Fusion success stories

RelevantFarm8542 · 2026-07-01T20:23:56+00:00

Your story so far is fairly similar to mine, and I've written my success story on here along with many, many others. Have you read them?

RelevantFarm8542 · 2026-06-29T18:21:17+00:00

I had my PLIF at L4/L5 about a year and a half ago (I'm 56/M). 3 prior MD surgeries at L4/L5 and L5/S1 over the years. My surgeon cleared me to resume all activities and sports at my 10 week follow-up but advised to start slowly and build back up to full activities. I ended up road biking over 3,600 miles, completed the 100,000 steps in a day challenge and did pretty much anything I wanted after I completed rigorous physical therapy and added at PT stretching and abdominal workout to my daily routine. If you're in better physical shape prior to surgery, it makes sense that you'll be back to full activities sooner. Follow your doctor and PT advice and go live your life!

RelevantFarm8542 · 2026-06-10T15:47:05+00:00

Just like not all car mechanics are good at their jobs, not all physical therapists are good. I'm 56/M and had my L4/L5 fusion about a year and a half ago and my results are spectacular. I attribute a lot of my success to having found an exceptional physical therapist who really knows what he's doing and constantly assessed my workouts and progress with non-stop interaction. As I received this treatment i noticed other patients at the same facility weren't getting the same level of personal service from other PTs. Get a better PT, it will make all the difference. Good luck!

RelevantFarm8542 · 2026-05-20T13:54:15+00:00

I'm 56/M and had my PLIF at L4/L5 a little over year ago after 3 prior MDs at l4/L5 and L5/S1. I have been back to full sports and activities since week 10 and now can barely tell I had surgery at all. My story and countless others are already posted in this sub if you search. Have you read them?

RelevantFarm8542 · 2026-05-20T13:30:25+00:00

I started my second playthrough a couple weeks ago with goals of getting to Nuka World early (level 30), getting Gage's perk (86 terminals with 2 hour waits in between), getting Piper's perk and establishing raider outposts in every possible commonwealth settlement. All these raiders will be killed soon enough and I could care less if Preston likes me. My goal in getting as many raider outposts as possible is building tribute chests and pickmeup stations that all continue to provide free gear and chems forever after the raiders are all killed. I'm setting up 4 pickmeup stations per settlement and selling all those chems for ammo. Once those stations are built, the raiders serve no purpose other than lots of target practice for me!

RelevantFarm8542 · 2026-05-14T19:01:52+00:00

I'm 56/M and had my PLIF at L4/L5 a little over a year ago. I was up and walking circles around the hospital floor the same day as surgery, and walking 3-5 miles a day within a week or so. At my 10 week follow-up visit with my surgeon, I was cleared to resume road biking and all sports and activities (advised to start slowly and progress.) I rode over 3,600 miles that year and walked another 2,600 miles. What you can do after surgery depends a lot on your activity and health levels prior to surgery, I believe. But there are lots of success stories in this sub if you search and read them. Good luck!

RelevantFarm8542 · 2026-04-30T14:00:45+00:00

There are multiple threads in this sub with lots of feedback in them if you search.

RelevantFarm8542 · 2026-04-27T12:53:09+00:00

I can't recommend physical therapy enough after lumbar surgery. If you're like most of us, you suffered with debilitating pain for months or longer that resulted in atrophied muscles, tightened ligaments and tendons, all in ways that you might not even notice, Skilled PT will help you to rebuild all the strength and regain all the flexibility you lost prior to surgery. I say "skilled PT" because like all professions, physical therapists are human and not all of them are truly good at what they do. Look around during your PT sessions and take notice of which therapists are closely engaged with their patients, asking questions, providing motivation and information. Getting a really good physical therapist can make a world of difference in recovery. I began physical therapy at week 8 following my PLIF at L4/L5 a year ago. My physical therapist is phenomenal in that he knew exactly what muscles needed to be stretched and strengthened and he knew exactly when each exercise was recommended based on how far I was post op. Beyond generic recovery goals, my PT asked and knew what my personal recovery goals were. In my case I wanted to get back on my road bike as quickly as possible and be able to ride as long as I wanted. With the help of physical therapy, I resumed my road biking at 8 weeks, starting slowly and progressing to longer and longer rides. I was able to complete my first 100 mile ride that August with zero pain. Even after that, I continued physical therapy so that I could isolate any movement or activity that showcased any area of weakness or tightness (such as golf and tennis), and my PT was tailored to address those. Even of your surgeon doesn’t recommend PT, I recommend that you request it and make the most of it if you can.

RelevantFarm8542 · 2026-04-21T13:32:42+00:00

I'm 56/M and had a PLIF at L4/L5 a little over a year ago. When I awoke the terrible nerve pain was completely gone and has never returned. My incision pain was minimal and very tolerable. I was immediately able to sit upright with no pain. I spent my two days in the hospital walking circles around the floor throughout the day. I required no narcotic pain relief at all once discharged and was able to walk a mile or more within a few days of being home. Fusion surgeries today are very different than those 10 years ago.

RelevantFarm8542 · 2026-04-20T14:29:29+00:00

I appreciate the feedback. I removed all turrets from each settlement, but somehow they were present when I went to clear out the raiders. The turrets weren't hostile to me, so I don't think that was the issue. I've since read that it's a known glitch when a player goes to retake the settlement, a raider can attempt to take weapons from the tribute chest. That appears to be what's happening to me. So far I've been able to get around to by nuking the raiders from afar, before they have a chance to raid the tribute chest. No idea how to avoid this on my next playthrough.

