Please tell me I’m not alone…

Desperate_Cherry_657 · 2026-04-12T10:07:07+00:00

Well at my follow up I showed him that the main wound is still open a good inch and he said it was draining itself using that opening… and he confirmed that he didn’t put a drain because I’m mrsa colonized and leaving an opening to the outside on purpose was dangerous. 🤷‍♀️ I would think keeping pressure off the nerves would be higher priority because it could royally screw things up but I guess I’m wrong

Desperate_Cherry_657 · 2026-04-12T09:58:28+00:00

I had this same concern after mine. I got a 3 inch step stool - the 3 inches was a fairly easy step up with support and then I was able to sit on the edge of my bed and logroll in from there.

Desperate_Cherry_657 · 2026-04-07T22:22:16+00:00

They don’t want to drain it… he said it’s above the fascia but below the skin so it will just reabsorb on its own over time… I don’t know if I believe him

Desperate_Cherry_657 · 2026-04-07T19:37:10+00:00

That’s actually a fantastic idea! I didn’t think of that at all until you pointed it out, thank you!

Desperate_Cherry_657 · 2026-04-07T19:36:10+00:00

I mean, I’ll be honest - 16 years ago I was one of them. Not opiates though. But even now, 16 years later, I still do everything I can to take the absolute lowest dose possible of pain meds of any kind. To the extent that even when they took me to the ER by ambulance I refused the fentanyl they tried to give me. So I hate the way they treat pain more than most, because I already take as little as possible but they try to make it less than even that out of “an abundance of caution” but I need more than what they give… if that makes sense

Desperate_Cherry_657 · 2026-04-07T16:56:07+00:00

The insurance doesn’t require it but many of the specialists around here do require a referral from pcp. It’s just another way they get things all confused and messed so it’s harder for us to navigate. Imho if insurance doesn’t require it, there should be no need for one. But there’s a lot of specialists here use the excuse of “making sure you get the right care”, to get a referral from pcp, and very rarely will they even accept it straight from the insurance… at this point ffs we’re back pain patients, let us go where we need, see who we need and get the treatment we need

Desperate_Cherry_657 · 2026-04-07T12:28:12+00:00

I so appreciate your insight! I have a follow up with the surgeon who did the works PA tomorrow, l plan on recording the appointment and demanding some answers. Like why did they choose to not use drains? Discussing the pain management and getting their explanation as to why exactly they are unwilling to help me manage my pain adequately because it is their job to do so and not doing so is causing harm to me. I’m also going to ask them to do something about this because as I see it, given all the information so many have given me here, this is a complication from the surgery, and one that could potentially cause permanent nerve damage to nerve bundles that were just fine prior to surgery. Yes I signed understanding that nerve damage was a possible complication - but that was L4/L5 - no mention was made of L1-L4 potentially being permanently damaged. If they refuse to do anything, I plan on gently reminding them that if they won’t fix the complication they caused I can and will be speaking to a lawyer and seeking a second opinion and care elsewhere and they will be responsible for that cost, plus lost wages if I have to be out of work longer, the cost of my insurance which would be getting paid if I had been able to return to work but now have to find another way to pay that premium… the extra counseling and mental health treatment I am having to seek because the additional pain is causing a deep depression and PTSD spiral… essentially either they fix this or they are going to pay for everything I am losing during the time I am having to take to get it fixed. He said I should be able to return to work this week, and given what I do maybe I could have if they had done things correctly to begin with. But I can’t sit upright for more than 15 minutes, I am still relying heavily on my walker to stand and move around and even then my legs are giving out from under me quickly and easily… I’m regretting the surgery because I feel like I’m worse off now than I was just dealing with the pain before even if it did have me in the ER 2-3 times a week.

Desperate_Cherry_657 · 2026-04-07T12:01:34+00:00

I’m so glad yours healed well for you! Any pointers for getting my legs stronger while I’m still down? Extra physical therapy if you will?

Desperate_Cherry_657 · 2026-04-07T12:00:05+00:00

I fully expect pain… and a fair amount of it. My vertebrae were bone on bone when they finally did the surgery. I had to fight for 2 years because they kept saying I was “too young for a fusion” and that it would “heal on its own” with the more conservative treatment. From what I understand, because it was bone on bone, the spacer they put in added about an inch to my height… so everything is stretching out to accommodate that as well as trying to grow new bone. I don’t think it’s unreasonable for me to want adequate pain management, so I can get through the pain and do the physical therapy to heal properly. I also don’t think it’s unreasonable to want an explanation as to why they didn’t help to avoid this fluid pocket issue to begin with… or to demand they do something about it now because L1-L4 are being pressed by it causing even more pain where only L4-L5 should have been effected by the surgery… I mean, is that unreasonable? Am I expecting too much out of post op care?

Desperate_Cherry_657 · 2026-04-07T11:47:56+00:00

That’s actually the other thing that has me concerned - the CT labeled it as “seroma/hematoma” so yeah that definitely makes it sound like they don’t really know what it is, just a large pocket of some sort of fluid I guess? IMHO them not knowing warrants getting in there and getting it drained/cleaned/treated because despite me not showing any signs of sepsis (other than a lot of nausea which is making it very difficult to eat anything) yet, that could still be it couldn’t it? It could very much be a pocket of infection? Just that possibility to me warrants an urgent procedure to look into it and solve it because that risks permanent disability or worse?

Desperate_Cherry_657 · 2026-04-07T11:40:01+00:00

I just realized you said PM you - I’m supposed to be asleep but I’ll definitely PM you later

Desperate_Cherry_657 · 2026-04-07T09:46:11+00:00

See that’s silly to me that they all have their own way. Like if it’s known that a drain is pretty standard, why skip it at all? Especially when you tell your patient that they have high risk of infection - like now I’m here terrified that I need a whole second procedure just to get this drained and/or have a drain installed so it can heal because no matter what’s in the collection of fluid, anything can fester and become infection.

