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  • The Moment you wake up from surgery

    I'm going to take advantage of all you experienced fusion veterans that have so kindly answered questions over the last few days about what to expect after surgery and would like to ask one more:

    What is your first recollection of the exact moment you woke up and just how bad was it? I know the answer to my question is PAIN, but here's what I fear - I had a single level fusion at C6/7 10 years ago. When I woke up, I had over-freakin-whelming pain in my neck and back. Muscles were spasming from my jaw to my ribcage, and I simply could not believe a human being could tolerate so much. As they wheeled me out of the recovery room, the tears were streaming down my face - I couldn't believe how bad it hurt. Even my surgeon asked me "why are you in so much pain"? I felt like kicking his a$$ but I couldn't move at the moment.

    I recall that pain and feel like that single moment when I become awake from fusion, that it will be that pain from 10 years ago to the tenth power. Do they give you something while asleep during surgery to help or do you just wake up and feel everything they did to you for the previous 9 hours? This one thing (believe it or not) terrifies more than anything else about this surgery.

    Please tell me the truth - I'll take it like a man. Make that a woman - men have never birthed children!
    Susan
    XLIF/Posterior Surgery 6/16/08. Fused T10-L5 in CA by Dr. Michael Kropf (don't go there unless it's simple, I hear he's at Cedar's now). Very deformed, had revision w/5 PSO's, rods from T-3 to sacrum including iliac screws, all posterior, 5/23/16 with Dr. Purnendu Gupta of Chicago.


    Owner of Chachi the Chihuahua, So Cal born and bred, now a resident of 'Chicagoland' Illinois. Uh, dislike it here....thank God there was ONE excellent spine surgeon in this area.

  • #2
    I just asked my daughter (posterior, T4-L1) if she had pain when she woke. She said yes, about a 10 but the nurse immediately gave her some pain meds and she fell asleep. The next thing she remembers is us visiting her in PICU where she felt no pain and wanted to sit up and even walk around. LOL. They must have given her a large dose.

    I guess the surgeons don't like giving pain meds until the patient wakes up? Otherwise I can't explain why they would wake a patient knowing they would have 10 level pain. Anyway, it didn't last long per my daughter.

    You might want to ask your surgeon about this. If you do, I'd love to know the straight dope on it. If I can remember, I'm going to ask our surgeon this week when we see him for the first check up post surgery.

    ps. After seeing my daughter's recovery, I will take spinal fusion over an unmedicated birth.
    Last edited by Pooka1; 05-04-2008, 05:18 PM.
    Sharon, mother of identical twin girls with scoliosis

    No island of sanity.

    Question: What do you call alternative medicine that works?
    Answer: Medicine


    "We are all African."

    Comment


    • #3
      It's kind of hazy... and that's good. But I don't remember any excruciating pain at all. It was more like I was stiff and couldn't move much-- and I think since the pain was evenly spread, and there was so much in the way of drugs in me, that it was more like an awareness of hurt, but muffled in a sense. I don't think I moved much at all for a little bit, but I was ok. It wasn't the sort of pain like what you are talking about. I remember being relieved that it was over-- and that I was "awake" from it! I hope this helps. I really think you'll be ok.
      71 and plugging along... but having some problems
      2007 52° w/ severe lumbar stenosis & L2L3 lateral listhesis (side shift)
      5/4/07 posterior fusion T2-L4 w/ laminectomies and osteotomies @L2L3, L3L4
      Dr. Kim Hammerberg, Rush Univ. Medical Center in Chicago

      Corrected to 15°
      CMT (type 2) DX in 2014, progressing
      10/2018 x-rays - spondylolisthesis at L4/L5 - Dr. DeWald is monitoring

      Click to view my pics: pics of scoli x-rays digital x-rays, and pics of me

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by Pooka1
        ps. After seeing my daughter's recovery, I will take spinal fusion over an unmedicated birth.
        Haha Pooka - Acutally I DID have an unmedicated birth (think the early 80's and the "lamaze" craze) and blissfully, don't remember a thing. I think that's God's lil way of allowing us Mom's to do the birth thing more than once

        Your daughter has the blessing of being young, but I do appreciate the the honesty - a 10 is what I expect, but do wish it can be reduced to either a 6 or plain ole unconsciousness. Hey, I'm not picky, just don't want to suffer

        Susie*Bee...I hope for the haze...give me the haze until I can log roll on my own.
        Susan
        XLIF/Posterior Surgery 6/16/08. Fused T10-L5 in CA by Dr. Michael Kropf (don't go there unless it's simple, I hear he's at Cedar's now). Very deformed, had revision w/5 PSO's, rods from T-3 to sacrum including iliac screws, all posterior, 5/23/16 with Dr. Purnendu Gupta of Chicago.


