# More real steel...



## DCBassman (28 Nov 2019)

Having finally got over the complications of my shoulder, I looked forward to an uninterrupted 2020, able to maybe do a thousand miles over the year.
Nope.
Had an MRI of my spine to see how an 8-year old fusion was doing, as I'd had some, I thought, minor but worrying problems to do with continence. Not fun...
Turns out that the 2011 op (L3/4/5 fused) is still perfect, but L2/3 and T12/L1 are compressing the spinal cord, so the fusion needs extending.

6-hour spinal op in January at Southmead, in Bristol.

The recovery time to first cycle, all being well, is less than for the shoulder, so back on the bike sometime in March.
Will have to try and get some miles and fitness in first.
Bummer, but better than incontinence, methinks!


----------



## roadrash (28 Nov 2019)

good luck @DCBassman , hope your op is more successful than mine was. surgeon told me that my fusion needs extending but seeing as I didn't get the expected relief from the first one, I have declined,
I take it they have disscussed cauda equina syndrome with you.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cauda_equina_syndrome


----------



## DCBassman (28 Nov 2019)

No, not discussed. Original op was and still is, good.


----------



## classic33 (28 Nov 2019)

Best o'luck for the operation


----------



## Mrs M (28 Nov 2019)

DCBassman said:


> Having finally got over the complications of my shoulder, I looked forward to an uninterrupted 2020, able to maybe do a thousand miles over the year.
> Nope.
> Had an MRI of my spine to see how an 8-year old fusion was doing, as I'd had some, I thought, minor but worrying problems to do with continence. Not fun...
> Turns out that the 2011 op is still perfect, but L2/3 and C12/L1 are compressing the spinal cord, so the fusion needs extending.
> ...


Good luck
xx


----------



## davidphilips (28 Nov 2019)

Hope every thing goes well in January and you make a full and speedy recovery and can be pain free, try and enjoy Christmas and lets hope you can still do some miles in 2020.


----------



## DCBassman (15 Jan 2020)

Date set 11 Feb...


----------



## davidphilips (16 Jan 2020)

Fingers crossed, best wishes and good luck.


----------



## DCBassman (16 Jan 2020)

davidphilips said:


> Fingers crossed, best wishes and good luck.


Ta!


----------



## DCBassman (11 Feb 2020)

Today's the day...


----------



## vickster (11 Feb 2020)

DCBassman said:


> Today's the day...


Good luck


----------



## davidphilips (11 Feb 2020)

Thinking of you today, hope every thing goes well, good luck.


----------



## DCBassman (11 Feb 2020)

All gowned and ready to go. See you all on the other side!


----------



## pawl (11 Feb 2020)

DCBassman said:


> All gowned and ready to go. See you all on the other side!



Wish you well.


----------



## davidphilips (11 Feb 2020)

DCBassman hope you are well and recovering and can cycle again in March.


----------



## ColinJ (11 Feb 2020)

I missed this thread somehow. 

I think DCB must be okay because he was commenting on the bassists and guitarists thread a while back.


----------



## DCBassman (12 Feb 2020)

So far, all good!


----------



## DCBassman (12 Feb 2020)

ColinJ said:


> I missed this thread somehow.
> 
> I think DCB must be okay because he was commenting on the bassists and guitarists thread a while back.


Indeed, but I hope no one's taking too much notice, brim-full of oxycodone - good stuff.


----------



## fossyant (12 Feb 2020)

DCBassman said:


> Indeed, but I hope no one's taking too much notice, brim-full of oxycodone - good stuff.



No morphine and diazapam  Doing well then !


----------



## fossyant (12 Feb 2020)

PS more metal work then. I assume the surgeon will have you sprinting up and down the ward today.


----------



## DCBassman (12 Feb 2020)

fossyant said:


> No morphine and diazapam  Doing well then !


They're stepping me down to Oramorph later.


fossyant said:


> PS more metal work then. I assume the surgeon will have you sprinting up and down the ward today.


Another level added to the previous fusion, so fused from L2 to L5. More nerve decompression at L/2 and T5/L1. Just this minute been for a walk with the physios, complete with two drains and a catheter!


----------



## fossyant (12 Feb 2020)

Evil buggers getting you up so early. 

PS don't go for a fag outside with all that plumbing - PS I see it every time go to my local hospital, there is always someone outside, that doesn't look very well, having a good drag on a ciggy. The best was when an old lady tried to light up in our spinal ward, whilst she was on oxygen. The nurse had to 'put her out' as her top started to go up.


