Please compare for me...

[dalmatica]

I am having the bottom part of my broken rods taken out along with fixing the broken fusion under them and putting two new pieces of rods in on April 30th. I haven't yet had a chance to ask my surgeon some specific questions but I do have one for you folks. He will also be doing another bone graft. The first one didn't bother me (bone graft site) much so I'm not worrying about it. What I am worrying about is the pain and misery afterward. If the first surgery was a 10 to me post-op, what should I expect with this one. Will it be easier? Boy I sure hope so .Please be brutally honest. Krysi

[SARAHK]

Hey Krysi, I'm 4 weeks out of a revision surgery so I'll give you my experience. It's been better than the first time but still a tough first week in the hospital. I had all of my rods removed and new ones put in though. They're probably a little over a foot long. So it sounds like you shouldn't have as much pain because it will only be a part of your back. I also had a Thoracoplasty procedure done where they take out part of your ribs. I'm not sure if that's where you're having your bone graft but that counted for about 40% of the pain I've had. Do you have to wear a back brace? The first week was rough for me. I'm 25, so still pretty young but it was hell laying on that brace because of the thoracoplasty. I was nauseous once they had me eating solid foods and couldn't keep anything down for 2 days. So if that happens to you, have them prescribe you a nausea medicine right away. It's not fun to throw up when you've just had back surgery

But the walking part was MUCH easier than I was thinking it would be. Not that it was a piece of cake but definitely a night and day difference from the first one. My main advice would be to have your family watch the clock and make sure the nurses are giving you your meds every 4 hours. I think they like you to go for as long as you can but in my experience, if the pain gets out of control, it's hard to get it back down. They wait longer especially at night but you still need to stay on top of it then.

But I don't want to scare you. Looking back, I think it was definitely better than the first one and my family definitely does. They remember what it was like better than I do. And yours sounds a lot smaller than your first one so if I were you, I wouldn't worry. 8 days out I was feeling pretty good (with help from the meds of course) and getting used to the brace. You'll have good and bad days but it will all be worth it. Hope that helps. Good luck and let me know if you have any other questions! -sarah

[henderr]

Pain Management After Surgery

Here is what the pain management doctor told me after my surgery. He told me to ask for pain medication when the pain gets to a 5 of 6. The pain is much easier to manage if you don't get into horrible pain before asking for pain meds. If you do wait until you are a 7 or 8, you will need more pain medication to get the pain to settle down, and that isn't good for you either.

I found that once I started to get into pain, the pain level would rise one level each half hour I waited. So if you are at a 6 and don't ask, in a half hour the level will have risen to a 7. If you start at 7 and don't ask, in a half hour you will be at 8, etc. Remember that once you ask, it will take them a while to get the pain meds to you, so the earlier you ask the better pain management you will get.

[Theresa]

Krysi,

When I had my revision surgery in June 2004 I had basically the same thing done. They took out the rods in the lumbar area, cut a wedged shaped piece of bone out of my spine and installed new rods. They didn't need to do a bone graft because of all the bone they had from breaking up the fusion plus the piece of bone they took out of my spine. It was all used for the new fusion. Surgery was Thursday morning, starting walking Friday, walked a lot on Saturday and went home Sunday morning. Recovery was a breeze! One month after the surgery my in-laws were here visiting and I was able to take my mother-in-law out to some stores and go see a movie. A week after that I flew to Orlando, FL to visit my dad. I don't know if having my big A/P surgery only a year before played a part in this one seeming so easy. Good luck with your surgery!

[rainbow2010]

My daughter and I both had bone grafts. Mine was taken from my pelvic bone and I have pain in my pelvic bone in the area where the graft was taken from. My daughter had donor bone put in. Her doctor said he uses donor bone to minimize post op pain. My daughter refers to her donor bone as "Sir Francis". She does not have the pain in her hip like I do.

[PNUTTRO]

I had my rod out in 2000--only the posterior hardware. I was in terrible pain.

Similar to Theresa, my surgeon took bone that he scraped off of my vertebrae to do the repair of my L2/L3 fusion. I didn't get new instrumentation.

PT was surprised that I was ready to get out of bed before they asked me to. Usually, their patients cringe when they come in. I was up and walking the day after surgery.

The recovery was quick as I recall. I went back to work after about 6 weeks. My Mom stayed with me for about 3 weeks. My daughter was 18 months old at the time. I don't recall a lot of trouble handling everything. We continued to use the daycare in the daytime while I was recovering.

I had an orthotic for 3-4 months. It was small and relatively comfortable.

By comparison, it was far easier than my first surgery.

Good luck.
p

[dalmatica]

Thanks everyone! You are making me feel a lot better about this whole thing.