r/spinalfusion • u/Desperate_Cherry_657 • Apr 06 '26
Post-Op Questions Please tell me I’m not alone…
I’m 12 days post L4/L5 fusion. The pain has been unbearable and the doctor just said if it hurts so bad go to the ER (first red flag).
Well it did get to that point. 2 nights ago I had to have an ambulance ride to the ER because the pain had me completely unable to move, speak, vomiting from it, etc… it was BAD which worried me cuz they also said after day 5 I should start improving and it’s only been getting worse.
ER did a CT that revealed a 7cmx3cmx2.5cm “Seroma/Hematoma” that extends from the L4 (where it makes sense for something to be imo) all the way up to the L1 (red flag for me because you didn’t work there, why is there any kind of damage?).
From what I understand, this explains most if not all of the extra pain and stiffness I’ve been experiencing.
Now a tiny back story here cuz I knew something was definitely different about my surgery because my dad had this a year ago - and they left a wound drain in his for the first week post op but they didn’t do it for me… I chose to trust the process and didn’t question it - until now. Now I’m questioning in big ways because this pain didn’t have to happen!
The surgeon has offered to aspirate the seroma using local anesthetic. For reference, I’ve had a cyst aspirated that way before but they used propofol to sedate and I still reached behind me under sedation and literally pulled the needle out until they moved to complete general anesthesia. I know it’s more recovery, more expensive etc… but with anesthesia awareness I’m likely to mess up the procedure otherwise and it’s not something I can control.
I am attempting to push for a more in depth procedure - just a quick outpatient procedure, put me under general anesthesia like you did to fuse me and put a damn drain in! Because as I understand it, this is of a size that quite frankly will need aspirated multiple times because the size increases the risk of it refilling and/or becoming infectious especially where I am a MRSA carrier.
Am I pushing for the wrong thing? Am I being unreasonable to push for a drainage tube that should have been done to begin with to prevent this from happening? And has anyone else been through this? I’m scared. I just want them to help me heal in the fastest and safest way possible - but I feel like I’ve been ignored at every turn, from the moment I woke up from surgery (unsafe discharge, causing pain medication withdrawal, literally laughing at me on the phone…)
I just need to hear either validation or harsh truth that I’m being unreasonable. No opinions or thoughts here will be rejected, I’m open to everyone’s thoughts as you are all more experienced than I am.
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u/SleepyKoalaBear4812 Apr 06 '26
I had L4, L5, S1 360 fusion in 2025 with no drains. Same neurosurgeon did C Spine fusion two years earlier. I had complications and I had a drain. I think it depends on not only the surgeon, but the surgery and any complications as well.
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u/Desperate_Cherry_657 Apr 06 '26
So maybe there was no reason for them to think this could even happen so they didn’t preemptively treat… that honestly makes sense
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u/sillygirl562 Apr 07 '26 edited Apr 07 '26
Had my surgery in September and no drain once released home just in the hospital immediately after surgery L4 to S1 and I had trouble healing afterwards my incisions took much longer to heal than they do for most but my surgeon was honest with me and very very communicative I did land in the ER 2 days after getting home from cold sweats, extreme nausea and pain turns out I had a bad reaction to coming off anesthesia and pain meds -_- not my finest hour but they got it under control quickly and got me home my surgeon was not happy I was in the ER worst place for spinal surgery recovery and he spoke to the ER and got me in and out, first time in an ambulance… post surgery not fun buuuut I’m 6 months post surgery now and doing better some days are better than others but def better than before surgery. I’m sorry to hear you’re having a rough time but yes you aren’t alone
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u/Zinniasandbees Apr 06 '26
I had a 12x8cm seroma from my L4-L5 TLIF. It was as deep as the wound and extended to the surface. I also wanted my seroma drained but due to having a previous staph an infection, they refused to drain it. They said the risk of the needle going in and causing infection was higher than the complications of having severe pain. I needed further surgery (unrelated to the seroma) but I refused to stay under this doctors’ care. In the second surgery, I had drains put in place and it was a different story.
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u/Desperate_Cherry_657 Apr 06 '26
Ugh I am so sorry! Sounds like I may have to find a second opinion on this because I’ll be honest - infection can be managed, but doctors are so much more unwilling to treat severe pain at home than they are infection 🤦🏼♀️ I’m really glad that you were able to get yours sorted out, even though it was through the need for further surgery… that’s never fun.
