My Mri Scan

[MermaidMel]

You'll do just fine Mel. I had to have back surgery in November of 2006. My problem is mostly genetic, all most all of my family has the same problem, mine just developed early (I'm 27), and more acute. I have degenerative arthritis in my spine (sounds worse than it is) and the L5 disc was grossly over-sized and herniated (in fact the surgeon said the disc was the largest he'd ever seen), top that off with the channel the sciatic nerve runs through was congenitally narrowed, I was in really bad shape before the surgery. I had a neurosurgeon do the surgery because of the nerve issues (the same one that did my mom's surgery ). He decided the best course was to fuse L4/5, remove the disc, and widen the channel the sciatic runs through, he harvested bone from my hip for the fusing , plus used rods and screws to hold everything together. Needless to say I was pretty terrified, but I was in so much pain I was willing to do anything to make it stop. And I'm happy to say I don't regret it a bit. I remember waking up from surgery flat on my stomach and the first thing I said was "Oh my God, the pain is gone!". I can honestly say the pain from surgery/recovery was a breeze compared to how I was before. Even the nurse staff was impressed, they had to make me stay in bed and not over do it. I was just so excited to be free from the nerve pain that it couldn't lay still.

Almost two years out I'm a new person. I've had back problems since I was 12 years old, and can now do just about anything I want without having to worry if my back can handle it. I did experience phantom nerve pains for the first six months or so, but the surgeon said that was normal, and it did go away. I mostly noticied it if I wore myself out. Because part of my back is fused, there are certain ways I can't bend anymore, but it's easy to work around. I also know when a storm is coming (the only time my back hurts), and when its very very cold I can feel where the metal is. It doesn't hurt, and it's kind of hard to explain, but I've found other people have the same thing.

A couple of suggestions for after the surgery. Walking is the best thing you can do for yourself, just don't over do it. Listen to your body, if it feels tired rest, if not you'll regret it later. Get one of those extended claw things to pick up stuff off the floor, your back won't want to bend forward for the first couple of weeks. Get loose soft waisted pants to wear, your incision will thank you. Try not to get frustrated with how weak you are at first, your body has been through a lot, even if your brain insists that because the pain is gone you need to move move move. This may sound strange, but check out your bathroom, are there areas you can grip to assist in sitting and getting up from the toilet? Most people don't think of that, but your muscles have to recover, and the simplest (and necessary) things can take more effort, and longer so don't wait until the last minute.

If you have any more questions let me know.

What a great post, thank you for taking the time. I've heard nothing but good things from people who've had back operations, it's so encouraging. I have funnily enough enquired today who in my family could lend me a gripper, so that's good. I have my grandfather's walking stick here so I can use that to get up from a seated position I guess.

Don't worry, I won't over do anything, I am only sad because I won't be able to lift my baby up, he's over 2yrs old now but I still love to pick him up. Oh and not being able to drive for 6 weeks to LFS is a real bummer lol!

My mum has already said she'll take 2 weeks off and this is the one time I am glad my husband works from home!! My dad is around day time too, so I'll have lots of help.

My uncle is a neuro-surgeon, he knows my ortho-surgeon and they've decided between them the best way to do the surgery, so I feel very well cared for.

Thanks again!

 

[dthoffsett]

What a great post, thank you for taking the time. I've heard nothing but good things from people who've had back operations, it's so encouraging. I have funnily enough enquired today who in my family could lend me a gripper, so that's good. I have my grandfather's walking stick here so I can use that to get up from a seated position I guess.

Don't worry, I won't over do anything, I am only sad because I won't be able to lift my baby up, he's over 2yrs old now but I still love to pick him up. Oh and not being able to drive for 6 weeks to LFS is a real bummer lol!

My mum has already said she'll take 2 weeks off and this is the one time I am glad my husband works from home!! My dad is around day time too, so I'll have lots of help.

My uncle is a neuro-surgeon, he knows my ortho-surgeon and they've decided between them the best way to do the surgery, so I feel very well cared for.

Thanks again!

I know, the not driving drove me crazy. I live alone, but I stayed with my mom for a week and half after surgery. Once I got home though I had to rely on others for groceries etc, and boy was it boring. I'm embarrased to say I was more than ready to go back to work.

Oh, also remembered to tell you that once you start weaning yourself off the pain pills, don't be surprised if you have some insomnia. Your body gets so used to the pills telling it to go to sleep that it's hard after. I didn't sleep for a week straight after I was completely off them. I remember sitting around in a daze and trying so hard to sleep, I thought I was going to go crazy before it was all over. Not everyone has that extreme of a reaction, but most do lose some sleep.

Just keep positive and do what the doc says. You'll be able to pick up your baby in no time, and won't hurt afterward. I'm sure we'll see a lot of you while you recover.

And again, any questions no matter how silly, just ask. Feel free to pm me if you don't want to ask on here. -Dawn

 

[MermaidMel]

I think this pic shows the offending discs up much better tbh

Quite shocking really.

 

[Piltdownpaul]

I had sciatica for the 1st time earlier in the year-it was the worst pain i've ever experienced. I had a whole night of agony-the doctor diagnozed it straight away-its been 3 months now and i still get the odd pain-spending too long under and bent over cars thats my problem. When a doctor tells you to take it easy until its better he never says "dont worry i'll pay your bills for you"! Good luck

 

[waterdrop]

Hi Mel,

I would like to say that dthoffsett's advice is excellent! I am past the 2-year point in recovering from L5/S1 surgery. Hopefully you will get some pain relief. Mine, too, was significant right away. You may go though some periods during recovery where it seems like it is taking forever but believe me, it will get better. I agree so much about being careful afterward - follow all the advice about how you get yourself into upright positions, how you sit and so forth. And the advice about how walking as your first real therapy is great - walk, walk, walk, but measure it and don't over do it. Then I would like to add that "core strengthing" is thought by many PT (physical therapists) people to be very helpful as you progress through recovery. Your surgery office should assign you to a PT office or something and you should ask them about this. Core Strengthing has become very popular for other things, for sports training and other stuff, but it has always been of particular importance to lower-back sufferers. It is really a bunch of glorified sit-ups and all sorts of specialized exercises that go very specifically at various muscles of your trunk. When combined with very gradually increasing aerobic exercise (which should of course be an important and significant part of every human's daily schedule!), core strengthing is eventually quite powerful for back recovery. I didn't believe it much but I knew enough to know that when you talk about recovery stuff like this, its better to think of it in terms of years of effort, rather than weeks or months. I stuck to (and am still doing) my core stuff every single week without fail and at the two-year mark (literally, right at the two-year anniversary of my surgery!) I experienced a large up-tick in feeling better. Now I'm converted and would never miss my core schedule ever, for the rest of my life. I like to do a daily mile swim, that's my favorite, but core is now a significant part of my week and will be from now on.

My heart goes out to you as I know how scary it is. Have faith in the team that will get you through, I'm sure they will do everything in their power to give you the best they know how. Getting the mixture of soft cartilage (from disc center) and tough shreds of hard cartilage that are wedged against your spinal nerve pulled out of there will hopefully be a relief like you have rarely felt, it will be wonderful. There is pain and swelling associated with the surgery so it may be a bit before you decide its wonderful, but hopefully you will soon feel it is!

Best of luck and hope to see you back on TFF, hopefully stopping in to help us newbies over in the "New" forum, lol!

~~waterdrop~~