u/Electronic_Worker245

Find it really hard to accept that at 9 weeks post op, everyday I go to sleep and wake up that I don't feel better than the day before.

I feel like I have good days and bad days. Will it always be like that ?

I'm a L4-5 fusion patient.

When did you all feel the biggest difference in pain reduction and better mobility ?

At the moment I can carry out my errands in the morning by late afternoon / evening I'm knackered and in pain. If I lay down in bed for 20-30 mins in the afternoon and get back up it's like my body can't handle my weight and it's really painful for 10-15mins. But yet i can sleep all night and wake up in the morning with minimal pain.

Im a member on a few spinal fusion boards and I constantly read people waiting years and decades before they had surgery as they are scared.

I personally had 7 months of sciatica two years ago that went away with brisk walking and paracetamol.

It returned in December last year and just kept getting worse to the point I couldnt walk anymore and left me with debilitating pain on my left 🦵 leg, numbness and drop foot. A MRI scan and x-ray confirmed ddd and my L5 nerve being compressed. My neurosurgeon operated on me this year and I'm now 9 weeks post op. I wasn't scared at all as I just wanted to be pain free. It was successful to the point that pain went away. I went from a 10/10 pain (nerve on leg) to a 3/10 (pain in lower back) which I can live with and I hope it goes to a 0 at some point in the future as I continue to heal. I still have some leg weakness and numbness in toes but drop foots resolved. A bit of nerve pain comes and goes quickly but I believe it's all part of the healing process at this stage.

Have any of you fallen over after fusion ?

I'm 9 weeks post op L4-5 fusion, i tripped while I was going out for a meal with family yesterday I didn't hit the floor thankfully but it was enough to send a sharp pain through my spine. I'm a little sore today but that's it thankfully. It got me wondering has any one taken a fall ? Early on or in the later stages after fusion ? What happened ? Somebody in another thread said they went back to jiu jitsu after a year so in assuming a fall will be fine for most after a year.

I'm 9 weeks post op posterior L4-5 with screws and rods and feeling Optimistic, can't wait to get back to my life. I love cycling, the elliptical at the gym, and lifting moderate weights with dumbbells and machines at the gym. I've got two kids as well that I'm eager to lift up and hug !

Now that I have fixed up my diet I really want to get active again.

What sort of activities did everyone get back too and how long after ? I'm after genuine real life success stories, God knows we have enough people sharing horror stories online.

So parcelforce collected my large 20kg parcel on Saturday it was a 24 express tracked signature parcel.

It is now Monday 1pm but tracking still says it's a failed collection and it hasn't been scanned in.

What are they doing ? I've already received a late delivery defect in ebay due to there drivers not scanning parcels in the past and it looks like it will happen again if it isn't scanned and delivered tomorrow.

So 7 weeks ago I had my L4-L5 fusion spine surgery with screws and rods.

I was in debilitating pain for 3 weeks prior to my op to the point I couldnt get out of bed to go for a wee, I had to do it in a bottle as I couldnt handle the sciatic nerve pain shooting down my left leg.

I developed foot drop and numbness on my left leg.

Out of surgery the sciatic pain was immediately gone, but the foot drop was severe and still there. I also now had right side numbness in various parts of my leg.

The operation site also felt like I was laying down on a box and I could feel the hardware.

Had to walk with crutches for 4 weeks.

Fast forward to today, the foot drop has 85-90% resolved itself, the numbness has also reduced a lot, still have numbness on my toes but I am optimistic over the year I will see more improvements. I am also walking more comfortably unassisted and able to go to the shops etc. My only real pain is from my body muscle guarding the operation site when I get in and out of bed. I am also not on any pain meds, not even paracetamol.

Just take it one day at a time, eat well, 🙏 pray and be thankful.