Looking for opinions on spine surgery and flying home afterward

I agree if you can go to inpatient rehab. It helped me a lot. I feel it really helped with recovery.

@nlback22
I went to Mayo to have a consultation with one of the orthopedic surgeons and he told me they didn't really have rehab or that would be determined by the team so I couldn't plan ahead. I was wondering how extensive your surgery was and if you can tell me in the private message who the surgeon was I would appreciate that. I was shocked that the surgeon I saw told me I would stay in a hotel in the area after the surgery and it would have been a two level possibly three level fusion. I'm curious how you got to get the rehab. Thanks and if you send the name of the surgeon I think you have to private message me those are the rules.

@annie1 - you might check this out to see if it is what you were looking for. This is a program in MN:

- Inpatient Rehabilitation Care in Rochester, Minnesota https://www.mayoclinic.org/departments-centers/inpatient-care/overview/ovc-20467194

@southernbelle13 being in a wheelchair after back surgery doesn’t automatically give a patient a better seat. I had to purchase a first class ticket, at the suggestion of my surgeon. He said I would need to be able to get up and move around.

I wondered about the first class seat option.

OMGOODNESS! I had: T10-pelvis fusion with L4-L5 transforaminal lumber, interbody fusion and L5-S1 transforaminal lumber, interbody fusion with S2AI screws (pelvic fixation). I had a 6-hr. spinal fusion surgery. I think that simply saying "back surgery" is misleading because this is your spine not just your "back" that's involved in surgery. It's the main pathway to your brain. I don't know if my spine surgery was more extensive than anyone on this thread, but I can tell you this: I was in a hard plastic body brace for 24/7 for 1-1/2 months following spine surgery. Immediately after surgery there was intense pain and getting out of bed and just walking to the bathroom was excruciating for 2 weeks. I have a high pain tolerance but the post surgery pain was more than I could tolerate. I'm a 79-year old female with severe osteoporosis and perhaps this contributed to the pain intolerance. I cannot take opioids or narcotics because they "mess me up" physically and mentally, so I was on high dosage of Tylenol and muscle relaxer, and gabapentin for nerve pain. Spine surgery, in my opinion, should not be taken lightly, or simply thought of as "back" surgery and hop on a plane post surgery. Find the best neurosurgeon you can, get a 2nd opinion, and for goodness sake take precaution post surgery. I'm now 3 months post surgery. I'll have mobility limitations for the rest of my life and can no longer be as active as before but life is often a trade off. There were consequences for having the surgery and consequences for not having surgery. I had to decide which consequences I could live with. I can still walk and my goal is to be able to return to daily 4 mile walks by the end of the 2-yr. recovery marker. Best of luck to all of you out there who are contemplating spine surgery.

@southernbelle13 I actually found first class tickets on United and they were cheaper than my regular seats for the trip to the surgery!