Post surgery recovery from l 345 laminectomy and discectomy.

So sorry to hear this! Hope is takes a fast turn around.

Thank you all for posting your experiences. I had the L345 Laminectomy last October , 22. Plus supposedly a lot of arthritis removed. I was originally told I could go home that same day, I said no, as a veteran of multiple cancer surgeries I know the same day is a ridiculous idea, especially when I really had no one to help me 24/7.. It was a good thing because the second day after pt got me up to walk, I refused the day before, I was not leaving the ice packs. I got back from walking with the PT and I went into severe pain and sciatica pain I never felt,. I allowed them to give me morphine which for 30 years was on my NO list. I ended up staying 4 days due to critical low Potassium that no one looked at until after the surgery. Once I got home , I have to admit, I am pretty self sufficient and I was up and grocery shopping with my brother driving me by that Sunday, I defied the rules of lifting as there are times with my life single and business you have no choice, I work out daily on treadmill, 2 hours, Got permission 6 months after for a rowing machine,,,. The majority of my old pain was all but gone , even to the touch, Then one day boom , I am standing at my shop and the sciatica from my butt all the way to my right thigh was so severe I thought wth,,, That continued, and it was worse than before the surgery, . I was wearing heels to work and standing a lot at my Shop. Thhe sciatica contiued to be severe , along with severe pain in my spine, and a slew of other spinal areas.. Finally Called my surgeon, got a new MRI. well, he says I have a lot more arthritis,, ??? my interpretation of the MRI is that my scoliosis has shifted so far and continues that my organs are not where they are supposed to be ,. I opted to not have the scolisis repair of my spine rather a least invasive to get me out of pain,. As all of my disks from L1 to S1 are herniated and bulging,, I wondered why my Surgeon who is a neuro surgeon did not get rid of or fix more during the first surgery.. Now he says we will have to keep going up?? I decided to wait until after the Holidays and see him again to discuss this , and if another surgery is what it takes I will have no choice. To @ikcooley I have read your story and am sorry you have to go through all of this, having these infections is not just a pain but extremely dangerous to your life. perhaps a second opinion with another surgeon would help. I swore I would never touch my back, but when our quality of life is affected I had no choice,, Still can not walk in a store or on a road with out severe pain, but I can do my treadmill 2 hours on slight incline. Go figure. I am not sure spinal surgery is always a success, and not to be a downer, but my Mom had surgery quite a few years ago , Drs messed her up.. she wanted another surgery but no one in out city would touch her . So she went to El Paso to a spinal clinic there,, The Dr was a hack, left her on the table after 8 hours and tells my Dad , he will have to finish another time. She had another time with an Ortho local and although I believe the Drs did the right thing my Mom is lazy and did not do her PT and keep it up.. so today she is 81 watching the room spin from her bed at home because she allowed her self to lay in bed too long and atrophy., She has been a burden but I think I finally have her awake enough to get her into one of the top rehab hospitals here where they will force her to work to walk again, I can not express enough the importance of keeping your body parts moving despite the pain. I have seen what happens when you do not, too much.. I have always been very active I am not going down yet, despite my addiction to my heating pad every am for 2 hours to loosen up and make it to the shower, medical is less than par here so I try to learn as much about everything as I can. I wish you all the best and thank you for sharing your experiences, Jacquie.. Any all coping tips helps!!

Thanks for sharing,,, I am one of those who ignored Drs orders when you start to feel better again and instead of squatting until I could barely get back up I started bending and lifting as well as bought a rowing machine ,, with my Drs permission about 6-8 months after surgery,, I then created more damage, all the pain and more severe sciatica came back., I stretch and stretch to stop the pain, take the Oxycodone , I can't take muscle relaxers they knock me out,,, tylenol. motrin, the only help is my heating pad but that is temp, until I get up.. back to square one in just a year since surgery,,, And now what was confined to the right side only is now affecting left., New MRI has a lot of not so lovely things on it,, I have been told at 60 I have the spine of an 80 year old with severe rotoscoliosis and pretty much everything with an S.. I am at a serious crossroads of do I do the intense surgery to straighten my spine,,,?? I should not even be able to walk at this stage but i donlt listen, I push myself to 2 hours on treadmill after 8 hours on my feet at my Shop, I hurt in the ams.. bad,,, btu once I get moving, in the shower I know I will make it to work but boy is every am a challenge for me,, throw in all the other aches, pain, colon cancer issues and i think give me a break, but I suppose i am not due one rather keep saving everyone else in my family.,,.. I will warn as I have seen written here of feelings of anger and depression are very real so do not ignore them , they are very real,,,, And if you are your self supporter and your family of misfit siblings keeps throwing caring for my elderly parents into my lap I am on the verge of busting from suffocation,, Perhaps I need a therapist,, honestly I do think stress in any form can make recovery 10 x longer,,, wish you well, Jacquie

You are a champion! Treadmill and rowing machine?