        Owner of Chachi the Chihuahua, So Cal born and bred, now a resident of 'Chicagoland' Illinois. Uh, dislike it here....thank God there was ONE excellent spine surgeon in this area.

        Comment


        • #5
          Hey, c mama, you'll do fine. And I had all 3 of my babies without any medication--and they weren't tiny or anything, ranging from 8 lbs. to 9 lbs. 10.5 oz. -- yes, natural childbirth was the thing then, and I thought it was fine. Hard work, of course, but that's what "labor" means.

          BTW-- there is absolutely NO WAY I'd take spinal fusion over natural childbirth. They really don't compare at all--at least in my mind, and I've done both. One more thing about natural childbirth, at least in my case-- they are not hazy memories, but quite strong and vivid. I remember all 3 very clearly... and the hard work, pain and the euphoria when the baby is born. Very much worth the effort!
          Last edited by Susie*Bee; 05-04-2008, 05:55 PM.
          71 and plugging along... but having some problems
          2007 52° w/ severe lumbar stenosis & L2L3 lateral listhesis (side shift)
          5/4/07 posterior fusion T2-L4 w/ laminectomies and osteotomies @L2L3, L3L4
          Dr. Kim Hammerberg, Rush Univ. Medical Center in Chicago

          Corrected to 15°
          CMT (type 2) DX in 2014, progressing
          10/2018 x-rays - spondylolisthesis at L4/L5 - Dr. DeWald is monitoring

          Click to view my pics: pics of scoli x-rays digital x-rays, and pics of me

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by Chihuahua Mama
            Haha Pooka - Acutally I DID have an unmedicated birth (think the early 80's and the "lamaze" craze) and blissfully, don't remember a thing. I think that's God's lil way of allowing us Mom's to do the birth thing more than once
            Well maybe it's a matter of mental preparation. I was not intending a new age birth but had one thrust upon me. A twin new age birth. I did no preparation or breathing or whatnot. It was not the experience I had hoped for.

            I have had the natural one level lumbar fusion I spoke of elsewhere, I've had toe nails ripped off from being stepped on by horses, I've had a ruptured ectopic w/ massive blood loss, and appendicitis pain for several days prior to surgery.
            (ETA: posterior tibial tendonitis in one leg and a broken toe)

            All of those combined simply can't compete with several hours of the worse cramping I ever felt, EVERY FEW MINUTES and knowing it was coming every few minutes and not knowing when it would end. I have since been campaigning for the inclusion of unmedicated birthing in the Geneva Conventions against torture.

            I realize many women disagree. I agree to disagree with them.

            Originally posted by Chihuahua Mama
            Your daughter has the blessing of being young, but I do appreciate the the honesty - a 10 is what I expect, but do wish it can be reduced to either a 6 or plain ole unconsciousness. Hey, I'm not picky, just don't want to suffer
            You know, I wouldn't worry too much about my daughter's report... she did not mention any pain waking up until I just asked her. She did not mention it in the PICU at any point as far as I know. So it couldn't have lasted too long like, say, in an unmedicated birth! <insert Sam Kinisen scream!>

            Best of luck.
            Last edited by Pooka1; 05-04-2008, 06:23 PM.
            Sharon, mother of identical twin girls with scoliosis

            No island of sanity.

            Question: What do you call alternative medicine that works?
            Answer: Medicine


            "We are all African."

            Comment


            • #7
              I worried a lot about this too, and asked the anesthesiologist about it right before surgery. I was especially concerned that I would wake up entubed and panic, but he said they would keep me in a "twilight state" until they took the tube out, and even then I would wake up only gradually. There truly isn't any one moment that you wake up, fully conscious, aware of pain or any other sensation. It's all fuzzy and the pain pump does a really good job of controlling pain. I think the most disconcerting thing about early post-op is the helplessness -- I just couldn't move because I was so stiff.

              I was never really aware of serious pain until they had me sit up the day after surgery -- now THAT hurt. ONce they switch you to oral meds, it takes a bit of tweaking to get optimum pain relief. Dilaudid was like a miracle drug for me -- I kept making them give me shots of the stuff after I got off the pain pump.

