ALIF Surgery - How Bad Post-op Pain And Recovery Time?
May 13, 2014
I am going to be scheduled for an L5/S1 (ALIF) fusion surgery. While I am in significant amounts of pain, I am nervous about the recovery for this procedure. I would like to think that I have a high tolerance of pain but I am very nervous about this procedure. How long is the typical recovery time and how bad is the post-op pain? I am having a difficult time deciding when to have my surgery because I don't know how long to expect to be incapacitated.
View 3 Replies
Advertisement
I am a 40 year old male that has had two back surgeries. First Surgery February 2014 Lumbar Spine Posterior Discectomy Micro-discectomy on L4 & L5. Surgery failed no improvement. My Second surgery March 2015 Anterior lumbar interbody fusion (alif) surgery on L4, L5, & S1 with cage implants and bone grafts harvested from my own hip bone. I experience sciatica on my right leg and most frequent on left leg ;shooting pain down my right/left hip/buttocks, goes down the back of the leg. The last 3 years left foot numbness. My worst pain is in bed getting up is very painful. Before my ALIF surgery I suffered from sciatica foot numbness and pain in mostly my left leg region. After 6 weeks post ALIF surgery or so I started getting pain in my buttock/hip region. This actually started during my physical therapy. At first I was doing water therapy this is when it started. My last day of water therapy I was literally about to go to ER from P.T clinic. From there on it just had gotten worst, no real improvement. I went back for more P.T sessions stretching and other exercises . What Physical Therapist did notice that my hip motion was very limited and not much improved happen during all my sessions about 40 or so. Its being about 10 months after surgery and 4 months of P.T. and pain on hips doesn't go away. I have to be careful going up or down stairs. Getting out of bed or moving around in bed its a battle. I have spoken to my surgeon and he says it will take more time for recovery and possible have to live with this pain as a fact of life. I have also spoke to other doctor s and pretty much same response. Once thing I just found out recently is about Hip Bursitis. I was diagnosed with Arthritis. My surgeon keeps on saying its my Arthritis causing pain but prior to ALIF surgery I never had this buttocks pain , specially getting in and out bed. I was wondering if anyone has had same symptoms after spinal fusion surgery having Hip Pain From Arthritis or Hip Bursitis?
View 10 Replies
I'm 25 years old and had been living with stage II internal hemorrhoids for about 4 years now, and with a prolapsed thrombosed from one for about six months. It got seriously painful about three weeks ago and I couldn't sit down or do regular daily activities anymore. So I decided to visit a private clinic where they suggested the DG-HAL surgical procedure saying it was "non-invasive" and that they would surgically remove the thrombosis as well. Fast forward, I had the procedure done this Wednesday and they said "Oh yeah it's a fast recovery, we do it on Wednesdays and Thursdays so that people can get back to their jobs by Monday"..so here I am, Sunday 4.45 A.M., haven't slept since the surgery, and I just don't feel like stuff is healing. I have no appetite but am forcing myself to eat more small meals and drink plenty of water and fiber and oil supplements to make the BM pass better. So my concerns are the following: it's already the fourth day and i feel more pain, and have the feeling like by bowels are full and trying to rip out of my torso. I'm taking antibiotics as well as ketoprofen painkillers every 6 hours or so because It's just to unbearable. I have the urge to visit the toilet very frequently but when I try to push something out only small traces come out (it is soft and without blood though). It hurts like hell after I pass gas or a BM, the cut out thromb takes up most of the pain. When I try to go to sleep, as soon as I begin to doze off a spasm contracts in my rectum and the throat starts hurting like hell and it wakes me up. They say the method takes about 3-4 days to recovery, but as you can see I call baloney on that. So if anyone has had a similar experience can you tell me if this is normal and if it isn't what should I do about it? I have a written exam on Monday and I want to be functional to take it.
View 23 Replies
I am interested in how you have recovered and how your nerve pain is.
i just had an alif L5=S1 on oct 22 and i think things are going ok. I only have slight discomfort around my spine, have slight nerve aches in my left leg but my feet ache like i have been standing all day. My surgeon told me to expect nerve pain for up to 4 months but i cant help worrying when i get pain where i never had it before I don't get pain walking or sitting, only the foot pain when standing and nerve pains when lying down.
