Discectomy - After the Operation

[Run Run Rudolf]

Melza, you sound down. I am so sorry for your pain. I now feel guilty that I have had surgery and moaning about it, when you have had to, and are still fighting for yours. Hey, just keep in mind that to keep up the fight for this long and struggle with your pain and worries all at the same time, you are the strongest in this forum. Your phonecall will come soon and before you know it you'll be on the other side of your op, looking back and seeing that your struggle was worth it and it will make you stronger. I hope so anyway. You have to stay positive, I know its hard, but its what keeps you going and will get you through. I dont have all the answers, im only a mere 29 y/o, but I do know we are, or have been in a simular boat. All I can do is wish you well. I hope other people in this forum do too.

Keep your chin up melza.

 

[itzmizay21]

Dear 90awk, those were very nice words and I admit they made me a little tearful. Mustn't forget poor Ali though who is probably still going cold turkey from the Morphine, bless her heart. I'm trying to manage on over the counter pills now, I just need to rest for a while I think, not easy!

As for you going on about your post op problems.....don't think for one moment that when I'm post op I'll be sitting quietly without complaint. Not a chance, I shall be on here whingeing as soon as I get home I expect.

Thank you for being so kind to an old lady ( my birth certificate indicates I am a little on the mature side, but my brain hasn't twigged on to that yet)

Melza

 

[NemaMomma]

hey all!

have just spent the night in hospital again!
I thought the headaches and vomiting were solely caused by the withdrawals. It seems not, its possible that i have a small CSF (spinal fluid) leak, which is causing my problems. It was caused by the caudal epidural i had in august.
Am home now with the oramorph stopped, and replaced by Oxynorm liquid (it tastes repulsive!) and my amitriptyline increased to 30mg every night.
I feel like i have been hit by a bus!!! And also feel a little drunk, even though i havent touched a drop in months!!!
Am being brought back as an outpatient for an MRI scan, which will tell if there is a CSF leak.
If there is, then they can plug the hole made by the injection (oh the drama's!!!)

Melza, i am so so sorry to see that you are struggling so much, we still have had no word from the hospitals we have been 'farmed' out to, for goodness sake, how much more do we need to suffer to get the ops done???
I have recieved a questionnaire from Dorset county hospital, which is about 20 pages long!!! Have you recieved yours? They ask about our mental state, which is ironic, seeing as its all the waiting and taking mind numbing painkilling drugs that makes us go crazy!!!

Anyways its late now, so am going to attempt some sleep, i say attempt cos insomnia caused by no morphine is a b**ch!!!

Good nite everyone and God bless xxxxxxxx

 

[Beautiful Bobby]

Oh poor Ali! This is just too much don't you think. I was going to ask if you'd received that questionaire, I was more puzzled about the questions about my sex life and whether my libido has suffered because of the pain. What is this Libido thing....was tempted to write 'ha ha ha'.....and I'm sure you will all agree with me. Perhaps that is how they grade admissions to the private place, and at least I was telling the truth when I said the pain was severe, but I really wish they'd just fix the bloody thing.

I hope you feel better soon my dear. I was thinking about you post oppers and remember how I prayed for my twin pregnancy to be over....not realising how much hard work I had to go through when it was. Please tell me post op
isn't going to be the same.

 

[The Goomba of Hope]

I'm now almost 14 weeks post microdiscectomy and overall things are OK-ish. I started lifting, my baby at 12 weeks ( 12 Kg) and did feel the old sciaticia, although not as bad as before and feel that I am finally getting back to some sort of normal. I have to say that acupuntre really worked for me and combined with devil's claw ( a natural anti-inflamatory) and daily stretching, I am virtually pain free. I did get some neck problems, which I was told was either wear and tear ( like you Melza I am just over 50) or because I was now straight, anyway these are now almost gone.