              The main thing is you really don't remember much of it afterwards, and while it's happening you're too drugged-up and out of it to care.
              Chris
              A/P fusion on June 19, 2007 at age 52; T10-L5
              Pre-op thoracolumbar curve: 70 degrees
              Post-op curve: 12 degrees
              Dr. Boachie-adjei, HSS, New York

              Comment


              • #8
                C-Mama: Simple solution: Ask for Methadone to be given intravenously in the OR when the fusion begins. My daughter just underwent fusion surgery & her surgeon gives Methadone, as described above, to all of his patients. It;s a very long lasting drug (24 hrs) & it gets you through the trauma of when you first wake up, as well as the 1st night. By the time it wears off, you will then be on Basal IV Morphine, as well as the PCA Morphine pump. Things are different now then they were 10 years ago. The anesthesiologists are life savers, in the pain dept. Ask for the above & you should be fine. In any case, go over the anesthesia plan in advance, so you will be sure to be covered...painwise! Good luck!!! There's no reason for you to have to suffer.
                Martha
                Mother of Laura, Age 19
                Diagnosed with S curve at Age 13 (49*T/32*L)
                Wore brace for one year (Wilmington Jacket)
                Posterior spinal fusion on April 17, '08 with Dr. Flynn at CHOP (Age 16)
                Fused T2-L2
                Pre-op curves: 41*UT/66*T/34*L
                Post-op curves: 14*UT/19*T/19*L
                Note: At 1 yr. post-op appt, UNFUSED lumbar curve improved to 14*!!
                OK to email me at: malka22@comcast.net

                Comment


                • #9
                  The first thing I remember....

                  I remember being really thirsty, and asking for lip balm. The only thing I remember was asking the nurse what seemed like 10 times for lip balm, and she put some on me, then I was happy. She also started feeding me ice chips. I don't really remember pain, it was almost like I was immobilized. My family told me later that iIf i did move my arm or my head, it was really slow and robotically. I had a morphine pump, and the nurses pushed it for me every so often. I think I had been awake for a little while when my husband came in, I don't really remember that so much, but I remember my sister being there, and she was feeding me ice also.

                  She said that I was talking really slowly, and I kept on picking at my lips and wanting more lip balm. The only thing I actually remember even somewhat clearly was the next day. I was still in the pre-op/ post-op recovery room, they didn't have a room for me yet, and it was a weekend so there were no surgeries scheduled. Anyway, after I had been feeding myself ice earlier when I was by myself, my sister came back, and I made her scoop my ice, then, in a very drugged up and matter of fact manner- I said to her: "what you don't know is that I can do it myself..." So, pain or no pain, at least I was still able to irritate my sister!!

                  As for having pain, I mostly just felt like I was in someone else's body, that I really didn't have control over anything- especially scooting around, sitting, rolling over, etc. I didn't really start noticing anything until the next day when they moved me to a transport bed (ouch), then to my room's bed (ouch). Just lying still all medicated when I woke up was fine, as far as I can recall...
                  2001 T-sp 58* L-sp 55*
                  2007 T-sp 64* L-sp 67*
                  Surgery Dec. 21 2007
                  Posterior fusion T3 to L3

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Honestly, the first time I remember waking up, I was already in the ICU. I don't even remember much about the first day but the couple of times I do remember waking up, I know I was not in any pain. The nurses really did a great job of keeping my pain under control. Plus I had a pain pump so that really helped. Just like Susie Bee said, I was really hazy and so out of it I don't think I knew much of what was going on for a while. My parents said that the doctors came into ICU and asked me all kinds of questions. I got every single one of them right and I don't remember a thing about it!!
                    Jamie Age 29
                    Mother to a 6 year old daughter & an 11 month old baby boy.

                    2000 Curves - 28/40/32
                    2008 Curves - 39/63/44
                    Surgery Date - 3/25/08
                    T4 - L1

                    63 degrees corrected to 15 degrees !

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      loves to skate

                      Hi Chihuahua Mama,
                      I just dug out my operative report. My Dr. told me about this ahead of time so I would know what to expect. After stitching up all of the layers of tissue including the skin, a field block with 0.25% Marcaine with epinephrine was administered to the area followed by the steri-strips, dressing sponges,etc.
                      This blocks the pain for several hours after you wake up. So I had no pain when I woke up from the surgery. I just couldn't figure out where the heck I was. The ceiling didn't look like my bedroom ceiling at home, so then I remembered I had just had surgery and I'm alive, praise God. Like Singer said, the serious pain hits you when they come to get you up the first time, so if they give you a heads up, then you can hit the pain pump. Also she is right about the oral meds to get them tweeked. Make sure the nurses explain to you what your options are for oral meds. At one point, I was asked if I wanted one or two of the short acting oxycondones. I thought I could get along with just one. What they didn't tell me was that whether I had one or two, I couldn't have anymore for 3 hours. I always asked for two after that because I was in a great deal of pain after about 2 hours with just the one.
                      Just make sure you ask your Surgeon if he uses a local anesthetic after the surgery before you have the surgery. I would hope that any humane Dr. would be doing that in this day and age.
                      I'll be praying for you. Sally
                      Diagnosed with severe lumbar scoliosis at age 65.
                      Posterior Fusion L2-S1 on 12/4/2007. age 67
                      Anterior Fusion L3-L4,L4-L5,L5-S1 on 12/19/2007
                      Additional bone removed to decompress right side of L3-L4 & L4-L5 on 4/19/2010
                      New England Baptist Hospital, Boston, MA
                      Dr. Frank F. Rands735.photobucket.com/albums/ww360/butterflyfive/