View 5 Replies
I'm 20 and im coming closer and closer to getting neurosurgery to remove a cavernoma, its at the left just sitting on the top of my brain, the side effect from it is epilepsy (my left cheek goes tingly..that's all)and that's stopping me from being able to drive, which costs me jobs and frustrates me a lot since my neurologist found out what it was weeks before my driving test so i never even got to pass!the other problem is it could burst and then id be dead...Yay.So were looking at the neurosurgery, i was just wondering if anyone knew the answers to the following questions:
how long will general recovery take? i.e. how long will i be in hospital for? and how long before i will feel normal again?
how long before you can drive after brain surgery? as my aunt got a tumor removed and she has to wait a year.
what are most common side effects after that kind of surgery?
how big a dent will i have in my head after? the thing there taking out is like insanely small, like quarter of your thumb nail size.
obviously its dangerous but is there much chance of anything going bad or are these ops a pretty standard thing nowadays ?
and can it come back? i don't know if that would depend on what they're removing?
View 14 Replies
I broke my heel 54 days ago, felling down from 2nd floor. I am really nervous & worried about... Doctor told me you need to keep cast for 60 days (or 8 weeks) 2 weeks ago I had 2nd x-ray, it was 40th day of fracture... I smoke, as you know it makes bone recovery period longer....On my X-ray heel didn't look like recovered....bones were darker color, fracture place still lighter, but doctor said its fine & you can put weight on that foot and come back after 2 weeks, we will take off cast and put on some kinda fixing boot. However, neither 2 weeks ago, not now I can put weight on it. It hurts so bad....I don't know what to do, do what doctor says, or listen my pain? I want to know if its normal to feel such bad pain whilst doctor say your bone is okay? and how come it's okay, if on my X-ray even I can see its not okay.
View 14 Replies
I am 4 weeks post op from ALIF at L5-S1. I've had discectomy done twice (2002 and 2012) The last one didn't help any so we did injections and that offered no relief so it was on to the fusion. So far I haven't reached that point where I'm feeling any relief. My surgeon acted like I should have felt relief immediately. I'm still having lower back, butt, and all the way down my leg into my ankle and foot pain (all of this on the LEFT side) I've read and been told it could be quite a while before I get any relief. I was told I would only be in the hospital for 24 hours and was in there for 4 days. I used a walker for the first week and a half or so. I can now move around without it, I'm just very careful. I mostly lay flat in bed with ice. I do get up quite often to walk around the house and have started sitting up in a chair that my Home PT set up for me when he came to visit immediately after surgery. I also do the exercises my PT gave me.
About 4 days ago, I was laying on my side and I reached back to turn my heating pad on. I guess I wasn't thinking and twisted too much. I felt a sharp pain in my back that shot down my leg. Every since then, I have had the worst pain in my back. (I still had the same amount of pain in my back/butt/leg/foot as I did before this surgery 6/10. This new pain has been added to a new place in my back, and when I move it goes up to about a 8/10) I was giving it a few days before I called my surgeon because I don't want to be one of those people who constantly call the dr with small issues that go away after only a few days. This definitely is showing no signs of letting up) The worst part is, they just moved my meds down from hydrocodone 10-325 every 4 hours to Hydrocodone 7.5-325 every 6-8 hours. (Previously to surgery I had been on percocet 10-325/6 hours since June of last year. My surgeon prescribed that for one week after surgery then refilled me with hydrocodone 10-325/4 hours the last 2 weeks. These really didn't do the job, but at least I was somewhat comfortable so I dealt with it.) Now that they changed me down again, I'm getting no relief. Especially with this new pain. Over the weekend I was taking more than I was suppose to and now I'm worried I won't be able to get a refill when I need it. I've been taking pain meds for a little over 2 years now. I look forward to the day I no longer have to rely on them just to be able to get up out of bed in the morning. That day just doesn't seem to be anytime soon. I feel that at the age of 36, I am too young to be in this kind of physical condition.
When I walk, I am bent over to my right side like a little old lady. I can't stand up straight. And each time I take a step with my left leg, it feels like someone is stabbing me in the lower back on my left side. Hopefully I can get some answers tomorrow when I call. I knew this surgery was going to be a long recovery, and I was prepared for that. This new pain really has me worried and I really hope I haven't done something to mess it up. I just don't feel like this pain is something I should be having
Has anyone else injured themselves while recovering from a fusion like this? If so, what was your results? Did it heal on it's own or what? I know everyone is different, it's just good to not feel quite so all alone thru this. No one understands unless they have been thru it. Especially doctors they seem to think that everything goes exactly like the "book" says it should. That's just not always the case.