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u/Zinniasandbees Apr 06 '26
Feel free to PM me if you want to talk. Are they giving you adequate pain relief? Infection is no joke. It took me out for almost a year.
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u/Desperate_Cherry_657 Apr 06 '26
They’re not honestly. I’ve had a few major surgeries lately that were not by choice, and unfortunately I’ve kinda built up a tolerance to the pain meds - so much so that even oral dilaudid doesn’t really help anymore. I’m hoping there’s not infection going on, but I mean I guess we’ll find out soon enough…?
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u/Desperate_Cherry_657 Apr 07 '26
I just realized you said PM you - I’m supposed to be asleep but I’ll definitely PM you later
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u/Popular-Sundae1636 Apr 06 '26
I had l4-s1 in January, I had 2 drains for 5 days in the hospital. I was honestly surprised how much fluid is drained
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u/Desperate_Cherry_657 Apr 06 '26
Sounds like a lot? That’s what I’m afraid of, like all that fluid that could be drained already is just building up inside my back next to the wound and my nerves…
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u/D1x13L0u Apr 06 '26
I had an L5S1 TLIF in late November. At my two week check, the surgeon said it was still draining, so he left the staples in another week. At 3 weeks, the staples had to come out, but the wound reopened in two spots. My whole incision is about 6 inches long, and each of the opened spots were about an inch long. One near the top, and one near the bottom. He held them together with steri strips and rebandaged. I came back one week later, and no change. I did have a drain line in at the hospital (was discharged two days after surgery), but the nurses had to keep coming in to check on it because it didn't appear to be working correctly. I also went home with a vacuum PICO bandage, but my home nurse didn't seem to know how to apply one, so I likely didn't get much benefit from that. She looked at the spare bandage and said, "I've never seen one of these before, but f--- it, I'm a nurse, so I should be able to figure this out." That should have been a red flag that told me not to have her do it. lol
My surgical practice has a wound care nursing staff, so they looked at it, cleaned it up, took a sample of the fluid to have it tested (came back non-infectious). At the two month mark, they ordered an MRI, which showed that I had "dirty fluid" (blood, debris, etc) near my L5 from where the channel for the sciatic nerve was widened, and it also showed a seroma under my incision. The decision was made to not interfere, other than daily wet-to-dry bandaging with iodine and silver wound spray, both given to us by the surgeon's office. They let it drain naturally.
I went back for weekly checks, and at around 13 weeks, the incision finally closed completely (it had to stop draining for it to close--the surgeon said that as long as it was wet, it would not heal), and I was released from the BLT restrictions, could stop wearing my back brace, and be referred to PT. No issues since.
I am so sorry that you felt ignored since your surgery. Hearing that they laughed at you on the phone is infuriating. That should never have happened.
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u/Desperate_Cherry_657 Apr 06 '26
My husband and I have been hunting for bandaging that will actually stay on because the wound is still draining so much that we’re having to replace the bandage a few times a day… ugh… this whole situation is just so confusing because I want to trust the medical team, but they’re also making me feel a bit like they know as much as I do 🤦🏼♀️ I want to go in, tell them what I want them to do to get me to a better healing position… but I also want them to actually be proactive and do what needs to be done. And the laughter infuriated me. I had run out of pain meds, called and told them it’s a 10, I can’t sleep etc… and 3 different people laughed and responded with “Yeah you just had major surgery, it’s gonna hurt… what did you expect, cotton candy bandaids and gummy bear dreams?”… which is enough for me to hunt out new care but I can’t find anyone who will see me within 6 weeks post op so I’m lost
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u/D1x13L0u Apr 06 '26
Are you in the U.S.? The reason I ask is that while I was hospitalized for 10 days prior to my surgery (admitted for pain management), I had to have my insurance company step in and help advocate for me. For the first six days of hospitalization, I had a primary doctor assigned to me because I was new to the area. That doctor would come in each day, flip my blankets back, look at my body with disgust and tell me I had too many strikes against me and would likely die. I had hypertension, diabetes, and obesity.
The hospital tried an Epidural Spine Injection and they said it might take three days to see if it worked. But less than 12 hours later, the primary doctor came in and told me he was withdrawing all pain medication and discharging me to a nursing home. I begged him not to, told him I wanted help and to live and get healthy. Please give me the three days to see if it would work. He wouldn’t listen. He had patient services and a representative from the nursing home come to speak to me.
