Susan's surgery at UCSF with Dr. Hu on 19 and 22 March, 2013

[Confusedmom]

Susan,

Maybe you are doing too much? Dr. Lenke doesn't generally let patients do PT until 6 months postop at the earliest. Could PT be aggravating your knee and/or butt? Also, regarding the hernia, if it can wait (medically) until a year postop, I think that would be better. You don't want to do anything invasive if you can help it because of the elevated risk of infection. Maybe lay off the doctors appointments and PT and just give yourself time to heal?

Also, have you recently decreased pain meds? That in itself can cause depression, especially if you were taking anything with codeine and/or Valium. I even felt slightly down when I discontinued Flexeril (muscle relaxant).

The butt pain: definitely could be the screw. I hate to tell you this, but I still have that pain at 16 months. I didn't have it preop, either. That baby is most likely coming out next spring!

The weight gain: I hear you, sister! I gained weight post-op and haven't lost it yet. But I don't think it's time for you to worry about that. Focus on healing, resting, walking, and eating healthy. The rest will come.

It is very normal to be down at this stage. Give yourself a break. Try to find something besides your back that can distract you. I read The Hunger Games and Fifty Shades of Gray. Easy, brainless, but kept my attention. This too shall pass, and you will feel better! Then you can plan our scoliosis wine/tea group. :-)

Evelyn

P.S. My son (age 10) had ACL repair this year, too.

[susancook]

Susan,

Maybe you are doing too much? Dr. Lenke doesn't generally let patients do PT until 6 months postop at the earliest. Could PT be aggravating your knee and/or butt? Also, regarding the hernia, if it can wait (medically) until a year postop, I think that would be better. You don't want to do anything invasive if you can help it because of the elevated risk of infection. Maybe lay off the doctors appointments and PT and just give yourself time to heal?

Also, have you recently decreased pain meds? That in itself can cause depression, especially if you were taking anything with codeine and/or Valium. I even felt slightly down when I discontinued Flexeril (muscle relaxant).

The butt pain: definitely could be the screw. I hate to tell you this, but I still have that pain at 16 months. I didn't have it preop, either. That baby is most likely coming out next spring!

The weight gain: I hear you, sister! I gained weight post-op and haven't lost it yet. But I don't think it's time for you to worry about that. Focus on healing, resting, walking, and eating healthy. The rest will come.

It is very normal to be down at this stage. Give yourself a break. Try to find something besides your back that can distract you. I read The Hunger Games and Fifty Shades of Gray. Easy, brainless, but kept my attention. This too shall pass, and you will feel better! Then you can plan our scoliosis wine/tea group. :-)

Evelyn

P.S. My son (age 10) had ACL repair this year, too.

Thanks Evelyn, the PT that I am doing is very mild and I am working with a PT with experience with patients with spinal fusion. I am mostly working on neck exercises. I will also do some gentle swimming.

I also think that my scar should be on my front and I would be more impressed with the enormity of my surgery. When I look in the mirror at my back, I am frequently amazed. When I look at my X-ray, I am amazed and cannot imagine that all of that hardware is inside of me!

The hernia....that's what I assume it is, I would like to go to a surgeon and have an assessment. I do not want to have it repaired unless there is a surgeon's concern about the intestines getting stuck.

I am at 4 months and stopped narcotics: Dilaudid at 2.5 months. I am doing a little bit better now, thanks to everyone's support. I am not a patient person and I always feel that I can somehow fix the problem. Right now, I am worried about fusion and my ugly hernia....and my headaches. My back hurts very little, mostly tightness on my butt and some on my back. My R leg weakness has improved some and the L leg butt pain has greatly improved with a lift.

Again, thanks for your and so many others support.

Pinot Gris, Evelyn? Susan

[susancook]

Incisional hernia

I saw a general surgeon about my hernia today and I have a complete separation of the rectus muscle that was cut with my ALIF.....about 8" plus he said. Crap. We talked extensively and he said that with such a large hernia that he cannot repair it with a laparoscope and he will use mesh with the repair.