View 1 Replies
8 days ago I had ALIF surgery on L5-S1 disc. I can not get over how good my back feels. I never thought that I would be pain free again. I spent the last 2 1/2 years in extreme pain, I had tried everything to relieve the pain but nothing seemed to help even a bit. I had been taking 10/325 norco 4-5 times a day. Now after surgery I have absolutely no back pain, I do however have some discomfort in the stomach area from the incision. I go to get my stitches out in 6 days and still have 3 weeks before I go back to the surgeon for my follow up. I am hoping he will let me go back to work after my follow up. I know that all surgeries are not this textbook but for me it was remarkable. I am hoping that I can do some kind of working out once I have total fusion. I have put on 35 pounds over the last 2 1/2 years and have not been able to exercise. I hope others have had such great success with this surgery.
View 3 Replies
Had ALIF surgery almost 3 weeks ago and now bad leg pain on back of my thighs and under left knee. Is this common and when will go away. Back pains I knew but leg is bad.
View 1 Replies
I am early on after my discectomy (day 3), but I am concerned. I see many people have immediate pain reduction, I woke up and still had my preop pain. Now it's just pain deep in my thigh and the surgical pain. I am also worried because I still can't stand up straight! I haven't been able to stand straight for two months following a car accident that reherniated my l5s1. The original injury was resolved to an acceptable level without surgery. It was interesting that the car accident immediately stopped all nerve pain in my right leg that I learned to live with, but it moved to the left leg!
I am just getting concerned since I see so many posts where people wake up painless and can walk freely. I can walk for maybe 2 minutes then i am in really bad pain, and i'm hunched over while walking. Should I be concerned? Any insights from people with less than storybook recoveries?
View 10 Replies
I had my surgery carpal tunnel syndrome 7 weeks ago on my dominant right hand. My job requires a lot of manual handling with adults with learning difficulties and pushing of heavy wheelchairs therefore I am still off work. I am in constant pain and scar area is solid and tender feels lumpy. I started physio exercises 2 weeks ago and hadn't really done much before that except wiggle fingers as I had not been given any advice at all post op. 2 weeks ago I couldn't even make a fist or reach my thumb to each finger, now I can make a fist and touch all finders and am using it normally but with a lot of pain, more so at night and shooting pains, my grip is extremely poor which worries me after this length of time. I am scheduled to have my left one done in around 6-8 weeks but I am now considering cancelling as I worry constantly that this will not resume to 100% mobility. Has anyone had this problem after this length of time? and did it improve up to 12 weeks post op?
View 42 Replies
I recently just had my bunion surgery on May 2, 2014. I know its been a few weeks and all but i felt that reading all these posts regarding to bunion recovery sorta urged me to post my share about it.
The surgery went well, but as for pain, its still very difficult to bare with. I have been feeling these weird tingling feeling throughout my entire foot, as well as having a burning sensation feeling and tightening where the screw was implanted. of course its very stiff still but when i try to bend it i get this sharp pinching pain right where the bunion was cut. I need to know if this is normal. I am in the military and of course i know they will state that its normal, but i want to get a second opinion.
View 2 Replies
I am 4 weeks post op and still having frequency issues and pain when urinating. How much longer can this go on?
View 1 Replies
On Feb. 17, 2014, I had lap band surgery & in the process, surgeon removed a hiatal hernia. I have had no problems at the incision site, but intense pain in my diaphragm, left side, and up my left shoulder..between my collarbone and top of breast. Pain moves across my chest, but the worst in on left side. At 2 week checkup, I was told my diaphragm was irritated and it would go away. I take 4 Advil per day at his suggestion, and nothing seems to help, but lying flat. What is causing my pain & how can it be relieved? Also, I get hiccups several times per day.
View 1 Replies
Surgery was 'success' they were originally planning on putting a bracket on the posterior side but said my bone structure wouldn't allow it or something.
So it was mainly an ALIF but they did go through the back to do some bone grafting, so I have incisions on both sides.
So far so good on recovery, obviously very ginger but have been up and moving since 24 hours after and was in hospital for 2 1/2 days.
Have used painkillers when needed but I plan to take it very easy and not push anything. Doing my regular exercises / walking each day has worn me out pretty good but overall so far so good. ANy questions let me know and I will keep updating this thread over the next couple weeks.
View 4 Replies
Had this op performed by Mr Reece at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Glasgow just over 3 weeks ago. I have 8 screws and two cages in my disc space packed with synthetic bone grafts and injected with bone marrow taken from my vertebrae.
