It looks like my first spinal fusion surgery is on the horizon. And likely the first of multiple over my lifetime.

What are some things you wish you'd know before your fusion surgery? Questions to ask the surgeon? Things to tie off at work? Tips/tricks for managing at home afterwards? Just anything you didn't think about before, but wish you had known.

I'm 44, female, not overweight, non-smoker, still have good leg strength. Discectomy and laminectomy are not options for me because of pars defect and other issues exacerbating my problem. Sounds like the least "minimally invasive" option on the table for me is fusion bc of all the various issues. I've tried all the other typical things first: PT, chiropractor, injections, stretching, TENS units, back braces, anti inflammatories....pretty much everything except surgery and acupuncture. And not a single one of those things has resulted in even 1% improvement.

That I should have bought a comfortable recliner before the surgery. Got one the day after I got home from the hospital. Ended up sleeping in it for a couple weeks before I could easily get in and out of bed.

We have a recliner, but it's difficult to get out of because it requires you to push down with your legs when you want to get up. Even at full strength it's hard to do.

I thought about getting one of those zero gravity recliners, but didn't know if there were drawbacks to it that I wasn't thinking of.

Are peptides or stem cells an option? I've been injecting peptides for broad based lumbar protrusions in multiple discs off and on since Nov. This is in addition to stretching and strengthening exercises.

It's resolved the related facet joint inflammation and my nerve pain is completely gone.

I did a 12 week cycle of BPC-157 and TB-500 and then a 4 week follow up after a month off. I've been off it for a few weeks and feel great.

Unfortunately, no. My disc is pretty much completely collapsed. And with the pars defect, discectomy & laminectomy are off the table. No way to give my nerves more "room" to stop the pain down my left leg. Foot has recently started going numb, so I fear waiting too much longer and doing permanent nerve damage.

Yeah, I got an electric one for that reason.

That sucks. Sorry to hear that.

I've heard of people using peptides as a post op anti inflammatory too, for what it's worth.

Adjustable bed frame to raise head/feet was a life saver for me. Learn how to "log roll" to get in and out of bed.
Expect to be down 6 weeks. Took around 8 months to feel 90% better and 1 year was about when I forgot I even had the surgery.
100% worth it though. My biggest regret was not getting my surgery sooner.

Anything else you'd recommend buying in advance to help out at home afterwards? Bedrails, toilet rails, seat for the shower, etc? Since husband works full time, I want to try and do whatever I can without asking for his help. Minor stuff like getting in & out of bed, bathing, using the bathroom, etc.

I have one of those grabber sticks in my Amazon cart, but not sure what other things are useful that people wish they'd thought of ahead of time.

A shower chair is helpful A walk in shower is a godsend.

Order the grabber.

Definitely get the grabber stick but you will still need assistance the first couple weeks grabbing stuff around the house ie. water, food etc. Also will need assistance putting on socks/pants for a couple weeks.
I was able to get in and out of bed on my own within a week doing the log roll method.
I did not use a shower chair and was able to shower on my own within a week. I had a Toliet chair with handles but never used it.
I'm sure your Dr will recommend it but start walking around after surgery as much as you can without pushing it.
Feel free to PM if you have any more questions I can go into further detail.