Back surgery L3-L4 fusion. Now in recovery and looking for tips.

[SteveNU]

I wish you luck with you're father. It is a difficult surgery at any age, at 80 I would exhaust all other options before I considered surgery.

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[SecondCor521]

Thanks, I hear you.

He has had these problems for years and they're slowly getting worse. The pain is the big one for him and it has gotten a lot worse over the past six months or so. He had one good pain shot on one side, and a "meh" pain shot on the other. He's going to get a second pain shot on the "meh" side and see how that works out.

He's been thinking about it a while, but delayed it while my Mom was in hospice. Since she passed away about a month ago he's been pretty sad and so I think he may view the downside risk of surgery as maybe somewhat of a mixed blessing.

I doubt he would be a very good PT / rehab patient. He's a retired physician and fairly strong willed.

If he does explore the surgery option he wants me to go to the surgery consult with him as a second brain / set of ears.

 

[Sunset]

I'm now two weeks post op and just saw the surgeon this afternoon. He said it all looks good, no need to wear a back brace and no restrictions. Just let my body tell me if I'm overdoing it.
.....

Sounds pretty aggressive to me, I mean does he really think it's ok to start pressing 200 lbs overhead ?

Surely he suggested some weight limits for lifting because it will take months for the bones to fuse completely. Otherwise he would tell you no future appointments are needed.

Your surgery looks like mine, and I was told weight limits for lifting for quite a long time, and followup visits with x-rays every x months to see the bone healing over time.