The doc said they had to crack my vertabre to get to my disc,which was totally degenerated(worse then MRI showed). what does that mean?
I am on neurontin 3x, valium 5mg3x, and 2 5mg perc every 3 -4 hours. the perc dose gives no relieve what does anyone else think.I talk to doc tomorrow and all I can say is that my incision is abouit 5 inches long and taped. Sorry it is hard to type since I am lying sideways on my bed for only 15 minutes before I have to switch positions. This pain sucks and even though I feel it is all incision pain, I can not tell yet if and of it is comeing from my spine area.
I gotta pee in the sink bc i can not lift toilet seat up.JUst to let you all know!!!!

the sink picture will never leave me now. I can say that it hurts right now, but after one week you will feel a little better, and after two weeks you will be a little bit better, after 6 weeks you will be wondering if you need the pills any more. Slowly, ever so slowly the pain will go away. It's a long road, but there are those of us who have just gone through what you are now. Relax all you can and do not rush it. What we just went through is very major surgery and our bodys are under a stress load that only time and rest can fix.
try a bed pan instead of the sink. It does get better, you just have to relax and let it go buy.

thanks for the reply, but i also have a 10 day son at home(our 1st) and WC scheduled the surgery knowing this.....I am a man and want to help my wife as much as I can, but I can not even lift or even hold my son in my arms bc of the pain. It sucks but I will hang in their thanks!!!!


dont know why it says female by my name??????lol

well then sir, get a plastic urnal and just roll over and use that, stay in bed and get up only when you need to eat. You need to walk, its the best thing for you. Even if it is only back and forth from the front door to the back door with your walker, and then back to bed. That drove me nuts. But I had to tell myself to relax and let the day go by. Get a tv in the bedroom, this will help. The baby adds stress, and there is nothing that you can do. The mrs. is going to have to call for help because she has two babys now. I hope there is family or friends that can help you or your wife with her babies. Relax the best way you can, it will and does get better, but it will be slow. You will get through this, there are many believe it or not, that are worse then you. Think of our soulders that have lost limbs and life. You just went in for an upgrade. You will mend, it is just slow. hang in there, it does get better.

Hello,
I was wondering how a female could climb into a sink to pee. lol:D :D :D . After my 2 level TLIF,there was no way I was climbing anything.
Hang in there, it gets better.
Sheri

Hello,
I was wondering how a female could climb into a sink to pee. lol:D :D :D . After my 2 level TLIF,there was no way I was climbing anything.
Hang in there, it gets better.
Sheri


I asked my wife to try and she told me to go to bed!!!!!LOL

Hi,
Congrats on your lil one!!!! Welcome also. Well good to see you have your sense of humor, dont' laugh to hard tho, it will really hurt then. As the others have said, it will get better a lil more every day. I have had 4 fusion surgeries since 10/03, trust me the pain will go away. The first few weeks are rough, for sure, but then it gets noticeably better almost by the day.

I will have you on my prayer list, you and your whole family, please tell your wife she is in my prayers also.

God Bless

Carol

I have been trying to help out bc the pain meds mask the true pain I am having. I have since just layed on the sofa and then the bed, with walks to the mailbox, which took 15 minutes each way. How do I know if it is just incision pain bc I am having right buttock pain that is sharp to the touch.

Also the doc said he had to crack my vertabre to get to my disc which was totally destroyed(which the mri said was just a small tear and bulge) Moral of the story is dont let others think you are faking the pain, and do not believe that your pain isnt real bc it is!!!! I have been sick of telling friends family about all my procedures shots, Idet, discogram,..etc which failed.....hopefully this worked!!!

please reply back this helps alot. I had to edit my post 3 times bc these meds have made me STUPID!!!!

Hey lala1022,
I hear ya on the meds making you stupid, I'm on 2400 mgs of neurontin a day, It biggest side effect for me is the forgetfullness, I can't remember what I'm saying mid sentance sometimes, I'm told that will go away when I'm off the meds.

I understand about being sick of repeating the battery of things you have been thru, when someone asks how I am I just say ok now, then if they say really how are you, then I know they really want to know.

Your spine has been thru major stuff, you more than likely have some temporary nerve damage. If your nerves were compressed or pinched they weren't feeling like they should surgery gives them back life again. They can be more painful until they heal. That may be what your butt pain is from. I still have nerve damage pain & numbness, it has gotten much better but still has a way to go. Nerve damage can take up to 18 months to completley heal.

