L-4 l-5 back fusion

Hi there. I would call your dr to let them know what you are experiencing but from my own experiences I can say sneezing, laughing, straining to have a bowel movement were all difficult after surgery. You are Humpty Dumpty and have been put back together again the right way. Your body has experienced trauma and is recovering. I'm sure it's just you healing and feeling off but do call your dr just in case. Leg spasms will be common. Bulge is probably from where the hardware was placed and will go down in time.

Maybe another MRI make sure nothing has moved bring yr follow up appointment forward . U will have s lot of bruising and swelling on the inside affect nerves and causing scare tissue. As yr wife to get u some arnica tablet s from the herbal shop they help u heal from the inside iam going take mine a week before my op and after wards

I have had the same fusion. When sharp pains happen like that you need to ask your doctor for a CT scan to see if something shifted or if you herniated when you sneezed. Dont let them ignore your requests. The pressure of a sneeze can rupture sutures or cause new herniations or re-herniations. There is something wrong if "sharp" is the sensation you are feeling. You could have had an issue occur with the discs above or below the fusion. Less than 24 hours after my surgery I walked 20 feet and blew another disc. So you dont know what is going on until you confirm by CT scan or CT Myelogram or MRI what is going on inside your back. Push for answers. Fusion surgeries can be tender in healing and have a lot of pain associated with it. I use ice packs daily when sitting and laying down. I still have pain down my leg that comes and goes. The nerves in the lower back are affected when injuries occur. Ask your doctor to review your imaging tests to see if a nerve has pressure on it somewhere. Also, after surgery there is tissue swelling that can cause back pain that seems more than you had before the surgery.  You will see a decrease in pain after time of a few weeks if it is tissue swelling causing your pain. It may be too early for stair climbing, so set up an area close to your bed with a comfortable cushioned chair and everything you need to avoid the stairs for a while. I set up a small table with cofee pot, cup, condiments, books, small projects and my computer. It allowed me to rest better without climbing stairs. I continued to have ongoing pain for seven years. The doctors did not take me seriously, wrote it off as arthritis. I changed doctors and he did a CT Scan. In five minutes he discovered when my surgery was done they never decompressed the nerve that was crushed in the accident. As the seven years went by the pain increased steadily. The decompression of the nerve was finally done two weeks ago by a back surgery restoration surgeon who fixes surgical mistakes. So now I am having to recover all over again. I have learned a lot about fusion issues, back pain, and doctors ways of putting the patient off. So I would advise you to ask a lot of questions. Ask your doctor to explain your imaging tests with you there looking at the tests with him. It makes them more accountable to have to go over tests with you there along with results. My doctor was not able to answer some of the questions I asked and that told me something about his skill level. The new doctor was clear, answered everything precisely and had the skill level to repair the surgical error. Back surgery is not the end of back pain for some people. It is trading one pain for another that is less intense. So take your recovery time calmly and slowly. Don't try heavy activity. It is a lifestyle change. Make sure that every symptom you have you make alist and ask your doctor. It is easy to forget what you want to ask. I am an ER nurse of 40 years and it sounds like you may have herniated on the opposite side of your surgery. So push for answers.