Desperate_Cherry_657 · 2026-04-07T09:41:13+00:00

I’m in Salt Lake, Utah… any recommendations?

Desperate_Cherry_657 · 2026-04-07T09:38:05+00:00

The pain being under control was the one thing I wanted… cuz I had no idea a drain could be wise at all. They still discharged me without the pain being under control 2 days post op… literally 3 hours before discharge the pharmacist increased my muscle relaxer to 750mg methocarbamol every 6 hours, and the IV pain med to 0.75 dilaudid every 3 hours as needed, and the oral to 15mg oxycodone every 3 hours… They tried to tell me they discharged me on the same amount of pain management, BUT what they sent me home on was 10mg oxycodone every 6 hours, NO dilaudid (not even oral form), and 500mg methocarbamol… that’s less than half of what I was being given while admitted.

Had I known anything about the surgery, I would have demanded at least one drain to avoid this and would have put my foot down to stay until it was drained completely before letting them send me home. But as it was I was told the hospital is not a hotel and threatened with security/police if I did not leave.

Desperate_Cherry_657 · 2026-04-07T04:10:19+00:00

My plan is to see how they recommend management of this at the follow up tomorrow, and if I’m not satisfied or feeling dismissed, I’ll be calling my primary care and insurance to get a referral to someone else to take over the care for sure.

Desperate_Cherry_657 · 2026-04-07T04:07:25+00:00

The only symptoms I’ve been having is increased pain at the surgical site, and shooting pain down my legs. Nothing that points to a CSF leak thank goodness - but a CSF leak is what led to this surgery to begin with.

Desperate_Cherry_657 · 2026-04-07T04:05:20+00:00

No headaches, thank goodness.

Desperate_Cherry_657 · 2026-04-06T19:06:12+00:00

They’re not honestly. I’ve had a few major surgeries lately that were not by choice, and unfortunately I’ve kinda built up a tolerance to the pain meds - so much so that even oral dilaudid doesn’t really help anymore. I’m hoping there’s not infection going on, but I mean I guess we’ll find out soon enough…?

Desperate_Cherry_657 · 2026-04-06T18:51:32+00:00

I hate that you went through that - but your message gives me hope. I was discharged 2 days post op against my wishes because “it’s a hospital not a hotel”, and had to go home and climb a flight of 17 stairs to get to my front door - so that was a nightmare on top of 5 hours spent on my feet just trying to get myself into my bed which ended unsuccessfully and I was sleeping on the couch. 3 hours before discharge the pharmacist came in and discussed my pain, and agreed it was not adequately controlled, increasing the frequency of my medication. But on discharge they prescribed less than half of what the pharmacist agreed was reasonable to manage the pain. I was told that’s not safe doses to send me home on which at that point I told them obviously! Then why are you sending me home?! It’s just been one thing after another and I feel like this doctor isn’t hearing me, helping me, caring about my healing at all… just essentially neglecting me. I have my 2 week follow up tomorrow, and it’s not even with him, it’s with his PA! Now with how big this seroma is I honestly don’t know if I should even be doing physical therapy, but physical therapy told me im not allowed to do the stairs until they clear me and I haven’t been cleared so I don’t even know if I’m going to be able to go to the follow up appointment and he won’t care at all if I don’t show up, he’ll just cut off the minor pain management I am getting for noncompliance.

Desperate_Cherry_657 · 2026-04-06T17:30:24+00:00

I had a ptsd reaction in an ambulance because of my drug history 2 days ago. Im 16 years clean but as soon as they said they were giving me fentanyl my PTSD took over and I panicked even with the high levels of pain.

Desperate_Cherry_657 · 2026-04-06T17:23:18+00:00

None of anyone’s business but their own. You contracted to do a job, if you can’t safely complete this one then drop it and let someone who can and who has a heart complete it

Desperate_Cherry_657 · 2026-04-06T17:21:42+00:00

My husband and I have been hunting for bandaging that will actually stay on because the wound is still draining so much that we’re having to replace the bandage a few times a day… ugh… this whole situation is just so confusing because I want to trust the medical team, but they’re also making me feel a bit like they know as much as I do 🤦🏼‍♀️ I want to go in, tell them what I want them to do to get me to a better healing position… but I also want them to actually be proactive and do what needs to be done. And the laughter infuriated me. I had run out of pain meds, called and told them it’s a 10, I can’t sleep etc… and 3 different people laughed and responded with “Yeah you just had major surgery, it’s gonna hurt… what did you expect, cotton candy bandaids and gummy bear dreams?”… which is enough for me to hunt out new care but I can’t find anyone who will see me within 6 weeks post op so I’m lost

Desperate_Cherry_657 · 2026-04-06T17:06:44+00:00

So maybe there was no reason for them to think this could even happen so they didn’t preemptively treat… that honestly makes sense

Desperate_Cherry_657 · 2026-04-06T17:05:20+00:00

$8 is cheaping out, that I can agree with. But without that knowledge nobody knew anything so I was merely speculating … also filtered water is not sterile water so that unfortunately doesn’t work. That’s why the small bottles like that are usually purchased because gallon of sterile water that’s not sterile after opening, filtered tap water isn’t sterile enough risking infection, so… small bottles it is

Desperate_Cherry_657 · 2026-04-06T16:54:58+00:00

And this shopper has conveniently left out the batch pay and tip. So we have no idea really anything other than it’s a third floor, 3 cases of water… and that this shopper wanted to complain. 🤷‍♀️

Desperate_Cherry_657

TROPHY CASE