What are people's experiences with spinal fusion surgery?

@cabits thank you for posting with interest in connecting with others as you go through this decision making process for yourself. As @jenniferhunter mentioned in her response she so carefully crafted for you, having gone through spine surgery herself, "It is your choice when to proceed and which surgeon you hire for the job."

I will let you process all of the information she has shared with you and consider her question on if you might wish to consider other opinions for your case.

Jennifer, Thank you so much for the informative response. I truly appreciate the personal side of recovery and choice. I have chosen to get the multi level ACDF spinal fusion with cadaver bone and cage. I have lost so much arm and shoulder muscle and don't want any more nerve damage. I did have EMG's done on the arms which show no carpal tunnel but ulnar and other nerves already demyelinating and degenerating. I have no problem pushing thru the recovery and will have to watch myself since I am a former Marine and tend to push too hard. I will have to tone it down and "listen" to the Dr's orders. Once again thank you.

@cabits First, thank you for your service. A few of my uncles were in the service (WW II) and my dad was in the Naval Reserve. I'm glad I could help. You may get a plate on the front of your spine, but there are some cages that have screws that run in at about a 45 degree angle into the vertebrae above and below that don't require plates on the front of the spine. Some of the cages have a space where they seed bone spurs that are removed during surgery. My surgeon told me that cadaver bone is a good choice because it heals better with natural bone and that if bone is harvested from your hip instead, it may hurt the rest of your life. I didn't want a hip problem that would bother me when I'm elderly. cadaver bone has been sterilized and what is left over is the mineral matrix and in healing, you will grow bone cells into that matrix which is what takes so long to heal a fusion. Your neck mobility will change too and a multilevel fusion will have more of an effect on the ability to turn your head and bend your neck. C1 & C2 do most of the work to turn your head kind of like a ring (C1) on a post (C2). C3 & C4 also assist to a lesser degree. My fusion is at C5/C6 and I have full range of motion in turning, but can't tuck my chin to my chest anymore, but it is close. A lot of spine patients give up activities like fast boating that pounds on the waves, roller coasters, running, etc. Because the discs are a shock absorber to your spine, hard bouncing and any whiplash like movement will put extra stress on your spine. I do have a gaited horse that I ride, but just at a walk or a running walk since he does that instead of trotting. This build s a lot of core strength for me, and that supports my spine from the bottom up and it helped me in my recovery from my fusion. At 7 months post op, my surgeon let me ride and of course he told me that horses always carry risk of injury to the rider. I had a sweet old Tennessee Walker who didn't worry about anything even the crazy bike riders who whizzed past from behind which would spook a lot of horses and he was confident to ride out alone without other horses. He's retired now and no longer sound to ride, and I have a new young horse that I'm working with a training safe behavior (like not freaking out about bicycles).

It is OK to just give yourself time to heal. You can't rush it or push through it. You will get there when you get there, so just help yourself heal every way that you can. Imagine that you are the caregiver in charge and helping someone else through this recovery. There have been patients who have fallen before the fusion was set, and required another operation to fix the damage done. Your balance might be off with restricted movement. Going back to any strenuous activity or lifting too much weight has to be carefully considered. Because the shoulder muscle connects to the vertebrae, that pulls on the spine in your neck. Your doctor will give you lifting restrictions that gradually are increased over time as you heal. Mine stared at 10 lbs max for the first 3 months. I could not drive either, so I had to let my husband do the grocery shopping and be my driver. Just prepare yourself to hibernate at home and be happy doing that. I slept a lot and the body needs it is when it is directing all of your energy into healing. Many surgeons ask patients who smoke to quit because that affects the oxygen levels in the spine, and you need the oxygen for healing the bone. I don't know if that applies to you, but I wanted to share the information for anyone else who may be reading this.