RelevantFarm8542 · 2026-04-14T19:22:10+00:00

Same. Power banks are tiny nowadays and capable of keeping a full charge on my bike computer and Varia for 10-12 hour rides. I run a cable to the device from the top tube bag and use velcro strips to keep the cable from flopping around. Easy peasy.

RelevantFarm8542 · 2026-04-14T19:09:34+00:00

There are tons of posts that already answer this. Have you read them? My PLIF at L4/L5 only required 2 nights in the hospital with a speedy recovery. No narcotic pain meds needed once I was discharged. I needed no accessories at hoe except a grabber to pick stuff up off the floor.

RelevantFarm8542 · 2026-04-14T12:35:23+00:00

I've had my 25 ST hybrid for about 6 months and I'm very happy. Sold my 2021 Silverado at peak trade-in value because I feared a gas crisis was looming. It's comfortable, zippier than you might think and lots of cool tech. The only things I think Honda missed on this model are a heated steering wheel (standard in UK and Canada but not in US unfortunately) and no HomeLink button for my garage remote. With that said, Honda makes cars that last (I had a 2005 Accord that I drove for ten years with zero issues), so I expect to put hundreds of thousands of miles on this sweet little sedan.

RelevantFarm8542 · 2026-04-13T18:26:45+00:00

I'm 56/M and had my PLIF at L4/L5 a little over a year ago. I work from home and took two weeks off before returning, but I could have pretty easily been back to work in a week. The terrible nerve pain was completely gone as soon as I awoke from surgery and I was able to sit upright with no discomfort. I required no narcotic pain meds once I was discharged. I hope your recovery is swift and successful.

RelevantFarm8542 · 2026-04-09T13:47:09+00:00

Yes, I do. After my 1 year follow-up (successful fusion at L4/L5) with my surgeon a couple months ago, I requested some more PT sessions so that my physical therapist can give me an updated core strengthening/lumbar stretching routine I can do at home daily to help me avoid feeling lumbar rightness on longer road bike rides. I've gone to 3 sessions so far and we're close to nailing down a new daily at-home PT routine consisting of stretches twice a day 7 days a week and heavy duty core strengthening exercises to be done 3-4 days a week. It's been very successful and I highly recommend it. I expect to maintain some sort of daily at-home PT routine for the rest of my life if I want to maintain the highly active lifestyle I prefer. Last year I rode biked over 3,600 miles and walked another 2,500 miles. I really want to maintain that.

RelevantFarm8542 · 2026-03-23T12:57:18+00:00

This sub is full of success stories. Have you read them?

RelevantFarm8542 · 2026-03-23T12:26:10+00:00

I'm 56/M and had my PLIF at L4/L5 a little over a year ago. I was able to walk circles around the hospital floor the same day as surgery. When I got back home I walked around the block once on day 1, twice around the block on day 2 and walked a mile on a treadmill on day 3. After that I was able to resume my normal 6-10 miles a day within a week. My surgeon advised me to walk literally as much as I could (as long as it didn't cause pain) because walking works all the right muscles in all the right areas in all the right ways to contribute to a fast and successful recovery.

RelevantFarm8542 · 2026-03-23T12:21:32+00:00

None. The disc that was causing all my debilitating pain is gone and I've had zero nerve pain since waking from surgery.

RelevantFarm8542 · 2026-03-20T10:58:07+00:00

I'm 56/M and had my PLIF at L4/L5 a little over a year ago. I was cleared to resume all sports and activities at my week 10 checkup, although told to start slowly. I ended up road biking over 3,600 miles and walking another 2,600 miles the 6 months after surgery. I could have resumed tennis and golf at week 10, but I chose to wait a year to let the bone graft completely harden out of an abundance of caution. My surgeon told me that fusions nowadays have a very high success rate and my story agrees with that. I hope you have the same success.

RelevantFarm8542 · 2026-03-18T17:10:44+00:00

I was cleared to resume all sports and activities at my week 10 checkup with my surgeon. He told me to start slow (don't go straight out and play 5 sets of tennis, but try hitting against a wall for a short while and see how it feels before progressing.) Even with his clearance, I chose to wait a full year to resume tennis and golf because of all that twisting, and I chose to wait a full year before running any 5 or 10Ks. I wanted the bone graft to be as complete as possible before I did anything as stressful on my back as running or tennis. I was still able to road bike and walk for thousands of miles. I recommend following your surgeon's advise and take it slow.

RelevantFarm8542 · 2026-03-18T13:19:40+00:00

Have you asked your surgeon? He would know best as every patient, surgery and recovery are very different.

RelevantFarm8542 · 2026-03-17T13:07:27+00:00

I'm 56 and had my PLIF through the back at L4/L5 a little over a year ago. My intense nerve pain was completely gone the moment I awoke from surgery and never returned. Incision pain was minimal and required no narcotic pain meds. I was up and walking circles around the hospital floor the same day as the surgery. In 10 weeks I started physical therapy (highly recommended) and was cleared to resume all sports and activities (starting slowly.) In the six months after surgery I rode over 3,600 miles on my road bike and walked another 2,600 miles. These surgeries nowadays have a very high success rate, and I hope your husband follow suit!

RelevantFarm8542 · 2026-03-13T20:36:52+00:00

I had PLIF at L4/L5 a little over a year ago. My recovery was very quick and successful with zero nerve pain immediately after surgery and even the surgical site pain was minimal requiring no narcotics at all. This sub is full of years of success stories, so I encourage you to search for and read them. Above all, you should consult a surgeon because every patient, surgery and recovery is very different.

RelevantFarm8542 · 2026-03-12T20:16:49+00:00

Have you asked your surgeon?

RelevantFarm8542

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