Anyone had a lumbar fusion?

[BravoXray]

Well, it seems like when it rains, it pours.
A couple of times last week after I went to bed I got sharp pans in my abdomen. Kind of felt like gas pains, and the would go away after a while. So last evenig a friend and I went to Culver's for supper abut 6:00pm, and by 8:00PM I was in agony. Had my lady friend drive me to the ER in town at 11:00PM, and by then it was so bad I was vomiting. Ended up waiting for over an hour before I got in to a room and checked out. On the way into the ER the thought crossed my mind about a gallbladder problem. When I was giving the triage nurse all the pertinent info, and I told here I had been at Culvers and had fish, fries and broccoli, she said "bingo!" gallbladder attack.
After spending another three hours in the treatment room with a rather unconcerned nurse, they finally drew blood and sent me for a CAT scan. Back in the room, the nurse said, yep, gallbladder stones and it's going to have to come out.
Now I have had some pretty bad pain before, like a kidney stone, but this was an order of magnitude worse, way worse. After harping on the nurse for an hour, she finally gave me some pain meds, which really did do much for the pain, but I didn't care.
Hey checked me into a room, gave me me happy pills, and at 10:00AM this morning, the surgeon removed the gallbladder. I have four little incisions and one larger one below mu breastbone where they removed the little bugger.
.So no more belly pain, except for the incision sites, and came home at 5:30 this evening.
I have seen enough hospitals for the last 5 years, hope I'm done with that.

 

[MossRoad]

Ouch! Glad you are on the mend again.

 

[ArlyA]

Gee whiz Dennis,. Hope you are feeling better now. When people loose weight, most have there blood pressure go down.

 

[stuckmotor]

Ouch! Glad you are on the mend again.

What Moss said.

 

[BravoXray]

Gee whiz Dennis,. Hope you are feeling better now. When people loose weight, most have there blood pressure go down.

The blood pressure is still pretty good, even after being off the BP meds for a couple of days, this was yesterday just after my surgery.

 

[MossRoad]

 

[BravoXray]

Went to see the back doc last week, got x-rayed to check on everything.
Doc looked at the pictures and said everything looks great, better than most at this point in recovery. The graft to fuse the vertabrae is looking really good too. Don't have to see him again until August.
Went to the physical therapist on Monday, and he gave me some new exercises in addition to those I have been doing, and said unless I have a problem or question that I didn't need to see him again. I asked about the pool therapy, and he said that it would be of no benefit at my stage of recovery. I missed the window when I was recovering from the gall bladder surgery.
So, I'm walking about a half mile or more every day, spending a half hour with the stimulator strapped on, and about 40 minutes doing the exercises. I've also lost a little over 20 pounds since December, and am down to the next to the last notch on my belt, and that is feeling a little loose.
Going to go to the Thursday night cruise-in tomorrow afternoon at a local Amish restaurant since I can walk more than a couple hundred feet at a time with no pain for first time in several years.

 

[etpm]

Went to see the back doc last week, got x-rayed to check on everything.
Doc looked at the pictures and said everything looks great, better than most at this point in recovery. The graft to fuse the vertabrae is looking really good too. Don't have to see him again until August.
Went to the physical therapist on Monday, and he gave me some new exercises in addition to those I have been doing, and said unless I have a problem or question that I didn't need to see him again. I asked about the pool therapy, and he said that it would be of no benefit at my stage of recovery. I missed the window when I was recovering from the gall bladder surgery.
So, I'm walking about a half mile or more every day, spending a half hour with the stimulator strapped on, and about 40 minutes doing the exercises. I've also lost a little over 20 pounds since December, and am down to the next to the last notch on my belt, and that is feeling a little loose.
Going to go to the Thursday night cruise-in tomorrow afternoon at a local Amish restaurant since I can walk more than a couple hundred feet at a time with no pain for several years.

I am quite happy that your surgery went well and your recovery is going well. I had bone grafts twice on my wrists. The first were cadaver bone grafts and of course the cadaver didn't complain. I didn't either because I was under general anesthesia and the surgery was emergency and nobody was gonna ask what I wanted. The second grafts, being reconstructive grafts, used bone taken from my hips. Boy, was that not fun. So keep doing what the docs tell ya to do so you can avoid any more cutting. I know you are doing what you are supposed to do and it's a good thing. It seems like most of the folks posting here try hard to do the right things, and taking proper care of yourself after a surgery, like you are doing, is another example. keep it up and let us all know how your back is doing.
Cheers,
Eric

 

[BravoXray]

I am quite happy that your surgery went well and your recovery is going well. I had bone grafts twice on my wrists. The first were cadaver bone grafts and of course the cadaver didn't complain. I didn't either because I was under general anesthesia and the surgery was emergency and nobody was gonna ask what I wanted. The second grafts, being reconstructive grafts, used bone taken from my hips. Boy, was that not fun. So keep doing what the docs tell ya to do so you can avoid any more cutting. I know you are doing what you are supposed to do and it's a good thing. It seems like most of the folks posting here try hard to do the right things, and taking proper care of yourself after a surgery, like you are doing, is another example. keep it up and let us all know how your back is doing.
Cheers,
Eric

Thanks for the kind words, Eric.
They did take a chunk of bone from my pelvis for the grafts and that still gives me a twinge every now and then, but otherwise I am pretty much pain free during normal activities. Like the doc advised, if it hurts, don't do it.
Back in December I weighed in at 268 lbs, and when I saw the doc last week I was down to 247 lbs. My goal is to get down to 200 lbs or maybe a little less, but I know it won't be easy.

 

[BravoXray]

Went to the surgeon's office today for my last checkup. Got X-rays and went to see Dr. Smith. He looked them over and said it all looks great. The grafts have healed properly, and nothing has moved. Great news.
Next week marks a year since the surgery, and I couldn't have asked for a better outcome.
I was pleasantly surprised how fast I was in and out today. I arrived right on time for my 12:15 PM X-ray appointment, got check in and didn't even have time to sit down before the tech came out and called me back to the X-ray room. Walked up a floor to the doc's office, checked in at 12:30 PM for my 1:00 PM appointment and expected to wait for a half hour, but had barely sat down and the nurse came out and took me back to the exam room. She took all my information, said the doc would be right in, and he actually did just a couple of minutes later. I walked out just before 1:00 PM, fastest I've ever been in and out of a doctor's office.