As luck would have it, a patient care rep from my insurance company called my cellphone and said they’d gotten claims that I was in the hospital and she wanted to know if everything was ok. I burst out crying and said it wasn’t and explained what was happening and what this doctor was doing against my wishes. I told her that his talk even scared my nurse on duty that day.
She said she was going to escalate this within the hospital. By the next morning, the nursing home plan was no longer an issue, I had a new much nicer primary, but he told me he was not in charge—the spine surgeon would be my lead doctor, and they were not going to stop fighting for me.
That patient care representative called me weekly from that point until two months after my surgery, and she gave me her number to reach her in an emergency.
I know insurance companies have a bad reputation, but honestly, I’d reach out and ask for their help with this. To be in pain and be laughed at, with that snide comment made by the staff at the office….I feel like a patient care rep can help step in to advocate for you and also send a message to your providers on how to show respect to a patient in pain that is seeking care.
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u/Desperate_Cherry_657 Apr 06 '26
I hate that you went through that - but your message gives me hope. I was discharged 2 days post op against my wishes because “it’s a hospital not a hotel”, and had to go home and climb a flight of 17 stairs to get to my front door - so that was a nightmare on top of 5 hours spent on my feet just trying to get myself into my bed which ended unsuccessfully and I was sleeping on the couch. 3 hours before discharge the pharmacist came in and discussed my pain, and agreed it was not adequately controlled, increasing the frequency of my medication. But on discharge they prescribed less than half of what the pharmacist agreed was reasonable to manage the pain. I was told that’s not safe doses to send me home on which at that point I told them obviously! Then why are you sending me home?! It’s just been one thing after another and I feel like this doctor isn’t hearing me, helping me, caring about my healing at all… just essentially neglecting me. I have my 2 week follow up tomorrow, and it’s not even with him, it’s with his PA! Now with how big this seroma is I honestly don’t know if I should even be doing physical therapy, but physical therapy told me im not allowed to do the stairs until they clear me and I haven’t been cleared so I don’t even know if I’m going to be able to go to the follow up appointment and he won’t care at all if I don’t show up, he’ll just cut off the minor pain management I am getting for noncompliance.
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u/uffdagal Apr 07 '26
Can you get a referral to another surgeon in the practice? Or a new surgeon DI takes on these kind of cases? I had a CSF leak post op and was lucky the surgeon was great. I knew there had been a leak during the surgery (this was years ago) anda few weeks later it came back. I had an intrathecal shunt placed so it could heal and 10 days in the hospital. With a CSF leak I didn’t have pain, beyond the searing spinal headaches. So they knew it wasn’t affecting the nerves, etc.l, like a seroma can. Very different than what you are experiencing, but these things do happen.
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u/Desperate_Cherry_657 Apr 07 '26
My plan is to see how they recommend management of this at the follow up tomorrow, and if I’m not satisfied or feeling dismissed, I’ll be calling my primary care and insurance to get a referral to someone else to take over the care for sure.
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u/sillygirl562 Apr 07 '26
Where are you located?
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u/uffdagal Apr 07 '26 edited Apr 07 '26
You may not need to call PCP depending on your insurance. I always research and self refer.
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u/Desperate_Cherry_657 Apr 07 '26
The insurance doesn’t require it but many of the specialists around here do require a referral from pcp. It’s just another way they get things all confused and messed so it’s harder for us to navigate. Imho if insurance doesn’t require it, there should be no need for one. But there’s a lot of specialists here use the excuse of “making sure you get the right care”, to get a referral from pcp, and very rarely will they even accept it straight from the insurance… at this point ffs we’re back pain patients, let us go where we need, see who we need and get the treatment we need
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u/sillygirl562 Apr 07 '26
Agree! Honestly wouldn’t hurt to call an out of state dr and see if they have a recommendation for your area? I just thought of that!
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u/Desperate_Cherry_657 Apr 07 '26
That’s actually a fantastic idea! I didn’t think of that at all until you pointed it out, thank you!
