Post-op Fusion, 51 weeks (11+ months) - Hardware Removal, 7 weeks

Had a great vacation last week. I took my pain meds on a regular basis and they did their job. Managed to ride roller coasters, go down water slides, and walk the entire day. It was a busy week, but was nice to get away.

Post-op Fusion, 50 weeks (11+ months) - Hardware Removal, 6 weeks

The second steroid injection has managed to completely calm my left SI Joint down. What a relief!!!!!

My right leg is still improving, but the left leg did not show any improvement after the injection. Looks like I'm suffering from some neuropathy on that leg.

Post-op Fusion, 49 weeks (11+ months) - Hardware Removal, 5 weeks

The steroid injection has managed to completely calm my right side down. The left side is still off the charts and my surgeons office has scheduled another injection later this week in hopes of calming everything down.

This second surgery is starting to mirror the recovery of my original fusion surgery. This is a highly unexpected turn of events but one that I will continue to push through. I have started to gain strength back in my right leg and have little to no discomfort in it. My big toe, the top of my foot and ankle are still a little numb. Unfortunately, my left side is another story. The numbness remains in my foot and ankle plus the pain has returned on a daily basis. As it stands right now, I feel that the inflammation in my back is just wreaking havoc with my left side. I hope that this next injection will help get things back down to a manageable level.

Post-op Fusion, 48 weeks (11 months) - Hardware Removal, 4 weeks

This past week has just been plain awful. The pain in my lower back has been excruciating (about a 7 on a scale of 1 to 10). Talked with my surgeon, and he scheduled me for an immediate steroid injection. The thought was that my SI Joints (both left and right) were highly inflamed. Once they had me under the fluoroscope and I pointed to where the problem was, they indicated that my L5 Facet Joints and my left SI Joint was inflamed.

This was by far one of the most painful injections I have ever had cause they did not want give me any lidocaine to numb the are so they could be sure to get the right spot.

Post-op Fusion, 47 weeks (10 3/4 months) - Hardware Removal, 3 weeks

Nothing major to report except that I returned to work full time last week.

Post-op Fusion, 46 weeks (10 1/2 months) - Hardware Removal, 2 weeks

Still progressing very nicely. I have limited my activities to walking 5 miles a day. Legs really itch a lot late in the evening just before I go to bed. I can only assume that that is a sign that nerves are starting to heal.
Also got my stitches out today.

Post-op Fusion, 45 weeks (10 1/4 months) - Hardware Removal, 1 week

Its been a good week on my road to recovery. Returned to walking 5 miles a day 2 days after surgery. I could easily have gone back to work today but decided to take the extra week and let myself heal. Sitting in a car is very uncomfortable still. Hind sight being 20/20, I should have gone to work. I have contractors putting in a new deck at my house today and saw an opportunity to tear out the old swing set and let them haul the wood out for that also. Like I said hind sight being 20/20, left and right SI Joints are not pleased with my actions. My spine being stiff now, they picked up the slack for my activity and are very angry. I was actually down to 1 perc before bed, and have had to take the max dosage the rest of today cause I exceeded my limitations.

The good thing is that I have established a baseline to what I can physically do. It sucks that I will never be able to just let go and live life without any worries. I guess this is a small price to pay to live life without pain.