Announcement

**BendyBill** · 10-18-2011, 05:09 AM

Hi Kelly,

I haven't been through surgery as yet but I'm pretty sure the fatigue you're feeling is normal. On top of this I think returning to any degree of work at 2 1/2 months post-op would exacerbate that fatigue further. From what you're saying it sounds like your recovery is going very well but I'm sure people will tell you to take it easy.

TAKE IT EASY!

B

**LindaRacine** · 10-18-2011, 10:02 AM

Totally normal. After my first surgeries, it took me a year to get past that feeling of exhaustion. With the surgeries I had in January, I never had the feeling of exhaustion for some reason.

--Linda

**djkinkead** · 10-18-2011, 11:44 AM

Hi Kelly,

I am right there with you, at two months post surgery, I am still taking 3-4 "rests" a day. I am teleworking now about 4-5 hours a day.

Not sure I could do full time two weeks from now, but I also have a long commute (about 1 hour driving), so that would add to the strain.

It might be worthwhile to ask your manager for a "rest" period mid-day for about four to six weeks. Not sure if there is anywhere in your office you could lay down, though.

Anyway, there's lots of us "tired" post-surgery people out there.

Dollie

**titaniumed** · 10-18-2011, 01:05 PM

Kelly

I don�t know how you guys do it. I would not have been able to go to work at 2 1/2 months. I basically slept like a cat for about 2 years, with plenty of naps.....

I miss those days!

Its proof that the body takes a long time to heal.

I wonder if some sort of Oxygen therapy would help??? Sounds like a good idea....

Hang in there
Ed

**Lorz** · 10-18-2011, 05:47 PM

I'm with Ed, how the heck do you guys do it? I am 4 months post-op, and no where near ready to return to work. We are both fused to sacrum, so maybe that is the difference? I feel soooo old!

**djkinkead** · 10-20-2011, 07:18 AM

At two months post surgery, I am teleworking, but decided to drive into my work place (one hour drive in, one hour drive out) to put in four hours (having a performance review and I wanted it face-to-face). Four hours was about all I could handle and am really tired today, the day after.

However, that said, I am going to try to go to work one day a week, maybe for a four to six hour day, just to start getting back into "going" to work. According to my surgeon's note, I should be back at work until around Thanksgiving, but doing the drive and sitting at my desk I am hoping will help me "push" myself into building more stamina.

I am finding that by teleworking alone, I am sitting on my butt too much and not getting up and walking.

My thoughts for today.

**leahdragonfly** · 10-20-2011, 09:59 AM

Originally posted by djkinkead View Post

According to my surgeon's note, I should not be back at work until around Thanksgiving, but doing the drive and sitting at my desk I am hoping will help me "push" myself into building more stamina.

I am one year post-op T-8 to sacrum/pelvis. I have a wonderful job that I love, but it is very active and demanding (I am a nurse in cardiac cath lab). I also had serious financial pressure. I went back to work at 14 weeks post-op, still pretty sore but SO sick of being cooped up at home. Looking back I would say I definitely suffered more for this, and I should have stayed home a few more weeks. I was very sore by the end of the day, and vert tired too. I am sure I was extremely cranky with my family during that time!

I am a little worried about djkinkead's comment above, about "pushing" yourself into building more stamina. Your stamina will return when it is good and ready, and I really think exhaustion is your body's way of saying it needs rest to heal. I would caution you against trying to suck it up so much thinking it will speed your recovery. It will not, I promise. My recovery was definitely set back by at least a month when I returned to work too soon.

Maybe you can find some other way to motivate yourself into doing more walking while at home. Be kind to your body during recovery, and don't push it.

**mabeckoff** · 10-20-2011, 10:51 AM

Originally posted by Lorz View Post

I'm with Ed, how the heck do you guys do it? I am 4 months post-op, and no where near ready to return to work. We are both fused to sacrum, so maybe that is the difference? I feel soooo old!

I am with Lori and Ed.

**Susie*Bee** · 10-20-2011, 04:20 PM

Originally posted by titaniumed View Post

Kelly

I don’t know how you guys do it. I would not have been able to go to work at 2 1/2 months. I basically slept like a cat for about 2 years, with plenty of naps.....

