October 5, 2009 - 6:28pm
L5-S1 Spinal Fusion set for October 16th ~Scared To Death What can I Expect?
HI, New Member here, Just spoke to the surgeon today after all my tests and confirms surgery.
Im a 38 year old male 143lbs 5'9" and cannot remember a injury I had? Haave had back problems for last 10 years and theyve gotten worse as the years go on.
Ive had physical therapy, chiropractic, 3 injections, spinal gram. So the doctor has set up a l5-s1 spinal fusion with a bone graft.
Im wondering what do I need to expect going into this. pain level, recovery time, time out of work? Most of how do you feel after your full recovery?
hi and welcome to the forum!
we are here to offer you support and answer what questions we can. so glad you stopped by. i do hope you have gotten more than one opinion when it comes to surgery!!! be sure and check out the "Back and Neck" surgery forum for more input and answers to your questions.. you do need to be prepared for coming home from surgery! good luck and keep us informed! 
Jenny 
be impeccable with your word..
That seems like a massive step ie to go from the level of intervention you were at, straight to surgery!
I know we all see our doctors as 'demigods', but are you sure this is what's best?
Over here (UK), we exhaust all conservative measures first before going straight to surgery. Has your doctor done that?
I agree with Jenny in that you need to get another opinion. If you read some of the posts from members on this site on their experiences with surgery, it doesn't always work out quite as planned.
Please be cautious.
Bye, Val
There is a new member on the Back Surgery section who just asked a similar question. Please read what I wrote to her here:
http://www.spine-health.com/forum/back-surgery-and-neck-surgery/what-exp...
It looks to me like you have had back pain for ten years and have tried various conservative treatments, right?
If you go on over to the "Back and Neck Surgery part of the Treatments section, you will find many posts pertaining to fusion. You will also find a "sticky" at the top of that section that will give you a variety of ideas of what you might want post surgery. The list includes just about everything imaginable....it is helpful in that it gets you thinking about what life will be like post surgery and what you can do now to get ready and make your home more livable.
Hope this helps a bit. Good luck.
xx Gwennie
I have no medical training. Comments are based on personal experience and lots of research and reading.
PLIF @ L4-5 with Peek cage, rods and screws Jan 2008
Lami-foraminotomy L5-S1 Jan 2009
Fusion L3-S1 coming up -- 1 June
I highly suggest taking a look at the surgery section and finding the list of things that you will need post op. Being prepared will make things much easier with your recovery. As far as how recovery will be for you it is very hard to predict. Everyone is so different that it is not often that any 2 people get the same results. Good luck and please keep us posted.
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