Lumbar Sacral Fusion Post-op Course

I had my L4-S1 fusion the end of May, 2020. For months it was difficult to get comfortable in bed and I spent every night sleeping on my back. My back and hips were very stiff every morning when I got up. If you are flat on your back all night and not moving like you normally would during sleep, you will definitely be stiff in the morning. I had 4 months of PT and continue to do my exercises because they help keep my pain under control. It took almost a year for me to be able to roll over in bed without help. After many months of experimenting with sleep positions, I find I can sleep on my left side with my legs bent. I have to keep my back pretty straight, but that's not too hard now. I can sleep briefly on my right side, but with bursitis in that hip, I don't do it for long. I try not to bend or twist, I use grabbers to pick things up, and I avoid trying to reach too high. Also, I am careful not to lift anything heavy. Sometimes if I have nerve pain in bed, my legs ache and start to feel restless. If I get up for a few minutes and walk or stretch, I can go back to bed and sleep. I too, have found that uncovering my feet at night relieves pain. The weight of the blankets seems to cause that. I was also told to fold a bath towel in half and roll it up to put under my lower back in bed will help relieve pain. I haven't tried that yet. You could also try leaning against or hugging a body pillow in bed to see if that would help you.

Now I am able to sleep up to 8 hours and except for some stiffness, I feel good when I wake up. I do need to buy a new chair for the living room. Mine doesn't provide enough support. It took at least a year before I could say I felt like I had recovered from the surgery. I still have pain daily, but it is not constant. When it is bothering me a lot, I sit for a couple of minutes to relax, do a couple of stretches and continue with whatever I was doing. I look for ways of making my chores easier to do. We have two small dogs now and that has helped immensely. I have to walk them daily which has been very helpful and they make us laugh. They are the best medicine we have taken!

Thanks so much! I bought a grabber immediately and have been very careful with my movement as well. ☮️

Great toe pain is intermittent & not 'gout like' so my MD & podiatrist advised not testing. ☮️