I really feel for those still suffering and if I win the lottery tonight, I will pay for private operations all round! It is so hard to understand if you haven't had this dreadful thing, I know it's not life threating etc, but constant debilitating pain is almost too much to bear.

Anyway I do hope things get sorted out soon for all those waiting and for those post-opers still in pain I hope it goes soon. Remember the PCTs have 18 week targets from referral to treatment to meet so do keep pressing and nagging, although I know that's difficult when in pain.

My prayers and love to you all

Howie

 

[affaireangel]

hello all,

today has been thoroughly painful as per (usual) nearly been in tears all day. i don't know just how much more of this i can take, seriously.

the thing that does my head in the most(apart from the pain obv.), is that this time last year, i was 5 days post op, then a year on i am still suffering from the same problem, same disc!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! aarrgghh!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hey melza, how are you doing today?

Thanks for all your supportive messages everyone, the support means a lot to me and melza xxx

 

[Finley Terrace]

So sorry to hear your plight and the pain you are in again.
I am 12 weeks post L5/Si op and reading your previous posts has made me slow down a bit and realise that I need to have more patience with regards to my recovery. I am itching to get moving again , I mean really moving. I am walking and swimming and doing a gentle Fit Ball class but I was used to doing aerobic type exercises regularly and also went karate class once a week but this is obviously not possible at the moment. My consultant said I would be on the tennis court again within 4 months but I am not so sure if I will ever dare to run again never mind play tennis!

Anyway thanks for making me realise that I am really doing ok and there others ilke yourself who are really suffering.

Hope you soon feel much better


Fireolli

You are a few weeks ahead of me with your recovery and i am interested in your posts re exerecise. I am still extremely stiff in my back and find bending difficult although i am better after stetching exercises. Any more tips would be appreciated. My consultant was very keen on me touching my toes but i really struggle with that. Is that something you have been told to do and if so can you do it?

Take care all

Pennylane x

 

[noiniusiapire]

Its been a while since I last posted but many things have happened and the post disectomy thread seems a good place to be.I was operated on on Thursday 23rd October I had an L3 L4 discectomy and Laminectomy ( I thought my worksurfaces were ok but hey ho).
As I say opp on Thursday at 6pm felt pretty groggy post opp and a tuna sandwich at 10 pm did not really work !!! However 7.30 am on Friday I was walking down the ward,I can feel my feet the sciatic pain has gone and I am a happy guy !

Released from the hospital at mid day Saturday and I am over the moon ,taking it easy at home but am on paracetemol and diclofenic and to be honest dont really think I need them either . 6 inch scar pinned in place with clips .

Surgeon was a Mr Choksey at Coventry University Hospital may I say I recommend him!!

Any one suffering take hope from this there does seem to be light at the end of the tunnel its bright and the switch is high enough up to be able to reach without bending down. Take care guys will keep you posted on the days ahead.

 

[nikhil]

Hi Pennylane,

My physio has said it doesn't matter if you can touch your toes or not. You shouldn't really do that movement anyway it compresses the disc, you should go down onto your knee if you want to pick smoething up. If i do a lot of bending without bending my legs my back gets sore. That said i can touch my ankles.

Stiff back: yes i get a stiff back by the end of the day and my bum muscles get a bit tight as well sometimes. I do about 20min of stretching 3 times a day when i am at work and stretch once a day on my days off. The crosstrainer machine is good as there is little pressure on your back, i use this at least once a day for 15-20min.

If you send me a private message with your emil i can send you my workout.

 

[me who else!]

Hello Everyone,

Just a quick update on life after Discectomy.

I had my full discectomy on 30/03/08, and now 7 months later I can still confirm that the sciatica has never returned. I can bend and move better than ever although I am now always a little cautious when I try to lift anything heavy. I wear a weight-lifting belt whenever I lift anything - merely as precaution although this has included moving 1000kgs of slabs in a few hours for example. I have a normal sex-life, I am fit and stong again, and I am a very active Dad to my 2-year old boy. So, 7 months on, I can still comfirm that the Discectomy was a total success.

