My journey with a T11 to L4 spinal fusion - 40 degree scoliosis curve

@htolan My Golden Doodle Marley is 12 years old 110 lbs. his hips are going he is my best friend and I had his Mom "Ruby" before him she had a litter of 12 puppy's. Marley was the biggest. I know what you must have gone thru !

There is hope for the future! I hope you see another Shetland Sheepdog in the future ~

I hope you & I see improvement too~

Sincerely,
Bob & Marley💕

@rwdixon4 Best wishes right back at you. Helen

@sherrym25 as long as you have a support system in place. & my challenge is controlling the pain right now.

The key things I take away with me ! Thank You again ~ Bob

HO WAS THE DOCTOR THAT WORK ON sherrym25 (@sherrym25)

@gbguillo74, welcome. You are asking about @sherrym25's experience at Mayo Clinic. I moved your post to this discussion where she shares more of her experience:
- My journey with a T11 to L4 spinal fusion - 40 degree scoliosis curve https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/l4-to-t11-spinal-fusion-for-scoliosis/

In this discussion, you'll also meet @jenniferhunter @vikkitennis, who also are Mayo Clinic spine patients as well as other members considering surgery.

@gbguillo74, are you in need of spine surgery? What type of surgery?

@gbguillo74 Hello! My surgeon is Dr. McClendon at the Phoenix Mayo Clinic. He is a neurosurgeon and did an amazing job with my back.
Wishing the best,
Sherry

Similarly, with a 48 degree curve, I had my surgery Oct 28th. Day 27 post op. It’s been a roller coaster. The pain has been what I expected - maybe even less. Last narcotic day 14 po.

What’s helped?
Ice packs the size of my back and heating pads.
A strong and supportive partner who sees your wins and reminds you daily of your progress.
Meal train to take this responsibility off your support system.
Movement as often as possible
Low expectations- really low
Knowledge of what to expect about your progress - having milestones to shoot for even if it’s minimal (I brushed my teeth this hour). Not knowing how challenging this was frustrated me and felt like a setback.

What’s been hard?
Being needy. I’ve been very independent all of my life. I am in great need right now. I can’t get myself out of and into bed.
Not being able to “waller” in the bed. I have to lie on my back the entire night.
People I thought would show up haven’t.
Managing my daily/weekly/monthly expectations. They’ve gotten a lot smaller post surgery than they were pre.

This is a marathon. This week I’m trying to move all my expectations to the year mark. Pre surgery I thought I’d be: back at work at least a few hours a week; No walker; Walking around the block; Feeling up to going out of the house; able to shower unassisted; able to prepare my own meal; bathroom situation would be back to normal 😑.

The thing I failed to get in my brain is that this is a major surgery. MAJOR! Every bit of my being is trying to recover. My brain is tired. My body is exhausted. Every expenditure of energy towards healing requires fuel and more rest.

For those further along, when do you start to turn the corner where you have 50% of your stamina and energy back ?

Hang in there. I had surgery about 26 months ago. I had 55 degree curve and had T4- S1 fused. I was inpatient rehab for a week. Then went home. Which probably helped recover faster. It gets easier every day.

@karenoharmon Hi! Thank you so much for sharing your experience!
What vertebrae’s did you have fused?
In two weeks, I will be at the one year post op. You are asking about some benchmarks of how you might feel in the future so I will share what I am experiencing.
I remember at around the six or seven month timeframe, I was feeling much stronger and more “normal”. I have been experiencing a lot of nerve pain across my back that is just below the skin level. My therapist has recently started with skin rolling, which is a type of myofascial release and it is really helping. She is rolling the skin and it is breaking free the connective tissues under my skin that were affected during the surgery. It’s not comfortable when she does it, but I feel immediate relief when she is done. That and my daily gabapentin, really makes me feel better.
I think it is a very reasonable goal for someone to think that they will be doing pretty well at around that one year mark. When I look back at my surgery date, one year seem like an eternity but now when I am here, it really did fly by. It’s important to take it day by day and not do anything to jeopardize your healing. The surgery is such a major thing and it’s important to be patient And let your body heal.
I have horses that I need to train and I am literally chomping at the bit to start working with them, but I know that I need to be patient. I’m getting an x-ray in two weeks for the surgeon to look at how things have fused. I’m hoping he gives me the thumbs up for me to get more active with the horses. I am walking, exercising, lifting up bags of dog food, feeding horses, cleaning gutters and doing everything that I would normally do, I just do it slower and with good lifting technique. I’ve been doing this since about month three.
Please feel free to ask any questions that you might have.
Wishing you the best! Sherry😊

@karenoharmonHi thank you for sharing this. I am looking at a T2 to L4 "OPEN surgery" and I am so scared I don't know if I can go thru with it? I can't stay the way I am though. What vertebrae’s did you have fused? Was it an "OPEN surgery" This is the part that has me terrified "OPEN surgery"
I don't have a support plan or group of friends or family!