I miss those days!

Its proof that the body takes a long time to heal.

I wonder if some sort of Oxygen therapy would help??? Sounds like a good idea....

Hang in there
Ed

Me too, amigo. I had to take a year off from work. I am amazed at some of these people. I suppose some of it depends on the type of work and if you can slowly ease back into it. When I did go back, I would come home totally wiped out, take a nap, my husband would fix dinner and do the dishes and I would just "veg" out. We did it that way for quite awhile... That was for at least 3-4 months. When I started cooking again, he would still do the dishes. And he did the laundry for 3 years, and still helps out some in many ways with house work. (Yep, I've got a winner.) My job is energy-demanding, pretty much non-stop, with classes coming into the library all day and I'm afraid when I do my story-times I have to do theatrics when I read... and I have lunch and recess duties and 4 bulletin boards to keep up with, etc. I am always behind and have too much to do. Plus there are hundreds of books being circulated every week... A busy, demanding job... with books going clear down to the floor, of course. The main perk is that most of the kids love their library class time (45 minutes/week x 20 classes) plus open switching book time the rest of the day and we have fun. Shoot, we just had a contest where one of the classes (2nd graders) got to spike my hair two weeks ago. The class that brought in the most money for this charity fund-raiser part of the book fair got to do it, and the students at our little rural school actually brought in $830 to spike my hair. That's got to be crazy silly. But they had fun!!! Plus I baked them cookies and spent the entire weekend baking double batches of 5 different kinds... so I'm cookied-out for awhile. Again, though, I'm wiped out from the silly book fair and need to rest up, but there isn't a chance to. Good thing I've got 4 years under my belt! Each year gets better, right Ed?

**Elisa** · 10-20-2011, 04:28 PM

You sound like an amazing teacher Susie, wish my kids had gotten you when they were little. They had a few fun teachers but I recall most of them either being boring or crabby. And yes, your husband does sound like a real winner and I looked through your pics in your sig and that laundry setup is beautiful. I have a similar washer/dryer but it's in a hallway which is crowded and has no folding area so all the clean laundry gets tossed onto my bed, bleh.

**debbei** · 10-20-2011, 06:31 PM

I must BOW to you!! 2.5 months and working full time? When I was at that point in my recovery, I was still taking at LEAST one nap per day!!

**titaniumed** · 10-20-2011, 10:14 PM

Susie bee

Yes, it does get better as time passes, sometimes.

I have been eating like a horse and I am predicting that it will eventually kill me. I cant help it sometimes, and I�m getting heavy. The snow has to start falling here real soon or I might explode. Jess needs to hang out with me, and put some weight on. (smiley face)

I had an episode today after lunch and when my digestive tract struggles from overeating, it transfers that pain we all know so well, right into the back. It was a feeling I have not felt in a few years, and had to go home and lay down. Since I lost my gall bladder, digestion takes time and I have to drink quite a bit of water to help keep things going.

As a scoli even after a successful fusion, when something goes wrong internally, the muscles in my back seem to tighten up for some reason. It reminded me of when I passed my kidney stone. It wasn�t as bad as that event, but still it happens....I�m ok now. It was just a wake up call I guess.

I am proving that diet and exercise directly affect how one feels on a daily basis. Sometimes I prove it the hard way. Sigh.
Ed

**jrnyc** · 10-21-2011, 02:04 AM

yes, Ed...maybe that would help me put on needed weight!

ANY/ALL surgery exhausts the body...so such a hugely major surgery would exhaust that much more....
surgeons say full healing can take from one to two years for any surgery involving bones....

jess

**mabeckoff** · 10-21-2011, 10:25 AM

Originally posted by jrnyc View Post

yes, Ed...maybe that would help me put on needed weight!

ANY/ALL surgery exhausts the body...so such a hugely major surgery would exhaust that much more....
surgeons say full healing can take from one to two years for any surgery involving bones....

jess

That is good to know 1-2 years healing. I need to keep that in mind when I get so frustrated with myself

Announcement

Exhaustion

Exhaustion

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment

Comment