I have had continual pain since my surgery, and intense spasms in the upper back and around the right ribs and lung - hard work to breathe more than very shallowly, and particularly noticeable since the brace came off. The consultant was away for my appointment yesterday and I saw a registrar I had not seen before. Like the other registrars he is not really familiar with patients of my age (55).
He seems fairly certain, as I am, that the acute pain is coming from the uppermost connector at T2, and that it may be advisable to remove it. He thought a year post-op would be OK, but it will obviously go back to the consultant.
He also suggested that the spasm may be due to nerve damage rather than post-op recovery, and that if it does not clear up in another few months (1 year post-op) that it is likely to be permanent. He said disturbance of the intercostal (breathing) muscles is not uncommon where a rib is removed.
I will certainly talk to the consultant eventually, and he will make his own recommendations based on the X-rays and registrar's report. In the UK it's not really possible to get second opinions, so I wondered if anyone had any experience or studies relating to these questions:
1) Removing a piece of hardware after 1 year seems soon to me, at my age. Is there a recommended time and does it vary with age? Any studies showing the proportion of fusions that collapse after hardware is removed?
2) I've never heard of the breathing muscle spasms being a common nerve-related sequel of spinal fusion. Has anyone else heard of this or experienced it, and is there really nothing to be done?
3) Is it the case, again with older people, that the situation after 1 year usually remains the same long-term? What about the 2 year recovery period often mentioned, or does that apply only to the bone fusion?
Would be really grateful for any info,
Lavinia
He seems fairly certain, as I am, that the acute pain is coming from the uppermost connector at T2, and that it may be advisable to remove it. He thought a year post-op would be OK, but it will obviously go back to the consultant.
He also suggested that the spasm may be due to nerve damage rather than post-op recovery, and that if it does not clear up in another few months (1 year post-op) that it is likely to be permanent. He said disturbance of the intercostal (breathing) muscles is not uncommon where a rib is removed.
I will certainly talk to the consultant eventually, and he will make his own recommendations based on the X-rays and registrar's report. In the UK it's not really possible to get second opinions, so I wondered if anyone had any experience or studies relating to these questions:
1) Removing a piece of hardware after 1 year seems soon to me, at my age. Is there a recommended time and does it vary with age? Any studies showing the proportion of fusions that collapse after hardware is removed?
2) I've never heard of the breathing muscle spasms being a common nerve-related sequel of spinal fusion. Has anyone else heard of this or experienced it, and is there really nothing to be done?
3) Is it the case, again with older people, that the situation after 1 year usually remains the same long-term? What about the 2 year recovery period often mentioned, or does that apply only to the bone fusion?
Would be really grateful for any info,
Lavinia
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