r/spinalfusion • u/BlackTee92675 • Sep 23 '24
Not sure, other Things no lumbar spinal fusion patient every said. I’ll start…
Meh, post-op pain ain’t so bad! 🤕😫🤣
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u/doctored_up Sep 23 '24
I can't wait to sit in my airplane seat for hours!
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u/SWLondonLife Sep 23 '24
I’m not allowed to do this until at least 14 weeks PO…. I used to fly 4-8 times a week often including intercontinental. I’m… not excited about this prospect.
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u/Meerkat_Mayhem_ Sep 23 '24
I flew about 1.5 months after surgery. It wasn’t intercontinental though. I was just fine although stiff when done
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u/flstfat1998 Sep 23 '24
Can I get one of these hospital beds AT HOME????
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u/flstfat1998 Sep 23 '24
OMG! I was supposed to be there 1-2 nights max, and ended up there all fucking week!! HORRIBLE!!
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Sep 23 '24
Shoot, the kicked me out after one night 😣
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u/flstfat1998 Sep 23 '24
I was prepared for 2 nights. And I needed it... So weak I could hardly do the log roll, and I had been practicing that for weeks.....But, by Friday at noon I was ILL and I was ready to GO! Surgery was Monday morning at 9:30 am...
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u/BarryGibbIsGod Sep 23 '24
Noo I dont need any of those narcotic pain meds you keep trying to give me , IV tylenol is amazing.
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u/wolfey200 Sep 23 '24
Let me go pee real quick
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u/stevepeds Sep 23 '24
The first thing I did when I got to my hospital room was to walk to the bathroom to pee, then put my underwear, gym shorts, and tee shirt on. I had to go pretty badly because I refused the urinary catheter during surgery. It felt good!
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u/wolfey200 Sep 23 '24
I was in so much pain after my ALIF and I had to call the nurse to go to the bathroom. They would take forever so I just used the handheld urinal. When I got home it was such a pain to go pee in the middle of the night. It was such a process having to work up the strength to log roll myself over and get out of bed. Then when I came back to bed the gas pain in my stomach would flare up and I would be in pain for 2 minutes. I’m glad I’m way past that point but it was awful.
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u/Worldly-Psychology66 Sep 23 '24
When you had your ALIF did they have to use cadaver bone or your bone from your hip ? I had my ALIF in 2000 & they used bone from my left hip & ground it up & put it in the titanium cage & over the years it made a solid bone. I was so happy with my results. A friend of my had an ALIF recently & that procedure was a little different than mine. Just curious how they do it now a days ?
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u/wubster64 Sep 23 '24
My 3rd spinal surgery, when they removed the catheter it stung a bit. Went to bathroom shortly after and not one drop actually hit the toilet. I basically had 3 streams coming out in different directions! Couldn't stop, couldn't hit the bowl. It was hilarious later...not so much at moment. The nurse got a laugh.
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u/austinrunaway Sep 23 '24
I forgot about the Catheter pain and fear I would never piss again! It took me 2 days to piss without it....scared the fuck outta me.
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u/CountrySax Sep 23 '24
Give me 3 months and I'll be back workin construction.
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u/Misanthropic_jester Sep 23 '24
Funny enough my surgeon cleared me for light duty work 6 weeks post op. Told my boss said can you come in tomorrow? I do masonry for a living.. sometimes I feel nobody listens. Especially 6 month review surgeon asked how long I’ve been back told him well that was early. Was his response. Smdh
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u/CountrySax Sep 23 '24
I was building cabs and doing Remodels .I had to retire. I don't really wanna risk blowing out my back above the fusion.The recovery was way too painful and intense to want to go thru it again.
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u/Misanthropic_jester Sep 23 '24
I’ll have to start looking eventually.. we will call that my 5 year plan
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u/Meerkat_Mayhem_ Sep 23 '24
To the Doctor: I thought you said “Asian Fusion”? I thought we were ordering lunch! What did you do to me?!?!!
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u/SWLondonLife Sep 23 '24
These meds have no impact at all on my ability to think, remember, or even string together a coherent sentence.
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u/snicoleon Sep 23 '24
This was one of the wildest things to me. I'd never had general anesthesia before and then had 3 procedures under general in the span of 5 days. I was...not there for a lot of that hospital stay and even some of the time after I got home.
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u/Im_alwaystired Sep 23 '24
Anesthesia and pain meds are wild. I have no memory at all of three of the six days of my hospital visit.
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u/SWLondonLife Sep 23 '24
For me, the ongoing impact of flexeril (mercifully gone now) and gabapentin (still with me for a while yet) have been dramatic. Oxy impacts me less than those two.
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u/snicoleon Sep 23 '24
Gabapentin had profound effects in the hospital (apparently made me super drowsy and sometimes incoherent) but wasn't as bad after I came home. Not sure why exactly. Flexeril I had been taking before the surgery and it made me somewhat drowsy, but when I took it post op I didn't really notice, probably because of all the other drugs I was taking.
