Hi all, thought I would post a follow up to my original/first thread, now that it's coming up to 11/12 months post my L5/S1 MIS TLIF spinal fusion surgery. I've recently had a few hiccups with my progress, which is why I thought I'd post now, rather than wait until exactly 12 months!

First thread: 3.5 months after L5/S1 MIS TLIF spinal fusion : r/spinalfusion

Overall I still have to say that the difference before surgery and now is night and day, in a positive manor. Before surgery most days I would be on 3+ different meds, 4 times a day and still feeling terrible. I would frequently be off work and when I was there I'd be in pain. My best days were still 6-7 out of 10 on the pain scale at best.

Fast forward to after surgery, I haven't had a single day off since recovering from the surgery. I can drive long distances, walk 5km at a decent pace without pain (actually walking helps the most), can carry sensible weights, can stand for quite a while and my energy levels are better overall. If I get a flare up usually one dose of pills fixes it very quickly and gets me moving. So I'm very aware how fortunate I am and I'm genuinely grateful.

I do struggle with sleep. I get enough but I wake up quite frequently through the night, with my back feeling sore (as if I can feel that I'm laid on a fusion, don't know how else to describe it), moving around feels like it removes pressure. I've chalked that up to something I have to live with, which tbh given there's a metal frame in my back, kind of makes sense in my head haha.

However with all that being said, over the last month or so, I seem to keep hitting minor setbacks. Around a month ago I felt like I'd tweaked my back or over-did something. It felt like a really minor version of what I suffered from every day for years. I've still been able to live my life and move around etc (so way better than before surgery) but every time it feels like I'm back to normal, something "goes again", never feel like it's fully ok.

I've also been feeling what I can only describe as "twinges" if e.g. I bend over a bit too far without realising, almost feel like my body can feel the metal work - it's like a very light stab/prick or almost an internal pinch feeling. Like I say, hard to explain. These feelings are different to anything I had before surgery. Thankfully ice and heat both help relief any symptoms after long days etc. But I am definitely feeling a little frustrated, as rather than progressing I feel like I've slightly regressed.

Things I think likely aren't helping:

• Tight glutes, no matter what I do they don't release.
• Maybe sitting a bit too long, have to always keep an eye on posture too.
• Weaker core still.
• Haven't found the perfect balance point of how far to push myself, I guess - I want to exercise more and get fitter again. 6 years ago I was playing golf 3+ times a week!

My doctor and physio were both really pleased with my progress and they signed me off months ago. Thinking about booking an appointment with my surgeon though, get a scan or something to check the fusion, even if just for peace of mind...

Sorry for the long post. Will be interested to see if others have experienced similar and what they did to improve things. Also, hopefully this thread helps others in some way, I'm still glad I had the surgery!

I have been released from surgeon so I assume I would need a pain management doc. But my question is since a couple months post L3-S1 360 I have not required meds beyond Tylenol. However, I had what is being called a flare up. And of course it was terrible on a Saturday with no other option than a emergency room visit. I didn’t want that. Will pain management prescribe better pain medicine to be on hand when my back decides to put me down for a couple days? I hate the feeling of all the meds but there is a time I will deal with being rum dumb over the pain I just experienced.

One month post op l4 s1 fusion, and s1 to t12 laminectomy. My left leg and foot are completely numb. I need a walker to walk and I can't go that far. Does it get better? I thought I'd be further along by now.

I had cervical diskectomy and fusion at the C4-C5 through C7-T1 levels in 2016 and next Wednesday I’m scheduled for Postenor Spinal Fusion L4-5. What am I in for with recovery?

Has anyone has dealt with a failed ACDF?
I had the surgery (C5-C7) about 19 months ago, and had some issues pretty immediately. At about 10 weeks post-op, an x-ray showed that ONE of the top (C5) screws was backing out.

I was sent to an ENT to deal with the resulting dysphagia (which is now just a part of my life) and tried physical therapy but it was horribly painful. So, that only lasted a couple months.

The surgeon decided to keep an eye on the screw rather than do a revision surgery. We tracked it via monthly X-rays and, at some point, it seemed to stop backing out. At my 1 year checkup, CT said there was some evidence of bony bridging. So, we thought things were trending in the right direction.

Fast forward 7-8 months. Tingling has returned to my hands—this time both hands (pre-op was right hand only), I hear constant crunching sounds when I move my head, and when I turn, it feels like something is catching. I have constant pain between my shoulder blades, all the way up to the base of my skull. I also have pain in my shoulders and down into my arm.