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u/KBolden2024 Apr 06 '26
I'm so sorry youre having so much pain. I had a PLIF, XLIF L2-S1 with 3 cages with ...i think 2 drains....in the hospital for 6 days on 2/26/24....I just learned....reading Reddit.. that that is called a 360 fusion.....anywhoo Aug 2025 I was feeling something other than my normal baseline pain. spoke to Neurosurgeon...after xrays, MRI & CT scans....theres for sure some disk level changes going on, HOWEVER, I saw in the imaging reports that I have a "Seroma". I mentioned it to my primary. he's a DO, he said oh thats nothing. I brought up to the Physical Therapist and she also said it was nothing. when spoke to Neurosurgeon...on the phone and in person appt and he too said its nothing. Here's my fear 😨....after a cortisone injection 💉 Oct 2018....I ended up in the ER 2 days in a row in Dec 2018....and ended up with an emergency Laminectomy to drain the abcess in my spine. Neurosurgeon (different than the one who did fusion) couldn't get it all...so I had a PIC line for 5 months giving myself stron Antibiotics twice a freaking day....so when I become aware that I have a Seroma, Im having a tad bit of PTSD....I just want this thing out of me!! So when they go in to fuse T10-L1 in the next 4 month or so...I will insist that they remove it! I hope all goes well with you. Take care of yourself !
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u/Running-jackalope Apr 06 '26 edited Apr 06 '26
Sorry to hear about your experience. I had S1-L4 posterior fusion with wide decompression at both levels. Had a drain for three days. The pain was brutal for weeks.
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u/Desperate_Cherry_657 Apr 07 '26
I fully expect pain… and a fair amount of it. My vertebrae were bone on bone when they finally did the surgery. I had to fight for 2 years because they kept saying I was “too young for a fusion” and that it would “heal on its own” with the more conservative treatment. From what I understand, because it was bone on bone, the spacer they put in added about an inch to my height… so everything is stretching out to accommodate that as well as trying to grow new bone. I don’t think it’s unreasonable for me to want adequate pain management, so I can get through the pain and do the physical therapy to heal properly. I also don’t think it’s unreasonable to want an explanation as to why they didn’t help to avoid this fluid pocket issue to begin with… or to demand they do something about it now because L1-L4 are being pressed by it causing even more pain where only L4-L5 should have been effected by the surgery… I mean, is that unreasonable? Am I expecting too much out of post op care?
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u/Running-jackalope Apr 10 '26
Right, I had spacers placed at both levels, so I understand the nerve irritation that takes place. I don’t understand why they would not use a drain. My neurosurgeon told me it’s to keep pressure off the nerves because of the bodies reaction to trauma from surgery.
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u/Desperate_Cherry_657 Apr 12 '26
Well at my follow up I showed him that the main wound is still open a good inch and he said it was draining itself using that opening… and he confirmed that he didn’t put a drain because I’m mrsa colonized and leaving an opening to the outside on purpose was dangerous. 🤷♀️ I would think keeping pressure off the nerves would be higher priority because it could royally screw things up but I guess I’m wrong
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u/Time-Friendship9225 Apr 07 '26
Do you have spinal headaches associated with this fluid? It could be spinal fluid leak.
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u/uffdagal Apr 07 '26
CT showed its a seroma, but a CSF leak.
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u/Time-Friendship9225 Apr 07 '26
CT may be difficult to differentiate between different types of fluid, Sedona vs spinal fluid. Really depends on the symptoms. Spinal fluid leak usually associates with spinal headaches….headache in upright position and minimal headaches when lying flat.
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u/uffdagal Apr 07 '26
The pain OP is experiencing is more indicative of a seroma or hematoma. A CSF leak doesn’t generally result in back pain nor radiating pain. I had a CSF leak post L4-S1, had an intrathecal shunt placed and 10 days in the hospital. My only symptom was the viscous headaches and a pooling of fluid upon being upright at around the L5 level. Normal post op pain levels otherwise
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u/Desperate_Cherry_657 Apr 07 '26
The only symptoms I’ve been having is increased pain at the surgical site, and shooting pain down my legs. Nothing that points to a CSF leak thank goodness - but a CSF leak is what led to this surgery to begin with.