Are you wearing a brace of any kind? Don't push yourself too hard you can do damage still if your not careful. Even tho you can't feel the pain your at a very delicate stage of recovery, no twisting, turning, lifting, pulling or pushing even the littlest amount can not be good for you.

Maybe you can do things like lay with your lil guy on the bed to give your wife a break. If you can, make a pot of coffee, lil things like that for now. I know how hard it is to stop when you want to do so much. Trust me your gonna be playing in the back yard soon enough with that lil one.

I hope you get well so very soon, I can't imagine how I woudl have felt if I had a lil baby whenIhad my fusions. My baby is almost 16 and very good at taking care of his mom, so is his dad. i will be watching yoru posts for good news. Good Luck.

God Bless

Carol

i am a correction officer and my doc think after pt at 6 weeks, I should be able to return to work in 6 months. I do not want to be pressured until I feel i am able and healed. I do not want to be back to square one after all i have been thru. hopefully my docs and lawyer agree with me. pain sucks i just wanna get better.

Hey Lala,

I hear you on wanting to heal up right before returning to work. I'm doing the same thing. Right now I have some issues with nerve pain in my left foot that's getting taken care of along with healing from my 2 level fusion 7/11. I feel the same about not wanting to go right back where I started. For me at work it's like going right back thru a cycle if I have to be any days after coming back since we have an occurance point system. Better to stay home and heal properly than chance everything.

Teresa

I have incision pain on the right and left, also I get pain down my right leg which never happened before. Work is pushing for medical retirement....what kind of rating would I be looking and$$$$ for my injuries. L5 S1 ddd, tear,bulge, TLIF with cage and screws and rods, Idet with nucleoplasty in 8/05, many shots facet radio denervation discogram,,,etc etc etc.
I want to return to my job so bad but I need to know all of my options.

someone plZ respond with the numbers of disability for my injuries or a site where I can find anything about back ratings.


sorry about spelling but I am on the floor and cant see to good. LOL.
workmans comp is a joke and they have been so slow approving everything while I have gotten worse!!!!:blob_fire and I am still a man someone plz switch it from female to male!!!!!

lala.. Sorry your still having the pain and I will address that later. But, I used to be a HR Director. No one can tell you about $$$ at all. It is defined by your companies program and applicable laws. You need to contact your HR department at your company and have them send you all appicable paperwork to which they refer, and then set up a phone consult with the HR Director and your immediately supervisor, and go through it one by one, so you have a CLEAR UNDERSTANDING of what they are saying to you.

Don't agree to anything at that time. Take notes, reread and digest all the information before making a decision.

If this is a work related injury, I would be consulting with a lawyer (I am now a paralegal) and you need a Workman's Compensation Lawyer to give you some advice before signing anything. If you are permanently disabled and unable to work going forward in the field you are in or otherwise.. there may be some answering by your company from negligence which has now injured you and is keeping you from earning a living. That is not legal advice, but just common sound advice. I strongly suggest you go in this direction.

As to the pain.. your incision pain is normal. I can't remember when you had the surgery, but as it heals, it tightens around the incision area, some scarring occurring which can also cause pain. My therapist massaged my incisions (I have 6 of them in my back) with a breast pump. Yep.. that is what i meant to type. She put it on my back.. creating suction and then gently moved it over my back and incisions and it got rid of the pain. Since most dont readily stock one in their medical cabinets.. some massaging around the incisions might help with that some. The nerve pain down the leg.. I had too and it started two weeks post fusion. It was bad and I did not have any pain in this leg before the surgery either. It has gotten much better and am on no nerve meds for it, as I am allergic to them. And the nerve pain diminishing is most attributed by doing PT, with this amazing rehab therapist. She is great at stretching and exercising that area to ease the pain. It still comes and goes, but it not as intense as just after the surgery. So in time, hopefully that will calm down for you.

You should be able to change back to male yourself. Just looking at that.. looks funny! hehehe. I think somewhere up in the bluebar toggles there, is an option for you to adjust your settings. You must have selected female by mistake and it is showing you as female instead of male. I know we can change things, because I did myself at one point. Just fish around there.. it's there somewhere.

