Advice for spouse of Spinal Fusion surgery pre-op and post-op

@garytpickens - Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. MCC is a great place to ask questions exactly like the one you asked.

I had a four-level decompression/laminectomy and fusion at L2-5 in May 2023. I counted on my spouse (wife) for many things! She was always with me during surgeon visits serving as an extra set of ears. She helped prepare the house for the initial period when I was pretty helpless...She also used all of her patience to deal with me during what can be a challenging recovery - especially in the early weeks.

Do you have a list of things and equipment to have at home to make recovery better? Super important, I found.

Thanks for your reply. I was told about the gadgets and equipment that will be needed and I think I'm all set. In your opinion, what was the most important piece of equipment?

Two things: rails for the toilet and a rail for your bedside. Both were very helpful! Not expensive and simple to install

I would suggest that the most important thing my helper, my daughter who was then in her 40s, did while aiding me thru a fusion of L2-S1, was during the recovery phase in the first few weeks at home. After my first visit to PT, I came home with PT exercises to do. She would not let me not do them. She would wake me up from a nap so I could complete whatever exercises I hadn't finished. I am so grateful to her for persistently following the PT's instructions on what to do and how much of it to do. And we laugh about it now.

The teacher and elevated toilet seat with handles.

Reacher

All those things mentioned above are great. My only addition would be to watch the YouTube videos that are available. There are many that will prepare you for surgery really well you can watch them at your convenience. I attended the pre-surgery meeting. They had at the hospital for people having joint replacements, and Spine and hip surgeries and they were very informative and you can ask questions so if your hospital or doctors office has that which one of them should I suggest you go in for those meetings. You need to be in front of somebody to round out the context in a discussion that will be most helpful to the things that people have mentioned here as to why you need those things. The best thing to prepare is to get exercise before you have the surgeryexercise exercise exercise even those little baby exercises cause you’ll need your strength going into surgery or your spouse will. Good luck.

The most important advice I can give to your spouse is this: install a partial railing on your spouses' side of the bed. This should go between the mattress and box spring just below where her head goes. She should use it while doing the log roll in order to get in and out of bed. It helps immensely! I am still using it after 4 mths post surgery and love it.
Secondly, I would suggest you get a raised toilet seat for the bathroom(s) she will be using. Many varieties and price lines. You don't have to have a plumber install a new higher toilet, but if you wish to spend the money, it would certainly be great.
Also, precede her down the stairs, and follow her up the stairs. She should use handrail plus cane.
You should also be available while she is in the shower for the first few weeks or so.
You will find you will have to follow her somewhat around the house to pick up anything she drops. It can be time consuming, but she will drop lots of stuff that she won't be allowed to pick up herself.

Also extremely important: Be patient!!!!! It won't last forever. Hang in there.

Thank you!

Got it...thanks!