Post-op Follow Up

Well, my surgery was on Monday. I had an anterior cervical corpectomy and fusion done. The procedure took about 3 hours to complete. I decided instead of an allograft (cadaver bone) I would use an autograft (my own bone) to complete the fusion. The surgeon took the bone from my hip which is standard. He removed the C6 vertebrae and the C5-C7 discs. I had one night in the hospital. The day of surgery went great, even my 10 minutes withphysical therapy. I also had a pain pump to help with my pain. I was able to dispense a dose through the PAC every 8 minutes and I was also getting 15 mg of oxycodone (no acetaminophen) every 8 hours. My surgeon told me he would be by early to check on me the next morning because he had a 7 am surgery. Well, he came in about 5:30 am and said he would be sending me home later that day. about an hour later, my pain pump ran out of medication and my pain level went to an instant 10. The nurses checked and the doctor had discontinued all orders for pain medications. The nurses tried to get a hold of him but were unable to before he went into surgery. I had the nurses discharge me earlier than they planned so I could come home and take pain meds. I finally got through to my pain management doctor and they have incressed the amount of oxycodone that I can take for breakthrough pain. Instead of 1 tablet every 8 hours, I can now take 1 every 4 hours. I am also still taking the Exalgo 16 mg 1 tablet twice daily. Now that I am 4 days post-op, my pain is finally starting to get under control. Only have one new issue now. I just took the dressing off of my hip and discovered that I am allergic to the waterproof bandage he used. I have several blisters around my incision on my hip where the adhesive was touching. Now I am scared to take off the dressing from my neck because I fear I might have blisters.

As far as how I feel, I hurt more than I thought I would. I am having to use a walker to get around with. The numbness in my left arm is still there but doctor said it might take a couple weeks to let the nerves heal. The pain that was shooting down my arms constantly has stopped. So, so far everything is looking good as far as results from the surgery.

As my healing progresses, I will try my best to everyone updated. Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers for successful healing.

I totally understand what you are going thru. I had a simular situation last Nov with my 2nd back surgery. I was discharge too early. I had also found out that I am extremely allergic to any adhesive during this time. I too had blisters where the bandages and tape were. After a week it was so bad I went to my primary physician and he put me on 2 allergry meds just to keep the hives and blisters under control. I had to go to a wound care specialist just to have theblisters taken care of. I would check with your surgeon first and if he does not do anything, see you primary.

I had discussed my post-op pain management with him and he was to handle while I was in the hospital and once released my pain management doctor would take over. I tried to get everything lined out ahead of time with my pain management doctor but I was told to contact them once I got home from hospital to discuss my pain management regiment. I am now better prepared for any additional surgeries I might have to have in the future.