A new study in Spine Magazine says 1 in 5 lumbar fusion patients develop PTSD following their surgeries. I am one of the five. I was just diagnosed with it today.
I fell on Thanksgiving Day. Got a huge bruise on my shoulder, but I have no memory of falling. I only know I did because my husband said I told him I fell. I barely remembered telling him. When my shoulder started really hurting the day after I fell, I had no clue why, then I looked in the mirror and saw the blues and reds running all down my shoulder, I felt shocked, because I knew I had lost the memory of what happened. I also don't remember anything about my surgery. My last memory is of being called and escorted to the pre surgery area. I don't remember changing clothes, getting on the gurney or anything else. My next memory is three days after surgery in the ICU. I had a nurse I was afraid of, I thought she was going to kill me. I really thought that. I have some loose gauzy memories of being alone in a room begging for water, having a nurse scream at me, and being abandoned by my family, who never visited, or so I thought. My husband said he was there, but I don't remember him there. He said I was awake and talking and got up and sat in a chair. I have no memory of that. They had me on dilaudid, which they said can cause disorientation, which I was, so it was discontinued. I assumed all of my memory loss was due to that.
I saw my primary Doc today. I got some X-rays which were good, no injury to the fusion. He said my symptoms, more than just memory loss, I have muscle jerks, nightmares, crying, etc., are classic for PTSD. He is referring me to a therapist familiar with PTSD. I have been reading through a lot of threads in the few months I have been a member of the forum, and a lot of us have some of the same symptoms. It might be of value for us to look at PTSD as a possibility. Most of us have had way worse than just lumbar fusion.
Thanks for being here for support. It is awesome to have people who understand. I will let you know how therapy goes.
I fell on Thanksgiving Day. Got a huge bruise on my shoulder, but I have no memory of falling. I only know I did because my husband said I told him I fell. I barely remembered telling him. When my shoulder started really hurting the day after I fell, I had no clue why, then I looked in the mirror and saw the blues and reds running all down my shoulder, I felt shocked, because I knew I had lost the memory of what happened. I also don't remember anything about my surgery. My last memory is of being called and escorted to the pre surgery area. I don't remember changing clothes, getting on the gurney or anything else. My next memory is three days after surgery in the ICU. I had a nurse I was afraid of, I thought she was going to kill me. I really thought that. I have some loose gauzy memories of being alone in a room begging for water, having a nurse scream at me, and being abandoned by my family, who never visited, or so I thought. My husband said he was there, but I don't remember him there. He said I was awake and talking and got up and sat in a chair. I have no memory of that. They had me on dilaudid, which they said can cause disorientation, which I was, so it was discontinued. I assumed all of my memory loss was due to that.
I saw my primary Doc today. I got some X-rays which were good, no injury to the fusion. He said my symptoms, more than just memory loss, I have muscle jerks, nightmares, crying, etc., are classic for PTSD. He is referring me to a therapist familiar with PTSD. I have been reading through a lot of threads in the few months I have been a member of the forum, and a lot of us have some of the same symptoms. It might be of value for us to look at PTSD as a possibility. Most of us have had way worse than just lumbar fusion.
Thanks for being here for support. It is awesome to have people who understand. I will let you know how therapy goes.
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