Walking after a fusion

04-04-2007, 12:51 AM

Hi All

As I sit here totally unable to sleep because of leg pain I thought I would post about walking. On my last visit, my doctor and I had a very lengthy discussion about this very topic.

Everywhere you read it is about WALK, WALK, WALK and then more WALKING, WALKING, WALKING after a fusion. It is supposedly the best thing to do. Well there are some exceptions to this rule and it just so happens that in my case WALKING, WALKING, WALKING is not always the best thing to do.

At my last appt a week ago Monday, my surgeon said that he wanted me to start pool therapy walking because it is better than land walking. I am working on opening our pool this week so that I can begin doing as he asks.

As far as walking on land, he wanted me to walk down my driveway once per day (900 ft) only which I did with no problems. If I was okay with this for one week then he wanted me to increase to walking two times down the driveway per day for one week. If I began having problems, he wanted me to cut it in 1/2 and do that for a week. In another words to build up gradually in one week increments.

Okay so last week I did fine with walking the 900 ft. once per day so on Monday I increased my walking to 2 x. I did this with no problems. Tuesday rolls around. What did I do??? Yep, you guessed it I walked down my driveway 4 times. (Remember, I am type A. Moderation is very difficult and I don't like others to do for me. I am super woman.) And you guessed it, my leg pain is about a 20 right now on a scale of 1 to 10 and I can't sleep.

So I am writing this to you because I am a dum a**!! Listen to your doctor and remember WALKING, WALKING, WALKING is not necessarily a good thing in all cases. For me, baby steps are the key and it appears that I need to increase my WALKING at a very slow rate or I will be up in pain at night which is not what we want at 8 weeks post op.

Why is my case different than most cases?? I must be special.

Just kidding.

I will assume that maybe it has something to do with me having severe sciatica pain in my right leg for over 3 years. . . .I am healing slower than others...my nerves have been moved around twice in six months (laminectomy in May and fusion in February)..... also went into surgery knowing that there was a strong possiblity that some of the nerve pain may remain, etc.

Anyhow for what is worth this is my story on WALK, WALK , WALKING and if you are having problems you might consider this baby step increase thing and realize that each case is different and try as hard as it is not to compare yourself to someone who is walking 1 mile and they are more recently out of surgery then you are.

(Thanks for listening to me give myself a pep talk.)

04-04-2007, 04:47 AM

Hi Pepper, sorry your walking is killing you

didn't you have nerve issues before your surgery ? You know maybe you just have nerve damage , walking is good for most people , but I think for us cripples with nerve damage it isn't so good..Just go buy an ATV and ride wherever you go it easy ?

Seriously sorry your having problems . I feel alot better now that I'm taking xanax . I'm much happier anyway.

04-04-2007, 05:26 AM

Yes, Shawley I did have sciatica nerve problems for 3 1/2 years prior to surgery. I don't want to jump the gun but I think deep down I wonder if it is permanent. They say to give it 6 to 12 months to heal so I guess I just have to wait and see.

I am so excited that you are feeling better emotionally. Didn't they give you cymbalta too?? How is the pain???

04-04-2007, 05:31 AM

For me it depends where I walk. Really hard surfaces make my legs go numb and feel like they are on fire!! I do ok on wood and carpeted surfaces. I really notice a difference when i go say walmart as opposed to target. walmart floors are mostly con crete whereas Target has some carpet and I don't hurt nearly as bad shopping there. ( except in the wallet) I wish I could hire someone to shop for me! Good luck with the pool I am trying to talk Doug into getting on here. Maybe Ill just get the doc to tell him I need one. lol

04-04-2007, 05:32 AM

Pepper gives herself a "PEP" talk! That sounds very 3rd partyish! hehehe. sorry, I thought your last line was cute.

Sorry to hear your legs are still giving you a fit. I remember mine sailing me over the pain edge at your stage of healing also. Not a fun feeling.

Why hasn't your doctor put you on a nerve med? If you aren't sensitive to the meds.. why not try them.

It does stink when you see others sailing past you in their healing and doing good. Not that you dont want them to, but you wanna be right there keeping up. I was a slow healer myself, but it does get better. I am also type [COLOR="Black"][B]A[/B][/COLOR], that is bolded a bazillion times! Gotta keep talking to yourself and reminding yourself to exercise great patience. The healing will come and the pain will lessen with time.

Hang in there and keep talking to yourself, when you don't talk to yourself.. you overdo! Feel better. Tam

04-04-2007, 05:35 AM

Sounds pretty permenant to me Pepper ,sorry

But Like Tammy said why don't you take nerve medicine ? Lyrica works wonders for me.
Take care

04-04-2007, 07:18 AM

I am on Lyrica 100 mg. 2 times daily. My surgeon said on Friday that he would call me and we may need to adjust it.

Thanks for listening guys. I just needed to talk to someone in the middle of the night and gotta love my dogs but they were snoozing and not listening to me.

04-04-2007, 07:34 AM

Hi DDP,
Bren here. Amen, on the increase slowly. I am 11 months out from PLIF with hardware, plus I had and still have other issues such as the ddd and scolisis that I will probably always have to deal with. I think I am doing great compared to this time last year. I heard the same thing, walk, walk, walk. I have caused myself to have so many temporary setbacks by trying to walk to much to soon, because I have the same personality as you and especially since I am trying to lose weight. However, I have finally figured out after I overdo, and then have to stop to make the pain go away, am start over...I am defeating my own purpose. DUH! I always figure if 10 minutes does not hurt, I can do 20, usually wrong!! So, after 2 bouts with the sciatic stuuf in the lst month, here I go starting over again. I have figured out I can not do 20 minutes at 1 time, but I can do 10 minutes 2x per day. So...wish me luck, so far, so good. I have learned sometimes more is not always better. Oh, and I have been on no medication at all for several months. So that pleases me. Anyway, take it easy girl, Rome was not built in a day (Smile) Have a great day! Bren

04-04-2007, 08:00 AM

[COLOR="Navy"]Pepper,
LOL. Not to state the obvious, but do you think that maybe god is trying to teach you something? Just a thought? Some of us are just such slow learners....

