Frustrated

[Guest guest]

For some reason, I expected my recovery to be further along at this point. I'm five weeks out from my first of the two surgeries (anterior), and four weeks six days out from the second (posterior). I've been trying to follow all the precautions so that I heal properly, while also pushing myself to get up and do stuff moving around and doing my PT exercises.

However, my pain level has still been very high. Some days are better than others. First thing in the morning is the worst. I get up out of bed and my back is screaming, and that is a couple of hours after my first pain meds of the day! Eventually that settles down a bit, and occasionally isn't that bad, but usually is pretty bad.

I've been trying to be a bit more helpful around the house. I need to feel like I'm not just a burden on my husband and daughter, so I try to find little things that I can handle doing: handling our finances, tidying the kitchen (rinsing soda cans and putting cereal boxes back in the pantry, not washing dishes or anything like that), and other family things that involve a computer and/or phone. I need to contribute.

But shouldn't my pain level be deceasing by now? What were you able to do around the house at this point in your  recovery?My trips out of the house have been few and far between. Was this the case for you too? I'm obviously not driving myself, but I've only left the house a few times. Each trip is very hard on me, not just because of what I do when I get there, but because of the ride. Boston roads in early spring are more potholes than roads, which is so painful! I keep a death grip onto the overhead handle, which helps, but doesn't solve the problem. And last week when my car started bucking like a horse with me in it didn't help at all either! And can you believe that was caused by something as simple as spark plugs?

Sorry for all that rambling. I'm crying over here because I'm so frustrated with how slowly things are going. Is this all normal, and thus are my expectations completely out of touch with reality? What else can I be doing to move my recovery forward? I'm so frustrated with my current situation that I think it's interfering with my motivation at the moment.

I will obviously discuss this at my next post-surgery follow up appointment, which is on April 18th. Please give me a dose of reality and some suggestions to help get me through until then. C.Boston, MA

Surgeon: Dr. Glazer5 weeks post-opL3-S1 fusion plus removal   and replacement of old hardware