surgical center, and most of their minor
type surgeries and spinal injections are
done there, but nothing with the spine
other than injections.
Where I go for PT and OT if I ever need it
again, is about a mile down the street
from me. It is New England Rehabilitation
Hospital outpatient clinic a FiveStar
Quality Care. It was was just New
England Rehab, a big rehab hospital
facility in the state with outpatient
facilities located in various cities and
towns. It was bought out quite a few
years ago by Health South, who in turn
with all the disasters and problems they
have had the past few years sold many of
their facilities to FiveStar Quality Care
and only held on the Health South name
with facilities down south.
None of the patients have seen a change in
staff or quality of care, though the pay
and benefits for employees have improved
from what I've read in the paper.
I would talk with your spine doc and see
if you can get some PT now, even if he
wants to write the order with
restrictions, cause it really does sound
like some of your cores are still very
weak and need some good exercises to
strengthen them.
Fran
|
Marie B.
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 28 Aug 2007 Posts: 231 Location: Ohio
Made a Note Posted: 07-06-08 18:58pm
I have all you have written down on paper
so that when I talk to my Dr.'s nurse she
can put it to him and get back to me.
Oh, and you remember telling us about not
being able to put your belt on around your
waist until a year had past? Every time I
put my elastic waisted slacks on, I think
about you. I am also dieting. I can't
stand wearing these flappy pants just to
keep the elastic from aggravating the back
and his muscles. I'm dieting so my waste
will be smaller. I actually believe with
the Fusion that I've had a least an inch
added to the circumference of my waist.
Well, it feels like that much.
Plus my PCP is insisting the numbers on
the scale going down and he checks me
regularly. When you are not a tall person
and you are up there in years, the lbs. do
not disappear easily. I don't know what
bread, potatoes, or pasta tastes like
anymore. And my PCP won't belive me when
I say it is all of the new growing bone on
my vertebrae that is the problem.
Rich, men like you and Joe Bob will never
have to face these kinds of problems.
And do you remember my telling you about
the 72 year old man who had Fusion with
all of the metal sweeping his floors so
soon post op. The poor guy has now
learned he has to have a hip replacement.
Arthritis does a real job on the joints
of the body. I never knew I had
Arthritis. But it found its place in me
on L4, NO other place but on L4. Just my
luck.
More to say, but at another time.
Marie B.
|
RichT
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 22 Jul 2007 Posts: 910
Thanks: 21
Thanked:0
Posted: 07-07-08 13:50pm
Hello Everyone,
Well, my computer went down this morning.
I'll be out for at least a week. I
already feel like I'm on a slow boat to
nowhere. LOL
Hope all goes well for everyone.
Take care.
RichT
|
RichT
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 22 Jul 2007 Posts: 910
Thanks: 21
Thanked:0
Posted: 07-11-08 18:16pm
Hello Ratter,
Welcome to the forum and to this thread.
THANK YOU very much for sharing your
experiences with your back surgery at LSI
two years ago and especially your current
situation.
I'm very happy for you that your pain has
not returned. This may be due in part to
the abaltion (severing of the pain nerves)
that you had at LSI.
Okay Ratter, PLEASE do see your doctor and
especially one who speciallizes in back
pain. That numbness and cramping of your
hand/fingers to this spiney is not
something to be ignored. You really need
to get PROFESSIONAL medical diagnosis and
guidance. Don't play the macho bit, it
will only come back to BITE you.
Do let us know how things go for you.
RichT
P.S. to everyone - Thank goodness for
McAfee my computer is up and running
again.
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littleonefb
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 11 Aug 2007 Posts: 228 Location: ,
Thanks: 6
Thanked:0
Rather Posted: 07-11-08 21:11pm
Rich is suggesting that you seek medical
care for the problems you are still
dealing with because you are a spinal
patient and had surgery 2 years ago.
