Back Pain Forum - Laser Spine Surgery

Marie B. wrote:

My appointment for surgery is now scheduled for Nov. 9 with the Dr. and Hospital that I have spoken of to Fran.

It will be Min. Invasive Surgery...Laminectomy and Fusion Insitu. And it will be under anesthesia. Estimated time for the surgery 1 hr and 30 min. Am expected to loose 4 to 7 cc's of blood at most if that.

I could have it done under a spinal but I don't want my spine messed up any more by anything other then the surgery itself.

Fran, I was thinking on what you had said in regard to your prior plans about what not to do around the house after surgery. I've arranged for someone else to do the house cleaning. I've assigned my husband to laundry....with supervision.
I am awaiting for pre-op orders and post op instructions. I'm still studying the B.R. options that you had discussed in an earlier post. All thoughts and ideas welcomed because of your experience.

Rich, I decided I couldn't wait any longer for surgery because everytime I missed a pain pill, or tried to see where things were without them, I would get to a point where I could barely walk from here to there. Not only that, but a friend saw me last weekend and said, "you can take those pain pills but they are not curing the problem. In time the problem will overcome you". Since I couldn't do laser and got no satisfactory answer to the spondy situation, I thought if I could find a good Min. Invasive Doc, that would be going a long way. So off I go.

Will keep you all posted on how things go. I have friends all around the nation praying for me. If any of you want to add to the prayers, please do so. I will need as many as I can get.

Marie B.

Marie, so glad to see that you have decided to do something about the pain besides swallowing all the pain pills. How true what your friend says and in another forum, there was this question. How do you know when it's time for surgery?
The answer is simple. You know when it's right because your entire life is swallowed up by this back stuff and pain. When life really doesn't exist and there is a surgical option, you go for it and hope for the best.

You've done your research and thought about all your options and having no life at all is not the way to "live". It really isn't living.

Now, my advise on post op limits is this. Get your post op restrictions as soon as possible before surgery. Make sure they are as detailed as possible and go over each and every one of them with the doc. Ask questions on each one of them, even if you think they sound dumb to you.
Remember this "the only dumb question is no question at all."

Sometimes that no turning and twisting restriction does include the toilet restriction as well and other times it doesn't. If your's does include it, then ask the doc about speaking with a PT or OT to find out what kind of tools you can get before hand to use for the basic needs using the toilet.

Don't forget to ask about showers and getting the surgical site wet. If you need to keep it dry, as I did, then find out what kind of post-op covering you will need before hand. The covering will keep it dry from the water but the heat and moisture in the bathroom will cause sweat and moisture underneath the covering and it will need to be changed. Knowing before hand what you will need to change the covering afterwards, will allow you to have the supplies on hand. Also be sure you will have someone to help you shower and change the incision covering afterwards.

To be able to shower and reach to wash legs, feet, etc. Get one of those long handled back scrubbers. Don't know what they are called. I use one to wash my back all the time, long before all this back stuff. The handle was long enough for me to us to wash legs, feet, etc.

What you can an can't do after surgery and how to deal with it.

Once you have the restrictions and all your answers to your questions this is the next step to do.

Walk around your home and study it carefully. You want to be as independent as possible and not have to rely on others for everything. Being able to do for yourself, even if it's only little things, makes you feel so much better.

So, room by room, walk around and think of all the things that you do in each room. Lookk at the layout of the room and try to invision what furniture, if any, will make it more difficult to move around after surgery. What furniture, if any, will be more in the way for you to walk around and get some exercise.
If you find any, move it somewhere else so that you won't have a problem afterwards. easier to deal with it before the fact, than after.

If you spend more time in one room than another, make sure you put the things that you use, like and want to have handy in the room before hand.
Leave them in bags or boxes in another area of your home, but be sure to label them carefully, so that someone else can find them for you and bring them to you.

The kitchen may be your worst room to deal with. Spend a lot of time in there studying what you use the most and what you do in there frequently and will be able to do post-op if you can reach and get to it.
then rearrange your kitchen so that you can get to these things and do and use them.
Yes your kitchen is going to look like one giant disaster. Most of the house is going to as well, as it is being arranged for your limited use. It won't stay this way for ever, but you will be more independent this way.

Make sure you have clear paths to move around the kitchen as well and do all of this well in advance. this way you get to deal with it's appearance before surgery. After the surgery, you really won't care how it looks, cause you will be feeling like a post op patient with lots of restrictions but still able to do some things for yourself. That makes you feel better, little bits of independence.

By the time the new arrangments of how things look in your home, post-op, start to bother you, well that's when you are feeling better and able to do more. It will be a good sign to be bothered by the "new design" of the rooms in your home.

I actually found some of the new changes to my liking and didn't move anything.

One of the suggestions I was given post-op was to drink lots of water. Since we use bottled water as our water tastes horrible, my hubby left the gallon jug on the counter by the sink. I couldn't lift the bottle, but I could tip it to pour the water into my own glass. Just getting the water on my own felt good.

Some other idea.

I spent a week cooking lots of meals with the help of my daughter and freezing them in individual meal size servings. All anyone had to do was pop them in the microwave to reheat them. Had at least 2 weeks worth of meals in the freezer.

I started having hubby to do the laundry "under supervision" before surgery. gave him some practice before hand, but was still there after surgery to give the supervision as was my daughter.

Now, hubbies cooking was another story. I had very little appetite for months after surgery, so I didn't care if I ate, but knew i had to.
My daughter helped with cooking and some friends brought over some meals after the freezer was low or empty of meals.

I found sending hubby for the groceries was the worst part of the "need help ordeal". I never made a grocery list so detailed in my life and it was such a pain. On the other hand, I know it isn't easy getting groceries for someone else. I made sure he took a friend of mine with him so she could help him with the produce.
I'd put things like fresh green beans on the list and he'd bring them home, no matter how bad, good or indifferent they where. With someone with him, I would get the produce that looked good and if those beans where a disaster, I wouldn't get any that day.

Marie, no matter how well you plan in advance, something is going to get in the way of the plans and you forgot something. So all you can do is plan the best you can.
that's why it's so important to get all those restrictions in advance and go over them in detail with your doc. Go over them again and again at home before the surgery and call with any more questions you have.

Don't panic over what you can and can't do and don't worry about the housework, cleaning, dusting and all the other stuff.
The most important thing is to follow the docs orders and get well without any complications because you did something you were not supposed to do.
Do what you can to clean the house before hand, without killing yourself over it.

Most important though is that you have the trust and faith in this doc.

So go into the OR with this attitude, the one I had, and even with all the added stuff I've had to deal with afterwards, I have a life and can do again and it's a wonderful feeling.

So go in with this.

"OK folks, let's get this show on the road. Time's a wasting and I have a lot of living to do, places to go, things to see, things to do. Next time I see you again, it will be the first moments of the beginning of my new life. So let's get a move on this show and get it over with."

Fran