Back Surgery and Neck Surgery
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Sat, 11/07/2009 - 19:22
need advice please
hi folks could do with some advice here woke this morning and noticed watery blood stains on the back of my te shirt so got my girlfriend to have a look she said theres a part of my wound were the scab as come of about 1 inch long well its been 15hrs and its still leaking watery blood asnt stoped all day seems the more i move the worse it gets iv no plasters to cover it so all i can do is keep dabing it with tissue paper iv got through a load this is 9 days after op the rest of the wound is fine scabbed up lovely stitches come out thursday any 1 else had this should i be worried thanks
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want to call the doc. Perhaps a dressing of some sterile gauze over the top of it, secured with some tape would be the better thing to do than a tissue in the short term. I would be tempted to use a bit of hydrogen peroxide, but that's just me -- it might not actually be good for your wound, so you really probably should call the doc.
Linda
Ruptured discs L3/4, L4/5, L5/S1 May 2007
One ESI in 2007 with lots of PT
Microdiscectomy and foraminotomy L5/S1 December 2007
Worsening of symptoms (back pain, sciatica, right leg weakness) June 2008
New MRI and Discogram show all three discs torn through the annulus, left to right, all three levels
2 ESIs unsuccessful in managing pain
PT, Duragesic pain patch and percocet for break-through
Was told nothing could be done for me because I had three levels and DDD
Given option of three-level fusion after being told nothing could be done
Surgery was November 19, 2008 fusing L3/4 to S1
Attempted PLIF (from both sides) on November 19th.
Rods and pins were placed, but scar tissues prohibited removal of the old discs.
On November 24th, I had ALIF (opened from top of pubic bone to the bottom of my left ribcage) and removed the torn discs, placed dowels with cadaver bone, and some of my own bone marrow mixed with BMP. I left the hospital on the 26th of November.
Currently suffering temporary (hopefully) nerve damage of both legs and total numbness of right foot. Strange tingling in both feet at 4.5 months out of surgery. Numbness still exists in right foot at almost 9 months out.
Weaned off Fentanyl patches and only take occasional percocet for pain.
We get many members asking questions of a similar nature all the time. And the answer is "when in doubt call your doctors office." If you are concerned please make the call. The doctors office has an answering service and a doctor will return your call. You have too much at stake to ask the members of a forum what to do when you are concerned about something postsurgery like this.
Rule of thumb.....if you are concerned enough to be concerned call your surgeon. The call is free and the surgeon is the only one who can give you the proper answer.
Good luck...........Paul
Cervical stenosis and myelopathy (most symptoms permanant), DDD, OA, 16 surgeries to date (including 3 level cervical laminectomy, bilateral knee replacements, A-C joint resections in both shoulders), 19 MRI's, and many many many cortisone shots and ESI's
The information provided by members of Spine-Health should never be considered as formal medical advice. It is recommendations based on member's personal experiences only.
This can vary from person to person, so do not take comments as medical facts or rules
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to call the doc? I am sure that somebody would be on call. It seems the safest thing to do in order to rule out infection. Maybe another member that is more familiar with this will stop by shortly. Good luck and let us know how you make out.
I am in no way associated with the medical field. Anything that I post comes from personal experience only.
DDD, Facet Arthropathy, DJD,Collapsed Disc, Sleep Apnea
PT, Epidurals, Facet Blocks,Medial Branch Block, Rhizotomy,Discogram,Annular Tare L3/L4 Endoscopic MicroD and PLDD,
Methadone, Percocet, Baclofen, Welbutrin
thanks guys for your fast replys i think ill ring the doc,s i wasnt worried but 14hrs of ozzing im starting to worry now its nice to have a few saying ring docs rather than just ringing him, Im english and they can be funny about time wasteing so ringing a doc is a big deal really if no what i mean thanks
Please let us know how you make out. Good luck.
I am in no way associated with the medical field. Anything that I post comes from personal experience only.
DDD, Facet Arthropathy, DJD,Collapsed Disc, Sleep Apnea
PT, Epidurals, Facet Blocks,Medial Branch Block, Rhizotomy,Discogram,Annular Tare L3/L4 Endoscopic MicroD and PLDD,
Methadone, Percocet, Baclofen, Welbutrin
Calling your doc would be your best bet. You don't want to let this go if you have a possible infection. The only way to know is to call. I had a stitch come thru my skin (they were internal) and it got red and puffy so I called my doc. They didn't mess around and had me come right in. It was no big deal for me, they just snipped it off but calling and having them check me out was a relief. You don't want to have any complications after having such a serious surgery.
Good luck and keep us posted.
God Bless All My Spiney Friends!
Michele
I am in no way a medical professional and my posts are based on my own personal experience and/or opinions.
*7/1/08 L5-S1 anterior discectomy and fusion with interbody carbon fiber spacers, anterior plate and cancellous screws
*3/24/09 diagnosed by new neurosurgeon with pseudoarthrosis (failed fusion) and hardware failure (2 screws have stress fractures). Got info from doc regarding SCS and he's advised me to do some research on it.
*3/28/09 started bone growth stimulator 4hrs/day for 9 months
*6/2009 received tens unit and use frequently, new MRI w/ and w/o contrast and bone density test (was told everything was ok with both tests)
*See pain mgmt doc once a month
*ESI scheduled for 12/7/09
*Current meds: MsContinER 30mg 2x's day, Zanaflex 4mg 4x's day, Norco 7.5/325 for break thru 1-3/day, buspiron 75mg 2x's day, Cymbalta 60mgs, Klonopin .5mgs before bed, daily vitamin.
hi Tready, I agree with the others, call your doc.
