Good luck with your surgery and a speedy recovery!

Sending good vibes!

Good luck with the procedure and recovery! I'm about 8 years off micro; was very happy I didn't require fusion. I'm not jealous. Hopefully yours will be one of the "Why didn't I do this sooner?" stories.

First, thanks for the support! I had the surgery last Thurday which makes it about 3 1/2 days ago. It was pretty uneventful for the spine surgeon but the vascular surgeon ran into a mesh that was put in many years ago when I had a few hernias repaired. For some reason the mesh was never listed. It made things more difficult but he succeeded with the only cost being additional swelling for me. The spine surgeon said I was 100% bone on bone instead of finding some tissue remaining.

I asked to be taken off pain meds after the initial recovery. It's now 48 hours w/o any pain meds and I anticipate going home after PT today. Not surprising is that the long haul recovery is about 18 months but by 3 months I should be in pretty good shape.

It looks like I'll be wheeling when the snow melts!

Again, thanks to my T4R friends and support!

good to hear!

yeah, I had asked to be taken off the pain meds(morphine) early also. but, apparently too early. I took some pills, but they weren't enough to deal with the pain. I had to wait 10 hrs to get a shot. it was agonizing. unbearable pain. that next shot was the last one though, after that the pain was easily managed with pills.


don't overdo it on the recovery. follow their instructions exactly. my biggest issue was not being able to sit in a vehicle for more than 30 minutes at a time. that was rough.

My daughter and youngest grandson came to see me the day after surgery. I looked out the doorway to see than standing there loking confused and told them to come in. They came in and looked around the room and finally asked who I was talking to. Low level hallucinations come with my opioid use. Interesting, mostly fun but those days are in the past for me now.

I've been avoiding this for so many years it doesn't feel much worse than it did prior to surgery, my pain tolerance is high. I've been told by many docs that I shouldn't be able to drive more than 5 minutes. I'm hoping things go smoothly through the winter and that I'll be feeling good by the time snow melts here.

Now I just have to constantly remind myself - no bending, no lifting, no twisting. While that sounds easy I'm finding it surprisingly hard to stick to.

My daughter and youngest grandson came to see me the day after surgery. I looked out the doorway to see than standing there loking confused and told them to come in. They came in and looked around the room and finally asked who I was talking to. My reply was "my invisible friend stopped by" - Low level hallucinations come with my opioid use. Interesting, mostly fun but those days are in the past for me now.

I've been avoiding this for so many years it doesn't feel much worse than it did prior to surgery, my pain tolerance is high. I've been told by many docs that I shouldn't be able to drive more than 5 minutes. I'm hoping things go smoothly through the winter and that I'll be feeling good by the time snow melts here.

Now I just have to constantly remind myself - no bending, no lifting, no twisting. While that sounds easy I'm finding it surprisingly hard to stick to.

Glad everything seems to be going OK man. Follow orders!

I am in an air cast on my right foot at the moment. I brok one of those little bones. Problem is I can't stop doing stuff that I need to do in order for it to heal. A few months ago when it happened the doc didn't even put me in anything, just told me to rest it and stay off it. A month later I went back and he put it in a brace. A few weeks ago he got fed up and put me in this monstrosity and told me if I don't watch the next one will be a fiberglass cast. I'm trying lol.

Glad to hear everything went well, good luck on a speedy recovery and improved health in the future

Glad to hear everything went well! Stay strong and keep away from the pain meds for as long as you can hang in there. Good vibes being sent your way. You've got this.

Glad it went well! Agree with the others on the pain meds. So easy to get hooked. I had one of my knee surgeries in NYC and it was ridiculous at how much they pushed those meds on me. My first knee surgery (ACL, MCL, PCL, meniscus and patella tendon) I had one of those morphine clickers. I loved that thing a little too much.

Good to hear that you're getting better.

You may want to take your pain meds (Norco, Tramadol, or Tylenol #3) IF you're in significant pain. Do not try and be a hero and suffer (unnecessarily) because that may make you less active or less likely to participate in your PT/exercise program. Being less active or not fully participating in rehab exercises because of pain may cause more harm than good in the short- and long-term.

Thanks Thai. I'm no hero when it comes to pain but I am respectful of the power of opiates too. I have Norco and Tramadol on hand so today I'm trying Tramadol to see if it kicks the pain back a bit. I used Tramadol after hurting my back in June leading to this surgery, not very strong but probably good enough.

The novelty of a short hospital stay and being home is giving way to the routines of exercize and limitations. I wear a soft brace mostly as a reminder not to BLT when moving around. I also swallowed my pride and am using a walker when I leave my place to walk. I'm optimistic the walker will only last a short time but my left leg is real weak and falling would suck.

Being reminded again and again of the negatives of nicotine I quit smoking too since it's a real impairment to bone healing. That adds a pulmonary exercise to my routines. Gotta love aging!

Wishing you a speedy recovery. Like others ive been dealing with back issues since a high school injury. Docs still refuse surgery due to age. I have a bucket list in case i ever get back to normal. Hope youre there soon!

Thanks, but what does age have to do with it bofa? Age of injury? Your age?