Re: Post-Surgical Pain and Resolution of Numbness (was: Frustrated)

April 7, 2011

It took many months before the numb patches on my back dissipated (I only had

posterior surgery.) It isn't all gone but it no longer feels " weird " to wash

those areas of skin. The neurological pain in my toes is still there and worse

than before surgery.

>

> One of the things that had been concerning me was that my pain level was

> still so high. I've been reading through the post-op stories from the files

> section, and something from Cam's story aught my attention. You mentioned

> that Dr. Rand said that " generally he sees the best results when dealing

> with straightforward degenerative discs… basically that the decompression

> gets the pain. " And then you (Cam) went on to say " So I guess I understood

> that stenosis or more significant scar tissue may play a role in the ability

> to really clear up residual pain. " Were you saying that Dr. Rand was saying

> that it would typically take longer for pain to resolve in patients who had

> significant stenosis pre-surgery? If that's the case, that may be at least

> part of my problem. My lumbar stenosis was quite serous by the time I agreed

> to surgery.

>

> I also had/have large areas of numbness on both my back and stomach

> post-surgery. The numbness on my stomach has not resolved at all, but I

> really don't care because being able to feel the area immediately below my

> belly button isn't really a huge priority of mine. If every problem but that

> resolves, I'll consider myself extremely lucky!

>

> I also have large areas of numbness on my back, butt it sounds like this is

> extremely common. Small spots at the edges of these numb areas are starting

> to regain feeling, but as they do, those same areas have a lot of soft

> tissue soreness/pain. Is this a typical stage for the tissue to go through?

>

> I went to bed last night, and just couldn't get myself to get out of bed

> this morning. There wasn't a specific reason, but I just couldn't bring

> myself to get up. The good news is that I felt so much better once I finally

> got up. Perhaps my body was trying to tell me something, and thus it was

> good that I listened. I got out of bed and was immediately was able to move

> around pretty easily, and with much less pain than on the last several days.

> And no, I'm not going to be stupid about this and try to do too much while

> I'm feeling better. I want to stay feeling this way, not ruin it!

>

> I hope everyone is having a good day,

>

> C.

> Boston, MA

>

> Surgeon: Dr. Glazer

> 5.5 weeks post-op

> L3-S1 fusion plus removal

> and replacement of old hardware

>

April 8, 2011

,You are still very early in recovery, may not seem like it, but it's true. Listening to ones body is tough, cause everyones first preference is to GET BACK AT THINGS. I think it can be tough to read others accounts of recovery, cause you want their story to be exactly like yours, and then you judge the pace of your recovery on theirs and that can be disappointing. My pain at 5 weeks was dramatically different than at say, 8 weeks, or 12 weeks. Time is your friend, and a lot of rest. Really no getting around that.

While most of us here have Flatback, what other maladies play into that, can change the pace of recovery, just due to what needs to be accomplished during surgery. My surgeries weren't staged( yes I had more than one revision), and it seems to me by being here, that the girls that get staged, seem to pop back faster than I did. More than once I've been a bit jealous when reading their accounts, I was far more laid up than them, and for longer, and maybe thats due to the amount of work needing to be done on me, the huge amount of blood loss I had, and that I was under anesthesia for so long. So while we all for the most part have Flatback, some have a much more huge laundry list of things to address while in there, and while we are all having a revision, whats done, for how long, can play a role in pain levels and popping back.

I'm not a Rand patient, so I can't address what he said to Cam, but stenosis played a big part in driving me to revision. That burning hot poker pain in my hip and upper right leg was awful. I tried a stop gap surgery to to bide me time till fusion to the sacrum, a decompression lami , and while it got rid of the hot poker pain, it didn't fix the the structural problems of flatback, and while the stenosis pain was gone, Flatback and other issues still caused me a lot of pain, and a year later I was back in surgery being fused to the sacrum. For me, the stenosis surgery was extreamly painful, and I had a great deal of questioning afterward, like what the hell did I do to myself. I felt like I had been hit by a bus, and then dragged, and run over. Many here have said that they woke up from a revision and knew their stenosis pain was gone, didn't work that way for me, it took time for me, but it was a tremendous relief when it was, but it took time for me. For me the after surgery pain of my decompression /lami surgery was WAY more painful than my fusion to the sacrum surgery( anterior and posterior), and my later surgery that was a reworking of my spine due to a crack in my fusion mass.