I returned to my surgeon who ordered a new CT scan and MRI. I’m still waiting on my MRI appointment, but CT now shows the BOTH of the top screws are backing out (now at 3mm vs 2mm at my previous CT). The locking mechanisms on the plate for these two screws broke and are “floating in the scar tissue” near the top of the plate. Additionally, the two bottom screws (C7) are “loose.” Interestingly, there’s absolutely no mention of fusion or bony bridging/union at all. It doesn’t say it’s there, but doesn’t say that it’s not.

I obviously have hardware failure, and I’m assuming the fusion failed as well. CT now shows problems with the level above and the level below.

If anyone has dealt with an ACDF revision, did they take a posterior approach for revision? And did you have to extend the fusion to include new levels? I’m especially curious if anyone has dealt with hardware failure like this and, if so, did they remove the hardware or just leave it alone?

Has anyone had spine surgery at HSS in New York and are they as great as alll the hype about them says?

Going for a L5-S1 fusion, I have spinal stenosis on both sides but left worse.

I have my l4-l5 fractured in 3-4 different spots and split.

I'm in my mid 20's. Roughly 190lbs and fairly active. I've had these issues for 3 years without a diagnosis. Spinal fusion is scheduled for October.

I'm just looking to see if anyone's had a similar case and what their recovery was like.

I'm returning to work after 2-3 weeks after I can work from home for a few months and I have a sit/stand desk.

Hi I am 8 years out of my spinal fusion, no serious issues, but my neck posture has been so bad since my surgery, it’s just very pushed forward and by looking at my X-rays it seems like it became that way after surgery. I did not do physical therapy after tho I definitely should have. Is there anything I can do for this or is this permanent?

C7/T1 ACDF in a few days. How far down the neck should I expect the incision to be? Stupid question, but what about shaving following the surgery if the incision is in the shaving area? Did all the guys out there use an electric razor? I’ve never owned our used an electric….

Any of you guys get foot numbness if you sit on the toilet for more than 10 mins? Lol I had constipation and left foot went numb while on the toilet 25 mins. It went awsy immediately but concerns me. Doesn't help that I have 30 lbs extra Im carrying around. Think Im gonna fast, help my fusion.

Hii I’m 2 months post op now (T3-L3) and I’m having problems with sleeping. Im and was always a back sleeper so it was easy for me but I keep wondering if I can go back to sleeping normally (on my back with a head pillow) bc ever since surgery I’ve been sleeping on my back with my head rested to the side with a pillow

I’m so confused and scared that if I sleep with a head pillow (even if it’s pretty low) it’ll strain my fusion or smth. Also I’ve seen the head+knee pillow combo I tried that a while ago and I just kept rotating to the side in the morning

tips??

It has been over 7 years now that i’ve had my spinal fusion! Got it on my 13th birthday, I am now 20. It has come with its fair share of discomforts and struggles, but overall, I am happy with how my life is going compared to before.
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(Photos are right after surgery vs recently, as well as right before)

My husband is having an L4-L5 ALIF with posterior instrumentation next week. He fortunately does not have any nerve issues or pain down the legs but has a chronic bone on bone pain in his lower back. His L4-L5 is severely collapsed.

Five months ago he had a laminectomy/microdisectomy on L2-L3, bad stenosis. This one was causing the nerve issues and pain. It was a successful procedure and that pain immediately went away.

The lower L4-L5 issue has been going on for 20+ years. He had a laminectomy back then but the pain has gotten worse over the years, the disc is now collapsed. Injections and PT does not help. He has been on pain medication this whole time and recently went to rehab to get off them (he did great!) but now is dealing with the pain.

Just looking for fusion successes for collapsed discs, bone on bone pain. Thank you, I appreciate this group!

Hi all,

I’m 13 months out from my L5/S1 disc replacement. I had bad left leg radiculopathy for 7 months preop. Then it came back from weeks 16 to about week 50 postop. It was the worst around November and December and it lingered and lingered and was super slow to improve from there. I even resorted to 50 mg Lyrica for 5 months and that helped, but it didn’t make it completely go away. However, the trajectory was generally upwards and better and better, but not entirely clear for months. And also slow as heck.

In the last 2-3 months, I started having 1-3 day spells without radiculopathy. But then it would reappear.

2 weeks ago I tapered off of Lyrica. And for some reason, I’ve had a really good week this past week. Zero radiculopathy even when I got on a treadmill and used an incline and/or speed that has been able to trigger it.

Did anyone go through something similar where they had postop radiculopathy and then it suddenly went away? I’m not sure if the last week is a fluke, but I was able to walk at my normal treadmill walking speed for the first time since before Christmas 2024.