He wants me to lose some weight before surgery as weight loss increases the chances of a successful surgery. I will probably have it done in November. I look like I am pregnant with my menopausal baby.

Susan

[back2life]

I saw a general surgeon about my hernia today and I have a complete separation of the rectus muscle that was cut with my ALIF.....about 8" plus he said. Crap. We talked extensively and he said that with such a large hernia that he cannot repair it with a laparoscope and he will use mesh with the repair.

He wants me to lose some weight before surgery as weight loss increases the chances of a successful surgery. I will probably have it done in November. I look like I am pregnant with my menopausal baby.

Susan

You and my husband!!! You both need to be on the mend with these hernias! He is sick of looking like a pregnant male! I feel so bad for you Susan. You have been through so much. Please be kind to yourself especially exercising (PT) with the hernia.

Todd (my husband) goes in tomorrow for some results on blood work. Things did not look good. We are very nervous as he has had cancer years ago but we are staying positive as he has always defied the odds! But all prayers are welcome. Just hoping it's a simple medication needing to add to his daily cocktails!

I will keep you in my prayers. Walking can be a successful way to lose weight! You can do it. Try cutting back one high calorie favorite snack one at a time and before you know it, you won't be missing them. If you need motivation, I will keep on you like a barking dog. (And no, I still have not made my appt. The peps in my life have taken priority!...but I will!)

Hugs to you girl! Hang tough!

[Susie*Bee]

So sorry to hear that, Susan. That's quite a hernia! Take it one day at a time-- and Back2life had some good solid advice on starting slowly with losing weight. I've had a lot of luck with Weight Watchers also, and have found the accountability there helps. Just remember to eat healthily no matter what.

I'm sorry to hear about your husband also, B2l... I'll be praying for all of you.

[JenniferG]

The news you didn't need, Susan.

Cut back a *little* on all meals especially dinner. Start to enjoy that slightly "empty" feeling, slight hunger even, that will happen in a few days. Your tummy will be slightly flatter. You'll know you're losing weight. That plus walking and changing snacks from unhealthy to healthy, if applicable, should see a small weight loss between now and November. You can do this, because you want a successful outcome.

[susancook]

You and my husband!!! You both need to be on the mend with these hernias! He is sick of looking like a pregnant male! I feel so bad for you Susan. You have been through so much. Please be kind to yourself especially exercising (PT) with the hernia.

Todd (my husband) goes in tomorrow for some results on blood work. Things did not look good. We are very nervous as he has had cancer years ago but we are staying positive as he has always defied the odds! But all prayers are welcome. Just hoping it's a simple medication needing to add to his daily cocktails!

I will keep you in my prayers. Walking can be a successful way to lose weight! You can do it. Try cutting back one high calorie favorite snack one at a time and before you know it, you won't be missing them. If you need motivation, I will keep on you like a barking dog. (And no, I still have not made my appt. The peps in my life have taken priority!...but I will!)

Hugs to you girl! Hang tough!

Tell your husband that I will be sending positive thoughts his way. While I am somewhat overweight, having a bulging lower belly really looks like I am out of control.....or having a menopausal baby! Walking is sometimes difficult as I get burning in my lower abdomen. I will keep trying to exercise, maybe try swimming.

I have decoded to eat every 3 hours, small meals of protein and veggie. I know that I need good nutrition for my spine to fuse, so I do not want to interfere with that.

I will send you PMs about my weight changes, so I would love to have you as a coach.

Take care of yourself! You may be needed to help your husband after his hernia surgery.
Susan

[susancook]

So sorry to hear that, Susan. That's quite a hernia! Take it one day at a time-- and Back2life had some good solid advice on starting slowly with losing weight. I've had a lot of luck with Weight Watchers also, and have found the accountability there helps. Just remember to eat healthily no matter what.

I'm sorry to hear about your husband also, B2l... I'll be praying for all of you.

