Hi all,

I'm about to make the 6wk post-op appointment to see my surgeon.

I had a laminectomy at the beginning of april and I still see no positive improvements. The op was for nerve compression at L5. The cause wasn't seen during the operation, he just cleared out a lot of space for the nerve which was very swollen, and sorted out a small herniation. Things are the same as pre-op. Some things are worse...I can't sleep on my back at all now (I have pain starting after 5-10mins of lying flat, so consequently its worse when I wake up whereas in the past it was always worse at the end of the day). i also get a lot of twitching in my toes and foot when I'm lying down, although I guess this could be a good sign.

Anyhow, any advice on what to ask during this appointment? I guess i expect, probably correctly, to be told just to wait a bit longer...but I know if this is all I hear I will just come out feeling more at a loss... is it too early to ask for new scans.

So, any advice welcome...
Thanks all and have a good weekend.
Jinks

:wave:

Wow Jinks ,
That is tough luck . I bet that post op pain will go away and you will be back to where you were before the surgery. Can it be possible that your pain was not even based on that area ? I read alot about failed back surgery and the main cause is they cant find the source of the pain. Maybe thats what happened here.

It could be that you just need more time to heal. We all heal at different rates. I know my laiminectomy took me a good six weeks to heal from and I was still having pain. It was better but not 75% better.

Jinks,

I had an appt last week with my surgeon's nurse to get my stitches out. I had a level 1 fusion (l5-s1) on 4.26.2007. At the appt, I told the nurse that my left sciatic nerve was very tender and sore. She said after surgery the nerves heal only a half an inch at a time. She said it would take a long time for the nerves to calm down, so hang in there. My suggestion to you would be to be honest with your surgeon about your pain. Don't be angry and hostile, just be honest so your surgeon can adjust your meds accordingly.

Good Luck!

I am waiting for the insurance company to approve my second surgery. It is similar to the one you had. They are addressing compressed nerve roots that weren't seen before and also ones that are being compressed with scar tissue. They are going to try and open up the spinal canal area and nerve canal area, so that when the scar tissue returns, or developes, it doesn't compress the nerve as bad. He said that we would know at about three months if the surgery worked or not. He gave me 50/50 for odds on this surgery. At six weeks I don't think the nerve swelling has had a change to calm down yet. I would definitly ask him about the toe twitching. It could be that nerve trying to heal itself as it was probably compressed for awhile. Write all you questions down. Good Luck!