4 week update

[jsully]

Hi everyone. I have been doing really well. Will be 4 weeks out Friday. I am doing all of my families laundry (other than hauling the basket), all the dishes, getting the kids ready for day camp, and walking 1/2 twice a day, AM and PM. Feel like I am in boot camp, pushing myself in a way to get back to work in 8 weeks, (12 hour days). Not sure if that will happen but I sure hope I will feel a lot better soon. Still not driving. Think I will wait for my 6 week post op appt. I only took 3 pills today, will take one more before bed tonight. Hope everyone else is doing well.
Janet

[golfnut]

Janet,
Thanks for letting us know how you are doing. It sounds like you are doing really well for so soon after surgery. Fantastic!

[Back-out]

Hi everyone. I have been doing really well. Will be 4 weeks out Friday. I am doing all of my families laundry (other than hauling the basket), all the dishes, getting the kids ready for day camp, and walking 1/2 twice a day, AM and PM. Feel like I am in boot camp, pushing myself in a way to get back to work in 8 weeks, (12 hour days). Not sure if that will happen but I sure hope I will feel a lot better soon. Still not driving. Think I will wait for my 6 week post op appt. I only took 3 pills today, will take one more before bed tonight. Hope everyone else is doing well.
Janet

Sounds fabulous, Janet. I appreciate your specifying that you don't carry the full laundry basket. That's the kind of detail that helps me picture things. Otherwise, I'd assume that wasn't a problem (and that you and I live in different universes, spinally). Now, I can imagine doing what you're doing (with effort, of course). It's that basket that does me in. OTOH breaking tasks into smaller pieces I CAN identify with, and it gives me the resolve to attempt it. (Hoping this makes sense!)

[Back-out]

Request for specifics in referencing opiate use

I only took 3 pills today, will take one more before bed tonight. Hope everyone else is doing well.
Janet

Please bear with me as I ask you and others (not for the first time on this forum) to let us know WHAT pills are being referenced. And not just the name but the dosage!

Those of us struggling with opiate use benefit from comparing our use with that of others' (successful and not), to wean. Those who have been using narcotic pain medication for a long time, think in terms of the active ingredients which differ radically according to the dosage (it can be very different, even with the same brand name).

E.g., hydrocodone can come in many different formulations (different brand names) and even - as in my long-time use - be specially compounded for us by pharmacists in dosages different from those commercially available!

To be specific here, what pills are you taking now - and if, say, oxycontin, what is the dose (10, 20, 40 mg. etc.) and what is the time release formula? Short acting (four hrs) is very different from long acting (12 hours)! I think of myself as taking almost nothing now - 10 mg Norco 10/325 APAP) and a smidgen of long-acting oxycodone (a formulation not even made anymore, after a patent dispute). Others may thinks that's a LOT (That's not including NSAIDs).

I congratulate people according to what they are achieving in their own terms, but most of the time with meds, I don't really know what they're taking because so many, like you, speak of being "down to X # pills".

It would really help give me a reference point, if I knew what active ingredients and dosages others are taking. Then when I have surgery (looking increasingly unavoidable), I'll know what others were doing at various points in their recovery - also what their surgeon uses (even though I know all is extremely variable).

I'm almost as concerned as the opiates as about the surgery itself - that is, about going on and off opiates again in the doses surgical rehab seems to require. That's because of my history and ease of becoming dependent. I fell a lot going off last time (a year ago) - an absolute no-no the next time around. This is one reason I like to know the specifics of what others are managing in meds. For me, anxiety reduction is critical in preparing, and for that, nothing substitutes for knowledge. Again, that said - I realize there is great variability

Thanks!

[JenM]

Hi Janet-

I had my surgery June 8 which was the same week you had yours. I was just wondering when you say you are doing your family's laundry, are you using the grabber to do it? I have the new front end loaders without the "stands" that they sit on so you'd need to bend really low to get the laundry out of the washer and put it into the dryer. Right now I haven't been doing it on my own because I was told no bending. Just wondering how you are doing it? Also, how do you do dishes and put them into the dishwasher? That entails alot of bending so again I'm just wondering how you are able to do that? You sound like you are doing great! You also say you are only taking 3 pills...just wondering what you are taking.

I was doing well up until 2 weeks ago when something happened to my neck. My chin is now basically sitting on my chest and I can barely move it. My neck is so painful. Never thought i would have issues with anything else besides my back after surgery! I am seeing my surgeron tomorrow moring about this. I'm thinking he may give me a neck brace or start signing me up for out-patient physical therapy. Have you started that yet?