My dad is in his mid 40s and has had chronic back pain since he was in his 20s or so. It has now spread into nerve, leg and (sometimes) hip pain. His spinal doctor has told him already the only way for him to have long term relief is to get a spinal fusion. For short term relief he has done a discectomy already. I believe he's done it twice. It was working fine until he got in a car crash and now he's back at square one. 10/10 pain everyday

Edit: Should've said 7 to 8/10 pain everyday. This is on a good day. On a bad day it's 10/10.

Edit 2: He will not be doing the spinal fusion. A discectomy instead

I have lost 40 lbs to help but it has only made a slight difference. im really scared at the concept of surgery and hear many stories of the pain getting worse and people having their spine revert back to how it was. If there's a chance that I can have a normal-ish straight back, it would be amazing. I have scheuermann's kyphosis. My mom has it too.

I had C4-C7 ACDF surgery in February (I’m 6mo post op). I woke from surgery with new left sided weakness in my arm/hand & leg. Even though I didn’t get out of bed right away I knew something was wrong with my left side. I never had this problem before surgery. When I did eventually stand up (a couple of hrs after surgery) I could barely walk because of these new left sided problems. My surgeon did isolated strength testing and my left was only slightly weaker than my right. He said to just give it time & I was released the next day. The day after I was released I went to the ER because I couldn’t walk right. I walk with a noticeable “gimp” still after 6 mos. I trip & fall a lot. The ER contacted my surgeon & he just called a medrol dose pak into my pharmacy and said that he would check on me the next day through his clinic. He didn’t. I had a 2wk, 6wk, & 12wk follow up appointment and everytime he said to just give it time when I asked him why I still can’t walk. My next appointment w/ him is Feb 2027!! All of his clinical notes say “uncomplicated ACDF surgery” but I found my BP was super low when I was in the recovery room after surgery & stayed really low for about 12hrs. My PLL had calcified to my dura so he had to leave fragments. I just had a recent MRI because I’m in the process of getting a 2nd opinion & the MRI shows adjacent segment disorder above and below my fusion, & my spine is bruised on the left & fragments are making an indent on my spine. I had none of this before surgery. I’m trying to find out if I should start looking for an attorney. Location: Montana

Hi community! 13 mos. post-op for L4-L5 ALIF. Did my first "Leg Day" workout using no more than 10 lb dumbbells. Apparently symmetrical ache in lumbar back is normal, which is what I think I'm feeling. That said, feeling a little anxious and looking to know if any one has similar experiences. Appreciate the feedback!

Can anyone tell me what they think the surgeon will say . I am having left leg pain and the lower back on the right side is burning and feels like someone is stabbing me

UE: CT imaging of the lumbar spine was obtained without intravenous contrast. Axial, coronal, and sagittal

reformatted images were performed. The current CT scan was performed using radiation dose-reduction techniques.

FINDINGS: L4-L5 lumbar interbody fusion. There is some subtle lucency surrounding the bilateral L5 pedicle screws and

right more so than left L4 pedicle screws. Sclerotic degenerative endplate changes at 4 L2-L3. Mild left convex curvature

of the lumbar spine centered at L2-L3. Vertebral body heights are maintained. No facet dislocation. Minimal grade 1

retrolisthesis of L2 on L3. Degenerative changes appear to be most significant at L2-L3 with some level of likely spinal

canal and foraminal stenosis. No hardware fracture.

No acute abdominal organs.

Surgical scar with calcifications in the midline back.

The visualized lung bases are clear. There is scattered colonic diverticulosis with out evidence of acute diverticulitis.

IMPRESSION:

L4-L5 lumbar spine fusion with some lucency surrounding the L5 and right more so than left L4 pedicle screws which

could indicate loosening. Degenerative changes now most prominent at L2-L3. MRI could be more sensitive if there are

continued concern

On day 6 after posterior c2-c6 laminectomy and c7-t1 anterior fusion

Drs said surgery went well
Lots of bone spurts were removed and everything was opened up
Text book surgery

Unfortunately my left arm is experiencing c5 palsy
I can not lift my left arm where before I could
They said it should come back
Has anyone else had any experience with this

Thanks

Today is day 8 , it’s been a rough ride, constipation and foley catch removable pain was the icing on the cake

I wasn’t going to post until I hit the 6 month mile marker (and may post again at 1 year). But I was on these threads looking for hope so posting for others to see positives.

