Post spinal fusion surgery

[Brightman]

2 weeks tomorrow after surgery to fuse 7 vertebrae after Prostate Cancer spread to my T 10. Radiation caused a compression fracture and weakness in nearby vertebrae. Just wondering if anyone else has had this done. Pain medication Palexia and Oxyndone have hardly impacted. Spinal surgeon says pain should reduce after 4 to 6 weeks. Any advice would be greatly helpful.

[Oldie68]

Sorry, I don't have any experience with this sort of pain. Do you mind sharing what kind of radiation were you receiving?

[Brightman in reply to Oldie68]

The radiation I received was called SBRT. It is a strong dose over 3 sessions. Much better than the 20 radiation doses I had on my prostate originally, having to have a full bladder and empty bowel!! I also had SBRT on the tumour on my 6 th rib last year and that has cleared up well.

[Oldie68 in reply to Brightman]

Thank you for your reply. I am just about to start Xofigo. That's why I was asking. Wish you the best. Hopefully the pain will go away or at least become more manageable. Keep us posted.

[strongmouse]

Sorry to hear all that you have gone through. I can't directly help you but I had a friend who had a spinal fusion done and it made all the difference to her once she had recovered from the surgery. Surgery generally can cause inflammation and nerves to be more sensitive and can take longer than we think to recover from..

Take care, be patient and I hope you make a good recovery

[Brightman in reply to strongmouse]

Thanks for that. I am in week 3 since the surgery and according to the surgeon will start to feel better between weeks 4 to 6. Hopefully things will be better by then. I am feeling slightly better each day, but still need the strong painkillers to get through.

[strongmouse in reply to Brightman]

Hardly suprising you still need the strong pain meds, but as it heas you should be able to reduce them. Take each day as it comes. Glad to hear there are some positives too.

[Delboy1]

Hi Brightman,

I'm sorry to hear of your op; I've had exactly the same in exactly the same positions. However, I was given Oxynorm & Oxycodone at such a high dose, which did get rid of most of the pain, but...

It nearly got rid of me. They gave me far too much and numbed my head as well. They are right that most of the pain subsides after about 8 weeks. However, it did leave me with many other symptoms after this op that I had 15 years ago. Because all the weight was now concentrated on the upper back discs, I started to get generative disc syndrome, resulting in Plastic fibre discs replacing all discs.

PG, this doesn't happen to you. Please do as they say as much as possible, and don't lift ANYTHING heavy as this is the worst thing you can do!

Hope you get better (which I'm sure you will) after time and pray that's the last op you have to have. After 15yrs of problems, it has now left me in a wheelchair, so DO AS THEY SAY👍

[Brightman in reply to Delboy1]

Thanks so much for your reply. So sorry you have ended up where you are. I am trying to abide by the ‘rules’ but forget at times. Great advice about lifting. I have been tempted at times, as we are trying to downsize from a big house & garden to a retirement village. I am down to 5 microgram Morphine patch and my oncologist ( who rings each week, not like my surgeon who has only rung me a couple of times in 9 weeks!) said for me to take 1/2 a Palexia tablet if I get sore, which I have done and it has helped. I understand that everyone is different, but it helps to hear from someone like you who has been through the same thing. Much appreciated and take care.