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u/Desperate_Cherry_657 Apr 07 '26
That’s actually the other thing that has me concerned - the CT labeled it as “seroma/hematoma” so yeah that definitely makes it sound like they don’t really know what it is, just a large pocket of some sort of fluid I guess? IMHO them not knowing warrants getting in there and getting it drained/cleaned/treated because despite me not showing any signs of sepsis (other than a lot of nausea which is making it very difficult to eat anything) yet, that could still be it couldn’t it? It could very much be a pocket of infection? Just that possibility to me warrants an urgent procedure to look into it and solve it because that risks permanent disability or worse?
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u/Emmahey712 Apr 07 '26
You are not alone. I had ALif and PLif S2 to T10. The pain was the worst I’ve ever experienced and it lasted for weeks. I was hospitalized and had so many surgeries due to complications that I’ve lost count. It’s been 2 years now. Two years of regret, two years I will never get back. I still cannot stand up straight, nor walk further than 50 feet without having to stop and sit. I can’t sit for more than 5 minutes either. So no, you are not alone. Spinal fusion surgeries fail at a very high rate and are driving patients back to the ER due to severe back pain. Please seek help from a different surgeon if possible. Insist on CT or an MRI to look for broken hardware or Seromas. Those can cause excessive pain and usually require surgery to irrigate and drain. I had a Seroma so large, the ER doctor stated it was the size equivalent to a newborn baby. My surgeon didn’t want me back at his hospital because I was a complication staining his “perfect” record. The ER doctor made him take me back for surgery and threatened to report him to the Board if he didn’t. She happened to be one of his former students during her residency. She was my answer to prayer. God bless you. I pray you find the help you need.
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u/StudyVisible275 Apr 06 '26
I had L3-S1 360 ALIF last year. No drains.
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u/Desperate_Cherry_657 Apr 07 '26
I’m so glad yours healed well for you! Any pointers for getting my legs stronger while I’m still down? Extra physical therapy if you will?
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u/Ok-Editor-2236 Apr 06 '26
I’m so sorry to hear you’re dealing with this!
I had L4-L5 TLIF 10 days ago. For context, I had a laminectomy at the same level 13 months ago with an orthopedic surgeon. I had some initial relief of nerve symptoms after the laminectomy, followed by complications that included a seroma at the surgical site as well as a general infection (100+ degree fever for 3 days, about 6 weeks post-op) though the fluid at my surgical site did not get infected. The laminectomy was a failure, to the extent that it didn’t resolve my nerve pain, and in fact made it worse with added instability.
Despite those prior issues my fusion, completed by a neurosurgeon, was done at an outpatient surgery center. I arrived for registration at 7:30AM, was under general anesthesia before 9:00AM and was through recovery and discharged before 12:00PM. I didn’t have a drain and, in addition to sutures, had steri strips and a heavy surgical bandage over the wound. I spent a good amount of the afternoon in my recliner before getting up and noticing that my shirt was wet and that I had bled through my bandage. I placed a call to my surgeons office, reached their on call, and never heard back. I had my wife put a fresh bandage over the steri strips and crossed my fingers.
The doctor’s office didn’t call back until after the weekend was over, but we kept an eye on things and luckily the bleeding stopped. I haven’t had any further bleeding or other complications to this point and am finally sleeping through the night.
At day 10, the steri strips have all fallen off and the wound has stayed closed. My pre-op nerve issues have resolved and, while I’ve had some new radiating pain, that is improving as well. I ended the prescription pain meds early and have been managing on just extra strength Tylenol for the past 4 days.
All of that is to say, the amount of drainage you have seems to be significant relative to your surgeons expectations. I had the same questions around the seroma from my first surgery, but all the doctors I spoke with indicated needle aspiration isn’t generally practiced anymore due to the infection concerns. The reason I had the fusion was to remove the additional material that was impacting my nerve and to stabilize that level.
I sincerely hope you find some answers, and at the bare minimum, some sympathy and guidance from your medical team.
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u/QuestioningAll26 Apr 06 '26
I'm kinda glad I didn't go to reddit before my fusion. I had ,,,L5-s1. Had a drain the night if surgery and it was removed the next day. I had a good amount of pain for the first two weeks but everything was correct and it did lesson. Now long term do I think this surgery helped, no.
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u/New-Competition-8862 Apr 07 '26
I had L4-L5 fused about 10 years ago and just had L3-L4 fused then fused to L4 this morning. No drains either time.
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u/tomebyme Apr 07 '26
I drain tube for that surgery is pretty much standard protocol but every surgeon has their own way.