                      "In God We Trust" Happy moments, praise God. Difficult moments, seek God. Quiet moments, worship God. Painful moments, trust God. Every moment, thank God.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        I remember VERY little - it was all fuzzy. I know I was a bit belligerent, asking for my family again and again (I had been taken from my boyfriend quite abruptly, and my parents got stuck in traffic and weren't there beforehand). I remember being told it went well, was shorter than expected, and I wound not need to wear a brace. According to my mother, I just replied to every question with a soft, high pitched "yay."

                        Don't freak yourself out too much. you'll be great!
                        2000 34*L/39*T
                        2007 44*L/53*T

                        12.3.07 Posterior Spinal Fusion T4-T12
                        (initially planned T4-L1)
                        12.18.07 11*L/10*T

                        23 years old

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Wow, It's over!

                          That is the first thought I had when I woke up. Then I saw my Dad walk past my bed looking for me (I was in recovery with others.) and I whistled our family whistle. He turned around, with a grin. I have no idea why he didn't see me I must have been swollen like many have said they were and I wasn't recognizable ! When I woke up next I was in my room. I was a bit uncomfortable but mostly stiff feeling. My Dr. was very adamant in letting me know that pain can be controlled. If I needed to have something different all I needed to do was ask. (If what I was on wasn't working.) The only real pain I had was when my morphine pump jammed and went without for a bit. Then I still only hit about a 7-8 on the pain scale. I could still see straight but my teeth were starting to clench and I was tensing up. I remember telling a nurse to figure it out faster or they were going to owe me Botox to get the furrows out of my forehead!

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Post Op bad experience

                            I can only remember two things from being in Post Op after surgery, and both times it was the same thing. I remember all kinds of alarms going off and hearing a women saying "shes not breathing". I could not wake up and I don't remember anything else until I was in ICU after 10pm (which my husband said is about the time I got there), I woke up and asked him what went wrong and he said he didn't know that they weren't saying anything to him and I told him I thought I had stopped breathing twice. He then went to the nurse and asked her and she came in and explained to us that I was given too much medication in Post Op and I had stopped breathing twice and now would have to go 24 HOURS with NO Medication. This was the worst experience of my life. The pain was horrible all I remember after that was begging for medication, passing out and having someone stand over me telling me to take deeper breaths. It took 2 days in ICU before the pain even started to get under control. I'm happy to say its now a distant memory but I won't ever go into a surgery without worring about this again.
                            Patty 51 years old
                            Surgery May 23, 2007(43 Birthday)
                            Posterior T3- L4
                            Pre surgery curves
                            T-53degrees
                            L-38degrees
                            and a severe side shift to the right.
                            Post surgery curves
                            Less than 10 degrees
                            Surgery April, 2006
                            C4 - C6

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Waking up

                              Dear CM,

                              To be honest, I was more afraid of waking up DURING surgery than after surgery! I had the same wonderful anesthesiologist for both surgical dates, and I made sure that he understood my fears and concerns. I'm happy to report that I peacefully sleep through both surgical days. The first memory I have after the first day of surgery was not until I was in a regular room -- no Recovery Room or ICU memories at all.

                              After the second day of surgery, I remember people calling my name and asking me to open my eyes. My memory is struggling to open my eyes for a moment and thinking this must be the Recovery Room because I could not speak and that there was way too much light, noise and confusion. I caught a quick view of my husband and Dr. Rand and that was it until I woke up in the ICU the next day craving ice chips and feeling like there must be a huge magnet under the bed because my body felt so heavy.

                              My experience is similar to Sally's, another of Dr. Rand's patients, who I have had the pleasure of meeting post-op! The pain block that Dr. Rand used to flood the surgical site was very effective. My recall is fuzzy on the pain pump, but I do remember using it prior to PT visits.

                              Good Luck,
                              Linda W.
                              Linda
                              Two-stage A/P fusion T6-S1 with lumbar implants June 12 & June 27, 2007 at age 57
                              S curve 75+ degrees with kyphosis
                              Now 45 degrees and standing 3 inches taller!
                              Dr. Frank Rand, New England Baptist Hospital, Boston

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