I think one of the toughest things is to let someone be your caregiver or assist with chores, but that is the best way that you can help yourself. In time, you'll be recovered. Listen to your body. That took about 3 months for me which is how long it took for the fusion to start, and my neck was weak from wearing the neck brace. I was happy to go to physical therapy. The incision also creates internal scar tissue in the fascia. You might like to look at this discussion about myofascial release which can stretch out the scar tissue. The scar tissue binds and prevents normal movement and can be painful. I did MFR work before and after my surgery and it made my neck muscle and tissue easier to retract during surgery. I asked my surgeon how I could help by stretching my skin before surgery and he showed me what to do.
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/myofascial-release-therapy-mfr-for-treating-compression-and-pain/

It"s great that you are embracing a surgical intervention. You do need to be a part of the team. That is how I looked at it. Even though I am the patient on the table, I am part of the team that is solving a problem. If you want to check back in along the way, I'll be here. Do you have a surgery date scheduled?

I had cervical spine fusion surgery in 2019. I had C4/C5, C5/C6 discotomy as well as cervical fusions. For me it was the best decision. My neurosurgeon said I was lucky if I got 70% success rate as I had the problem for so many years. I hit about 80%. I am not in constant, excruciating pain anymore. I still have pain but it’s not as severe as it was. I am much better compared to what I was.

That is great to hear as that surgery will be in my future. Can I ask what part of the country you live in ?
Did you have one or two surguries?

@collierga Hello, we had communicated a lot on Connect. It's good to see you back on here again. Are you moving closer to surgery or have you had a surgical consult? I have had a few intermittent symptoms and plan to follow up with my neurosurgeon. I can hear a disc cracking in my neck and it may be the level below my fusion and I've had some tingling in extremities and my physical therapist was able to lessen that, but she said my neck and back were tight and causing some spine compression. She did some manual work and it got better, but that is how things started as intermittent symptoms that depended on the position of my spine and maintaining normal curvature.

My TLIF -a minimally invasive is still a MAJOR surgery such that I would get a few opinions from another neurosurgeon. IF you go for it, I wouldn't plan on a 3 week break from work, unless you can sit and not move..with very limited walking. Also, if confirmed by another neurodoc it IS smart to seriously consider doing this surgery while your relatively young. Take it from a 3X spine surgical loser, (MRSA complicated) skier, kayaker, runner, now at 81 with post op pain..hoping MRSA is not back but something else...so I can get back on the slopes!

Okay all, I figure I'll put in my 2 cents and let you all know my experience so far, I'm 3.5 weeks post surgery. (L4-S1 fusion)

I broke my back between L5 and S1 in a motorcycle wreck when the rear tire blew out on the highway. It took the Drs over a year to find it, they found the broken ribs and other injuries, but missed the spine. They thought I was "seeking" when I kept telling them something was wrong (which is comical because I don't drink or do drugs), but I finally got one to take more x-rays and he found it. They scheduled the L4-S1 fusion, but it got postponed twice, once because my blood pressure was too high and the second time because I had an infected tooth. They finally did the surgery 3.5 weeks ago but they're not hopeful I'll be pain free after 8 years of the nerves being crushed. They give me less than 20% chance.

Now, for reference, I'm a 48 year old healthy, big, burly guy that doesn't feel pain like normal people do. From a child I was raised to rub dirt in it and get back to work, which is what I do. I don't even use shaving cream when I shave, I just drag my razor across my face and it sounds like sandpaper from the next room. At 14 I almost cut the tip of a finger off and rode my bicycle to the ER for them to fix it (they obviously wouldn't treat me till my mother got there though, which annoyed me at the time.) I later ripped the tip of a different finger off at work and just pulled it out of my glove and drove myself to the walk in and asked them if they could put it back on.

With all that being said... this surgery HURT the next day... but probably because I refused to stay in bed. I wanted to leave the night of the surgery, but they basically kept me so drugged up that I didn't know what day it was. The next day I told them I was going home, I could be miserable in my own bed as easily as in their hospital bed. So they sent physical therapy up to see if I could walk and they were amazed that I got myself out of bed and walked to the bathroom unaided, no cane, no brace, no help at all. They came and took out the catheter and the next time I got up to go to the bathroom, the percs they had me on were wearing off and I actually almost passed out from the pain. I always thought that was BS and couldn't happen... well apparently I was wrong because I had to hold onto the sink and fight to stay conscious. I'd HIGHLY recommend people stay for the 2 or 3 days they let you if you don't have a super high tolerance for pain.

