Recovery from a long spinal fusion (T4-S1), my third!

Written Nov 2024.
122 staples, BTW, removed painfully 21 days later. Surgery was on October 22nd, with 5 days in the hospital, 2 weeks in rehab facility. I came home two weeks early because I worked really hard on PT and OT. Plus I had the unfortunate experience of having two prior fusions, so my home was already prepared for a back surgery with a shower chair and pickers in strategic places. I only needed home health nurse for three visits to change dressing since I live alone.

In 2018 I had an L5-S1 fusion and the surgeon said it's likely you'll be back in 5 years or so. And he was right.

The second fusion was T10 to S1, that was February of this year by a different surgeon. About a month after I came home I had primary junctional failure at T10 after collapse of the fractured vertebrae (see before and after the revision surgery below).

And this most recent fusion was as I said in October with all of the hardware removed and replaced and extended up to T4. Let's just say I pray I don't have failure there. I was put into a cervical collar after surgery to ward off failure at T4 and I have to wear it until my first follow up on December 19th. Then we will see how it goes. No driving for 12 weeks.

At home my only physical therapy is walking. I have a walking pad.

And the final bit of information is pain control -- yipes, it is extremely difficult. I can't tell you how horrible surgery pain of this magnitude is. I have a high pain tolerance and between the pain of the surgical incision and all those muscles sliced, and the discomfort of the cervical collar, I get very little sleep. I can't complain about actual pain medication. I was given adequate coverage while in the hospital and rehab, oxycodone and gabapentin as well as tizanidine. All common prescribed medications.

Because I also have rheumatoid arthritis and neuropathy in my feet up to my calves I'm used to chronic pain (4 out of 10 is a good day for me), but this is another level of misery. I have pain management through a pain clinic and they did a good job handing off the baton to my pain clinic once I was home.

So I'm not quite a month out from surgery, and it's really rough but I am managing to get an hour here or an hour there of sleep. Then I get up and walk. With this collar on you don't really have to worry about violating bending, lifting, twisting... It's really hard to do comfortably.

PROCEDURES PERFORMED

(The most recent fusion, Oct 2024):

1. Posterior spinal fusion, posterior spinal instrumentation, T4 to pelvis. 

2. ICBG bilaterally 

3. Pelvic fixation bilaterally

4. Type 1 posterior column osteotomy T4 to S1 at each level x 13 

5. Allograft

6. Ligament repair T4 to T5 

7. Exploration fusion T11 to S1

8. Removal hardware T11 to S1