I was up walking the same day, baby steps buy nonetheless, walking. I was in hospital for 4 days (I would have been out earlier if my bowels had moved sooner).
The first 2 weeks were pretty uncomfortable. Very sore to move as the front stomach wound was very swollen and tight. Once this initial period passed things became easier.
I can now get up from lying in bed or on the couch without much pain, it's still there in the background but not all controlling.
I'm walking everyday, not far but doing this a number of times.
I'm taking this recovery very slowly as this is last go at resolving my back pain after having two previous surgeries on the same site (S1-L4).
Only sitting for very brief spells, not driving yet due to wound, plus sitting does bring on the pain. I have had some nerve pain down my left leg, probably every few days or so but it settles after some meds.
I am still on my nerve pain meds as the damage from previous surgeries won't be fixed by the op. Also still on Dihydrocodeine 60mg X 4 daily but I'll try and reduce these over the coming months.
Would I say that it's been successful? Yes! I have greatly reduced back pain which was my dominant pain source.
It is a major decision to have this op but I had been through all conservative methods previously which didn't assist at all.
Hopefully things will continue to improve over the coming weeks and months. I'll report back over this timescale.
View 3 Replies
I had surgery exactly three weeks ago. I developed a fever (99.9-101.8) in the hospital two or three days post op. They gave me antibacterial iv and oral meds from the surgery on. As I developed the fever, they gave me antiviral medication to treat a huge and painful fever blister I developed just two days after surgery thinking that this sore was the culprit. The fever had gone down to low grade but now i'm concerned because it does not want to go away. Im taking Norco and the tylenol in it keeps the fever below low grade but when I don't take Norco ( which i take less and less) the fever and chills/ night sweats keep returning. It is generally starting at noon or afternoon, almost always present in the evenings. Usually 99.5-100.5.
Im very worried that it can be some kind of a stubborn infection. I'm three weeks after surgery, i should not have a temp at all. Plus I'm not fever prone, i hardly ever had a fever in my life, flu or any other illness i pull thru with no temps.
View 8 Replies
Has anyone found anything to help neuropathy after ALIF surgery? It has been 19 months and the pain is increasing. I cannot bear to wear anything except the loosest of clothing, I cannot walk without a cane or walker, I have new bowel and bladder function problems within the last 3 months. Is there anything that would even work temporarily to allow an airport ride? I buy even groceries online. I am in pain management with a respected doctor. I have have PT, water PT, massage, acupuncture, and narcotic medication. The fusion on L4/L5 and L5/S1 is fine; my life is not worth living.
View 3 Replies
I am finally on my way to getting a long awaited L4-L5 Fusion. My doc decided on ALIF due to my previous L4/L5 Laminectomy (2003) creating a lot of scar tissue. That surgery was done posterior and it would not be a good thing to reopen the same L/4 area. I am relieved that this fusion is finally being done. My disc is about 98% gone and I deal with bone on bone pain daily in addition to bone spurs and osteoarthritis. However, I tolerate it pretty well. In addition to the L4/L5 issue, I also have 2 herniations in my neck and another few in my mid back. But these are secondary to my initial problem and need to take care of this fusion first and foremost. I read a lot of negatives about fusions on this board, but I try my best to think positively. Everyone is different and not every situation is similar. My plan is to help anyone I can with my experience and give support. I will try to post my progress after surgery. If anyone had recently (2013) had a ALIF fusion on L4/L5, I would like to hear about your experience. This will be a journey that I will not forget and I am planning on making it the best I can given the circumstances.
View 13 Replies
I have my ALIF L5/S1 Fusion scheduled for Nov. 3rd which is about a week away and I am very nervous/anxious/scared ********/relieved to be having it done. I'm just looking for any advice as to what to expect and also any advice on what to bring to the hospital to help out along the way in recovery.
View 4 Replies
I am 18 months out from my 4 th spine surgery, ALIF at L4&5-s1. The surgery has been a huge success, no back pain and only occasional mild aching in my legs with ibuprofen for pain control as needed.
My problem is the continuing cramping in my foot, calf, back of the thigh and buttock on the affected side. One or more of those areas cramp multiple times a day. I lay in bed at night and can feel the Calf muscle twitching, have to keep my foot flexed to prevent cramping. As soon as I doze off, my foot relaxes and the calf immediately cramps, meaning I have to get up and walk to stop the cramping. Anyone else have this issue? Any insight? Muscle relaxants have only minimal effect, and I hate the thought of taking them every night. The problem intensifies the more exercise I get, which is discouraging.
View 4 Replies
