I wanted to post in monthly so I'm a little late, but today I am 2 months 1 week post op of my L5-S1 (PLIF) Spinal Fusion. The last time I posted, I got my back brace off, saw my surgeon, and was waiting to start physical therapy. I am happy to say that I (surprisingly) did not have to fight the insurance to approve my physical therapy and I started with no delays. I love the place I go to, and my physical therapist. We are going at a very slow pace and I am completely fine with that! When he first evaluated me, he said that my range of motion was good except my hamstrings were very limited to movement. My sessions usually are about an hour to an hour and a half long and it usually goes like this:
20 minutes with electro-stim and heat on my back
Scar massaging (which surprisingly feels really good!)
Leg stretching done by my physical therapist
Knee to chest exercises
Hip flexions (he described it as pretending to crush an egg on the table with my back)
Leg squeezing exercises
And a few more that I don't know how to describe
He said that next week we will be adding some more and seeing how I do with them. The hamstring stretches hurt the worst, my hanstrings are really bad apparently from not being able to move them in certain ways for over 2 years. I usually don't feel pain from PT until I'm leaving. I'm very sore from moving in ways I haven't been able to for so long. He says that I am doing very well with everything and that he is very impressed, so that makes me feel good about it. I don't know if I mentioned in my last post or not, but I am going to PT 3 times a week.
My physical therapist mentioned that there is a product that will help with the scarring and it evens out the skin and makes the appearence better, so I went to a few places and finally was able to find it. I went to CVS and there was 2 different kinds: one was a tape/bandage like one that you leave on for 24 hours, and the other was a serum in a tube that you rub on the scar. I asked the pharmacist if there was one that worked better than the other or not, and he suggested the 'Silicone' ones are the best. I was worried about it being so hot if I were to sweat or anything if the bandage would lose its adhesive, so I went with the roll-on serum. This is the box of the one I purchased:
It is supposed to "shrink flatten and fade new and old scars." It says that you can apply it 2-3 times per day and massage the gel on for 1-2 minutes. I just strarted it today and am going to put a picture of my scar today, and then after a few weeks of use, I will post another to see if there is a difference. Here is my scar today:
So heres to hoping that this works! I will keep you guys posted and more pics will follow to see the progress! :-]
My surgeon also said to try and only sit for 15 minutes at a time, which seems a little unrealistic to me, but I try to get up and walk around frequently. The car is getting a little bit easier. Sneezing is still my worst enemy, very very painful. Walking long distances gets hard, but in general, I am able to walk a lot more than I was able to before surgery. I vaccumed and did light cleaning the other day, and was a little sore, but very excited I was able to do it being that I haven't in so long. I am barely taking any medicines anymore, not even tylenol, unless its a bad day. I tried to sit through my brothers graduation and that was very painful, but that is all part of learning your limits and knowing how long you can and can't do certain things. That does not mean I'm pain free, that means that I am able to bare it and deal with the pain, which I am happy with. There is still a long way to go, and I am still feeling a good amount of pain, but overall, I am happy with the surgery so far and only time will tell everything else. I see my surgeon next June 13th I believe, so I will definitely post in after that as well. Any questions or anything feel free to comment, or e-mail me. Post back soon =] Happy Memorials Day everyone!
-Alicia =]
My 'battle wound', upsetting but as my sister says "scars are beautiful, they show how strong you are and what you have been through"
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