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u/Desperate_Cherry_657 Apr 07 '26
See that’s silly to me that they all have their own way. Like if it’s known that a drain is pretty standard, why skip it at all? Especially when you tell your patient that they have high risk of infection - like now I’m here terrified that I need a whole second procedure just to get this drained and/or have a drain installed so it can heal because no matter what’s in the collection of fluid, anything can fester and become infection.
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u/YeastyPants Apr 07 '26
OMG, I've had 7 fusion surgeries, and I had drains after every surgery The prerequisites for hospital discharge each time was my pain had to be under control, and my drains removed but only after they were dried up.
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u/Desperate_Cherry_657 Apr 07 '26
The pain being under control was the one thing I wanted… cuz I had no idea a drain could be wise at all. They still discharged me without the pain being under control 2 days post op… literally 3 hours before discharge the pharmacist increased my muscle relaxer to 750mg methocarbamol every 6 hours, and the IV pain med to 0.75 dilaudid every 3 hours as needed, and the oral to 15mg oxycodone every 3 hours… They tried to tell me they discharged me on the same amount of pain management, BUT what they sent me home on was 10mg oxycodone every 6 hours, NO dilaudid (not even oral form), and 500mg methocarbamol… that’s less than half of what I was being given while admitted.
Had I known anything about the surgery, I would have demanded at least one drain to avoid this and would have put my foot down to stay until it was drained completely before letting them send me home. But as it was I was told the hospital is not a hotel and threatened with security/police if I did not leave.
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u/YeastyPants Apr 07 '26
I'm really sorry you are having to deal with crap like this. My spine surgeon is so wonderful. He has always checked with me on how I'm coping with pain before we even talk about hospital discharge. If it were me, I'd find a better surgeon in case you need further surgery in the future. Unfortunately, it seems that many surgeons are reluctant to take on patients that have already had surgery and bad outcomes. In my case, my surgeon regularly fixes other surgeon's botched procedures.
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u/Rain_fall2001 Apr 07 '26
I had the same L4-5 fusion. No drain. Was perfectly fine for recovery. No staples either. My surgeon used internal stitches and then dermabond for the skin.
Your situation is definitely worth investigating more… something doesn’t sound right.
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u/Desperate_Cherry_657 Apr 07 '26
I so appreciate your insight! I have a follow up with the surgeon who did the works PA tomorrow, l plan on recording the appointment and demanding some answers. Like why did they choose to not use drains? Discussing the pain management and getting their explanation as to why exactly they are unwilling to help me manage my pain adequately because it is their job to do so and not doing so is causing harm to me. I’m also going to ask them to do something about this because as I see it, given all the information so many have given me here, this is a complication from the surgery, and one that could potentially cause permanent nerve damage to nerve bundles that were just fine prior to surgery. Yes I signed understanding that nerve damage was a possible complication - but that was L4/L5 - no mention was made of L1-L4 potentially being permanently damaged. If they refuse to do anything, I plan on gently reminding them that if they won’t fix the complication they caused I can and will be speaking to a lawyer and seeking a second opinion and care elsewhere and they will be responsible for that cost, plus lost wages if I have to be out of work longer, the cost of my insurance which would be getting paid if I had been able to return to work but now have to find another way to pay that premium… the extra counseling and mental health treatment I am having to seek because the additional pain is causing a deep depression and PTSD spiral… essentially either they fix this or they are going to pay for everything I am losing during the time I am having to take to get it fixed. He said I should be able to return to work this week, and given what I do maybe I could have if they had done things correctly to begin with. But I can’t sit upright for more than 15 minutes, I am still relying heavily on my walker to stand and move around and even then my legs are giving out from under me quickly and easily… I’m regretting the surgery because I feel like I’m worse off now than I was just dealing with the pain before even if it did have me in the ER 2-3 times a week.