----------



## fossyant (12 Feb 2020)

How long will you be in. I'm guessing not long and once you can go to the loo properly then you'll be out. I made sure I didn't get a catheter - was threatened with is as my body was in shock, and wouldn't let me pee. Over a litre of very brown liquid came out eventually.


----------



## carlosfandangus (12 Feb 2020)

Hope you are feeling better, that first wee on your own is a great feeling  I had to have a catheter for 10 days after I managed to fracture my spine in two places, my pelvis in two and I apparently also fractured the joint of my left femur/hip (only found out from medical records)..... silly speeds on a motorcycle, getting a walk even aided is good news.

Take your time and all the advice that they give, soon be up and running (cycling)


----------



## ColinJ (12 Feb 2020)

fossyant said:


> Evil buggers getting you up so early.


It's standard practice now, isn't it - trying to reduce the risk of post-op clotting?



fossyant said:


> PS don't go for a fag outside with all that plumbing - PS I see it every time go to my local hospital, there is always someone outside, that doesn't look very well, having a good drag on a ciggy. The best was when an old lady tried to light up in our spinal ward, whilst she was on oxygen. The nurse had to 'put her out' as her top started to go up.


Same here. The porter who wheeled me down for a CT scan told me that a young man had been in the week before and couldn't last a few days without a smoke. When his mates visited him he got them to wheel him out to the smoking zone IN HIS BED!

That smoking area was in the car park at the front of the hospital. Unfortunately, the wind was often in the right direction to blow the smoke back to the hospital. It was the end of the summer so it was hot in the ward and the nurses had opened all of the windows. A bloody stink, which I found particularly irritating to my barely-functioning lungs.

It suddenly got worse when an old patient in my ward stood at one of the windows and lit up. He got a severe warning from a nurse who pointed out that it was illegal, and also how much oxygen was being used in the ward.


----------



## DCBassman (12 Feb 2020)

fossyant said:


> How long will you be in. I'm guessing not long and once you can go to the loo properly then you'll be out. I made sure I didn't get a catheter - was threatened with is as my body was in shock, and wouldn't let me pee. Over a litre of very brown liquid came out eventually.


Cather in as op so long, up to 6 hours, although think it was more like 4.
That came out this morning. Just drains now.
Back to bed, feeling rough as rats suddenly...


----------



## ColinJ (12 Feb 2020)

GWS!


----------



## DCBassman (12 Feb 2020)

@fossis rught, way too early to be moving about.
I can feel the surgery undoing itself, and I'm losing some sensation in part of my right leg.
And they're being tardy with the painkillers. 
Lovely.


----------



## fossyant (12 Feb 2020)

Pants, get the pain killers.

It's normal to have you up after a fix - I wasn't allowed to as mine was a break and we were doing no surgery, but make sure you tell them about the leg issues. I was tested every few hours and at least twice a day in later weeks. *THIS IS IMPORTANT.*

PS your spelling has gone wonky - it's the meds, so don't worry.


----------



## DCBassman (13 Feb 2020)

SATs low this morning - straight back on O2.


----------



## DCBassman (13 Feb 2020)

Still on O2. Apparently the pain/numbness is radiating from L1/L2 area, which has not had work done. So something has gone awry. It's unlikely they'll do anything about it, so probably home tomorrow, with a nice corset to wear. I kid you not...


----------



## vickster (13 Feb 2020)

DCBassman said:


> Still on O2. Apparently the pain/numbness is radiating from L1/L2 area, which has not had work done. So something has gone awry. It's unlikely they'll do anything about it, so probably home tomorrow, with a nice corset to wear. I kid you not...


I had to wear one of those for 3 months after my discectomy in 1993...I remember it fondly...not

I'd suggest a switch to Vodafone or EE


----------



## kingrollo (14 Feb 2020)

@DCBassman - hope you get sorted soon mate. Take the painkillers and take it easy - hopefully it will settle down soon.


----------



## DCBassman (14 Feb 2020)

Home tomorrow, having been issued this natty little number...






You can see them all swooning, I'm sure...


----------



## vickster (14 Feb 2020)

DCBassman said:


> Home tomorrow, having been issued this natty little number...
> View attachment 504541
> 
> 
> You can see them all swooning, I'm sure...


depends if you look like the totty in the picture


----------



## DCBassman (14 Feb 2020)

Unfortunately not!