Curious, did insurance or Medicare pay for any medical devices? Handicapped parking, back braces, walking sticks? Pt? It seems like the insurance co. Will pay for endless drugs but not for holistic solutions.

Your are really sandwiched in! With multiple health issues and elder care. This has to be too much! Can you meet with siblings and make an agreement for division of duties?

Right now I’m more optimistic because much of the pain is gone. I’m sure depression would be severe if the surgery did not improve health and a second was suggested. That would be overwhelming to me!

Have you tried to cut back on exercise? I don’t know your age (I’m 73) but sounds like you are being taxing on your back. I’m with you on the heating pad and ice packs….. my two favorite things. I’m off all meds as of four days ago!!!

Regarding additional surgery, I strongly urge you to get a second opinion. If there is a spine center near you that would be the best route under your circumstances. As you have already read my story, you are likely aware that I have had a better outcome than you describe but every case is different. Even though I am doing better, I would not agree to another surgery without getting a second opinion.
In the meantime, I would recommend that you try a TENS unit to help deal with the pain you have. All during the months that I was having lots of pain, my TENS unit became my best friend. It can alleviate the pain while you are wearing it and I wore it a lot. It won't cure the pain but makes it more tolerable and allows you to not be so reliant on drugs. I bought mine on Amazon for about $40.
I think you should also seek out a physical therapist that practices FCS (fascial counterstrain). You can learn about it at counterstrain.com. You can also locate a practitioner through the site. I can't promise how it will or will not help you, but it made a tremendous difference for me. It virtually eliminated my pain in 5 visits.
The important thing is to explore all options. What works for one may not work for another. BTW, I believe that I did mention that I am 77 years old. I have a lot of life left in me and I don't plan on living it in pain. Based on your story you sound as though you have lots of fight in you also. Wish you the best.

Hi there! Thanks for the reply.. As far as Insurance goes ( I am 62, not medicare YET!! ) They did cover in the past any braces I may have needed. Also paid for home PT I think 6 or 8 weeks of it,. I did very well with everything regardless of how challenging.. I still will do certain things I can recall e=especially stretching which I should do daily prior to the treadmill to loosen up,, I have had to lay off the rowing machine for now, I think It is too much on spine,,, and the treadmill is now reduced to very to no incline and certainly not the speeds I used to do prior to cancer. I have given thought to taking a break from the treadmill as I do wake up in the am and my legs are so tired,, however, once up and moving they feel better so the treadmill has become my savior . Dealing with running a full time retail biz, that stress alone will kill you add caretaker for both elderly parents, I do not have any other outlets than give me my 2 hours, do not call me , bother me and let me watch my silly reality tv for 2 hours,, lol.. The old me would be out hiking for hours or taking the dog of the moment walking, all of which I just can not do anymore due to my spine,, I love my dog but having to care for her is too much work now, With the Insurance they seem to want to keep you sick but at the same time they don't want to help you get there,, with my Mom they did pay for a wheelchair, . handicap cards come from DMV with a Drs orders, I do not recall price but Insurance will not pay. They also do not pay for walking sticks,, with my parents I say get what you can from Medicare,, sadly Drs don;t help you or tell you what to do so the chore to find out falls on me. Initially I thought the stuff with my mom would be a short term temp thing and I would get her taken care of etc, and she would be fine . The last year and a half has sucked the life out of me,.. I had to yank her out of the last rehab /.nursing home she was in and get her home with my Dad, Hard on him too, especially being alone.
I appreciate the idea of having a chat with my brothers but they are useless especially the one that lives here with his wife of 45 years, with tons of money they like to talk about, and what they buy...,does nothing,, other than they do leave town every time they may actually needed.. Even though my folks are old they manage to leave town anytime they may be needed,,,and my parents have never asked them to step up and help,,and refuse to ., When I tell my Dad that I just can not keep up this pace and take care of my own health he says you have 2 brothers, Im well aware of that and remind him he has 2 sons . I am not the messenger. I did say to older brother not long ago that "you have never in all the years of my life ever stepped up and said can I /we (they are attached at the hip lol) help you or anyone else. Way over his head,,, as the middle child I am / was the one with all of the money pre cancer , I have helped raise both of their kids . 2 of them living me at different times and got my niece to graduate from High school during the time the youngest brother was getting a divorce,, I raised him as well as there is 10 years difference between us and my parents at the time had their problems so he came to live with me,, NO mystery why I never really wanted kids,,, I paid my dues... Thank you so much for allowing me to vent/.spill. You do not have to read it or reply My fingers get going when I should be writing a book!!!!! I hope that you are feeling better,,, I know that at 72 you surely have been through your fair share,.. I do hope that life is treating you well, You seem to be a caring person and I do wish you a pain less life for you to enjoy,,, I have a tremendous amount of "used to's" I need to get moving and start doing the again...No better time than the present right ?? Have a wonderful rest of the day! 🙂

Thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with me. I am very happy to read that at 77 you feel great and have a lot of life left as you do. I see my mother giving up at 79 now 81 and it has been a rough one on me , and my dad who is 87. I am pretty tough, as I can tell you are, and I do not let Drs ideas and decsions about my future determine my outcome. If I did I would have curled up in a ball 9 years ago with a pretty lousy cancer and I would not be here,, I will push through most everything , well actually everything thrown at me,,
I agree , second opinions are important, Prior to my surgery last year I spent 2 years seeking opinions from Orthopedic Surgeons,, who wanted to jump in there and do a 10 hour surgery with a 6 to 8 month recovery, I said no. We have one Neuro surgeon in this city of misfit Drs,,. he is a very good Surgeon.. He is the one I ultimately saw about doing the least invasive , which would be the laminectomy,,, So I did it,,. As I said the surgery pain was bad for 1 whole day and night, but I had relief for months from the actual pain, the rest of the surgery pain was nothing compared to the spinal pain,, I do admit I have done too much,, I went back to yard work and mowing my grass, I drew the line on pulling weeds!!! These were things I loved to do .. Sadly we had the hottest summer this year and I had no desire to go outside other than from car to place and home.. Now it is too cold for my bones, . 18 months of constant chemotherapy went straight to my bones,, I asked my Drs if I should be getting shots to help my bones, over my primaries head.. Most of what I do I advocate for myself as the medical where I live is less than adequate. I know some of my issues are genetic, (the scoliosis) I actually have it worse than my mom... Since the pain came back 10 fold and I had the new MRi I have been very good to my back,. No more heels for the day, i thought wedges would be safe , but they caused too much strain on my spine,,, no more rowing machine, I think that was the worse.. no more lifting 50 lbs of waters or shipping boxes.. I have to delegate , , I wish I had a rent a butler,. It is funny as I have always had a man in my life , useless or good I had one,, but from my cancer to now I propel them , I just dont want one, I am and always have been quite happy with myself and have always been a self supporter.. I must admit this is one time I have thoughts I wish I had someone to help me on a daily basis,, but paying my employee to help me with stuff is actually less of a hassle than having to deal with a man lol... I do have 2 tens units I forget I have so thank you for the reminder. I do have certain trigger points I believe using the machine on them may help... I am not keen on a second surgery, i would have to go up to Albuquerque a 4 hour drive for a second opinion, it may be worth it.. I don;t thin my surgeon here was all gung ho to get me into surgery,, I had misunderstand our chat about the MRI when he is talking about coming in to go over it I was talking about surgery in 3 weeks,.. Until I realized there was no way I could close my biz before xmas and take the time,,, so he was happy I took a step back,..and now I see him in January to go ovr everything,,, since then I have been better, because I looked at all possible triggers,, I have not had an extreme sciatica attack in 3 weeks. little ones but not severe.. If I can keep it that way it would be nice but I would still like to take walks., I want to go back to Europe, when I do i walk everywhere, for hours and hours, I want to be abe to do that again,,,I* am on a mission to get that part of my life back,, I wish you well... you keep going no matter what comes your way!!! I love a determined survivor and you seem to be just that,,, Happy Holidays!!

It sounds to me that you are very determined to get past this and that's important. Healing takes time and sometimes, particularly for people who are "take charge" types it seems that everything is going too slow. That's where we get ourselves into trouble. For you it may be trying to do things that you have always done but now have to rely on others or ignore them for now. That's how I got myself into trouble trying to lift a sofa. And I always say the self-inflicted wounds hurt the most. The body heals in its own time. Be patient. You will get there. I will get there. Wish you the best. Have a happy holiday.

You're very welcome. I must admit, my neurosurgeon and the PA went into great detail about what my recovery could possibly entail. Even with the complications, I feel my surgeries have been successful thus far. I was advised that "full recovery" or maximum improvement could take up to 18-24 months. Best of luck to you.