[Artificial Disc Replacement / Lumbar] L4/L5, Active L, 3/17/09, Dr. Rolando Garcia

[treefrog]

Kathy, that is wonderful news. I am so happy to hear you talking about getting your life back.

Just know that there may still come some bad days, but as time goes on, the good days will outnumber the bad, and after a while you won't remember the last time you had a bad day.

Take it easy. And continue to heal.

[KBear]

Hey everyone,
Thank you all for the well wishes and a big thank you to Justin and Terry for starting this site, it is wonderful.

I have had some weird symptoms happening ever since my ADR surgery. It has been happening less and less as time goes by; but is a bit worrisome. I will get sick to my stomach, feel nausea, stomach cramping and just reall uncomfortable (enough where I can't do much other than laying on the couch). This causes my back to hurt more too. It seems to last anywhere from 2-4 days. I will take pain meds for the back pain, they barely work; but a little relief. Then, when they wear off, I feel even worse than before. It is like a vicous cycle, if I treat the pain, it makes the stomach worse.

I had thought maybe I was constipated; but I would think that once the constipation was handled, that I would feel better; but that has not been the case. I took tons of constipation medicine the other night, slept for 14 hours, and was able to go to the bathroom, yet I still felt horrid. I am on the same medication, hydrocodone, as before surgery; so I wouldn't think this was the problem. All my other meds are the same; but I am weaning myself off the Lyrica (down from 2 a day to 1 a day; but this started before I started weaning). I quit the oxycodone, as I thought it was the cause of the stomach pain. I have avoided muscle relaxers with the stomach pain, as I thought maybe they were compounding it.

I am afraid that this could be some kind of kidney or liver damage, from all the medication that I have been on for 3 & 1/2 years now. I want to go to the dr; but am scared to death that it is something serious. I know this is not sensible, as avoiding it doesn't make it 'go away'. Have any of you ever dealt with something like this? Any idea what it could be?

Other than this weird stomach issue, my back has felt great (when my stomach is feeling good). I just got over a 3 day stomach sickness, today I am alot better than I was yesterday (I was so sick, I had to skip out on my daughters field day, I was voluntering; but couldn't handle it, so left early). I started making a turn for the better yesterday evening and feel prettty good today. We are about to head out to a crawfish boil out one of hubby's clients homes. The kids are excited to get to go swimming and fishing (there is a pool and 2 stocked ponds on their property). I am excited to get to do something fun with my family. I don't eat crawfish; but will enjoy all the other food.

[treefrog]

Aww, Kathy. I hope this doesn't continue for you, whatever it is. But, you really should, at least call the doctor and tell them what is going on.

I hope you and the family had fun today.

[Justin]

Hey Cathy,

Great news about your back feeling better! Regarding your stomach: I would suggest seeing your doctor, especially since your symptoms are cyclical in nature. I know it's scary that something may be wrong, but it's best to get this worked up properly.

Keep us posted on what you find out...

[mark-Perth]

It sounds like similar pains that I had before I had kidney stones. My doctors told me they were caused through the painkillers I was taking. They can usually find out if this is a problem with scans but if that doesnt show anything they then have to put a scope up you to look for anything and can fix the problem if there is any at the same time. If you see any blood when you go to the toilet then thats one sign. I found that the pain was intermitent to start with and would come and go then got very severe and I had to go to hospital. Its worth having a blood test to see if the kidneys and liver are fine regardless. I have them regularly regardless of how I feel as my doc is extremely cautious with the medictation I take and doesnt want any problems.
I also found that Lyrica is a potentiator for opaites so reducing that may well give you withdrawls from the opiates. I also wont take oxycontin anymore as I found that more addictive than other opiates and also would make me feel sick quite often if I didnt take it ontime everytime.
Hope you feel better soon.
Mark

[KBear]

I saw my pain management doctor today (he is a physiatrist). I told him about my stomach/nausea issues. He did a physical exam, listened to my stomach, pushed around on it, etc. It was tender when he pushed down right to the left of my incision (my left, right if you are facing me). He is going to talk with the lead investigator and see if I need to have testing done through the study (since it may need to be reported as an adverse event). He said that he will call me in the next day or two; but will probably order blood work, CAT scan and other testing. He wrote me a script for phenegran, for the nausea. Luckily, he left all my medications alone and is way nicer about it than the nurse practitioner. Other than the stomach stuff, I've been feeling pretty good. Still some soreness and pain; but nothing compared to pre-op. If he decides to not do tests through the study, then I will have them done with my family dr. He did say that it could be scar tissue (kinda sounded like what Katie has described in another thread).

I had a really good weekend, lots of fun with my family. We went to a friends party on Saturday, kids had a blast swimming. Sunday we had a college graduation for my cousin, kids loved getting to see all their little cousins and playing and it was nice for me to see all my extended family. And then yesterday, we went to the lake, went on a boat ride, kids swam, and we all had a good time. It was nice to get back to a slower pace today, kids back to school, nice break.

[Justin]

I'm glad that you are getting your stomach pain looked into. The phenergan should really help. Keep us posted if it is, indeed, considered an adverse event and worked up through the study.

It sounds like you had a great weekend and the kids had a great time. A big congratulations to your cousin on graduating college!

Let us know how that stomach of yours is treating you. Have a restful day with the kids in school.

[Liz]

hi kathy,

sorry about the stomach issues. Is your incision vertical? i, too, had left-sided pain and i've heard other complaints about this as well. For some reason the abdominal scar tissue seems to plague women more than men. We all develop scar tissue differently but i definitely developed a lot of it and it continues to bother me to the point i've severely adjusted my diet b/c i don't have much room to "expand" (and i'm fairly thin) or it's painful on my back.

do you think the nausea is from stopping the oxycodone?

i would definitely get blood work to check your liver and kidneys. my liver enzymes were high once from a non-pain medication and i was retaining fluid all over my body. i stopped the med and fluid retention went away and liver enzymes went back to normal after a few months even though i remained on pain meds. Are you on any hormone meds that could be causing this?

if it is a liver issue rather than adding another med like Phenergan i recommend ginger for mild nausea. I drink Ginger Tea (i like one made by Traditional Medicinals... you can buy it at Whole Foods and even some "regular" grocery stores). Trader Joes sells ginger chews made by Ginger People, but i prefer the tea.

i would also try and massage the scar tissue yourself and have your PT do it. Your PT could also use ultrasound on it, but the heat doesn't go very deep and since it's over your organs they just have to keep moving it; it has helped me a little.

i'm glad your back at least is feeling well!

take care,
Liz

[KBear]

Liz- I don't think the nausea is from stopping the oxycodone, because it started while I was still on it. I initally thought the nausea was from the oxycodone. I will probably go see my family dr tomorrow, if I have not heard back from my pm by then. I will have him order all the blood tests and such. Thank you for the suggestions, Kathy

[Katie]

Kathy, have you had any other surgery before this, that went into the abdomen like a hysterectomy would, around or near the organs? When they do the ADR, they push the sac of organs aside, from what I understand, and so adhesions should not form on the organs from that. (Justin, please correct me if necessary)

I thought it was only if they went into the organ cavity that adhesions would develop. I have heard people here talking about scar tissue around the spine though, and I don't quite understand that kind of scar tissue.

Adhesions themselves can be nasty and cause a great deal of pain and/or discomfort with other organs. I am hoping mine will settle down soon, as I've been told that there is nothing they can do with them except more surgery which causes more adhesions, a vicious cycle.

With all the new technology, I'm sure there is something else out there though, even if not here in North America.

I hope you get this sorted out soon. Thanks for keeping us posted.