Back surgery vibes.

<<<{{{{{ FEEL BETTER }}}}}>>

Heal up soon!

GGG?

easy on those pills

Hey now Greg:  Glad you are getting better.  You'll be up and dancing soon.  Smiles   

{{{{ healing vibes }}}}

Had mine about a year and a half ago. Not nearly as invasive just a little roto rooter on the L4 L5 opening and they removed a cyst that had formed on my spine that was pinching the nerve. I am for the first time in 20 years pain free. I wish I had done it sooner. 

Sorry your going through it now. Hope you get better soon. The first couple of weeks suck. 

Dear Greg, glad you reached out. Sorry you needed surgery. Sending you the strongest healing LESS PAIN > NO PAIN vibes. It's going to be step-by-step healing, getting there slowly, wish it were different.

When/where's the Grateful Garcia Gathering? It's great to have a goal, I hope it works out. Be kind to yourself.

p.s. I'm working hard to avoid spinal surgery so I have no success stories to tell.

Dandelion geometry, make a wish.

best wishes and a speedy recovery greg

Hoping it works out well for ya. 

Best of luck to you, Greg.

>>>>>It's hard to stay positive. 

Dude, you had some MAJOR shit done, so expect it to hurt and take a minute (or three) to be your old self. I might suggest being grateful you were able to have the procedure and get meds to help with the pain. Lots of folks around the world don't have the opportunity. Short term - this really, really sucks. Long term - hope for your "long tern chronic problem." Probably a good choice to have it done. But take it slow and don't get impatient and do too much too soon. Let it heal and strengthen. Yes, it will be frustrating. 

And watch those oxy's bud. Seen lots of folks get caught up with those and from what I hear, really hard to quit.

My only experience is light compared to yours. Back in '96, I had a discectomy (trimming a disc impinging on my nerve - L4/5) and that was a royal pain. Doc suggested bedrest FOR A MONTH!  They do it differently now. But I'm good now and even played golf again in a year or so. (Didn't help my handicap though!) Glad I had it done. 

If you need some book recommends, holler.  

As a practicing quack, I highly recommend taking Grateful Dead music every hour on the hour. Supplemented by a daily dose of Phil. Take two, they're small.

"Yes, music diminishes pain by activating competing neural pathways, releasing endorphins, and altering mood through dopamine release and distraction. Research shows music can reduce the unpleasantness of pain, alleviate anxiety and depression associated with pain, and improve patient satisfaction during medical procedures and with chronic pain management. Listening to self-selected or preferred music often has the strongest effects, but even music at a patient's natural tempo can reduce pain perception.."

I hope some relief is headed your way soon Greg, and as others have said, careful with those oxys.

Best wishes for you, Greg. 
 

I had a neck fusion many years ago and it did just what the doctor told me to expect. It would not make it new but it would stop it from getting worse, which it has. I still have numbness in fingers and thumbs and some in the lower leg and feet, but it has not gotten any farther since the surgery. 
I also had two herniated disc in my lower back from a basketball injury and that has kind of twisted my spine and made a more narrow channel for my nerves to travel and it has caused an almost constant discomfort but it is something I choose to live with for now. Your surgery sounds like one of the options that has been put on the table, but I am holding off as long as I can manage the pain. During this journey I have been thru times where the pain was horrendous, but it is minor now so I am holding off, and trying not to do stupid stuff that I tend to do.

Best of healing powers....

Greg, sorry to hear about your back pain. My mantra after spine injury and procedures has  been 'tomorrow will be better' and 'ice and Oxy are my friends'. Large frozen gel packs can provide immediate relief. 

And yeah, ration the Oxy and use sparingly. It really is an effective and reliable pain killer.
 

I took the caution about addiction seriously and never increased the 5 mg low  dose.  Also supplemented with flexeril, ice and lidocaine patches. 

Doctors tried to give me gabapentin and steroids after my accident but rare  side effects prevented me from using them but I know many who have used them for pain relief successfully.

Trust your medical professionals but verify - get a second opinion if the pain gets worse. I've found that some surgeons don't listen and also want to declare the surgery a 'success' and discount issues patients experience. Ask for follow up MRI imaging to confirm everything is ok. 
 

Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation doctors can help during recovery too. 