Thanks for your support! I am glad that I had my hernia validated by the surgeon. It is pretty obvious really. I sent an email to Dr. Hu's office about my symptoms and got an email back that "it probably is not a hernia as they rarely happen. It is just a separation of the muscle that will heal." Right! Even my husband who is a nuclear engineer could see that it was a hernia!

I will take it slow and eat protein and veggies and take my Centrum Silver vitamins.
Susan

[mabeckoff]

So sorry to hear about your problems

Prayers your way

Melissa

[mabeckoff]

You and my husband!!! You both need to be on the mend with these hernias! He is sick of looking like a pregnant male! I feel so bad for you Susan. You have been through so much. Please be kind to yourself especially exercising (PT) with the hernia.

Todd (my husband) goes in tomorrow for some results on blood work. Things did not look good. We are very nervous as he has had cancer years ago but we are staying positive as he has always defied the odds! But all prayers are welcome. Just hoping it's a simple medication needing to add to his daily cocktails!

I will keep you in my prayers. Walking can be a successful way to lose weight! You can do it. Try cutting back one high calorie favorite snack one at a time and before you know it, you won't be missing them. If you need motivation, I will keep on you like a barking dog. (And no, I still have not made my appt. The peps in my life have taken priority!...but I will!)

Hugs to you girl! Hang tough!

Prayers going your way and for Todd as well

Melissa

[Irina]

Hi Susan,

The good news is that your general surgeon confirmed the hernia diagnosis and he will take care of it. I feel for you and it is so unfair to have this hernia several months out, but it could have been worse if nobody knew what's going on. I am just trying to cheer you up...

[susancook]

Thanks Melissa and Irina for your kind words. It was a relief today to have a plan and to see an end to this process. I remember the first time that I met Dr. Hu. I was worried that she would say that " there is nothing that I can do for you, Susan". Instead, she told me that she recommends surgery (i thought that surgeons do not recommend surgery, but just offer choices, surprised me!) and that if i did not have surgery that i would probably continue to deteriorate. Same with today....knowing that there is nothing that can be done must be a very frustrating situation.

I really liked the hernia surgeon, hernia repair is his specialty. And he had personality!

Onward to getting ready for my next adventure! Hernia surgery should be a piece of cake compared to 2 day spinal surgery. Maybe he can do a small tummy tuck at the same time....
Susan and her menopausal baby

[JenniferG]

Wouldn't it be good if we could have a raft of things fixed in the one go? Where I live, Queensland, it's the skin cancer capital of the world. I have a mole near my spine, just near where Dr. Askin cut and I half expected him to nick it off while he was at it but he didn't. A friend of mine had a breast reduction and got her friend, a hand surgeon, to come in after the breast reduction, and fix a couple of ganglions she had on her hands. Seems sensible to me.

[mabeckoff]

Wouldn't it be good if we could have a raft of things fixed in the one go? Where I live, Queensland, it's the skin cancer capital of the world. I have a mole near my spine, just near where Dr. Askin cut and I half expected him to nick it off while he was at it but he didn't. A friend of mine had a breast reduction and got her friend, a hand surgeon, to come in after the breast reduction, and fix a couple of ganglions she had on her hands. Seems sensible to me.

I am so glad that I saw Dr Bederman before my hip surgery and not afterwards. Hopefully, this will eliminate one surgery for me

Melissa

[JenniferG]

I am so glad that I saw Dr Bederman before my hip surgery and not afterwards. Hopefully, this will eliminate one surgery for me

Melissa

Absolutely. Some things do work out for the best! Even if it doesn't necessarily seem that way at the time. I'm just glad Dr. Bederman is doing his best for you because it's probably unusual to have two different surgeries under the one anaesthetic. I think this is a "special" for you Melissa. I hope that both the hip surgery and this broken rod surgery sees you in a great deal less pain. Forever. (You've already had more than your fair share.)

Hangin' in there with you!