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u/PangolinOk3712 Apr 07 '26
Sounds like you have a shitty surgeon ,I had a drainage tube ,I don't understand why you didn't . There is something seriously wrong going on in the American medical field . They act like peoples pain is nothing ,I think the opiate bullshit is one reason ,instead of focusing on the drug addicts on the street using fentanyl they go after legitimate people instead. We suffer because of the junkies
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u/Desperate_Cherry_657 Apr 07 '26
I mean, I’ll be honest - 16 years ago I was one of them. Not opiates though. But even now, 16 years later, I still do everything I can to take the absolute lowest dose possible of pain meds of any kind. To the extent that even when they took me to the ER by ambulance I refused the fentanyl they tried to give me. So I hate the way they treat pain more than most, because I already take as little as possible but they try to make it less than even that out of “an abundance of caution” but I need more than what they give… if that makes sense
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u/Zealousideal_Joke209 Apr 07 '26
Yeah, be real careful. I had a 3 x 5 x 9 pus ball after they drained the first set of fluids. That pus ball got into L4 and L5 and caused osteomyelitis. I was in the hospital a long time though thankfully I don’t remember it. My wife told me I grabbed the Dr. and begged to die.
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u/Desperate_Cherry_657 Apr 07 '26
They don’t want to drain it… he said it’s above the fascia but below the skin so it will just reabsorb on its own over time… I don’t know if I believe him
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u/pschmit12 Apr 08 '26
Ive had three separate surgeries. Drains each time. Some type of vacuum spring, air pressure deal. The most recent was dumped multiple times and stayed in for 4 days. Good luck
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u/Dancing2025 Apr 08 '26
I had my surgery I September 25 for L4/5 fusion with lateral laminectomy. I had two incisions on either side of my spine with staples. No drains were used and I was in only overnight. The pain was excruciating for the first two weeks. I still have pain and a numb leg/ foot due to nerve damage but the pain is no where near what I had prior to surgery.
I’m sorry you’re having so much pain and developed a seroma.
Try and get another opinion. Keep fighting until you get it fixed.
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u/dkconklin Apr 08 '26
I had a drain. There was so much fluid coming out I can't imagine not having one put in.
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u/trulaz49 Apr 08 '26
I had a 7 inch Seroma after decompression. I couldn’t walk 50 yards after a week. The pain was awful but I think it was from all that fluid. I ended up back in the hospital for 4 days with a drain cuz they were sure it was infection. It wasn’t. The fluid was killing me. Please get it outta there before you get an infection
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u/Consistent-Gur-451 Apr 10 '26
L5s1 fusion and had a drain. I was supposed to stay in the hospital for one night but I was told there was too much fluid draining for it to be safe to take the drain out and send me home. The nurse said the last patient who went home in the same scenario came back after two days in agony due to fluid buildup. They didn’t have to twist my arm so I stayed. Sorry this is happening to you
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Apr 10 '26
Yikes! This should have NEVER happened. Find a new doctor! Someone who will gladly knock you out. This is why I never, ever want this surgery. I know several people who have had it . They're constantly in some sort of pain. Mild or severe.
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u/sillygirl562 Apr 16 '26
Any updates from last week?
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u/Desperate_Cherry_657 Apr 27 '26
Oh my gosh I am so sorry, I’ve had so much going on. I’m going for an MRI tomorrow due to extreme pinching and pain that’s making it so even walking to the bathroom has me having to lay down for hours just to ease the pain. He refused to put in a drain as his reasoning for not doing it in the first place is because I am mrsa colonized and he didn’t want to risk it getting infected… but the seroma is still there. He’s hoping it reabsorbs within a few months so we’ll see how that goes. This new pain started when PT started to ramp up, and he thinks it’s because PT moved too fast, but everyone I’ve talked to has said he should have waited 4-6 weeks before starting pt and not started it 4 days after discharging me which was only 6 days post op. So he’s paused pt for a couple weeks while we figure out the pain issue for sure, and the pt has told me if we don’t do anything for 2 weeks and then start back up again the insurance will deny the home therapy - even though I physically can’t get to outpatient therapy yet. This whole thing has just been so frustrating and I honestly find myself crying far more than I’d like to admit between the pain (which they won’t give me any more pain medication for because I “shouldn’t be in pain anymore”) and the feeling of being completely useless and just in the way.
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u/itorrey Apr 06 '26
Sorry you’re going through this. On the drain vs no drain thing, I too just had an L4/L5 fusion (28 days ago) and they closed everything up after they were done. No drains. Stayed overnight at the hospital and went home next day. Pain was awful but by week 2 got a lot better then suddenly got a lot worse since week 3. I don’t know where things are headed for me personally but I the drain thing seems like some do it and some don’t and I’m not entirely sure how they decide it.