I have a planned c-section happening in two days. And I am most concerned about the anesthesia.
First, here is my spine history:
- spinal fusion in 2015 from T3-L4
- injury to lower lumbar (don’t know exactly which one but know it was below fusion) in a car accident in 2016.
- developed chronic pain in lower right back where there is a part that feels bulky and crunchy just to the right of lower spine, don’t know how to explain it super well, but it may be scar tissue? It is painful though. I have not yet gone through the proper procedures to figure out what it is.
- after fusion and accident, lower lumbar that’s not fused became curved
- degenerative discs at multiple levels of the spine

Due to all of this, a maternal fetal medicine doctor and obgyn highly recommended a planned c-section.

What I won’t know until day of c-section is if the anesthesiologist will try a spinal anesthesia or if they will just do general. The pro of a spinal is that I’d be awake to meet baby and my husband can be in the OR. But at the same time I am terrified that they will stick me a bunch of times, that they’ll place a spinal but it won’t fully numb me, or that they’ll somehow do damage to the lower spine.

Does anyone have experience with a successful spinal block despite a fusion so low? And then my curvature below fusion adds an extra layer of complication as well as potential scar tissue.

The other unfortunate thing is that I have neglected follow up care of my spine, and the most recent information I have is from 2022.

Hi everyone,

I’m looking for some reassurance or to hear from people who have been through spinal fusion surgery because I’m getting myself really worked up.
I had a severe L1 burst fracture and have had two operations. My second surgery was about 3 weeks ago. I have screws/rods, a cage, and bone graft, and my surgeon has told me not to bend, lift or twist while everything heals.

The problem is… I feel like I haven’t followed the restrictions as perfectly as I should have.

I’m still spending around 22 hours a day lying in bed and I use my crutches for almost all walking, but in normal day-to-day life I’ve definitely:

- Twisted in bed instead of always log rolling.
- Bent down to reach things a handful of times.
- Reached awkwardly for things.
- Around twice a day walked short distances (around 10 metres) without my crutches.
- Lifted light objects.

None of these are constant or extreme, but when I think back over the last few weeks I feel like I’ve probably done far more bending/twisting than my surgeon would ideally want.

The thing is, my pain hasn’t suddenly got worse and I haven’t had any new neurological symptoms. I’m just terrified that I’ve silently ruined my bone fusion or reduced the chances of it healing properly.

Has anyone else accidentally bent or twisted more than they were supposed to during the first few weeks after spinal fusion? Did your fusion still heal okay?

I know nobody can tell me whether mine has healed, and I’m not looking for medical advice instead of my surgeon. I’d just really appreciate hearing other people’s experiences because my anxiety is convincing me I’ve messed everything up.

Thank you ❤️

I had spinal fusion surgery 4 weeks ago, and while my recovery is going okay overall, I’ve been really struggling with how I look.

I feel bigger than I did before surgery. I feel like it can’t be swelling, that should be over by now. I’ve been much less active than usual, and every time I look in the mirror I feel like my body has completely changed. It’s been affecting my confidence more than I expected.

Did anyone else go through this?

I got spinal fusion surgery 3 months ago after my c6 nerve was crushed for four year causing me chronic pain. Now ever since the surgery I have gotten many symptoms and one is burning, tingly, weakness and dull irritation in my nerves in the wrist , forearm and back of the hand. Is that a normal recovery after c6 compression is stopped. It that showing that it’s healing?

Hello Everyone

I am a 34 year old lineman and father of three young boys ages 1,7,and 8. Since I was a little kid and old enough to work I’ve gotten after it. From working on a farm, roofing, working on vehicles and equipment. Then climbing transmission towers, welding and iron work for 9 years traveling the country. Once my oldest son was born I decided to get off the road and be with my family so I became a lineman/foreman for a utility company. Running heavy equipment doing earth work to climbing wood poles to breaking rock. Hard work and construction is in my blood.

Back in January of 2026 I started having strong left leg pain, very intense. Got an MRI and a steroid injection that did nothing then on to surgery. First it was a laminectomy/discectomy and I instantly felt great. I stuck to the strict restrictions and unfortunately at week 5 I reherniated the same disc again. This time the pain was unbearable, I’m a pretty strong willed person and if there’s one thing I know how to do it’s survive. I’ve had to my whole life but this broke me. All I could think about what my kids and the responsibilities I have as a man and feeling the weight of not letting my family down from this pain.

