When Fibromaylgia is not Your Only Chronic Illness
142 Members
Created by Rachel Russell

spinal surgery when you have fibro

I am about to have my first of 6-7 spinal surgeries in the next few weeks. I am so nervous! This surgery is for cervical spondylotic myelopathy & they will be working on C5/6 & C6/7 this time. A lot of scar tissue & bone spurs will need to be addressed also. I have numerous issues in my thoracic and lumbar spine too.  Dealing with fibro is hard enough & I want to know what complications others out there have dealt with when having surgery on top of it. Any input or suggestions are greatly appreciated!

37 months ago
Results 1 - 4

  • Katheryn

    I have had open heart surgery and rotator cuff surgery.  I never even thought about the fibro while I was recovering from either.  It was a non-issue.  I have no idea why that would be the case.  As soon as I was able, I resumed my exercise routine of water aerobics in a warm pool.  That and the chiropractor(find one you really like)  keep me going most of the time but when I have a fibro day, I mostly sleep and rest in a recliner chair.

    If you have already had your surgery, I hope you are doing well.  Hang in there.  It will get better faster if you keep a positive attitude and can find something to keep you entertained.

    Katheryn

    37 months ago

  • Sandy

    I would tell the Drs./nurses to be extra careful with me during surgery. I have seen surgeries done on TV and sometimes they can get rough. (different type though)

    The thing is,recovering from any surgery can be hard when you have fibromyalgia.When I borke my ankle I coudl nto even use crutches because of my FM.(and I used to be a pro. at crutches,used to dislocate my knees all the time).Good luck with your surgery. I have not had any on my back at all...yet.((HUGS))

    37 months ago

  • Gina

    Thank you so much Sandy! I appreciate the ideas and I will definitely let the drs & nurses know about my fibro.

    37 months ago

  • Gina

    I had the surgery on Jan 29th, 2 weeks ago today. What a roller coaster ride it has been. The surgery itself went relatively smoothly. A 3 hour operation & I went home the next day. Amazing considering that they removed & replaced 4 vertebrae & fused them. WOW. The pain, however, is another story. It was all I could do to hold on every 3 hours in between pain meds in the hospital (they gave me 2 percocets). The nurses quickly added 6 mg of morphine one hour after the 2 percocets & that held the pain level down a bit. They sent me home the next day with a prescription for hydrocodone & muscle relaxers. Well, both meds had to be doubled because of the amount of pain I was in! At my one week follow up, the dr. had to put me on a 6 day dose of prednizone to reduce the swelling in my neck because the swelling around my esophagus & windpipe was getting worse not better. Now, 2 weeks out of surgery, I am still on a soft diet (can't swallow much, even my medication is so hard to swallow) & at least the swelling has gone down. The pain is slowly getting better & the pain meds have been cut back down (thank goodness). I feel like my head is detatched & I have to hold it to sit up or get up out of bed. I wear a "bone stimulator" 4 hours a day to help aid the fusion.

    I am still living with a pain level of about 7-9 per day, which is the same as it was before the surgery. The numbness & tingling in my arms has not stopped, nor has it gotten any better since the surgery. The shooting pain is back too. I fully expected this though as the dr. explained that the purpose of the surgery was to stop the progression of the degenerative diseases that have attacked my spine, not to improve my condition. My injuries are from abuse in my childhood and later in adulthood. You can't just reverse spinal injuries that are 10-30 years old.

    So all in all, my experience has left me with this closing thought--surgery for a fibro patient is painful. The level of pain varies for each of us. Make sure that you talk to your dr & to each nurse in charge of your care so that they are well aware of your level of pain. If the nurses do not understand fibromyalgia, make sure you, and your dr., express the correlation between fibro and pain. Don't be a hero---take measures to reduce your pain level.

    Thanks so much to everyone who responded to this thread! I hope that my experience helps someone else too!

    36 months ago

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