I’ve been reading about different issues with medication and post op complications. I hope you all don’t mind but I would like to offer a really positive experience for those thinking about or waiting for surgery. Everyone’s experience and perspective is unique and I certainly do not want to diminish anyone else’s pain.
I am 4 weeks post op today. My week long hospital stay was tough from what you would expect - pain, IV, nausea, blood loss, getting the intestines to work…
I was prescribed Tylenol with codeine because everything else they gave me caused me to get sick. The second and third week all I needed was 2 pills before bedtime and an occasional pill during the day. Now I’m off all meds.
Week 2 – I went to the hospital to have my staples removed. I walked from the parking lot through the lobby and to the doctor’s office. I was able to walk around the block two times. I started sleeping through the night with a break sometimes to eat a bowl of cereal. I was really famished this second week.
Week 3 – I walked the kids to school (they asked me to wear a shirt over my brace). I also went to my office for a couple of hours to see colleagues and to go through the mail.
Week 4 - I went to Costco with my mom and to the mall with a friend. Both were short trips but I felt fine. A few curious women asked about the brace. I overheard some different women at the grocery store talking about my “weight loss” device. I didn’t bother to inform them of the surgery. I might try driving today without the kids in the car.
I’m not lifting more than 10 pounds and I need to wait another month before my doctor says I can start PT. Mentally, physically and spiritually I feel like a new woman. My hip pain caused from my rotated spine is gone as is my rib hump. I show my straight x rays to everyone who comes to visit. I am experiencing some discomfort from the bone graft (sacral iliac) but it is not interfering with day to day life. Compared to my back and hip pain before surgery it is very manageable.
Maybe this type of recovery is because my fusion is shorter (T10-L4) or because it was just posterior. I started out with a 55 degree thoracolumbar curve and a 45 degree thoracic compensatory curve. Now my structural curve is 6 degrees and the compensatory curve is almost gone. I’m 41 and I’m looking forward to living the second half of my life pain and deformity free.
Best to all of you,
Jody
I am 4 weeks post op today. My week long hospital stay was tough from what you would expect - pain, IV, nausea, blood loss, getting the intestines to work…
I was prescribed Tylenol with codeine because everything else they gave me caused me to get sick. The second and third week all I needed was 2 pills before bedtime and an occasional pill during the day. Now I’m off all meds.
Week 2 – I went to the hospital to have my staples removed. I walked from the parking lot through the lobby and to the doctor’s office. I was able to walk around the block two times. I started sleeping through the night with a break sometimes to eat a bowl of cereal. I was really famished this second week.
Week 3 – I walked the kids to school (they asked me to wear a shirt over my brace). I also went to my office for a couple of hours to see colleagues and to go through the mail.
Week 4 - I went to Costco with my mom and to the mall with a friend. Both were short trips but I felt fine. A few curious women asked about the brace. I overheard some different women at the grocery store talking about my “weight loss” device. I didn’t bother to inform them of the surgery. I might try driving today without the kids in the car.
I’m not lifting more than 10 pounds and I need to wait another month before my doctor says I can start PT. Mentally, physically and spiritually I feel like a new woman. My hip pain caused from my rotated spine is gone as is my rib hump. I show my straight x rays to everyone who comes to visit. I am experiencing some discomfort from the bone graft (sacral iliac) but it is not interfering with day to day life. Compared to my back and hip pain before surgery it is very manageable.
Maybe this type of recovery is because my fusion is shorter (T10-L4) or because it was just posterior. I started out with a 55 degree thoracolumbar curve and a 45 degree thoracic compensatory curve. Now my structural curve is 6 degrees and the compensatory curve is almost gone. I’m 41 and I’m looking forward to living the second half of my life pain and deformity free.
Best to all of you,
Jody
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