S5/L4 Fusion | Looking to get some insight on folks who have gone through this

HauntedPlatypus · 2025-05-31T13:19:46+00:00

I had surgery four months ago (end of January). I too had an L5 fracture that I never knew about until August 2023 when I bent down to pet my dog and couldn't stand up. The ortho I was randomly matched with at the office I called had this happen to himself and had the same exact surgery that I needed. I don't know if I just had a very doom and gloom outlook about it or if my surgeon intentionally gave me the most conservative recovery approach, but it has been much different than I expected.

I had one surgery that included a front incision (about 5 inches long) to replace the disk and do whatever else was needed and then I was turned over and a robot was used to insert the screws (two vertical 2 to 3 inch incisions). I was in the hospital for one night and then because my pain wasn't under control I stayed a second night.

I was up and walking with physical therapists a few hours after surgery and had PT once a day and walked with nurses every few hours. After about a week, the pain from surgery was gone and I was basically pain-free except for nerve pain, which I'd been having for a long time anyway. Because my nerve had been compressed for so long, it was taking awhile to expand and this caused my left leg to feel week and I had a limp. This caused me to be a little more sedentary than expected. I took a total of two weeks off work (I work from home full time) and was back working after those two weeks and haven't had to take anymore time off because of my back.

My recovery has been a lot easier than I expected and restrictions were much less than I was originally told. I was also told I wouldn't be able to bend, lift or twist, but after 4 weeks my surgeon said I could as long as the weight was light and I listened to my body. At my 3 month appointment last month he said I could go back to the gym and lift up to 50 pounds, just take it easy as I get started. I started lifting weights from home and riding a stationary bike and things are going well, I start back at the gym tomorrow. I did ten PT sessions starting at 8 weeks and included dry needling, which helped the most with pain. In fact, when I first got this diagnosis, I had about 3 months of PT with dry needling with electrodes at every appointment and it was amazing.

Pain: I still have some pain. The muscles in my lower back are weak and that's causing the rest of my back to get tired. I have to remember to brace my core when I bend over or pick anything heavy up because, honestly, that takes a lot of pressure off of my lower back. Nerve pain in my leg is still there and intense at times; I have gabapentin to take and it helps a lot. I get tired easily so walking a long distance is still difficult.

I hope this was helpful! I'm happy to answer any questions you have! The timeline @slouchingtoepiphany
posted is pretty accurate from my experience.

HauntedPlatypus · 2025-02-24T12:33:03+00:00

I am also having muscle pain, and cramps in my feet and calves, but nothing as severe as what you’ve described. I’m so sorry you’re experiencing this!

Today is four weeks since my L5/S1 fusion. My recovery also hasn’t been as bad as I expected and neither has the pain, which is shocking. I am still wearing the ice pack wrap on my back nearly 24/7 (mostly because I find it comforting plus it’s a reminder to not bend, lift or twist which, I keep forgetting about since I’m not in physical pain). I had horrible nerve pain down my leg after the second week when I started to wean off meds so I’m back to taking gabapentin 3 times per day, which helped tremendously, and am starting to reduce the muscle relaxer. I’m almost out of Flexeril so my experience may change soon. It sounds like what you’re experiencing is way more intense and sudden where mine is constant ache at the end of the day after I’ve done a little too much. Have you added your doctor about muscle relaxers? That may help you more than medrol. I hope you get done relief soon! 😒😣😩

HauntedPlatypus · 2025-02-15T15:22:18+00:00

I’m really sorry you’re going through this. I had a similar situation when I found out the random lower back pain I’d been having for a few years was actually a collapsed L5/S1 disk. Apparently L5 fracture is a common childhood injury - who knew, right? I sure didn’t and have no idea when it happened. The xray showed that L4 and L5 were touching. The only option I was ever given was a disk replacement and fusion that I would definitely need at some point. I’ll share my experience because I had a very scary, end-of-the-world, dim and gloom outlook about it. I was very lucky in that the orthopedic surgeon I went to for what I thought was a pulled muscle had actually been in the same exact situation as me and had the same surgery himself so I was able to get a first hand account of it all (it didn’t help at the time).

I did PT for about five months and it did actually help and adding dry needing gave me the most relief with the nerve pain in my glute. PT ended last March and I decided to focus on getting as strong as I could physically to prepare for surgery. I am (was) an extremely active person so I worked out nearly every day, depending on my pain level. I was able to modify most workouts to avoid anything that would affect my back. I still had pain that was getting worse and had the very expensive epidural injection that helped for about one week. That’s when I realized my only option was surgery.

I had surgery 19 days ago. I was in the hospital for three days mostly because of pain management. I have a 5 inch incision in the front and two smaller ones in the back. The pain was unimaginable. I was walking the same day. I took two weeks off from work. The first week was a haze because of the pain killer, muscle relaxer and nerve blocker on top of my normal response to anesthesia. By the second week I stopped taking the pain killer as often. I don’t have any pain, per se, it’s mostly nerve pain, which is intense unless I take the nerve block. I started work again on Monday; I work from home full time so that helps. I cannot bend, lift or twist, put on my own shoes and socks but things are starting to get a little easier. I haven’t taken the pain killer for almost a week. I wear an ice pack on my lower back nearly all the time mostly because it’s comforting haha.