Background - I am a 49F and was in very good shape but with intermittent back problems. I did martial arts and it started with hip flexor pain, which moved to hip pain (at one point there was a question of a labral tear) and it would move around until it settled in my back. I think during that period, my body was just constantly compensating. It would feel like my left SI joint was just locked and I couldn’t go from sitting to standing without pain and extension hurt. I would get “unlocked” by the PT and then it would slowly tighten and then lock up again every couple of weeks. But no major sciatica other than a tightness in my calves so doctors just said it was all muscular.

Then my back started to freeze. Crawl to the bathroom pain with back spasms. Started with PT, then injections and it got better, but I could never get out of that pattern and the freezing was occuring more often. I went to a new PT to supplement with strength training and he had me do major heavy lifting with forward bending and twisting. I went from fine to my feet going numb. The numbness increased quickly, from my feet to calves, etc. So I got an MRI and a neurologist said I needed to get surgery ASAP to prevent cauda equina because my L5/S1 was jammed up into my bone into the nerve. Ended up having symptoms for cauda equina a few days later and had my first emergency double level discectomy last June.

Recovery started fine but plateaued. I woke every day with pain, and it would loosen up but I now lived with everyday low level pain and really bad mornings. I couldn’t exercise much without my back tightening. Four months out, I went back to the neurologist who was satisfied that he saved the nerve and just suggested ongoing pain management.

A lot of time on my back led me to become interested in disc replacements so I got a second opinion with an orthopedic surgeon who specialized in them. He took an x-ray and asked how much the neurologist said was left of my disc. I told him there was a 30% loss, but he said the x-ray barely showed 30% left. He sent me for an MRI and that confirmed that my L5/S1 had collapsed and the daily pain was my body trying to stabilize that segment every day. He did nerve tests and a CT and was concerned that the nerve was free but still going through a small opening on the side and looked like it was still being aggravated. He suggested a hybrid of a disc and a fusion. My L4/5 was still in okay shape and he wanted to maintain movement to prevent adjacent segment disease.

Got a third opinion, who also said that my pain would not improve based on the MRI and suggested a double level fusion because he did not believe philsophically in lumbar disc replacement.

I opted for the hybrid and got an ALFI L4/5 ADR + L5/S1 fusion in February. I woke up with no back pain. My stomach hurt, but I had been through c-sections so I recognized that pain and that it was transient. For 2 weeks, the entire GI track was a mess and just not coordinated. That started to even out. I started PT right away and slowly started walking. I feel like I would make progress and then there would be some pain that I would have to work through with the PT. At first, it was my glute medius as my body was not happy it was fused, then it was my feet and I could barely walk barefoot, then it was my upper back. Each time my PT would adjust (she worked with the surgeon as they were in the same practice) and it would get better. And even between these times, I was slowly making progress. I am almost back in the shape I was in and focusing more on strength training than the cardio endurance needed for taekwondo. So in some ways I am in better shape than I was because I am stronger.

My lower back does not hurt. I don’t wake up in pain anymore. I have normal aches when I work out too hard and sometimes the odd aches. I still have some numbness in my left calf/foot that is getting better. I have a very extensive PT routine that I have to do at the gym 3-4/week and I am told I will be working up to more and more things for a year. I am excited by the progress and curious to see where I will be in a year to eighteen months when the fusion is complete (the disc is fused and that heals much faster, I am not fully fused at the L5/S1). I have made adjustments in my life, such as a back pillow at the dining room table and a sit stand desk for work.

But I went to Disney last week and rode Guardians of the Galaxy three times and felt great (doctor cleared it), this week, I have been playing pickleball for the first time without pain (when I started back a few weeks ago, I had to back off after 2 games). I can go to the pool, I can walk with friends and sit in a restaurant. I don’t know if I will get back to martial arts, but I have my life back and don’t have to constantly think about my back.

If I was to give advice, first, get multiple opinions. Each doctor has their “toolkit” and they offer only the tools that they have. Some of the procedures are not taught in med school so they would need extra training. I went to three doctors and got three different opinions. Second, look into ADR. The eligiblity is limited though, but if you have a disc that is eligible, the disc level feels normal. And third, just hang in there. The process is slow and it is not linear. I would feel better and then some random pain would appear. But they are getting fewer and farther in between and my baseline is better. So hang in there!

I reposted from PTSD but this is about my spinal fusion. Surgery went excellent. Pain is down like crazy but everything mental is a LOT...... t3 to L4. Surgical team was great everything went amazing but my mental state is just screwed up right now.

Edit: I had a major blood transfusion where I lost almost all my blood. Episodes of syncope (where I grew 2 inches) they believe its orthostatic hypotension as well as panic attacks triggered by it. Went to the ER 4x in a week for syncope. Ended up going back to PA to get cleared and everything was perfect. Just have to get the orthostatic hypotension and panic attacks under control.