So glad you are doing so great! Please keep us posted on your status!!!

JenM

[jsully]

I have a top load washer and a front load dryer so when they are done drying I scoot them into the basket. I also load and unload the dishwasher by bending. I don't know I thought bending was limited not forbidden (never use my graber, don't know why). I walk the long walks outside with my walker. I take 1 Oxycontin 10mg in the AM and 1 in PM Long acting. Then 1 Percocet 5/325mg every 4-6 for breakthrough pain. I take no NSAIDS. Hope that helps. Today is the 1st day doing 2 walks but I must increase my endurance so I can work. It was painful after. I should have taken a pain pill before going instead of after I suppose. Also stopped using raised toilet seat and took a shower for the 1st time today w/o a chair. I actually think it was easier, but I didn't shave. Oh, also no PT, just done some exercises shone at hospital, walking and went swimming twice this week, (Need the rain to go away more) I hope this helps you all! P.S. I have not driven yet, but really want to.
Janet

[mbeckoff]

I am 8 weeks out. My Surgery was May 8th and you are doing much better than I am. I was most definitely told no BLT-no bending-no lifting-no twisting.
My surgeon only wants me to walk . He does not want me to do any PT.I was doing great at my 1 month check up on June 9th.Then about 2 2 1/2 weeks ago I started being in a lot of pain on my left side. Today, when I went in to see him , he said that he feels that it is a disc in my neck and gave me steroids.If they do not help, he wants me to have a MRI to see what is going on in my neck . I can do wash because I have front loaders . I love them.I cannot do the D/W however because I get the bottom loaded without dropping the dishes into the D/W

Melissa

[jsully]

Wow, maybe I am doing more bending then I should.
My DR just never stressed it and I have no problem doing it.
Janet

[jrnyc]

hi Melissa
wasnt your fusion LOWER than Janet's...? hers was to L5 if i recall, and yours is to S1 if i recall...don't you think that makes a difference..?!!!

if i do have surgery...to pelvis...i dont expect to compare myself to anyone unless they have the same levels fused...all the way down!
otherwise, i think i'd be setting myself up for disappointment...i do know that surgeons say not to compare oneself to anyone else's healing..cause we all heal differently...

hope you heal more each day!
jess

[TexEx]

I am only fused to L5 and was told that there is a big difference in mobility between that all the way to scacrum. That is why my surgeon wanted to preserve my lower disc, even with the risk of later having to go back an do them. He felt that I did not have enough degeneration at this time to warrent going all the way down.

Jen, don't worry that you are still using your grabber, I am 4 months post op and just stopped using it. Actually, still use it some times to get stuff out of the dry as I am very short and it is hard to reach all the way into it. Another laundry hint is when I don't have anyone to lift the basket for me, is that is push it with my foot to a table or my bedroom and use the grabber to get the clothes out until it is light enough to lift.

Sometimes it is hard to compare to each other do to other issues. Not everyones fusions is the same and everyone has a different build and stature that makes things different for them too.

Melissa
March 31, 2012 Surgery
T9-L5 Fusion

[jsully]

Tex Ex
I also wanted to preserve that lowest disc as long as possible. That is why I can bend without difficulty, although maybe I shouldn't be.
Janet

[mbeckoff]

Sorry you are so right about my fusion being so long.I have an 18 inch scar.In addition, you are more than 15 years younger than me which makes such a difference. When I look back at what I could do in my 30's and what I cannot do now in my 50's there is a world of difference. You are so blessed to have had the surgery when you did.

Have a good day

Melissa

[ADMoul]

Janet, it sounds like you are doing really well in a short time. Everyone is different in how his or her body handles recovery and being younger is definitely an advantage!! I am at 5 months post-op and just put away the elevated toilet seats this week. Just let your body tell you what you can do. Overall, I have had a great recovery, but every so often, I over-do it and am reminded that things are still not normal. As many here have said, it's not always a linear progression. There are still bumps in the road even when you think you're over the big hurdles. Best wishes for a continued rapid recovery!

[golfnut]

Janet,
I haven't had my surgery yet, but was a little concerned when you mentioned that you are bending so soon. I looked in a "Spinal Fusion" handout that I was given at Dr. Lenke's office and it said, "During the first four months, avoid bending or lifting anything weighing more than 10 pounds." I would sure check with your surgeon to make sure that it's okay for you to bend so soon.

[jsully]

I should check with him. However, he also told me I can go back to my nursing profession in 12 weeks, knowing what my job entails. Which is all of the above.
I don't think he is as conservative as most. I will try to be more careful and do more knee bending.