Energy & Stamina 3 months out

[HappyDeanna]

Hi! I've found the various posts very helpful & encouraging to read. Thanks to all of you for sharing your experiences. It's so nice to be able to see how others are doing.
I had surgery in July 09, fused from T10 - S1, instrumented from T10 - L5,decompression from L2 - L5, bilateral hemilaminectomies, facetectomies, foraminotomies, spinal osteotomies, & 2 cages. Wow! What a mouthful! I'm 64. My lumbar curve was 51* corrected to 24*. I had about everything you could have: low back pain, leg pain, hip pain, anterior shin pain, osteoarthritis, lumbar spinal stenosis, intervertebral disk disease, & on & on.
Now the good part!! Post surgery I have been doing great. I still have some residual pain in some of the "old spots" but I'm hoping it will all resolve with time. I'm going to PT 2 x week & doing the exercises at home inbetween.
My question: How was your stamina & energy at 3 months? Mine is very
low. Afer I'm up for about 4 hours, I need a tramadol & feel best if I lie down.
Is this normal? Am I doing too much or not enough? Also some problems with sleeping. Some nights I sleep well but others I have insomnia.
What do you think??
HappyDeanna

[debbei]

Hi Deanna,

what I've learned here is that everyone's recovery is different. For myself at 3 months, I know that I was still taking daily naps. Especially if you are still on some pain meds, they really sap your energy. PT is hard work too, I'm sure that tires you out as well.

I would do whatever you feel comfortable with. Push yourself, but not too much, and no matter what, get enough rest.

One other thing that could be giving you insomnia is the pain meds, especially if you are cutting back on them. I had terrible insomnia when I was trying to stop the meds.

[JenniferG]

As Debbei says, our recoveries are all different. My advice would be to listen to your body. If you are tired, lie down and try to sleep. The drugs we're given can knock us out or keep us awake and it takes a while to get back to normal sleep patterns after the drugs are ceased.

It's a huge surgery and you sound like you're actually doing very well. Try not to worry, everything seems to resolve itself in time and you're still very early days. Take care.

[loves to skate]

Hi Deanna,
Welcome to the forum. We are closer in age than most on this forum and your list of problems with your spine sounds very much like mine. I would have to say that it took me a good year and 1/2 to get my stamina back. Even now, I spend many evenings laying on the couch watching a ball game or other program on TV because I also have residual pain in my right ankle, foot and butt, and find it uncomfortable to sit on the sofa for an extended period of time. My problems with sleeping relate to how much pain I have at the end of my day, in which case I take a Tylenol PM at bedtime and can usually fall asleep within 15 or 20 minutes. You are very soon after surgery, so I wouldn't worry too much about taking a pain pill and needing to rest. I hope your residual pain goes away much faster than mine. My Doctor said two years, but I'm getting pretty close to two years now so I know it will take longer for me. In spite of that, I am very grateful to be able to do many things now that I couldn't do two years ago. You sound to me as if you are right on schedule in your recovery. Where did you have your surgery if I may ask?
You have questions, we have answers. We are here to help in any way we can. Sally

[52skeedoo]

I had my surgery just a few days before you -- June 30. I know I do not have as much stamina as I used to. I am still working on building up the muscles that seemed to have disappeared. Also, I was told that my body would use energy to fuse the spine and since I had a long fusion, there's a lot to fuse.

I agree with the advice of others to just trust your body and rest when you feel like you need to. Sometimes I forget that and then I pay the price.

Sheri

[AustinPaula]

I too had my surgery just before you, and I am frustrated at how low my energy and strength are. I was glad to see your post and the responses. I am trying to learn patience through all of this but I think I get scared that I will always have to lie around like this and not be able to rejoin the rest of the world. I guess we should try to take their advice and wait it out a little longer. When I look back to where I started I can see progress but I would not have believed that at 3.5 months I would still be this slow. I hope a year from now we can look back and see all this as a distant image in the rear view mirror...