Estimated Recovery Time

[isauma]

Anybody who's had back surgery at level L4-L5 (hemilaminotomy to be specific) How long did it take you (or if you know somebody) to be FULLY recovered from surgery, I had surgery 8 months ago, and I just feel like I'm never going to be fully recovered or at least feel like the way I felt before the surgery. I need to go back to work and finish college, my doctor say I can do it but retake things slowly but I'm afraid to hurt my self or to overload my body with physical activity.
Thanks. :)

[isauma]

Thank you again! I feel a little better now :) It gives me hope... though I know God is in control of everything that's happened so far in my life!! But sometimes it's just hard to control your  mind, and the Doctor did tell me about controlling the mind and emotions after surgery. I don't smoke, but thanx. I used to take aleve, but my stomach didn't react well to that med, so I stopped taking it and went back to ibuprofen. I do need to start taking some sort of calcium though.
i know my pain won't go away for ever, I have more problems in my back, I have 6 disc herniations in the whole column, a mild reversal of normal lordosis, and a disc protrusion at level T3-T4, yeap, I've got a very very delicate and fragile spine.. so the pain I have is not only lumbar, but in the whole spine, and I really don't wanna go through another surgery, so i'm just doing my best to take things easy and not to worsen my condition. I was hoping to be able to go back to work and college soon, but Idk, we'll see! I have to wait to see an orthopedic and other doctors to whom my Doctor referred me to.
I'm glad to hear your story and specially to hear that you are doing better, it is encouraging to me thank you so much!! Have a blessed night! =)

[isauma]

also, I've heard from other that's taken them a year and sometimes 2 years to recover, and the surgeon had told me that t would take me only 3 months, so the recovery has extended to 8 months as of today, and I see no signs of getting better any time soon... Thanks... :)

[isauma]

Thank you so much!! You said it took over a year to recover? but from how many surgeries?
In fact tomorrow I start exercises in water, it's like a "swimming therapy-exercises" they use heated water. I still continue to doing the exercises that the physical therapist told me to do, and I did acupuncture for 2 months to alleviate the pain and that helped me as well.
My main concern it's only if I'm ever going to feel better, if it wasn't for th MRI where it says that the surgery was successful, I would've been convinced that I should have never had that surgery, but I' glad I have the MRIs as a constant reminder that I did the right thing. I'm 23 years old and I don't want to live the rest of my life like this.
I take diclofenac 100 mg a day and Ibuprofen 1200mg a day as well, I have tramadol, vicodin, propoxyl, for pain but I don't take them, I told the Doctor not to give that kind of med cause' I won't take and he insists in sending it to me... anyways..

[recoveredfromamonster]

Oh one more thing, the YWCA/YMCA often have hot tubs which is absolute HEAVEN to an achy back :)

[recoveredfromamonster]

I had 3 idets and then a fusion several years back on my L5/L6 (I have an extra vertebra) Because of the back playing a critical role in the way you walk,sit,run. When your back has pain not only do you take it easy most of the time which leads to massive muscle loss but you also compensate when you walk and sit. This can lead to the misplacement of your hips and can cause a good deal of pain as well that can feel like the radiating pain your bad disk created. Core exercise as much as you can are essential. Walk in a pool if you can't walk on the ground. Perhaps a small bike ride (it's easier on the back than running). It took me about a year as I dealt with some unsuccessful corrective surgeries before the fix that did it thus extending the time I was not active etc. Everyone is different. Perhaps get a pass to your local YWCA and use the pool to begin exorcises (water is the easiest on the back) and perhaps a treadmill or a bit of weights. When in doubt run it by your doctor and get a list of core exorcises from him and do those faithfully. Your back is the core of the rest of your body. It has a role in almost every physical action you do. When you don't use it for an extended period it take some strengthening to get it back on track. Do not discourage, this will get better. One more thing, if you are still taking pain pills you will always hurt until you stop taking them and allow your body to retrain itself to fight pain on it's own again. Not saying you still are but just in case. Good luck, GOD bless.