That being said, about 17 years ago I had a large (grapefriut sized) benign tumor removed from my back, 2 or 3 days after my stapels were removed, the scar bursed open, a lot of blood streaked fluid poured out. It freaked me out so I went to the ER (it was a Sunday) The doc said that the "fluid" was normal but restapled me to prevent infection and help minimize the scar. So do talk to your doc, your fluid may be different, but I wouldnt panic.
Good luck, let us know how it goes,
God Bless and Keep you,
Shirley
Shirley
45 Mom of 2 girls 24 and 21 and 1 boy 4
Bilateral pars defect l4 and l5
spondelolisthesis l4/l5 l5/s1.
Facet Arthropy l3 l4 l5
cyst l3-l5
8/31/09 l4-s1 tlif with bmp, screws and rods.
meds as of 10/05/09 norco 10mg/325mg every 6 hours
Neurontin 600mg in am and afternoon 900 mg at bedtime
hi folks thanks for the advice i rang the nurse this morning she as been to see me cleaned my wound she said its not infected but i did the right thing calling she as also put a dressing on it, she said it sometimes happenes with back wounds for some reason they seem to leek more fluid than any were else on the body she,s coming tomorrow to check it thanks again
My wound actually was infected and has been leaking for about two weeks now. I am really glad I have so many pairs of pjs as I have gotten through a pair a day at least! It is amazing how much comes out! It has meant that I haven't really wanted to put proper clothes on because I don't want to ruin them.
I'm glad you called the nurse and she was able to come and check it out. I'm sure that's a load lifted off your shoulders and now you can feel at ease and focus on healing and recovering from surgery.
God Bless All My Spiney Friends!
Michele
I am in no way a medical professional and my posts are based on my own personal experience and/or opinions.
*7/1/08 L5-S1 anterior discectomy and fusion with interbody carbon fiber spacers, anterior plate and cancellous screws
*3/24/09 diagnosed by new neurosurgeon with pseudoarthrosis (failed fusion) and hardware failure (2 screws have stress fractures). Got info from doc regarding SCS and he's advised me to do some research on it.
*3/28/09 started bone growth stimulator 4hrs/day for 9 months
*6/2009 received tens unit and use frequently, new MRI w/ and w/o contrast and bone density test (was told everything was ok with both tests)
*See pain mgmt doc once a month
*ESI scheduled for 12/7/09
*Current meds: MsContinER 30mg 2x's day, Zanaflex 4mg 4x's day, Norco 7.5/325 for break thru 1-3/day, buspiron 75mg 2x's day, Cymbalta 60mgs, Klonopin .5mgs before bed, daily vitamin.
hi folks update even more worry now after the nurse this morning came and told me no infection a placed a dressing on wound, she left me a replacment iv just got girlfriend to change it when she took the old dressing of my back just started leaking like a tap its running out of me now pinky clear stuff plus iv got a huge lump on my back were the cut is what shouldi do im scared to death
Did the nurse leave you a direct call back phone number? I am guessing yes if you have an IV at home? If not, you might want to consider going to the ER. Something doesn't sound right there...
Brenda
ACDF C6/7 & Partial Corpectomy with Instrumentation Aug. 2009 - Top of fusion separated still not fusing
ACDF C5/6 & Partial Corpectomy with Instrumentation Mar. 2008
Ulnar Subcutaneous Transposition and Guyon’s Release Apr. 2008
C2/3 Disk Bulge / Stenosis / Per NS - DDD (new) Oct. 2009 – No symptoms at this time: Left posterolateral disc osteophyte complex resulting in moderate crowding of the left C3 nerve root exit zone. Chronic moderate left-sided foraminal narrowing related to uncovertebral joint thickening and posterolateral towards foraminal bulging of the disc.
Lyrica
right. Please go and get a doctor to check this out for you. Post and let us know when you are able.
I am in no way associated with the medical field. Anything that I post comes from personal experience only.
DDD, Facet Arthropathy, DJD,Collapsed Disc, Sleep Apnea
PT, Epidurals, Facet Blocks,Medial Branch Block, Rhizotomy,Discogram,Annular Tare L3/L4 Endoscopic MicroD and PLDD,
Methadone, Percocet, Baclofen, Welbutrin
I sure hope you went to an ER or somewhere and seen a Dr.
Please let us know how you are doing
Ms. Humpty Dumpty Took a great fall and all the Drs and surgeons could not put her back together again.
After my fall I started to fall apart. L1-L2-L3-L4 - S1 & S2 gone. ( full herniation )Spinal stenosis, spinal arthritis, degenerative disk, scoliosis.
The spacers in your back are gone/going, spinal nerve damage.
Spinal spurs. Both knee caps & both hips have degenerative bone disease, arthritis and bone spurs.
No surgeries as Drs. don't think it will help and may make things worse.
Age 47 - Here to find & offer support.
hi folks just got back from AnE (ER) they did a blood test said there wasnt an over poupulation of white blood cells which means theres not a large infection but after looking at the wound the doctor thinks there is a start of one so gave me some antibi,s when i asked could it be spine fluid thats leaking he said couldnt say for sure so iv got to phone my surgon this morning still got head ache and my pulse was 135 still got large bulge in my back and still leaking pinky fluid they just put a bigger thicker dressing on it so this isnt over yet need to see what my surgon says thanks for the replys