Lumbar Laminectomy; Recovery at Home

I have been on morphine for 2 months now . I have had 16 epidural shots in the lumbar,caudal and facet areas. no luck at all. Right now my pain is subsided in my rt leg and terrific pain in my rt ankle. I have seen one cheif of ortho and his reply was a laminectomy at 4-5l and a spinal fusion. I have a slipped vertabrae which he says is causing my leg pain. Im scheudled to see a orthopedic surgon in Boston tomorrow wish me luck on my second opinion 0ct.15 2012.
thanks for all the posts its very helpful to hear feedback I had back isssues for 5-6 yrs now and been out of work for two im 50 yrs old and i contribute all these problems to lifting weights over the years expecially squating and deadlifting.

get a third opinion cause i told that i needed a fusion and the third surgeon told a fusion was not necessary. when you get a fusion the healing time is a lot longer more painful so they say and make sure it totally necessary.

Tim - I had my surgery l4-5 and my disc was completely removed. I m in my third week of recovery and no pain in legs and resting. I have started small walks inside the room and not allowed to sit yet.

You should not worry and everything will be fine. I had this problem for 4 to 5 years and never felt pain in my legs until recently where my MRI showed 85 percent bulge and was stressing my nerves which was causing pain in my legs.

Good luck and don't worry u will be fine

Good morning Hope all is well and I glad to hear that your recovery is going well. I had this pain about five years disc stressing on the nerves which is also causing pain numbness and not able to walk. I have not had the surgery yet hoping to have sometime next month. It is a worker's comp case so everything has to get approved which everything so far has been. How long can you walk for and how far. I live in the basement will I be able to walk down the stairs to my apt? How long did they say that you will not be able to sit. Really no sitting. That means you only lay down or stand straight up. I do appreciate all the info you have given me thus far and if there is anything you can think of that will help me get through my surgery please write to me.

David - after the surgery u will have instant pain relief the only pain i felt was of stiches it will also go with time. The doctor will encourage u to walk and u will be discharged soon in a day or two. Hospital is not a good place to stay for long due to infection.

When u r at home u should use support while getting up from bed and using washroom. Rest don't depend to much on it and don't make it a habit. Start small walk inside the room. Have more protien diet as it will help heal the wound.

Avoid having meat or solid food as it will put strain on ur back while doing stool. Have soups rice etc

Ur stiches should be out within two weeks. Gradullly increase walk. No bending plz change clothes while lying on bed.

U mentioned u live in basement u should be very careful as stairs r a killer. If u can't avoid use support and take step carefully. I have my bedroom upstairs and I take each step with care. I put one foot on one step on each stair and then gradually bring my other foot to the same stair and use support. It will be much better if u can avoid it.

Rest u will be fine in three to four weeks and have to take some extra care for another month and gradually come back To normal routine. That's what my doctor advised I m following it religiously

Good luck and all will be fine relax

I had this surgery 13 days ago. I have had no problems past the recovery room, Only problem is foot is still numb from herniation. I was looking on google to see if anyone could tell me when this will cease. It is much better. Only a portion of the foot is affected but still bothersome!

you have to get on good foot"James Brown".

Regina - I had numbness for about 3 weeks. Everyone is different. Glad every has worked out well.

give a dog a bone wrote:

tim m wrote:

I have been on morphine for 2 months now . I have had 16 epidural shots in the lumbar,caudal and facet areas. no luck at all. Right now my pain is subsided in my rt leg and terrific pain in my rt ankle. I have seen one cheif of ortho and his reply was a laminectomy at 4-5l and a spinal fusion. I have a slipped vertabrae which he says is causing my leg pain. Im scheudled to see a orthopedic surgon in Boston tomorrow wish me luck on my second opinion 0ct.15 2012.
thanks for all the posts its very helpful to hear feedback I had back isssues for 5-6 yrs now and been out of work for two im 50 yrs old and i contribute all these problems to lifting weights over the years expecially squating and deadlifting.

get a third opinion cause i told that i needed a fusion and the third surgeon told a fusion was not necessary. when you get a fusion the healing time is a lot longer more painful so they say and make sure it totally necessary.

My doc had said "maybe hardware, maybe fusion, won't know until I get in there" but he has to tell insurance company fusion so they preauthorize. I lucked out and didn't need either. Had enough disc on the perimeter and he only removed the inside part that was pressing on the spinal column. I was really surprised when he told me in recovery. Hang in there.

I just had a laminectomy performed on my L4, 6 days ago. I spent 4 days in the hospital due mostly to the cconcern that my bladder was not waking up... I'm still having issues with that, however the more concerning part for me is the constant muscle spasms. I am taking methocarbomol for a muscle relaxer and Vicodin for the pain (meanwhile trying to counteract the constipation with millions of prunes :) ) my major question is: are these muscle spasms normal? the doctors say it is, but I have not been able to rest at all. The minute I sit or lie down, the spasms begin in my pelvic area, spread to my buttocks and then down my left leg and up my back. there seems to be no relief. For a while, I was able to sit in a half child's pose position to help stretch my butt muscle, but that seems to no longer relieve pain. At best, it feels like I'm sitting on baseballs - at worst, my whole body, including my hands and arms go numb. My only relief is to stand or sit straight upright and rock back and forth slowly. Could I be making it worse?

I had laminectomy on L4/L5 on 10/8. On the 3rd day of recovery, I ruptured the same area, probably caused by motion and positioning during sleeping. I had a seond surgery to repair the ruptured disc on 10/12. Most of my pain is gone. I am sore due to 2 surgeries within 5 days. I have tingling and numbness in my left foot and toes. This should go away with time and healing. I can not sit down for 2 to 3 weeks. I am encouraged to walk as much as I can around the house. I will begin to walk a mile a day in a couple of days, doctor permitted. Before surgery, I had tremendous pain in my left calf and left foot. Cramping like pains.

I have not had surgery yet but from you you said you are going through does not seem to be normal. From what I read and notice from patients that had the surgery already, you should have some kind relief but i read that the numbness should be temporary I wish you all the best and instant relief soon.

How did your consult go. Is your doc doing micro surgery

no he doing macro

I am turning 50 on 11/1 & scheduled for non-fusion laminectomy on 11/7. I also have severe spinal stenosis & am hoping this takes the pain away. In Oct. of 2007 I fell down a flight of steps and broke my neck (cervical C-5/C-6) & am lucky to be alive. I am nervous about the surgery, but your e-mail gives me hope.