the downside of revision recovery (an informal poll)

September 2, 2006

---HEy Vonnie,

I am replying to your post. No, I am really not in alot of pain. I

still am taking 1 to 2 tramadols a day. Rand said I should to keep

ahead of the pain, I guess it wards off any pain that I might have. I

know if I forget to take it I am a bit umcomfortable and I am just

not willing to be even bit uncomfortable if I don't have too.

I also was responding to your popping sound you had in your back...I

have never had that but when I was up to see Rand in August he showed

me an xray of a person who had revision surgery a few years back and

was in for a routine folllow up with him and his rod(Harrington Rod)

had broken in half!! I sadi will you go in and take it out..he said

no, the guy never even knew it broke, but he said most folks would

hear a pop..so it made me think of you. He said the rod is not going

to move any where so he would just leave it as is.

Are you still taking meds? Have you had your first day back to work

yet? I am sure it will be hard but you do adjust...you may need to do

nothing other than work for a bit until you get used to that whole

day thing!!I have been back to work for 5 months now, I did not take

the summer off, I worked extended school year, I felt that I should

stay working and stay in the routine.

, PA

In , " Vonnie " <vonniec20032000@...>

wrote:

>

> HI MARY PA,I GET LIKE THAT SOME DAYS,THEN SOME DAYS ARE BETTER THAN

> OTHERS BUT I KNOW WHAT YOUR SAYING..I HAD TO CALL PRISCILLA THE

OTHER

> DAY CAUSE I WENT TO REACH FOR SOMETHING ON MY BUREAU AND I HEARD A

> BIG POP AND IT CAME FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY BACK..WELL I WAS SO

NERVOUS

> THAT I HAD BROKE SOMETHING IN THERE I CALLED TO ASK HER IF THIS WAS

> NORMAL TO HEAR THAT BECAUSE I NEVER HEARD ANYTHING LIKE THAT BEFORE

> BUT SHE TOLD ME IT COULD BE AIR OR GAS IN THE BONES? WHO KNOWS?

WELL

> THE SAME DAY I WENT OUT TO LUNCH WITH THE GIRLS FROM WORK AND WE

WERE

> TALKING AND SITTING AND I FORGOT I WAS IN A BOOTH FOR 2 1/2 HOURS

AND

> WHEN I GOT UP I WAS HURTING.THAT WAS STUPID OF ME TO BE SITTING IN

A

> BOOTH ANYWAY CAUSE IT'S TOO LOW FOR ME.WELL NEEDLESS TO SAY I WAS

> HURTING ALL THAT DAY AND THE NEXT,SO YESTERDAY I WAS STILL HURTING

> AND CALLED THE DR.'S OFFICE AGAIN AND GOT HILARY AND SHE SAID I

MOST

> LIKELY HURT IT SITTING DOWN LOW AND IF IT'S NOT BETTER BY A COUPLE

OF

> DAYS TO CALL AND COME IN FOR AN X-RAY..WELL TODAY I WOKE UP AND I

> FELT ALOT BETTER SO I'M HOPING EVERYTHING IS FINE AND IT WAS

AIR..BUT

> HAS ANYONE ELSE HAD THAT HAPPEN TO THEM SINCE SURGERY? ALL THAT

KEPT

> GOING THROUGH MY HEAD WAS SOMEONE I FORGET HER NAME HEARD A POP AND

> SHE BROKE SOMETHING AND HAD TO GO IN AND HAVE IT FIXED..I THINK SHE

> WAS BENDING OVER THE DRYER GETTING CLOTHES OUT. WELL THATS ALL THAT

> KEPT GOING THROUGH MY HEAD.BUT I WAS NOT BENDING OR DOING ANYTHING

I

> WASN'T SUPPOSE TO BE DOING.BUT YOU NEVER KNOW YOU CAN MOVE THE

WRONG

> WAY AND HURT YOURSELF..I START BACK TO WORK ON TUESDAY AND I JUST

> HOPE I CAN DO IT,IF NOT I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. ARE YOU STILL IN