----------



## DCBassman (14 Feb 2020)

That's easily the closest me and the word 'totty' have ever approached each other!


----------



## DCBassman (15 Feb 2020)

Home. The amazing Mrs DCB braved storm Dennis, and braved was the right word. The return journey was appalling. 
And someone REALLY needs to do something about the state of the roads around Bristol. Every tiny bump, and plenty of bloody big ones, made me grit my teeth in pain. God knows what it would have been like in a lesser car.
Anyhow, recovery officially starts now!


----------



## DCBassman (16 Feb 2020)

Hidden under this are two or three very large, ie inches long, deep tension sutures. I'd blanked this horror out of my mind from last time. Whatever job they are perceived to do, one thing they do do is cause a lot of pain. They're out tomorrow, screw the timetable. And a new dressing will ease the equally relentless dragging from the wound as it heals and shrinks.
Just to add insult to all this, mega-painkillers are causing mega-constipation. Ok, too much info...but I'm drowning in laxatives also, so once those sutures are out, it's down to the human-compatible drain cleaner that is a phosphates enema. It will mean a couple of hours spent in the bathroom, but then I'll have you lovely lot for company...


----------



## vickster (16 Feb 2020)

Have some Dulcoease too, it'll come out much more comfortably when it does


----------



## DCBassman (16 Feb 2020)

vickster said:


> Have some Dulcoease too, it'll come out much more comfortably when it does


You name it, I'm using it. Just hoping the nuclear option is avoidable!


----------



## vickster (16 Feb 2020)

DCBassman said:


> You name it, I'm using it. Just hoping the nuclear option is avoidable!


Stopping the opioid meds will help or at least reducing if you can. It took me nearly a week after my back op in 1993, times were different then..I was still in hospital...I had to use a commode on the ward 
TMI ummmm maybe!


----------



## DCBassman (16 Feb 2020)

vickster said:


> Stopping the opioid meds will help or at least reducing if you can. It took me nearly a week after my back op in 1993, times were different then..I was still in hospital...I had to use a commode on the ward
> TMI ummmm maybe!


They actually let me out without the required production, most unusual, especially with the fusion type ops; it's one of the things they need to know they haven't screwed up.


----------



## kingrollo (17 Feb 2020)

GWS @DCBassman .

Has the pain from L1/S2 subsided ? - and you're pain is post op healing ? -


----------



## DCBassman (17 Feb 2020)

kingrollo said:


> GWS @DCBassman .
> 
> Has the pain from L1/S2 subsided ? - and you're pain is post op healing ? -


Thanks. The L1/2 pain has gone, still some numbness, but I think it will subside. Having the deep-tension sutures out later, and a redressing. Then I'll be better able to assess the state of things. But, so far, so good.


----------



## kingrollo (17 Feb 2020)




----------



## DCBassman (18 Feb 2020)

Recovery companion










Of course, she's merely using the staff as a warm lump while basking in the sunlight (whahey! Sunlight!).


----------



## kingrollo (20 Feb 2020)

How is it progressing @DCBassman ?


----------



## DCBassman (20 Feb 2020)

kingrollo said:


> How is it progressing @DCBassman ?


Today was removal of the 6 (6! Only had 2 last time...) heavy gauge deep tension sutures. 
It was...unpleasant. Very unpleasant. 
But feels a good bit more comfortable now.
Hopefully some more sleep tonight!


----------



## fossyant (21 Feb 2020)

vickster said:


> Stopping the opioid meds will help or at least reducing if you can. It took me nearly a week after my back op in 1993, times were different then..I was still in hospital...I had to use a commode on the ward
> TMI ummmm maybe!



I was a naughty lad on my hospital stay - couldn't actually go lying down, so I'd gingerly lower myself out of the bed and sit over the 'cat litter tray' as gravity helped. Fortunately the nurses didn't catch me getting out of bed. One slip and I'd have been paralysed.


----------



## DCBassman (21 Feb 2020)

DCBassman said:


> Today was removal of the 6 (6! Only had 2 last time...) heavy gauge deep tension sutures.
> It was...unpleasant. Very unpleasant.
> But feels a good bit more comfortable now.
> Hopefully some more sleep tonight!


