Anyone familiar with Vertebroplasty?

I had kyphoplasty on my thoracic spine, which is similar to vertebroplasty, in May of this year. A large tumor broke up on my spine after cancer treatment, breaking some vertebrae in the process. The surgery was done out patient under general anesthesia. Two knitting-needle size punctures were made on either side of my spine for access to the vertebrae so cement could be placed between the bones to stabilize them. A tiny jack was placed in between the vertebrae as well to make sure they wouldn't collapse. No stitches were needed to seal up the punctures, just butterfly tape. The procedure took about 90 minutes total, I woke right up after extubation, stayed in recovery for 2 hours and then went home. I had oxycontin in recovery for pain which was tolerable.

Recovery was 2 full weeks of no lifting, twisting or bending. The pain was manageable with Vicodin for a day or 2, then Tylenol. I felt like I'd been run over by a train,,,,very sore and achy for 2 weeks. I used a grabber device to pick things up off the floor with. My husband peeled the butterfly tape off after 2 weeks and all was well, healing wise.

There is no visible scarring on my back now, 4 months post surgery. I do get frequent backaches in my thoracic spine, which I didnt have before. I did have horrendous pain while the tumor was present, but not after it had broken some vertebrae, oddly enough.

Wishing you the best of luck with your procedure.