Trying to increase my exercise

9 weeks post op and still dealing with the mid back pain.  The pain doctor wants me to move more.  I've spent as much as 25 minutes with no resistance on my stationary bike.  I try to walk 10-14 minutes on alternate days.  Everything I do that creates stress on my legs causes extreme pain.  This cramping pain I have seems unbearable at times.  I'm "afraid of the pain" which makes it tough mentally to attempt to increase my movement/exercise.  I have to push myself to do it.

Now, they suggest I take a muscle relaxer and tramadol before I exercise.  If I have pain after that, then take percocet.  I am so fearful of becoming addicted.  One of the reasons I had the neurostimulator was so I could get off my medication.

The neurostimulator makes the cramping feel worse so I often end up turning it off.  Right now, I wish I hadn't had this surgery.  The stimulator isn't helping my pain.  The only thing that is would be the percocet.  Great-I'm at square one.

Slow and steady wins the race?

Continuing improvement - slow but steady.  Yesterday, I had the best day I've had in 2 months.  I'm using the stimulator all day.  Sitting continues to be painful.  I'll need to get new program updates soon.

Today is not quite as good as yesterday.  I have extreme low back pain and pressure in my hip.  The muscle cramping continues.

Slight Improvement

Yesterday, I took a 10 minute walk.  Again, cramping all the way.  If I walk on a slight incline, the cramping worsens.  I had the stimulator on but that didn't help.  My leg felt weaker - not sure if that was from the stimulator or not.

This morning, I spent 12 minutes on my stationary bike.  I had a little pain - I was tempted to ride longer but don't want to take a chance on impeding my recovery.

I sat for a total of about an hour so far today.  When I sit, it's usually for about 15 minutes at a time.  I'm up and down to minimize the time spent sitting.  My leg has started cramping this morning.  I guess it's from the sitting.  I know I had leg cramps/spasms before my recent surgery but can't remember if it was triggered by sitting.

I have the stimulator on now and will try to attempt working on a craft project.

Going to the grocery store..

For the first time in 7 weeks, I went to the grocery store on Sunday.  It went well although I paid for it on Monday - a lot of pain and had to take the big pain pills throughout the day.

Yesterday was a much better day - thankfully.  I took moderate strength pain pills 3 times and the "big gun" pill only once.  It was the best day I've had in a long, long time.  I was able to spend 11 minutes on my stationary bike.

My mid back continues to be a problem.  I believe I have weeks to go before that's gone.  After that, I'll have to deal with the sitting, standing and exercising problems.

My mental health comes and goes.  It mostly depends on how bad the pain is.

So far today, my pain has been slight except for my neck.  I had a cervical fusion 14 years ago and it continues to be another source of pain.  Once I get through the back issues (if I can), I'll have to try to find a better method of controlling my neck pain.  I've had botox injections in the neck and shoulder which helps to relax those muscles.  It probably helps to reduce the pain by 20% - not enough!

Feeling a little desperate!

Desperate may be too strong of a word.  Although, sometimes, that's exactly how I feel.  I've tried to be patient through my latest recovery.  I know I'm making improvement related to post op pain.  However, it's the muscle and low back pain that's frustrating me today.

I went to the store with my husband yesterday evening.  I thought I was doing okay.  Maybe it was because I had taken a pain pill.

At 3:30 this morning, I discovered that I wasn't doing so well.  My legs hurt so bad that I had to get up to take a pain pill.  It felt like someone was massaging a bruise.  I'll be exhausted today!

I get that I'm not the only person with pain.  I get that there are many who are in much more pain than I am.  I get that there are some with more debilitating pain.  Before my surgical decompression and L4-5/L5-S1 fusion surgery in 2010, I was pretty good at realizing that I could be thankful that I wasn't worse than I am.  Now, I allow myself to grieve over the lost of my past life when I could do the things most people can do.  It took 18 years of searching for the cure.

I thought my surgery in 2010 was the fix but I was wrong.  Basically, I have "failed back syndrome".  Their is no cure.  I can only try to manage the pain using the stimulator, pain medication and laying in bed.

No walking today..

After the leg cramps I had yesterday, I couldn't even bare the thought of walking today.  I decided to try my stationary bike.   I was able to do only 5 minutes due to my leg weakness and cramping.

Hopefully, the leg cramps will ease up or go away completely once I get back in shape.  Prior to my surgery, I had the cramping but thought the stimulator would block those pain signals.

When my pain doctor recommended the stimulator, he said it would only help the burning pain radiating down my leg.  The pain down my leg is secondary to the muscle pain, cramping and weakness I have.  When I did the trial, it seemed to help.  The trial was for 1 week and I've had the permanent stimulator in for almost 7 weeks.  Hmmm?  I was told this wasn't a cure - that it would block the pain signals from the nerve to the brain.  So, it needs to get to blocking.  They expect 50% improvement in my pain.  That remains to be seen.  It's hard not to get frustrated after everything I've done to try to improve my quality of life.  I know it will take time but I struggle with having patience.

The stimulator representative told me it would take time to get the right signals to block my pain areas. If I haven't gotten the desired results in 6 months, they tell me that's when I should be concerned.  The paddle lead in my spinal cord is still "scarring in" so that can make a difference in the pain relief.

Back to bed, my mid back muscles are killing me although I've taken a pain pill this morning!

Slowly but surely

The pain from my mid back muscles has improved so now I'm trying to walk for 10 minutes a day to see how it goes.  I went outside for my first walk in 6 weeks yesterday.  Even though I had the stimulator on, the muscles in my left leg cramped so bad that I had to walk very slow and stopped several times.  I went for a walk again today.  It was pretty much the same as yesterday except the leg cramps were much worse.  I'll see what happens tomorrow.......

Continuing to heal.....

I went to my pain doctor yesterday.  I needed to discuss my plan to reduce my medication and to increase my activity.  Although my mid back pain following the surgery has improved, I continue to need medication to minimize it.

Currently, I have 3 goals following my recent surgery.  They are:

1. Reduce or stop my pain medication completely.
2. Ability to sit for more than 20 or 30 minutes at a time.  (I sit for a total of 2-3 hours during an entire day.)
3. Ability to exercise (I gained 30 pounds following my surgery in 2010.)

The plan:

1. Continue taking the muscle relaxer and pain medication.  Attempt to reduce medication as healing process continues.
2. Make every effort to move around rather than lay in the bed for pain relief.  My doctor said, "it's better for me to take medication and move around than get off the medication at this point".

So, the healing continues.  I'm ready to begin a life with reduced pain.  I would love to get my life back!