You need my boss. He caught me standing on a chair changing the time on the clock. I can't wait for someone to do it either. He very calmly asked me what I was doing. I told him standing on a chair. "I can see that." was his reply. "Why don't I help you down off the chair so I can yell at you?" NExt time I'll lock the door first! LOL.

So, what have we learned? maybe less is better? The dogs don't want company in the middle of the night? Jeesh girl, give it up. You are only hurtin gyhourself. I would rather feel better in the nice weather, so ease up so you can enjoy it...said the woman who spent 4 hour moaning on her bed last night before she went to bed.....

why won't we ever learn? Hi, My name is Jill and I am an over compensator![/COLOR]

04-04-2007, 09:21 AM

Hi Pepper,
Thanks for posting this. You are SOOO right! We all need to remember that we're very knowlegeable about these back things and we've been there and have lots of experience, BUT: we don't know each other and we're not doctors. We can give lots of advice, but you make such a good point that you have to have common sense. There's lots of great information here that can help us all talk more intelligently with our doctors and know what questions to ask, but don't ever let us take the place of your doctor's good care. Listen to your doctors, folks!

Thanks Pepper. Hope you get that pool open soon!

Blessings,
Emily

04-04-2007, 10:26 AM

Jill - I think the LORD is trying to teach me a large lesson in patience and to not have everything in my home 100% put together all the time. Although I must say, I am not liking this lesson in life.

04-04-2007, 01:15 PM

[COLOR="Navy"]Pepper,
LOL. Well, I can relate. I don't know what to tell you.... it's been one of the hardest things that i have had to do. I have come up with a solution. I have decided that when it's time to have my eyes checked, i am going to skip this year. That way I can just blame bad eye sight! Should work, right?

Seriously, the stress that we put ourselves under is far worse than anything anyone else can do to us. I am my hardest critic. beat myself up. Over what? Will the world stop turning because I couldn't get that extra 50 feet walked, or that extra batch of bread done, or that extra window cleaned? Will I be a poorer person because of it? How will it benefit me this day? That is what I am struggling with. When I find something that is chewing at my butt ( I have long legs so maybe it would be on your back...

) I ask myself how it will affect me this day. I am learning to budget how much of me i can afford to give. I know I usually have a chuckle, but it does take a toll from me. I still work full time and I have to be the "floor Mom" so that takes from me also. There is only so much of me that i have that is still whole and not put back together by bailing wire and srews...

just a thought dear. If life hands you lemons...find the soul with the tequila and make maruaraitas (and invite me!)
Just jill.......[/COLOR]

04-04-2007, 06:11 PM

Pepper, sounds like they either need to adjust your Lyrica or try something entirely new for you. Obviously, the Lyrica isn't working or even taking the edge off it. I hope they give you something new to ease that pain your are in so you can rest better. Dont give up hope about the nerve pain.. the surgery is just way way too fresh to even think along those lines at this point. Just forget about that thought for now and concentrate on relieving the pain. I hope you get more rest tonite.

Jill, .. So that is what happened to my bread! Ok.. at least now I know! hehe.
And the --"Hi, my name is...overcompensator"! haha. You should work in a comedy club. You really do crack me up!

For me personally.. Im for Daquiri's.. count me in! And don't forget the cute little umbrella too! Cheers to us all!

Tam

04-04-2007, 07:55 PM

Tammy and Jill - thank you for your kind words of encouragement. Tonight I went to Target with my MIL and we cut up....I am suprised we did not get thrown out of there. We just laughed and acted stupid. It was a blast and I needed that. Sometimes you just need to escape and let everything go. Now I am taking a double hit of percocet but it was way worth it.

This back stuff can pull you down and if it was not for you, Clover, Vette, Shawley, Baybreeze, Carol, etc. I would be in serious trouble. Thanks for being there and providing me support. I think week 5 thru 8 have been by far worse for me than week 1 - 4. It has to get better.

04-05-2007, 05:55 AM

[COLOR="Navy"]Tam-
I just learned to spell tequila...i'm on to the rum based drinks next!

Pepper. Am glad that you went out. Sometimes that is what you need. Take some drugs and run or wheel away for awhile. I think we just expect us to heal far faster than our bodies are willing to go. I think my main problem is that I still think that I should heal like I did when I was in my 20s and 30s...and I'm not there any more... my children are.. that is such a sad feeling. I am just finally figuring out how to have a decent time and my body is getting too old to enjoy it. Now a late night is 11. Oh dear.

I had bronchitus last week. Tried to go back to therapy on Monday. Suffered on Tuesday. Went back on Wednesday (i'm a slow learner). My therapist spent 40 minutes trying to calm down my legs, put me on heat, then sent me home. I went to bed. Now that's pathetic (i learned to spell another new word). Oh well...enough fussing for a session. I'm off to find the little umbrella for the drinks. I suppose the glasses will have to be plastic. they don't trust us with glass ones these days....

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Walking after a fusion

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