Spinal fusion question

[Lunadoo]

Hi. My adult daughter anterior had L5/S1 spinal fusion surgery with instrumentation 3 months ago for excruciating and longstanding pain from a prolapsed disc. She has made fantastic progress and is practically pain free. However she had her 3 month appointment today and after Xray the Consultant said there was no new bone formation yet. He did say it could take up to 6 months to show but she's really worried about this. Just wondering does anyone have any experience of this. Thank you.

[timbowPSP]

Look up supplementation for bone growth. Calcium apatite (and boron) come to mind, but I am not qualified at all in that! Maybe therapy such as Bowen (Technique). Good wishes!

[DENZ01]

Hello 😊

I had the same surgery as your daughter 18 years ago.

I was told by the consultant that it would take up to nine months for the fusion to be fully fused.

I hope that this may help put you & your daughters mind at ease. I hope that your daughter feels better soon, I know that it's a great worry having spinal surgery.

Best wishes

Karen x

[Lunadoo in reply to DENZ01]

Thank you so much yes it is a worry. Took a long time to get the surgery and she is feeling so much better would hate it to fail. I suppose the cage instrumentation holds it in place anyway?

[DENZ01 in reply to Lunadoo]

Hello,The instrumentation is there to keep the spine stable and for the bone growth.

This type of surgery has an excellent success rate.

Your daughter is worried (I fully understand this), spine surgery is very frightening. She should just try to do as she has been told by the consultant (can be frustrating as well).

So, from your message, I understand that she is three months post-op, so unfortunately she will have to be patient (very difficult) for another three to six months (also depending on your daughters age )

I hope that I have been of a little help to you & I hope that you will keep us all updated on the progress of your daughter.

(I hope that I haven't waffled on too much!)

Best wishes

Karen x

[Emma2017]

Hi I had the same surgery just over two years ago. I was told it takes a year to fuse and then a further year to improve the fusion even further after which is stronger than it was before. I had an X-ray at day 2 and 3 month and a ct scan at 1 year. She has reached the 3 month mark which is great. The fact she is nearly pain free is fantastic. You always worry a bit after spinal surgery, it’s a major operation and takes a while to get over.

[Lunadoo in reply to Emma2017]

Thank you. Did you have any bone growth at 3 months? Hope your fusion was successful.

[Emma2017]

My fusion was successful at the one year ct scan. My surgeon was happy it was in place at day 2 and he was happy at the 3 month stage, he never mentioned bone growth at that time. He only mentioned that at the The 1 year mark so I don’t really know. As I had excruciating pain at around half a year afterwards he did a MRI and said all was well so no idea what the pain was all about, he thought a loose screw or something however all was well and it settled down. It still does bother me now from time to time but it is something I have to live with and at least the horrible continuous back pain and sciatica have gone. Get nerve pain now in my leg but it’s at the front which is the higher up disc I was operated on but I don’t want any more ops. Hope your daughter continues with her good progress.

[clare86]

I had a similar issue.Is she able to increase

Her calcium, vit D and

Vit C in her diet?

It can take several months

[Iona467]

Hi, I had major spinal surgery in January and rods inserted from my neck to my bottom. Aldi widening of lower back where my spinal column was being compressed from severe spinal stenosis.My surgeon said it will take a minimum of 1 year for it to be fused.

It’s now almost 4 months and I am still

I’m pain.