> ALOT OF PAIN MARY? I STILL AM HAVING PAIN FROM SURGERY NOT BAD BAD

> PAIN BUT IT'S THERE AND I HATE IT THAT I CAN'T STILL DO ALOT OF

> THINGS BUT HOPEFULLY IT WILL GET A LITTLE BETTER.. MARY HANG IN

THERE

> THAT'S ALL WE CAN DO AND KEEP YOUR CHIN

UP...VONNIE -

> -- In , " heatherbenjaminnicholas "

> <heatherbenjaminnicholas@> wrote:

> >

> > ---

> >

> > I think I have come in and out of a sadness/depression state

since

> I

> > was released from the hospital. I really do not like to go out in

> the

> > public too much, I do but don't like to do it. I feel sad inside

> that

> > I am not moving at a rate I want to be. I KNOW I am doing well,

so

> I

> > hate to complain, but you asked. I am still not completly

> comfortable

> > in my new body, 7 months post op. I started back to the gym a few

> > weeks ago and it felt so, so weird on the equipment. I had

trouble

> > reaching devices to change the position on the bike. I could not

> bend

> > down low enough to reach the cleaning clothes they have for you

wo

> > wipe down equipment after each use. It was such an effort to go

and

> > ride a darn bike for 30 minutes. I just want to be what I was

> > preflatback but that will never happen...I sometimes dream about

> > bending over and reaching something off of the floor with no

> > restrictiveness. I am not in anyway implying that I am regretting

> the

> > revision surgery....never...i just feel sad, I was dealt this

hand

> of

> > cards...boohoo for me....I think i;ll go have a pitty party for

> > myself tonight.....,PA

> >

> > In , " advokam " <advokam@> wrote:

> > >

> > > For those of you who are officially 'revised', I have a quick

> > > question.

> > >

> > > Have you, at any point since your surgeries, experienced

> depression

> > > or notable set-backs in your recovery and if so, at what point

> > (give

> > > or take) did such occur?

> > >

> > > Thinking back over the recoveries I've witnessed, it seems

these

> > > things are fairly common (Lorrie, P., , myself, to

> name

> > a

> > > few) and I suspect there are others. Sometimes I sense this

group

> > > errs on the side of optimism and I don't like sugar-coated

> (unless

> > > it's my dessert) and would not want to mislead anyone into

> thinking

> > > that recovery is straight-forward and easily graphable.

> > >

> > > So, for the sake of considering multiple perspectives, will

those

> > of

> > > us who have 'been there, done that' use this thread to express

> the

> > > most challenging parts of recovery? We can keep it all

contained,

> > but

> > > I think it could be a useful archive for those in recovery-mode

> to

> > > feel a bit more 'normal'. I know I was sometimes afraid to

> complain

> > > because I was afraid I'd scare someone away from this life-

> changing

> > > commitment. HELLO!!! We should be scared! If we're not somewhat

> > > frightened by the notion, we're not being realistic.

> > >

> > > Naturally, if you don't want to share, don't. If you don't want

> to

> > > read, skip this thread. But it might help someone more than

> you'll

> > > ever realize.

> > >

> > > kam

> > >

> >

>

September 2, 2006

Hi Vonnie...

While I have heard a few people whose rod(s) broke say they heard a popping sound, the vast majority had no idea their rod(s) had broken. On the other hand, I’ve heard several people describe a lot of popping that they heard and felt after surgery, who had otherwise uneventful recoveries.

I think most people who have these big surgeries will tell you that they freak out at least a few times, especially in the first year, thinking that they’ve done something to damage the fusion or implants. For the vast majority, including myself, nothing actually happened.

Regards,

On 9/2/06 12:12 PM, " heatherbenjaminnicholas " <heatherbenjaminnicholas@...> wrote: