Back surgery Spinal Fusion S-1 L-2 L-5

[Griff Murphey]

So I have really had a lot of trouble with my walking more than with back pain, had a long history of weird numbness and pain in my legs, it really became evident in 2012-2013 when I had trouble getting in a jeep on the deer lease and keeping up walking downrange to the 200 in CMP. A spinal fusion was advised a year ago and I had it done three weeks ago. Good points are: I do not have the shooting pains in my legs at night. The surgical site is not that painful, and I am grateful for the pain reduction in my legs, but I was really wanting a better increase in power in my legs. I am back at my office practicing dentistry and that is my physical therapy for the moment. What I would like is info from any of you guys who have had this done about how long it takes for improvement in strength. The scary part is.... Did I wait too long to have this done?

My surgeon is considered the local best, he has operated three of my medical doctor friends/patients and does a lot for the TCU athletes.

If you have had this surgery and had weak legs, how long did it take to see improvement and how much improvement did you get?

[leftyo]

i havent, but my father had it done. it took him a few months to really get going. at only 3wks out, i think you need some more time to work back up some of the muscle youve lost over the years.

[Griff Murphey]

Thanks!

[togor]

The rehab can be a bear but hang with it.

[Griff Murphey]

For right now he is saying me working is enough rehab but he may add some later. I was out of my office only 13 days. On half days moving to full time Monday.

[bdm]

Sir it will take a few months my friend had the same thing done move easy and take nice slow walks just do everything slow

[Griff Murphey]

Sir it will take a few months my friend had the same thing done move easy and take nice slow walks just do everything slow

Thanks - all such reports are encouraging!

[Dan in NH]

My wife had fusions at the same places. Give it three months before any real improvement. She wore a full brace for about the first three months., then a bone growth stimulator for months after that. Doing well now.

[Mark in Ottawa]

I had spinal fusion and decompression surgery about 16 years ago. As I recall, I felt tolerable after 6 weeks and was not only back to work but I gave a paper at a conference. I had been warned, however, that it would take a year before I felt fully normal and that was pretty close to the truth. Having said that, I do not feel that I ever recovered the apparently unending energy that I had before the surgery although there was a significant improvement in that I did not suffer from continual pain and from numbness in my legs. On the negative side, after about twelve years I started to get back pain again and although nothing showed up on the x-ray, I suspect that I am once again suffering from a compressed nerve or I am getting arthritis where the titanium rods and screws join my hips. As far as I know there is no reasonable way to correct this again and I was given a prescription for strong naproxen (Alleve) pills and as a precaution use a cane if I have to walk any distance. In response to your question regarding whether you had waited too long, there is a cliche that all back surgery patients hold the view that they should have had the surgery earlier; you are not alone in this.

[Griff Murphey]

Thanks again. I guess I should count my blessings. One of the Lackland AFB marksmanship guys who tuned my practice welded repaired IHC M-1 and installed a 7.62 barrel was a Tech Sergeant named Dwight Ingraham. Dwight had back surgery at Wilford Hall Hospital and came out a paraplegic; “The drill slipped....”
This was back about 1970. I went back for my college 20th in 1991 and the NRA convention was in San Antonio. Ran into all of the USAF marksmanship guys and they gave me the sad news that Dwight had just died. He'd have been in his 50's I would guess. Anyway because of his experience back surgery has always had a particular terror for me...

I will be patient. Keep 'm coming....

[GB in WY]

I am about 14 years into my L4 - L5 overhaul. My outcome was as good as it gets. My therapy was to walk at least a mile a day. Wish I had it done 5 years sooner. I am now starting to have issues with the joints above L4 but I am not sure, at my current age, it would be cost effective to have more work done. Good luck and do what your Doc tells you to do!

[jon_norstog]

Good luck there, Griff!

jn

[RED]

I had L-4 and L-5 fused in June 2007 and before I was even out of the "brace," I had a accident and had a L-2 burst fracture that damaged my spinal cord. I lost 90% of the feeling in my lower legs and have suffered severe pain for years. In 2014 I had a series of electronic ablations that killed a series nerves that were responsible for a lot of the pain. Now my problem is walking. It took several months of rehab but now I can walk but I need a cane and even then I fall 2 or 3 times a month. If I step on something I didn't see (especially a marble sized rock), and I can't feel it, so I fall hard. I have broken my nose 3 times and my left wrist once.

The bottom line, always remember that in an accident the vertebrae above and/or below the fusion will take all the force that would otherwise be distributed to the ones fused.

Good luck and be assured they have come a long way in the past 10 years.

[Griff Murphey]

Thanks, Red, and everyone else. I start pt this Thursday. So far the pre op pain has returned in my legs and no Increase in strength. So far not s lot of progress. Damn pain likes to hit about 2-4 am in the night.

[macPA]

Had procedure done in 2015. I did wait too long. When I finally saw the surgeon my left leg felt numb from knee down and no pain to speak of.
He told me that if I had pain it would be gone but the numb feeling may never go away. So far he has been spot on Sometimes my left leg does
funky things but other than that I do ok