They gave me a 2 week supply of percs and sent me home. I took them for 6 days, then tossed the rest in the safe and stopped. I don't drink or do drugs and I hate the mental fog that comes with them, I'd rather deal with the discomfort. I used a cane at first, but only to catch myself if I twisted and caused the nerves in my leg to spasm and my leg to buckle. I was vacuuming my house 3 days post surgery, cane in one hand vacuum in the other. I stopped using the cane in the house about the same time I stopped taking the painkillers, I carried it outside though in case I stepped in an dip or something and my leg buckled.

Sleeping is very difficult at first, it's impossible to get comfortable. It took a couple weeks before I could sleep for more then a couple hours at a time, but now at 3.5 weeks I'm getting 4-5 hours without waking up, which for me is great. The pain that used to shoot down my leg is much better than expected, and my foot hasn't gone "dead" since the surgery. It used to happen once or twice a week. Before surgery I'd have to lay down at 3 or 4 in the afternoon for an hour or so to get the bones to shift and let up on the nerves so I could make the rest of the day, it seems now I don't have to do that. I've spent a day on my feet and sitting at my desk and while by back swelled up and hurt, it was a discomfort from the surgery, not the "normal" nerve pain/broken back pain from before so I'm hopeful that the pain will be lessened if not completely gone. To me, it was well worth the temporary pain of the surgery to be able to walk comfortably again. I'm hoping to be able to ride my motorcycle more than an hour at a time at some point too.

I didn't drive for the first 2 weeks, but after that it was much more comfortable for me to drive my pickup than my daughter's car. The seat position is much better in a truck for keeping your weight off your spine and the incision. I did have to spend about 3 hours total in my daughter's car yesterday driving around (it was her 16th bday and she had her driver's license test and stuff we needed the car for) and I was definitely uncomfortable, but it was easier than a week ago. Next week it probably won't bother me at all to be in the car, so figure a month to a month and a half to be comfortable in a car. Mind you, my surgery was at my tailbone, if yours is higher up your spine things will likely be different.

My biggest disappointment is my work. I own a company installing water features and literally have a 6 pack of muscle on my back like gym guys get on their stomachs. This is from 20 years of lifting 100+ pound rocks and shoveling tons of gravel into buckets and carrying them to the ponds I was building. A small backyard koi pond has over 20,000 pounds of stone and gravel in it that has to be installed by hand. I'm told I will likely never be able to work again in my chosen profession. I have no idea what I'm going to do for the second half of my life.

I think the hardest part for me is going to be not lifting or doing anything that will damage the implants before the fusion is complete. I'm not the sit home and do nothing kind of guy.

The attached pics are my back before surgery (the 6 pack), 1 day post surgery, and 18 days post surgery.

the title pretty much tells it all. I realize pain is expected for a while after surgery; but it has been 2 months. what can anyone suggest for treatment to ease the pain? As a sidenote, also have Parkinson's disease (6 years now at age of 80) and am currently suffering from Vertigo. not to worry too much though, because I have been blessed my entire life. No regrets. Staying as positive as possible; having a strong will to live and a zest for life. not afraid of dying but would like to stick around a little longer to see my grandkids grow and play a round of golf with them!

Hello @harvodavo and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Despite all you are going through, you certainly have a commendable attitude!

You will notice that I have moved your post into an existing discussion on a similar topic that you can find here: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/spinal-fusion-2/

I did this so you may more easily connect with others who have shared about spinal fusions like @derreckw @collierga and @jenniferhunter.

When is the last and next follow up appointments with your neurosurgeon? Did he/she mention how long you might expect to experience this level of pain upon discharge?