Just wondering if this is normal following L5/S1 fusion????

[kyma3]

I think most of you know that I had the 360 lumbar fusion done in March and I started having pain in my lower back left side that runs down my thigh and so far to the knee although some days it may go down to my left foot. I was sitting in an upright chair reading the paper and when I went to get up I was numb from my waist all the way down on my left leg including the pelvic and butt area. I can't sit comfortably upright and sit better in my recliner were I can get the weight off my left hip. If I am standing I must put my weight on the right leg and I can't walk for very long due to that pain. It is a sharp stabbing pain in the lower back by my incision and burning pain down to the knee. I don't know of anything in particular that I did that would have caused this but it began about 3 weeks ago and it is very uncomfortable.

I know that there is another person on this board who is also having the same problem because we have been talking about it but I thought I would ask if anyone else experienced this pain? I am having a lot of problems with swelling in my feet also but I don't know if that is due to this or not. I cannot stand for anything to be up against my back. I hope I am making sense of this because it is hard to explain but I know that tmvincent knows what I am talking about. If this happened to you also would you please comment and let me know what helped you. This board is terrific and I appreciate all the information I receive and everyone here has always been so kind. Thanks to everyone.

Linda

[hugg724]

Hi Kyma -

One thing that could be going on is your nerves are "waking up". I had nerve flare ups for a year after my surgery. I also had alot of muscle spasms that felt like it grabbed the nerves when it would spasm. It was pretty damn painful. My doc put me on neurontin and it helped. I also took a muscle relaxer that helped more than pain meds. Call your dr though and talk to them. They may want to do an xray or MRI to check your fusion and make sure the hardware has shifted or moved.

I hope it gets better for you soon!!

[deviphish]

LINDA - - Whats going on here ? ? I do n o t like seeing you in pain !! I'm sorry I can't chat for long , my back is hurting as well right now.. Please write me tommorrow and explain exactly whats going on okay , i will pray for you tonight !!

I hope you are feeling a little better right now , I will talk with you on friday ok sweety..
g entle hugs billy boy

[lfoster21]

I remember after both of my fusions, I had "mysterious" pains that seemed to come out of no where. I'd call the Dr. and describe the pains and he would say that it was the nerves finding their way back into place or spasms etc. basically telling me that this was par for the course. I also remember insisting on comming in for him to see me and even after looking at my back and feeling around, he said the same thing. He also told me that it is almost impossible to dx. any problem, prior to 3 months, because there are so many of the phantom pains (that is what I called them) that happen in the 6 to 10 weeks of recovery. He said that he was checking to make sure I did not have any signs of an infection or any excess swelling. He also checked to make sure the incisions were clean and looked good. Other than that, he would not even do an X ray until the 3 month period because of the difficulty to determine if it is anything other than the norm.

So, all that said, I'd still talk to your Dr., but it would be normal to have these sensations at this point of your recovery. Also, sitting on the straight chair was the hardest thing to do after both surgeries and I remember reading the same on the boards, when I was asking about the sitting. I was thinking that I could sit longer, prior to the surgery, so I thought I was getting worse. But I did find that after 2 or so weeks of not being able to sit, I did see an improvement, by an extra 5-10 mins. of sitting at a time.

Good luck and keep us posted.
Lorie

[kyma3]

Hey Hugg thanks for the response. I take Soma as my muscle relaxer and I can't take Lyrica or Neurontin because I had bad reactions to both. It is really aggravating because I can't be on my feet for very long and also have to watch how I sit. I noticed you are from Nashville---my neurosurgeon is in Nashville and I have been seeing him for 5 years.

Hey Billy Boy I wish I knew what was going on with my back. It has really gotten me down the past few weeks and some days the pain is really bad. I went to Walmart by myself today thinking I should be able to shop on my own and I didn't think I would make it out to my car. I just thought I should be able to do more by now. When I finally got home I set down on the steps to my deck and cried because I was hurting so bad. It is my own fault but I am so tired of not being able to do the things I want to do. I guess I need to call my doctor and see what they say but usually you can't get your appt. moved up unless they consider it an emergency and I am sure they will tell me this is just normal healing. I told my husband tonight that I don't know what is causing my feet to swell and having problems with my bladder also (sorry). Can back problems cause feet and legs to swell?? Thanks for the prayers because I am a firm believer in prayer.

I am sorry that you are having pain also. What did you end up doing about your PM doctor? Did you stay with the original one or go with the new one? What medicine are you on now? Are you still with your sister? It sounds like you have such a great family. What happened with your job? Well I guess I asked enough questions for now but I have missed talking to you. Take care and hope you get to feeling better.

Prayers to everyone on this board because I know we all have our problems.l

Gentle Hugs
Linda