Well, that was hopeful...
The *presence* of those big sutures was one problem. I didn't anticipate for an instant the discomfort caused by their *absence*.
That and some reaction to the dressings made it feel as if someone was playing a blowtorch over my back.
Anyhow, today I decided to unilaterally change my medication. And what a differrence that has made!
I'd been on diclofenac for eons to help with my creaking skeleton, but had been pulled off this prior to surgery as they said it contributed to bleeding. First I've ever heard that it was more than a minor gastric irritant...
Also, as usual, been working my way through a bottle of OraMorph, plus the usual regular paracetamol.
Now switched to tramadol SR 100mg morning/evening, and back on the diclofenac, along with the paracetamol. This means I have generally less pain, plus my hips no longer object to their own existence. I really might get some decent sleep tonight!
There's definitely more normality in movement, too, which makes for a more positive all round recovery. 
Upward!


----------



## pawl (21 Feb 2020)

DCBassman said:


> Well, that was hopeful...
> The *presence* of those big sutures was one problem. I didn't anticipate for an instant the discomfort caused by their *absence*.
> That and some reaction to the dressings made it feel as if someone was playing a blowtorch over my back.
> Anyhow, today I decided to unilaterally change my medication. And what a differrence that has made!
> ...



pleased to her your feeling a bit better.As my old mum used to say make haste slowly.


----------



## DCBassman (23 Feb 2020)

Just for @king!


----------



## DCBassman (25 Feb 2020)

Opioids done with. Phew.


----------



## carlosfandangus (25 Feb 2020)

Got any spare? asking for a friend


----------



## carlosfandangus (25 Feb 2020)

I broke one of my lower ribs about 12 months ago and the co codomol didn't touch the pain... the doc gave me 100 tramadol, I have 98 left, just didn't like being so spaced out.
Good to hear you are progressing


----------



## DCBassman (25 Feb 2020)

Sutures all out, dressing gone.
Now I can start counting down to cycling!
6 weeks from this coming Saturday.


----------



## kingrollo (26 Feb 2020)

DCBassman said:


> Sutures all out, dressing gone.
> Now I can start counting down to cycling!
> 6 weeks from this coming Saturday.


Wow that would be impressive.

Do you think the surgery has worked ?


----------



## DCBassman (26 Feb 2020)

kingrollo said:


> Wow that would be impressive.
> 
> Do you think the surgery has worked ?


So far as I can tell, yes. Previously, apart from any pain/bowel/bladder problems, a standing cough would threaten to put me on the floor as my legs ceased to work. That's definitely not the case now, so I'm optimistic everything else will fall into line. Early days still, but it does look good.
My only negative is that the scar/wound is, as it were, very messy compared to the previous fusion. Not at all pretty. But a minor point in the grand scheme of things...


----------



## kingrollo (26 Feb 2020)

DCBassman said:


> So far as I can tell, yes. Previously, apart from any pain/bowel/bladder problems, a standing cough would threaten to put me on the floor as my legs ceased to work. That's definitely not the case now, so I'm optimistic everything else will fall into line. Early days still, but it does look good.
> My only negative is that the scar/wound is, as it were, very messy compared to the previous fusion. Not at all pretty. But a minor point in the grand scheme of things...



great news mate.


----------



## vickster (26 Feb 2020)

DCBassman said:


> My only negative is that the scar/wound is, as it were, very messy compared to the previous fusion. Not at all pretty. But a minor point in the grand scheme of things...


I've got a 6 inch scar on my lower back from my 1993 back surgery...doesn't bother me at all as I can't see it other than in a mirror  Once healed, use lots of bio oil on the scar to keep it supple


----------



## DCBassman (7 Mar 2020)

Approaching 4 weeks post op, and all reasonable, except for one thing. Losing lots of muscle mass from my right leg.
It's about a third smaller than the left now. Any heard of such an asymmetric thing before?


----------



## Ming the Merciless (7 Mar 2020)

What post op exercises are you doing? After a mountaineering accident my legs became as thin as my arms but recovered mass and strength through the 5 month physiotherapy.


----------



## vickster (7 Mar 2020)

Have you had any nerve tests? When do you see the surgeon for follow up?


----------



## DCBassman (7 Mar 2020)

YukonBoy said:


> What post op exercises are you doing? After a mountaineering accident my legs became as thin as my arms but recovered mass and strength through the 5 month physiotherapy.


Nothing specific except walking. Only one leg is getting thinner...


vickster said:


> Have you had any nerve tests? When do you see the surgeon for follow up?


Another 4 to 5 weeks, but think I might call the secretary to pass it on.

There was pain and numbness in that leg after surgery, which was assessed as stemming from L1/L2, which was not operated on. That's not to say it didn't take some damage, as they were working above and below it. Pain is long gone. Numbness remains.