Greg , best wishes with this. Ten years ago I had a L4 L5 S1 fusion. The Dr. told me I'd probably have %75 pain reduction.  It took three  /four years and I rarely have pain now. No regrets.  I'm not one to give advice on the pain meds because I took the shit out of them. I went through the withdrawal.  Be cool.

You got this.

Get back,get back

Get back to where you once belonged...

vibes for a full recovery

I would say everyone is different when it comes to opiates. At this point in my life I know for sure that opiates just aren't my thing. I have things I need to stay away from, but it isn't opiates. I take as many as I need when I'm in pain and then quit when I'm not in pain because they wreck my GI and I'm so happy to be off them. 

ive had a pretty similar experience. i enjoy opiates recreationally, but its not some kind of revelation of euphoria for me. the way my friends whove gotten seriously addicted describe using opiates is not my experience with them at all. personally, although i do enjoy them, i find cannabis to be more euphoric and enjoyable. these days i dont really feel safe buying opiates unless i know 100% they came straight from a pharmacy, which is very rare in my circles and i generally stick to growing a small crop of opium in the spring and enjoying some opium tea for a few days, then that's it till i can harvest the next seasons crop. 

if i was going to get a big script of opiates id be looking at ULDN - ultra low dose naloxone. essentially you microdose naloxone along with your opiate and it prevents the buildup of tolerance/dependence. ATM its pretty easy to obtain naloxone from harm reduction groups, and its something all opiate users should have on hand anyway. IIRC some pharmacies even give them out with opiate scripts. you can keep some of the nasal sprayers intact to use in case of OD but they can also be emptied and measured with a syringe(to measure only not inject) to accurately measure sub-milligram microdose quantities. 

Healing energy flying your way from Oregon to Maine!

Adding a vote for acupuncture!

Maine is on my bucket list, still.  When will Phish play there? ;-)

> I take as many as I need when I'm in pain and then quit when I'm not in pain because they wreck my GI and I'm so happy to be off them
 

Always a good plan. I'm just saying it's a very effective medication for short term use to address acute pain. More tolerable than  fentanyl they gave me in the hospital. I didn't like that drug at all. 
 

Also, Psyllium husk powder (or Metamucil) 3 times day is key when dr prescribes opiates. 

My friend who had to take Oxy for a week after a surgery learned the hard way and gave herself a hernia.
after hearing that, I was very proactive...Important to keep the plumbing unclogged. 

I am still in Crazy Pain after 2 Fusions ~~ i am done w surgeries DONE.

ive had pretty good luck combating opioid constipation with magnesium citrate. 

Plf, I'm so sorry it still goes on for you. I think about you.

Nancy, when you wrote about rare side effects from Gabapentin and steroids, I thought about my experience last summer. I was given Lyrica (Pregabalin) for spinal nerve pain. I had the unusual side effect of near complete loss of executive function for 3-4 months after taking it for 2 1/2 weeks. I stopped taking it before I knew there was a problem with it for me, I just didn't think it felt right. I did realize there was a problem soon after when I realized I couldn't deal with the abstract. Almost everything was 'the abstract' because I couldn't organize thoughts or concepts in a way that made sense. There was no way to reverse the effect the pregabalin had until it wore off, so that my my reality for those months. I'm here now, pretty much back to having my brain working as I expect it to.

I'm also now able to walk without falling and have minimal pain. I've been doing PT since then and it has helped with core and limb strength and balance. I didn't (still don't) want surgery to fuse the 3 lumbar vertebrae involved. I'm a terrible surgical candidate, historically and currently. The neurosurgeon I saw said something like, this is the surgery you should have, and then spent 30 minutes telling me why I shouldn't do it. I agreed. I'm living in fear of doing whatever the thing is that'll cause me to have the pain or lack of strength or mobility that would cause me to need surgery, being careful with what I do, and hoping for the best.

I'm even more leery of taking drugs I don't know about after my experience last year. Greg died after developing PML, a very rare almost always deadly disease, that 7 of 10,000 people taking Rituximab for NH lymphoma develop. He was being given Rituximab as chemo. PML has now been found to be a very rare side effect to some drugs (biologics. monoclonal antibodies) used for Crohns, MS, and others. It is occasionally reversible, but not for most cases.

all's i got is good vibery of healing and being pain free ASAP

and to you as well, plf