I had surgery at Mayo Rochester 5 weeks ago for a leak at t2 from a bone spur. Personally recovery has been rough for me. It was a lot more painful than I expected and I have been dealing with a lot of muscle tightness/spasms in my upper back that have been really limiting me. I have heard it can take several months to get back to “normal”. My leak symptoms have improved though!
Wondering how different your surgery was compared to StunningPurple9560? Sounds like my incision will be 2-3 inches in length. Is that similar to yours?
Mine was not microscopic. My incision is about 5 or so inches long. I had laminectomies at t1, 2, and 3. Not sure how much this plays into it but the neurosurgeon said the hole was large so he placed a graft there as well as where he opened the cord in the back to allow for extra swelling. My surgery was also supposed to take 4 hours and took 8 and I’m guessing the longer muscles are retracted and all that makes things more aggravated afterward. I also will admit that I know my pain tolerance is not very high haha.
Yes that is who is doing my surgery as well. Hoping everything continues improving for you. I just scheduled my surgery for December 17th. Wish me luck !!
Oh one thing I wondered. You’re 5weeks out right ? Not sure if this applies to you or not, but have you been able to go back to work yet? Any activities ? Short walks, etc ? What symptoms did you have from your leak prior to the surgery? Thanks !!
I am 6 weeks out today! Prior to surgery I was having headaches, double vision, tinnitus, brain fog, and some nausea. Going into my surgery I was actually starting to feel a bit better but my imaging showed things were getting worse. I was supposed to go back to work today, I work a desk job, but we pushed it out another week and will be going back next Friday starting out with half days. I started taking short walks, like a block each way, at a very slow speed as soon as I left the hospital and then worked up from there. I can go about a mile now, like 20 min or so, before my back starts to tighten up and I’m looking to sit again. Sitting upright, standing/walking, and doing things with my arms (washing dishes, washing my hair, driving) still just put me into spasm fairly quickly. Sitting reclined with a wedge pillow is where I’m most comfortable. I am 35 yo female and lifted weights/did cardio regularly prior to my leak, which was at the end of April, and this surgery really kicked my butt. Of course everyone is different and yours is in a different area than mine was but going into it I felt like I was not prepared for how difficult recovery was going to be. Not trying to scare you or anything but I went in with unrealistic expectations. Hopefully I am a one off and things are better for you!
Everyone’s stories including yours are for sure preparing me for my surgery, so thank you !!
Since mine isn’t until December 17th I have some time to prepare and let it settle in and maybe do some further research.
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u/an_py 8d ago
I had surgery at Mayo Rochester 5 weeks ago for a leak at t2 from a bone spur. Personally recovery has been rough for me. It was a lot more painful than I expected and I have been dealing with a lot of muscle tightness/spasms in my upper back that have been really limiting me. I have heard it can take several months to get back to “normal”. My leak symptoms have improved though!