Pain with L5-S1 Fusion

I am 2 weeks post op from L5-S1 anterior/posterior spinal fusion. I ruptured a disc at work in sept. I had a couple of PT visits, then it was decided to have a microdiscetomy. I had severe left lower leg pain and drop foot. So I had the procedure at L4-L5. that became infected rather quickly, so I had to be put back under general anesthesia and they cleaned out the infection and I was loaded up on Ancef. Well things were going well, then my L5-S1 ruptured. I forgot to mention the MRI showed the rupture at L4-L5 and a bulge at L5-S1. So anyway, I went in and had another microdiscetomy at the L5-S1 level. Well, when I awakened from that surgery, I was in worse pain than before I went in. The doc stated that he noted severe joint instability while in there. I had another MRI which showed the joint was bone on bone, the disc was dong nothing. He said it must have collapsed after he close me up. I find that a little hard to swallow, but I am just a Paramedic, not a surgeon. The pain in my left lower leg didn't improve and I started developing severe foot pain specifically my big toe, and it also felt Steel wool was being scraped across the top of my foot. So, the decision for the fusion was made. Anterior and Posterior. The incisions are healin g nice, but my pain is still through the roof, especially in the morning. Along with steel wool scraping feeling on top of left foot, I have SEVERE right side calf pain and left side calf pain. I am on 40mg of oxycontin twice a day and 10m percocet q 4 hours as needed, and believe me its needed. My back and abd still hurt, which i expect, but my calves and foot in the morning is unbearable until the meds kick in, and I even set my alarm to take my percocet every 4 hours over night. I am now walking twice a day, about 100 yards each time. I don't know what else to do. I am extremely frustrated. I miss the Firehouse. I dont know if I mentioned, but I am a Firefighter/Paramedic, 19 years. I miss it, and I am so ready to get back to a point to where I can work and start running again. The same Doc did all the surgeries, work comp wouldn't pay for second opinion.

Post Edited (BC13) : 3/30/2015 2:18:26 PM (GMT-6)

Hello BC & welcome to the chronic pain forum. Jeesh, have you ever got some issues going on & I sure hope this is all temporary.

What type of dr did your surgery, orthopedic or neurosurgeon? I do not blame you a bit for questioning the drs answer of it must have collapsed after I closed. Something I learned many, many years ago is always go with your gut feeling.

I will be very honest with you, I have seen every kind of cervical & lumbar fusion coming down the pike, seen all the things that can go wrong to excellent surgery outcomes, bad surgeons to the cream of the crop & have never heard of this one. Some people will say anything is possible. You may want to go to SpineUniverse.com & see if you can find any kind of info on something like this happening. It is a website devoted to the spine & has accurate information.

I do hope your dr has you on a good muscle relaxer, along with one of the medications used to treat nerve pain like Lyrica, Gabapentin, Amitriptiline, Nortriptiline, & Cymbalta to name a few. That steel wool feeling is coming from nerves. What does the dr say about this? Is the foot drop improving? Any of the meds used to treat nerve pain can take up to 2 months for the side effects to go away & also to get a patient to the proper dosage. Those meds have to build up in your system.

Your body has gone through some pretty traumatic surgery. Its going to take it a good bit of time for you to completely heal & the fusion to become solid. This does not happen in a few months either. Most lumbar fusions to completely heal & know what your final outcome will be is between 18-24 months. What you do for post op care is every bit as important as the surgeons work. Trying to rush & hurry things along will hurt you more than help you. A lot of people think if they push it things will heal quicker, that is the worst thing to do.

Walking is pretty much all you are going to be able to do for awhile. It will help build you up & increase your stamina. Increase your distance slowly, a little at a time. Take this time to heal & recover properly so that when you return to work you will be able to do your job.

Take care.