I'm back......again
Hi everyone. I'm nearing my 2 year post op anniversary and thought I'd give a brief update (see above post dated 2-06-12). I had a visit with my surgeon at about my 15 month post op mark (September 2012) and we discussed the continued issue of pain. X-ray's were taken and an MRI was done to hopefully see a complete and successful fusion. However, the rods are giving off a starburst reflection effect which makes it impossible to see the area where bone has hopefully grown. I was prescribed physical therapy which I finally completed this spring. I was 100% devoted to making every appointment, doing every excercise and trying every possible suggestion. After 16 appointments, I was not making any improvement and was released from PT. I have not spoken with my surgeon since finishing PT, but we did have a nice long conversation prior to beginning. I was told if the PT did not reduce my pain level and improve my quality of life, the next step is essentially exploratory surgery to go in and get a "birdseye view" of the bone growth and check for possible fusion failure and to look at the hardware and possibly remove it if the fusion is complete. That's where I stand now. I have had to increase the amount of oxycontin and fentanyl I am taking, and in addition I take sleep medication and a muscle relaxer at night so I can get a bit of decent sleep. At this point, I really can't say whether I'm sorry I had the surgery or not, because I have no idea what my life would look like if I had not. I try really hard to not say "What if" and instead say "What next?"
Everyone take care!
Hi everyone. I'm nearing my 2 year post op anniversary and thought I'd give a brief update (see above post dated 2-06-12). I had a visit with my surgeon at about my 15 month post op mark (September 2012) and we discussed the continued issue of pain. X-ray's were taken and an MRI was done to hopefully see a complete and successful fusion. However, the rods are giving off a starburst reflection effect which makes it impossible to see the area where bone has hopefully grown. I was prescribed physical therapy which I finally completed this spring. I was 100% devoted to making every appointment, doing every excercise and trying every possible suggestion. After 16 appointments, I was not making any improvement and was released from PT. I have not spoken with my surgeon since finishing PT, but we did have a nice long conversation prior to beginning. I was told if the PT did not reduce my pain level and improve my quality of life, the next step is essentially exploratory surgery to go in and get a "birdseye view" of the bone growth and check for possible fusion failure and to look at the hardware and possibly remove it if the fusion is complete. That's where I stand now. I have had to increase the amount of oxycontin and fentanyl I am taking, and in addition I take sleep medication and a muscle relaxer at night so I can get a bit of decent sleep. At this point, I really can't say whether I'm sorry I had the surgery or not, because I have no idea what my life would look like if I had not. I try really hard to not say "What if" and instead say "What next?"
Everyone take care!
Comment