[Spinal Fusion / Lumbar] XLIF, ALIF patient feedback- surgery scheduled October 2010

[staceyb]

Hi,

I am scheduled for a XLIF- L4/L5, ALIF L5/S1 October 2010. I am looking for recovery feedback and outcomes from others who have had either procedure or both. I'm scared but feel the surgery may be my best option at this point.

44 year old female, chronic acute back pain for over 10 years, DDD, Facet Joint Arthritis L3-S1. Treatment to date: PT,chiro, acupuncture, mind body, Surgery (laminectomy, discectomy), cortisone blocks, radio-frequency ablation 4 times, live on meds and pain killers.

Thank you very much- Stacey

[Katie]

Hi Stacey,

I had that exact surgery in mid-March, along with an ADR at C5/6. The XLIF part of the surgery is so much less complicated, not that the ALIF was terrible, just took longer to heal with a larger incision.

If you would like to talk at all, I'd be pleased to call you...I've got a great long distance plan.

I was up walking and showering the day after surgery, and the third day felt like jogging down the hospital hall Honestly, I felt awesome. I've been pushing myself too hard right now, five months in and have more pain than I've had in a very long time, but it is quite manageable. My pain medication intake is down immensely, even with the bad days.

One of the best things I did was request an epidural during and for the day after surgery. It eliminated a lot of pain; and I'm talking with experience as a discogram I had a few months before was horrific. The pain meds they gave me had no effect at all, and I was already on so much that they couldn't give me more. The epidural eliminated any problems like that.

The worst pain post-op, and it was more discomfort than anything, was from muscle & other similar soreness from all the repositioning that was done during surgery. They do have to move you around a lot

There is an excellent text book put out that explains every detail of the surgery. Perhaps if you contact Nuvasive they will be able to send it to you. My surgeon gave me a copy and it eliminated a lot of stress of the unknown. Here's the title and ISBN:

eXtreme Lateral Interbody Fusion (XLIF)
Editors: J. Allan Goodrich; Ildemaro J. Volcan
Printed 2008
ISBN 978-1-57626-277-1 (Hardcopy)

Quality Medical Publishing, Inc.
2248 Welch Industrial Court
St. Louis, Missouri 63146
1-800-348-7808
Medical Books at Quality Medical Publishing, Inc.: publisher of medical books, textbooks, references, & journals in plastic surgery, spine surgery, otolaryngology, neurosurgery, dermatology, and orthopedic surgery

It has a lot of photos and explanations of the procedures, and my husband read it from cover to cover while I was in surgery, so he felt like he knew exactly what was happening.

Do you have any other complications? Despite a number of very good surgeons looking at my images pre-op, none mentioned or seemed to notice that I had spondylolysis at L5/S1 that had to be addressed mid-surgery. Everything seems on track with healing so far though.

Good luck, and please keep in touch. I'm glad you found us!

[KBear]

Sounds like you are on the right track to becoming pain free. Surgery should never be taken lightly; but when that's all that is left to help you, it is a Godsend. There is a great thread on here titled things you need postoperative (or something like that). It's great and has lots of good tips and tricks. Best of Luck, Kathy

[Carmen]

Welcome
i am in recovery now from an XLIF, and a PLIF which is posterior to your anterior. I had my surgery at the end of June. I am now 8 weeks post op The first one was a breeze but the second one you will think you are in hell. Pick your doctors, do your research and you should be okay. I had my surgery and except for wearing a brace you probably would not think I had surgery. I then went to rehab about a mile from my house so my neighbors were all involved and family came as far as Georgia. I have no family that lives in the general area. Everyone was from out of state except for neighbors and friends. Keep us informed and if you want to talk more, send me a PM and we can talk. Carmen