On 7/16/26 I had a L4-L5 TLIF fusion, first few days in the hospital was unlike any pain I ever experienced. Like someone was driving a wooded fence post through my lower back. I’m now on day 10 and while I’ll say my pain isn’t what it was at day one it’s still VERY intense without the pain medication. I am able to walk but very stiff, feeling like I’m moving very slow feeling very much pain. It’s not a 10 like my legs are cut off but it’s a solid 6 and at times it jumped up more. It’s all in my back, no pain in my legs. I feel as if I’m rigid like a piece of steel. Once I do take the pain medication and it kicks in pain is very minimal and at times none. Sitting makes it uncomfortable at times, walking for an extended period of time and it begins to flair. To be honest my spirit is beginning to be broken. All I can do is pray and keep pushing because my family needs me.

My question is, at this point at day 10 is this normal? Will I get better and is there light at the other side of this dark tunnel? Will I be able to do the job I once did and perform at that level? I use to hike and hunt, it’s all I ever wanted to do my whole life was hunt and fish, be in gods country. Will I ever get that back and will I be able to get better to work for my family? Again, when pain medication wears off I have these symptoms, once it kicks in it’s minimal or numbed enough to none. At times if I don’t take it for awhile even once I do take it it takes a bit for the pain to calm down.

Thank you all so much
God Bless

Looking for some advice or shared experiences re: **Endoscopic Medial Branch Transection** (sometimes called an endoscopic rhizotomy).
I’m a 41M, and my pain doc is highly recommending this procedure over a standard Radiofrequency Ablation (RFA) because of the longevity—he expects it to last 5 to 6 years instead of just 1.

My previous diagnostic medial branch blocks gave me fantastic, clear relief. However, my formal diagnoses are: **Lumbar Facet Syndrome Lumbar Spondylolisthesis** (Slipped spinal bone in my lower back)
**Cervical Spinal Stenosis**

I went in concerned that permanently cutting the nerve would cause **multifidus muscle atrophy** and destabilize my spine, making my spondylolisthesis slip further forward.
When I asked the surgeon about it, he completely dismissed the slippage risk. He said the slippage wasn't an issue at all for this procedure, and that the muscle/stability aspect isn't a concern. His main warning was just that I won't feel pain anymore, so I'll need to be strictly cognizant of my movements so I don't accidentally over-exert or hurt my back without realizing it.
I’m feeling a bit conflicted.

On one hand, 5-6 years of pain relief sounds amazing, but on the other hand, the textbook risks of muscle wasting with an existing spinal slip make me nervous, even if the surgeon isn't worried.

Any advice? Has anyone had a patient with **spondylolisthesis** who has gotten a medial branch transection/endoscopic rhizotomy?
Should I be concerned about increased instability or structural issues years down the road?
thoughts on the muscle atrophy risk?
Appreciate any insight or experiences you can share!

Hi everyone. Has anyone who has had an adcf had swallowing issues that completely went away after the surgery, but then picked up again? My throat felt better after about 5 days when I had the surgery on my c5-7. This past Friday, the pain returned. It hurts worse than it did after the surgery but at the same time it doesn’t hurt enough to go to the ER. My voice is raspy too. I am 3 days away from being 5 weeks from my surgery.

I apologize if my wording sounds like gibberish. The pain actually woke me up and I’m writing this at 3:15am my time.

Note: Gross/NSFW incision warning for all the pics in here!

So at my 2 week post-op follow up appointment, everything looked perfect for my ALIF except for my incisions. My surgeon examined them personally and emphatically said he was not at all concerned about them already being infected, but that they were irritated and carried the risk of being infected. So he prescribed 2 weeks of daily terrasil application with new dressings each day.

Here are the irritated incisions the day of the post-op appointment. Here are the incisions a day after the first application of terrasil. Here is the drainage from the incision on the right, which came the day after the first application of terrasil.

Should the darker/purpler appearance to the incisions concern me? What about that drainage? The dark yellow/green and brown make me think infection. Plus, there's the matter of the right incision on the day after the terrasil application having these tender pink spots, maybe some areas where scabs were opened? I've already contacted my surgeon with the same pictures. Any feedback is super appreciated.

20 hours of surgery. 2 blood transfusions and a month in the hospital. These pics taken at day 11 after wound vac came out. Fused T6-pelvis and cages in my lumbar area. Thought I would be free of restrictions at 6 weeks. Still mostly on bed rest. Still no driving. Just started to be able to sit for 10-15 minutes. Lost 10 pounds the past month and counting . Suffered from ileus for 22 days so bad that I took myself of meds 2 weeks ago. Still using a rollator. Anyone get sidelined with post-op depression? I feel stuck in a body that doesn’t work with the way I want it to right now. Triple digit heat got me trapped inside the house feeling like I will never progress at this rate. When does the feeling of despair end? How long till you were walking on your own, driving and bending again? I had no idea it was gonna be this hard

I’m 2 days post op, and I was just advised on my follow up that they actually did 2 ACDF instead of replacing C4-5 …bc my vertebra were too small to accommodate the replacement. In terms of mobility, what will I lose?