I want you to know that many sit weeks away from surgery, still in pain, and wonder if it's all going to work out for them, I sure did. This surgery really isn't like any other, and the pace of recovery is long, it just is, and time will tell, and a lot of it. I think you having a light bulb moment, of wow I rested a lot, and gee I feel better bodes well for you. How people feel and react to pain differs widely, While I put up with a great deal of pain for over a decade with Flatback, and dealt with that fairly well, post op pain wasn't easy for my doc to get under control with me, and it took a lot of playing with meds to get me feeling better. After my last revision the pain just turned off at about three months post op, like someone had turned off a faucet, weird I know, but how it worked for me.

Have faith, rest, rest, and rest some more. Let your surgeons work have time to take hold. Keep seeing yourself well in your minds eye, a positive body reacts better than one that is not. Don't give yourself a timetable, and don't allow others to.

As to areas of numbness, I'm 8 years out, and yes I still have a great deal of numbness on my back, and my left thigh. Is it better with time, YES!!!!!, is it gone, NO.My best advice is listen to your pain, it will tell you if you are doing to much, and not resting properly. You have to remember the healing part of this is on you, and your work in your overall outcome, it sure was with mine, and the time invested in recovery is so worth it, was for me, and I'm thankful everyday for my good outcome, but in the thick of it, it seemed to take forever.

Colorado SpringsOn Thu, Apr 7, 2011 at 2:07 PM, Curran <melissacurran530@...> wrote:

One of the things that had been concerning me was that my pain level was still so high. I've been reading through the post-op stories from the files section, and something from Cam's story aught my attention. You mentioned that Dr. Rand said that " generally he sees the best results

when dealing with straightforward degenerative discs… basically

that the decompression gets the pain. " And then you (Cam) went on to say " So I guess I understood that

stenosis or more significant scar tissue may play a role in the

ability to really clear up residual pain. " Were you saying that Dr. Rand was saying that it would typically take longer for pain to resolve in patients who had significant stenosis pre-surgery? If that's the case, that may be at least part of my problem. My lumbar stenosis was quite serous by the time I agreed to surgery.

I also had/have large areas of numbness on both my back and stomach post-surgery. The numbness on my stomach has not resolved at all, but I really don't care because being able to feel the area immediately below my belly button isn't really a huge priority of mine. If every problem but that resolves, I'll consider myself extremely lucky!

I also have large areas of numbness on my back, butt it sounds like this is extremely common. Small spots at the edges of these numb areas are starting to regain feeling, but as they do, those same areas have a lot of soft tissue soreness/pain. Is this a typical stage for the tissue to go through?

I went to bed last night, and just couldn't get myself to get out of bed this morning. There wasn't a specific reason, but I just couldn't bring myself to get up. The good news is that I felt so much better once I finally got up. Perhaps my body was trying to tell me something, and thus it was good that I listened. I got out of bed and was immediately was able to move around pretty easily, and with much less pain than on the last several days. And no, I'm not going to be stupid about this and try to do too much while I'm feeling better. I want to stay feeling this way, not ruin it!

I hope everyone is having a good day, C.Boston, MA

Surgeon: Dr. Glazer5.5 weeks post-opL3-S1 fusion plus removal and replacement of old hardware

April 8, 2011

Hi ,

I wanted to comment on the numbness in your back. My PT therapist desensitized

my back and the people at home helped. Really what they do is rub your back with

items of different texture. At first you want to climb a wall, scream and or

punch somebody but after a while (meaning weeks)it climaxes and gives way to

normal feeling. I have all the feeling in my skin back including a spot the size

of a baseball I had lost years ago. It worked for me anyway. C