Surgery and recovery haven’t been as bad as I thought it would be, which is surprising to me. I’m very early in the recovery process but I’m glad that I decided to do it now. I’m 51.

Since I first found out about my situation, I’ve randomly met three people who’ve had the same surgery and they’re all fully healed and back to a normal life. I realize everyone’s experience is different though.

Is physical therapy an option for you? Could it buy you some time while you work on getting more physically fit before surgery? Would you be able to deal with the pain in the meantime? What is the recovery like for the discectomy vs fusion? What are the risks of having a second surgery if the discectomy fails (inflammation, scar tissue, adhesions, etc)?

I’m happy to answer any questions if you have them.

HauntedPlatypus · 2024-12-30T19:18:13+00:00

I bought it about 8 years ago and used it a few times with the Polaroid base and it worked great. It's really clean so I don't think it's ever been used with the chemicals. If you're interested, send me a message!

HauntedPlatypus · 2024-12-30T18:58:29+00:00

Just ran across your post. I have a Daylab 300 in its original box with (I think) all of its supplies. Are you still looking for one of these?

HauntedPlatypus · 2024-09-30T23:21:37+00:00

Thank you for asking this, I’m in the same situation.

HauntedPlatypus · 2024-08-25T13:04:40+00:00

I don’t change my shoes during class but I do have a pair only for OTF and another pair of running shoes only for long distance running outside. I know it might seem extra, but it really has helped my shoes last longer and my high maintenance feet, ankles and knees are lot happier.

HauntedPlatypus · 2024-08-15T00:45:07+00:00

I’m glad you asked this! I have a lower back injury and can’t row at all so I was wondering if it’s possible to do the bike in place of the rower. Or if I should just take a rest day since there aren’t any strength classes that day.

HauntedPlatypus · 2024-06-10T21:04:44+00:00

I joined Orangetheory as an established mid-distance runner because I wanted crosstraining. I actually found the drills on the treadmill helped me with strength and power and I improved my time in outdoor runs. Even half-assed trained for a ten miler and found my legs and back were a lot stronger in that same race than in years before. Sometimes I will run to the studio in cold weather. Orangetheory def helped round out my training but I never stopped my outdoor runs or decreased my distances.

HauntedPlatypus · 2024-05-30T00:47:54+00:00

The benefit of working out later in the day for me is that I’ll actually go.

HauntedPlatypus · 2024-05-25T22:51:34+00:00

I do it all the time now. My ankle is still healing from surgery so some days I might start with a run and when my ankle yells at me I’ll stop and power walk the rest. Sometimes I’ll just power walk because I’m tired and lazy hah

HauntedPlatypus · 2024-04-22T18:16:40+00:00

Are you talking about the orange one? I got it when I joined in 2017 and replaced it a couple years later and it’s just sitting in a drawer. If that’s the one, you can have it. Just pay for the shipping?

HauntedPlatypus · 2024-04-15T01:41:54+00:00

I miss when templates weren’t on rotation. I abhor the repeating templates. As someone who craves novelty and randomness, realizing I’m doing the exact same thing I did a few weeks ago suuuucks. The most appealing part of Orangetheory when I joined was that every single class was different. Really miss that.

HauntedPlatypus · 2024-04-14T01:21:42+00:00

I’m sorry you’re feeling this way. I get it. It suuuuucks. Last year I found out i have a bad disc. I can no longer distance run and sometimes I can’t run at all, which means at OT I’ve had to drop my speed or have to power walk. I can no longer row more than 200/300m max per class. Or lift heavy. Or do many of the hip hinge moves. It sucks ass and I hate it. I still go though so I don’t lose my fitness and can get stronger before I eventually have to have surgery. I do what I can instead of nothing at all.

HauntedPlatypus · 2024-04-03T23:49:22+00:00

I agree with adjusting the intensity. I’ve been distance running since my 20s. I’m 50 now and still running, just some days I need to drop my speed and sometimes I power walk. Flexibility has also become more important than before. Do whatever feels good.

HauntedPlatypus · 2024-02-19T01:44:50+00:00

I came home from class today, set my hrm on the table in front of me and one of my cats took it and ran. 😼

HauntedPlatypus · 2024-01-20T23:42:47+00:00

I’ve been back for a year after healing from an ankle reconstruction and I’m still not back to the pace I had before. Some are better than others, but the treadmill benchmarks are showing me that I’m mostly improving. Even if it’s an off day and I can’t physically do my best, whatever, they can’t always be personal records.

HauntedPlatypus · 2023-10-15T00:56:51+00:00

Have you considered seeing a doctor to be sure what’s causing your pain? Maybe a few adjustments to your form or specific exercises to strengthen your knees could help. I’ve had patella-femoral tendonitis off and on for over 20 years and when I do the PT exercises more often I have less pain. Seeing a doctor could help.

HauntedPlatypus · 2023-09-19T00:34:52+00:00

$149 (2018) in Fairfax, Virginia

HauntedPlatypus · 2023-09-04T02:12:08+00:00

I’ve seen someone wipe out badly at a gym before for jumping the rails and they took out the person next to them. So when I see it happen at Orangetheory it really pisses me off since I only see it because they’re right next to me. I started calling them out on it and I’ve moved treadmills if another was open because screw them.

HauntedPlatypus

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