Im back from surgery

[slprncess]

Hey everyone,

Well it has been 8 days post op since my surgery. Everything went very well. I was very nervous before surgery and experienced alot of pain after i woke up in recovery. For the next two days the pain was very intense especially in my stomach. My surgeon was a little confused b/c he said most people expereince much more back pain then stomach, but not me. The pain the in the stomach was unbarrable for awhile. They had me on dilatin and break through shots every 3 hrs and a muscle relaxer.
They got me up on tuesday to walk and it felt like i was going to crumble. Then on wed i had to go for a xray and stand up! That was absolutly missrable! For the next couple days I improved each day. I tried to walk as much as i could but was very painful. When the finally took out the folly cathater I felt so much better. I was going to be released on sat morning but got a rush of energy and told them i wanted to go home friday night and my dr said ok. The car ride was wonderful, Thank god! I had no problems or pain just some discomfort.
I must say that I am doing so much better than any of my past surgeries which is very surprising considering what they did this time compared to last time. I have had no nausea which i am so thankful for!
Each day I am feeling much better. My mind is definlty back to normal my body just isnt. I have developed a few problems since i have been home. First i beleive i was allergic to the tape that they used for the dressing. I have pretty much scratched my skin raw and it is very painful. I am puttng cortizone cream on it to sooth it and my dr told me to take bennadryl. I also developed something worst then the pain from the surgery. When i log roll to get out of bed i have developed extreme siatic pain onlly on my right side.It starts in my butt and goes down my leg. It will let up if i walk it off but i just feel like falling to the ground it is so painful. I addressed it to my dr and he does not know what it could be. also my hips are very sore from laying in bed so long. I do get up and walk alot but my legs get so tired. I also feel like my stomach is going to pop out. I feel alot of pressure on my stomach and my pelvis. It is hard learning how to walk with this new fusion to my sacrum. I know it will just take time and i am expecting to much so soon.
I am just so scared that my pain has not gone away or will come back.
Other than that am very proud of myself of how well i am doing. I did a complete turn around on day 4 or 5. Now i just get to lay in bed bored and wish i would go somewhere. Sorry so long but wanted to give a update.

[dawney]

Glad you are home and all went well. Hope your pain subsides quickly.

[Cakedec]

Dear slprncess:

Glad to hear that you are past the rough part of the surgery and home. You certainly are a trooper to go through yet another surgery.

Will hope and pray that your pains go away soon. There is another thread about having sciatic pain after surgery on here that you may want to read.

Thank you for sharing your story with us and let us know how things go over the next few weeks.

Deb

[bbest]

Sarah -

I am happy to hear your surgery went well. I can't imagine going through this again and truly admire those of you who do. Please get plenty of rest, don't push yourself too hard and let us know how you are progressing.

Best wishes for a speedy recovery,
Brandi

[lelc2002@yahoo]

take each day as it comes & stay positive. Listen to your body & go lie in bed when you need to. I am 31/2 weeks post up and whenever my back aches a bit/mainly at computer, I log roll into bed and stay for a while to all subsides.......achey now so I shall go......Ly

[sweetness514]

That's good Sarah, just get a routine going everyday(rest, walk, clean up, eat, etc), and time will go by quicker and you will see you will do more each day/week. I hope your sciatica and stomach pains go away soon.

[slprncess]

thanks everyone.

I am so glad at my progress but sometimes it does become depressing. Also i have noticed that if i take my pain meds and i losen up then i push myself more and i know that probably isnt good. I have started the bennadryl and it seems to help.
One question. I know im not suspose to be sitting for more then 30 mins at a time but i am so sore to lay in bed. I have been trying to find certain positions when i am sitting like with my legs crossed indian style or my legs to my side and i was wondering if that can hurt me or interfer with the healing process of the fusion. That is one of my biggest fears is the fusion not taking. I definlty dont want to do anything to hurt myself.
Today was a good day though. I woke up in pain but did sleep in until 10. My husband and i went to lunch and i sat great for 5 mins and took a car ride. It felt great to get out of the house. My surgeon wants me to push myslef but in regards to walking but i dont want to over do it.
Well i am so glad that i have this forum to talk to everyone instead of calling my dr office and waiting for him to call me back!

[sweetness514]

I don't think sitting Indian style will interfere with the fusion, but it can cause some pains at some point, like the sciatica(that's just my experience). I can't tell you how long to sit or how since my fusion ends at L2, and I don't know if being fused to sacrum is different, maybe others who are can tell you.

I was able to sit much longer when I bought a good padded chair and put a pillow in the lumbar area and it has armstands(to rest your arms, I'm not sure it's the word), and this last time I increased my walking everyday until about half an hour after a few weeks, it really helped. I know how walking helps with the fusion process and now that I had surgery for my non union I wanted to do everything in my power to help it fuse.