Since that time some of your issues have
be resolved and other haven't and you now
say you have new symptoms of cramping and
pain in your hands and fingers, along with
remaining numbness and in parts of your
hand/finger and are also saying that your
arm does not have the strength that it
used to have.
Those can all be significant symptoms of
problems with your cervical spine that
have newly developed or where not all
addressed with your original surgery, 2
years ago.
They can be symptoms of permanent nerve
damage, arthritis amongst other things as
well.
You make no mention of any continued
follow up care post op after your surgery,
which is something I firmly believe in and
should be done for quite some time.
Assuming that you had no follow-up care
post op with a spine surgeon and even if
you have, with these continued and newly
developed problems, it would be in your
best interest to see a spinal surgeon to
see if any of these symptoms are related
to your cervical spine issues.
A new MRI would be most important as well,
to be able to determine these things.
The cervical spine can create problems and
symptoms anywhere in the body from your
neck and arms, down to your fingers and as
well as in your legs and feet.
It is also possible to have the same
problems that you had surgery for 2 years
ago to re-develop and it is possible that
you have some problems with the discs in
the cervical area.
It is very important to find out what is
causing the symptoms that you are having,
if it is from your spine, then ignoring
the problem will only allow the symptoms
and the problem to worsen and could result
in permanent damage to your body, that if
treated could be prevented.
It is also quite possible that your
continued work, when you where advised by
your doctors to not return to doing, has
caused further problems to your spine.
I would highly recommend that you seek
medical attention from a spinal surgeon
ASAP
Fran
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littleonefb
Experienced User , Rather EHEALTHy
Joined: 11 Aug 2007 Posts: 228 Location: ,
Thanks: 6
Thanked:0
Post op Update Posted: 07-11-08 21:50pm
Hello All,
With a totally clear head now, no brain
fog of any kind, I can post that, yes, I
still hurt quite a bit, but have some
clearer understanding now of why this
surgery will be far longer to recover
from.
First let me say that I had my 10 day post
op visit on July 7th. That's right, 10
day post op. My surgeon and his
associates see everyone 10 days post op,
then a week later, before deciding from
there how frequently, post op visits are
needed. But you will be seen at least
every 6 weeks post op for 1 year and have
the first 4-6 visits as part of the
surgery fee and there is no co-pay
charged.
OK, to the 10 day post op visit.
He was quite pleased with the incision
healing. to quote him "the 1 inch
incision looked more like it was 4 weeks
post op in healing, not just 10 days."
He removed the infamous 1 stitch,
recovered with a 2x2 pad and a tegaderm
covering and wants it on till he sees me
on July 14th. I can shower and then the
bandage needs to be changed to be safe
that it isn't wet.
That means having my neighbor do that, as
hubby will land on the floor when he
passes out doing it. Not going to deal
with that again, once was enough, so
neighbor, the retired nurse, has gone back
to work this past week to help up.
Then we discussed this pain that I have in
every muscle of my body from the waist
down and that it is really bad, keeping
far more on my butt, than off it and I can
feel that every single one of those
muscles and tendons are wildly inflamed
and I need something to be able to deal
with it to get my butt off the chair and
moving some.
He agreed with me stopping the percocet
because of how it affected me and getting
bound up to the point of destended abdomen
is bad news. e-tra strength tylenol is
not going to help, which I told him "yup,
already know that one, please help."
No muscle relaxers cause that would be
even worse than the narcs, so he has me
taking 600mg of ibuprofen every 12 hours
and it has helped a great deal, but I
still do hurt far more than I would like.
Then he explained why this surgery was far
more painful than the last one and he
reminded me that he did say it was double
the surgery and would be double the post
op. I then told him that it would be far
better if he explained all of that in
greater detail before hand.
Surprisingly, he told me that experience
has taught him to be careful how much info
he gives a patient because when they hear
too much, they back out of the surgery
that is really needed. He did apologize
for not telling me, because I wouldn't
have backed out of surgery no matter how
much post op pain I would have.