----------



## ColinJ (7 Mar 2020)

DCBassman said:


> Losing lots of muscle mass from my right leg.
> It's about a third smaller than the left now. Any heard of such an asymmetric thing before?


My calves were noticeably different in size even before I had my DVT. I think it is because the legs are different lengths so I don't stand quite upright and probably do slightly more with one leg than the other when walking or cycling.

Now there is permanent post-DVT swelling so there is an even bigger difference in size.


YukonBoy said:


> What post op exercises are you doing? After a mountaineering accident my legs became as thin as my arms but recovered mass and strength through the 5 month physiotherapy.


I had the same experience after over a month in bed. It made me feel sick to look down and see the puny arm-like limbs where once strong legs had been!

I didn't feel up to cycling again for 8 months so I rebuilt my muscles by walking up the local hills. Slow, short walks at first but gradually increasing the speed and distance until I was charging up steep hills at > 6 km/hr. At that point I felt ready to get the bike out of storage!


----------



## Ming the Merciless (7 Mar 2020)

The time immobile in hospital bed is illuminating as to how quickly the muscle mass it lost. It is frighteningly quick. Hence why I try and keep active most days, even if some days are recovery days at low intensity. It’s also why many elderly patients deteriorate in hospital after a fall. The time in bed means they lose so muscle mass they never regain the strength to walk again. If you ever have an elderly parent in hospital try and get them back on their feet as soon as possible.


----------



## DCBassman (7 Mar 2020)

YukonBoy said:


> The time immobile in hospital bed is illuminating as to how quickly the muscle mass it lost. It is frighteningly quick. Hence why I try and keep active most days, even if some days are recovery days at low intensity. It’s also why many elderly patients deteriorate in hospital after a fall. The time in bed means they lose so muscle mass they never regain the strength to walk again. If you ever have an elderly parent in hospital try and get them back on their feet as soon as possible.


Agreed. I'm no spring chicken at 67, and it will take some effort to get fit. Just having one leg lose mass is distinctly odd, though...


----------



## vickster (7 Mar 2020)

DCBassman said:


> Nothing specific except walking. Only one leg is getting thinner...
> 
> Another 4 to 5 weeks, but think I might call the secretary to pass it on.
> 
> There was pain and numbness in that leg after surgery, which was assessed as stemming from L1/L2, which was not operated on. That's not to say it didn't take some damage, as they were working above and below it. Pain is long gone. Numbness remains.


My left calf has been numb since my op in 1993.
Calf half size of other since accident in 2014.
You can lose 25% of muscle with no loss in strength so wouldn’t worry about it.


----------



## DCBassman (8 Mar 2020)

vickster said:


> My left calf has been numb since my op in 1993.
> Calf half size of other since accident in 2014.
> You can lose 25% of muscle with no loss in strength so wouldn’t worry about it.


I too have had a numb patch since the original fusion, not an issue. The new numbness definitely goes along with significant bits of muscle simply not working at all. I'll get a message to the surgeon tomorrow, otherwise I'll keep walking!


----------



## DCBassman (24 Mar 2020)

Dragged the real steel out of storage, the Trek 800. I'm riding tomorrow, no matter how little!


----------



## DCBassman (7 May 2020)

Just to wrap up this thread, the muscle mass has not in any way returned, and the surgeon (telephone consultation) made it clear it would not. Rats.
However, it doesn't seem to be a problem getting it fit again, I don't feel any imbalance when riding. What is _do_ feel is the numbness causing a sensation not unlike wearing a support around my knee. 
Sure looks odd, though - right leg is only two-thirds the size of the left...


----------



## DCBassman (6 Nov 2020)

An un-wrap-up post...
The ongoing problems: Intense lower-back pain, parasthesia in the leg as before and right across my back, along with the pain, left leg now slowly going to sleep, as it were. Makes it difficult to walk, as it feels rather collapsible, if that makes sense.
Whole spine MRI in Bristol on 7th November. just to see how far the cheese-rot has spread.
BUT BUT BUT cycling causes me no issues. Hooray!


----------



## DCBassman (27 Jul 2021)

Another update: a further MRI was taken in February this year specifically to compare with the one from Nov 2020. Deterioration. Along with ongoing problems, it looks like more surgery, and much more complex surgery, at that. Bummer. What it means, if that is the case, is that I will have to attempt to get really seriously fit in order to get through it. Not an easy prospect, but it won't be any time soon...


----------