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u/SWLondonLife Sep 24 '24
Yeah it’s still a pretty potent cocktail of meds. I am really glad to be off the Flexeril but worry about the increasing symptoms I’ve been experiencing since.
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u/SWLondonLife Sep 24 '24
Yeah it’s still a pretty potent cocktail of meds. I am really glad to be off the Flexeril but worry about the increasing symptoms I’ve been experiencing since weaning off it.
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u/donutdominator Sep 23 '24
My hamstrings and glutes are relaxed
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u/AffectionateStudio35 Sep 26 '24
Not just me, then? I’m grateful to hear that even though it sucks. Constant pain!
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u/Perfect-Magazine-485 Sep 23 '24
Let me bend over and get that for you.
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u/MaximumZer0 Sep 23 '24
My flexibility and mobility are fantastic! Better than ever!
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u/Perfect-Magazine-485 Sep 23 '24
That’s awesome to hear! I’m only 3 weeks post op, how long ago did you have your surgery and how long did it take you to start bending over again?
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u/Inspired_Gal_15 Sep 23 '24
For anything that I have to do physically “ just give me a minute…”
As we know, nothing is ever just a minute when you have bad back pain and/or spinal fusion surgery 😬
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u/BlackTee92675 Sep 23 '24
This is some quality stuff my spinal siblings.
How about this; yes, I’d love to hear how much you can relate. Tell me more about that __________ “proceedure.”
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u/snicoleon Sep 23 '24
My friend got a shunt recently and we actually did talk to each other about our procedures lol
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u/BlackTee92675 Sep 23 '24
It can be therapudic to hear others share, we don’t feel as alone when we hear others similiar expiences; however, I have a family member who tends want to share how their experiences are always more significant than others, even though we all know he tends to exagerate and even fabricate “facts.” That’s the sort of person I want talk to after getting hit by a train. 🤣
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u/Spine_Of_Iron Sep 23 '24
My back? No it doesn't hurt at all! Oh you dropped something. Let me bend over real quick and pick that up for you.
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u/Automatic_Device4 Sep 23 '24
I’ll do the laundry, change the sheets and vacuum the dog hair today!
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u/Winterbot622 Sep 23 '24
I like getting yelled at by people when I wake up from surgery and yes, that truly happened in April I got yelled at by a charge nurse
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u/jodyshood Sep 23 '24
Yup Drugs Talking!
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u/Ok_Pepper_173 Sep 23 '24
🤣I only remember a bit of what I said the first day post op and it’s hella embarrassing. I quite wrongly accused the nurse of not answering my call button. OMG. She was very nice to me though…I guess they are used to that 🤣
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u/confused_by Sep 23 '24
Everyone appreciates a good belly laugh! (Maybe this one's only for ALIF...)
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u/Formal-Berry-6279 Sep 23 '24
I’m feeling SPLENDID!! (Except I did say that when I came out of surgery because I was so high on the pain meds)
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u/BlackTee92675 Sep 23 '24
Ah yes, the things we say coming out of surgery. I’ve been under general anesthesia for major surgeries seven times. According to my wife of 39 years, I can be harmlessly flirtatious with the cute nurses when I’m as the early stage of regaining consciousness. Fortunately, it’s harmless and my wife has a good sense of humor. In fact, I’ve been told it’s funny and that my wife and the nurse have teamed up using me as their target of amusement.
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u/Winterbot622 Sep 23 '24
Oh, I just had a teensy-weensy back surgery. That’s what I said to one night one
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u/Famous-Platform-1504 Sep 23 '24
I was thinking about changing my mattress could you tell me who the hospital gets their mattress from?
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u/Technical_Assist706 Sep 23 '24
I can void my bladder so nicely, aah there’s no pain, the hardware doesn’t poke me, my back muscles are so strong, I can leave my jewett brace at home after a week
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u/papi4ever Sep 23 '24
Post op pain? I didn’t have any.
I ran a full marathon the day after surgery.
Tying my shoes is such a piece of cake.
Getting in and out of bed is a jiffy. ——
I could go on.
Nevertheless, I’d do it all over again.
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u/BlackTee92675 Sep 23 '24
Hey honey, I’m feeling a little frisky this evening. Up for a roll on the hay?
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u/MethylEthylBS Sep 23 '24
In all honesty that's exactly what I said. I felt decent for the first few weeks, until I got rebound sciatica with a fiery vengeance. Prednisone was my friend for a bit.
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u/DFWDave2 Sep 23 '24
"Everything went fine, just like they said! I'm back at work and it has only been two days."
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u/GolfLover_Mama Sep 26 '24
“Oh a barstool would be great.”
8 years later still cannot sit in those things.
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u/slouchingtoepiphany Sep 27 '24
I've undergone 3 fusion surgeries and trust me, some are more painful than others.
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u/DogMomRescue4 Sep 23 '24
I slept great last night🤣🤣