Doctor recommended l4-5, l5-s1 fusion. What'll my life be like?

@heyjoe415
thank you very much, the worst part about my wifes surgergies is that she also has a sensitivity allergy to dilaudid and morphine. Surgery for her is a controlled overdose. She had to have Narcan one time as they wouldn't listen to me.

I have become an expert advocate over the years. The hospital that did the last 2 was wonderful, they listen to me on what she can tolerate pain med wise and don't treat me like an idiot.

Convincing the social workers and hospital that I could care for here instead of sticking her in skilled nursing (Just a nursing home, there is no skilled people involved, at least here) is always a challenge.

I'm trying to lose weight and strengthen my core to help with pain. What has helped me is having to walk the dog around the house 2-3 times a day as he won't go down the stairs and being self employed with no help in a warehouse environment, bending, lifting, twisting. It is a forced way of keeping moving

At 71...I had L2, L3, L4, L5, S1 lumbar surgery.
So glad I got it but, 6mos-1yr recovery. Mine is going very well.
I did have to stay with my daughter four a month.
Make sure you have a good neurosurgeon.

I had a laminectomy at L4L5 February 2026. I did not rest because Mom died suddenly and i did not take it easy and now have a protruding disc at L4L5 protruding to the right which is causing hip pain after walking for a while. Numbness and tingling in right leg and foot. Dr. Wants to fuse L4L5S1 and remove disc but I'm afraid. Im not strong physicially and emotionally not good. Since my hip pain is low and comes late in the day, I want to cancel the surgery. Any thoughts?

If you're tolerating it I'd wait until it was intolerable.

@drichards1567
drichards1567, sorry about the loss of your Mom.
You might delay the surgery.

@drichards1567 if your pain is low, my thought is you may not even need surgery, which is a good thing. It may get better on its own. Sorry to hear about your mom.

@drichards1567
Here is probably the best article I have ever seen explaining fusions. Its a long read but may be useful to you. Good luck
https://tinyurl.com/4br244ps

@jlssurplus , Thanks. I've just read this article and have forwarded it to my daughter. Excellent article, well presented information.

@jlssurplus Thank you for the link to this excellent article. I have had lumbar laminectomy and fusion L3-S1 but I also need the same surgery at C3-C6or7. I now understand better why I really needed/need both of these surgeries. I have an appointment this Thursday to go over my most recent cervical spine MRI and I feel a lot better about why the surgeries were/are needed. I have had an excellent result from my lumbar fusion and now feel more comfortable with expecting the same outcome from the cervical fusion. Thanks again!

@reidy I can't tell you what to do. Ultimately that is your choice and your choice alone. I couldn't help but notice a number of negative reports after lumbar fusion surgery on here. I had a laminectomy and fusion at L3-S1 4 1/2 months ago and I am doing great. I am 78 years old and still fairly active. I did a lot of walking with our golden retriever before my surgery and it ultimately served me well in my recovery. If you can get some exercise ahead of time, even just walking will help a lot, you will be in good shape to get through the recovery period. I won't kid you recovery is not a picnic but if you prepare and do everything your surgeon tells you to do you should be able to expect to continue your life pretty much as usual. Take your time, make sure you understand everything your surgeon tells you and get a second opinion if it will make you feel more comfortable. Best of luck to you! I know itis not an easy decision.