So now the details of surgery and what was
done.
bilateral laminotomy
bilateral partial facetectomy
widening of the lateral recess
central foraminol widening
decompression
There still is half a vertebrae left with
full stability as well.
Now the reason for all the muscular pain
is mass inflammation from the surgery,
even though the incision is only 1 inch.
He explained that it isn't do to the
stretching and pulling of any muscle when
the incision was made but rather the
removal of muscles, tendon, ligament that
is attached to the vertebrae that needs to
be moved and then re-attached afterwards
to do the surgery.
I have not only angry and furious nerves
at the moment that are starting to heal
and regenerate, but I also have the
angriest and inflamed muscles known to man
and they are just as slow to heal as the
nerves can be.
On top of that I have very weak cores that
are complicating the whole situation.
Since my cores got so weak from the
problems on the left side this time, and
then not walking right caused a problem
with the feet and the achilles tenon on
the right leg, I wasn't able to walk well
at all over the last 8 weeks. Added to
that I have a weak tendon, ligament on the
right patella that allowed the patella on
the right knee to move a bit out of place
and now there is the keeping that back
straight for a couple of weeks.
I'm not siting down or getting up from a
sitting position properly and pulling the
muscles even more.
So after having everything formally and
clearly explained, which I really
appreciated, my only interest was in doing
something to ease the pain so that I can
move around without feeling like i'm going
to collapse and not having to have someone
around me when i move.
That's where the ibuprofen comes in to
help. He would have preferred to give me
the naproxin, ie alieve, but " I like
having you around and that would not be
good, it will kill you with your allergy,
and I don't prescribe celebrex either to
anyone, but least of all you. That one
would kill you too because of the sulfa in
it and you are anaphalactic to sulfa. So
all we have left is the ibuprofen."
So it's back to the doc on Monday for post
op check number 2, with some more
questions, and telling him that the
ibuprofen has helped quite a bit, but
still in pain, more pain than I had
expected at this point.
One thought I have though, is if he will
release me to just do a normal bending
movement when I go to sit down and get up
again, that would ease some pulling on the
muscles and maybe ease some of the
inflammation. That's what I think, but
will see what the doc says and go from
there.
Will post again after the appt, and yes, i
am still being well behaved. doing all
that the doc has told me to do, I honestly
haven't done a thing that I wasn't
supposed to do, Believe me, it hurts to
much to not behave.
Fran
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RichT
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 22 Jul 2007 Posts: 910
Thanks: 21
Thanked:0
Posted: 07-12-08 15:02pm
Hello Ratter,
You have received EXCELLENT thoughts,
words of advice and wisdom from Fran.
Listen and "hear" what she is saying.
YES you need advice from a spinal surgeon
ASAP!!!!! DON'T DELAY!!!
Rich for the good
wishes. I am behaving and time, lots of
time to heal. This one will take lots of
time to heal.
hello again,
yup, he got son's
best friend the police officer to stay
with me. I'm sitting at the table reading
the newspaper and in come "the kid", the
one that grew up in my house, thinks of me
as another mother, calls me Ma. There he
is in all his glory, full uniform and
fully equipped to no less, minus his
service revolver because he never brings
that home with him He strongly believes
that there should be no guns in any
homes.
here. See the
uniform, see badge, see the handcuffs, see
the billy club, see the baseball bat. You
don't want me to have to use them do you?
and Ma, don't think I wouldn't. and don't
try any of that 'this is my house crap
either', you are in my prison now and it's
my orders, my rules and it's for your own
good."
roll the eyes and behave, because I knew
this "kid" really meant business. There
was no way getting around his orders.
This is a 6'2" police officer, army
reserve bet with a 19 month tour in Iraq,
a medic and military police officer as
well, and none to afraid to take what ever
drastic measures needed to keep me in
line.
on our backs and it
isn't going anywhere any time soon,
certainly not in this life time.