Take care. Tammy:wave:

Hi,
If your click on the user CP in the upper left cormer of the blue strip, then click on edit profile, then you can change your gender.

I'm so sorry you still in pain, still praying for ya.

Good Luck & God Bless

Carol

i am a correction oficer and had the surgery 2 weeks ago monday(tomorrow)
My pain keeps me up at night, while I nap during the day. the percs have gone anywhere from 65mg-45mg a day when pain is more controlable. (i take the 5mg pills) so anywhere from 13 to 9 pills a day. i take 3 valium 5mg, and 3 neurotins 300mg a day. Some days are hard but I am trying my best. The meds help tremendously with my walks and since I have a newbown (no lifting) I help out the best I can. Therapy in 4 weeks seems like a joke, but I will try.
I see doc tomorrow for 2 week x ray, and hope that he sees I am trying to control the med intake....anyone know if i am takin gto much or to little of the pain meds???/ Some days actually most days I stop from taking an extra 1 or 2 percs because I deal with the pain a little longer than i think I should. Am I wrong or am I wrong should I take the percs like the bottle reads 1 to 2 pills every 4 to 6 hours....which means if I am up 16-18 hours a day (remember newborn baby) that could be 12 pills or more????
I would like others experience with post op TLIF pain meds, and what their docs say to do... ty everyone this site helps.

spelling still sucks but what can you do in the funky position I am in.....it is like twister red foot blue, left hand red, right food green!!!!!

Hi Lala,
As far as your pain meds go, if you take them as the bottle reads you will be in much less pain. I had someone wake me or set the alarm to stay on schedule. If you let the pain get really bad it takes longer and more meds to get in under control. Should you still be in pain after following the dosage you should probably call your doc and let him know. There is no gain in trying to tuff it out and take less meds. If you are in pain your body is really under undo stress and that will make your recovery harder. Your neurontin is a low dose, you may need to talk to your doc about if that is effective for you as well. I am almost 11 months post op, I take 2400 mg of neurontin, ES Vicodin
(750 mg) 3 times a day, 10mg flexiril 3 times a day, and pamalor 10mg 2 at bedtime. Now I do have complications so don't think you will be like you are 11months later but you are on pretty low dose of meds for the type of surgery you just had.

I am so sorry your suffering still, trying to tolerate your pain is not part of recovery, no dr. will tell you to stay in pain, so call your doc and get this meds problem worked out so you can enjoy your new lil guy. Your really about half way thru the worst part of recovery, once you hit about 3-4 weeks post op it really does get much better.

Good Luck & God Bless

Carol

just gpt back from docs and x ray showed everything lokks great. as for neurotin i was told to take 2 pills a day for 3 days then 1 pill a day for 3 days then no more??? And to stop using my walker.......which I need for walks over 50 feet???? I got another 60 refill of perc but when i handed the script to pharmacist I realized that is suppossed to last me until 4 wekks which is my next appt??? Waiting for doc to call back bc I only have 40 5mg percs left .. Let me say that the pain is different but it still hurts!!!!

I love typos now and I will not go back and change it....d:confused: does it really matter LOL

I am weining off neurotin in 5 days....what the heck did it even do for me? I think they explained it in the hospital but I dont remember much?As you can see I am still awake and it is 500am I cant sleep. Boy does this suck

Can't you call your surgeon and ask them to mail a prescription to your pharmacy? Mine did that on the percocet while I needed them. I didn't have to wait until I could go pick up a prescription - they just could not call in or fax one to the pharmacy, at least not on the percocet. If they are willing to do that, just make sure you call them 3 days or so before you run out.

After a week with the inlaws 3 hours away ....drove in reclined position, I was in alot of pain, took 2 breaks and got up with walker and walked around. My pain meds have gone from 60mg down to 35mg last night. I can honestly say the best thing to do is to do nothing or as little as possible. Laying down may be boring as heck, but it will help, also walking 20 minutes a day . Eat lots of fruit and drink lots of water....I see the light at the end of the tunnel and do not want to overdue anything. Like i said I had the TLIF and the incision pain is sometimes unbearable, but hopefully it goes away. I sometimes get a shooting pain down my one leg which I never had before. Plz post if you have are post op with any info.....GOOD OR BAD plz!!!