 

[mazhar12]

Hi all

2 years ago while working offshore i hurt my back, after a trip to the specialist and an MRI scan, turnned out to be a slightly prolapsed disc, i had 2 epidural injections. These seemed to work for the last 18months, i would still get a small amount of pain when i'd done some gardening but very managable.

6 weeks ago i was putting my shoes on to take the dog for a walk and i felt something 'go' in my back and was i horrific pain, phoned NHS24 who said there wasn't much they could do, but in the morning i should phone my GP straight away. long story short - after a week i saw the nero surgeon, another MRI scan and the disc has prolapsed further now pushing on the nerve. I received root nerve block treatment just over a week ago, it seemed to help for a few days but i'm back to the level of pain as before. I am on Sopadol and dyclophenic at the moment, i have been in contant with the nero surgeon again and he recomends a partial discectomy. He emailled today saying that he is trying to get me booked in on the 10th/11th of nov.
So i started looking up exactly what it was and any issues envolved with the surgery, i read some horrific things about it especially on the 'backrack' website, really started to really panic and seriously crap myself.
I have sent the surgeon an email to ask for a consultation, hopefully this week or next, so i can discuss the ins and outs of the opertation.
I am only 28 just about to start a family with my wife, i used to work offshore which i loved but when the back problems started i was told to change jobs, so spoke to my employer and got an office job, really enjoy it, good money and love being at home every night ,lifes really good bar this back issue.
I have now read most of the pages in this thread and i feel a bit better about the whole thing now. So thanks, really appreciate it.

Scared Danny

 

[MaskGurl666]

Hi Danny
Dont be scared, go into the op with a positive attitude & you'll be glad you went for it. I had a massive prolapsed disc which was operated on 5 weeks ago (L5/S1) I am pretty much doing most things that I could do before op now and the post op recovery went very smoothly. I was out of hospital 30 hours after op. My only problem is my impatience lol damaged nerves apparently take a long time to heal & my foot is still numb as a result of the damage but I'm told it WILL improve with time.
Best Wishes

 

[Pompal 09.]

Octavian,

Thanks for the reply, i do feel a bit better to day about the whole situation after the initial shock! also reading more about the procedure and speaking to my wife etc. One thing that is in my favour is the speed of private healthcare, I'm very fortunate that my work pays for it. So i'm hoping the nerve damage will be limited as it only happened 6 weeks ago, and i'll get the operation an 2/3weeks time. I'm trying to look on the positive side of things, it could be alot worse, i'm young and healthy so recovery should be quickish, my ork are being very supportive about it, as is my wife. So really i shouldn't be complaining about it.
Really glad i found this forum tho as it is full of people that have had the procedure, not just people writing about the worse case senario. I now that i must understand the riskes involved but also the chance of it actually happening too.

nico88,

Really glad youre operation was a sucess and you are feelling the benifits, i hope i have the same results!

Cheers

Danny

 

[Chrisy]

Hi all
Have been reading all your posts. Melza & Alli I am gutted for you both & really feel for you. Melza you may remember from my previous postings you wondered how i'd been seen so quickly ............. Well my luck seems to have run out with that now!!!
My pain continued to increase & mobilising became a real struggle. However, i carried on as although occy health have been brill I wish i could say the same for management & HR (the good old NHS looking after its staff again)
Anyway last week having hobbled into work i rang HR for advise on new symptoms (rigidity & shaking of legs that i had no control over & 2 episodes of urinary incontinence) she advised i got to A&E immediately (manager not happy ... I mean we were short staffed!!)

So I arrived in A&E on monday, waited 7 1/2 hrs for a bed (ALTHOUGH THEY DID OFFER ME A CHAIR TO SIT ON WHILE I WAITED!!!!!!) as i needed an 'emergency MRI'
My emergency MRI was done on Thursday & showed that the same disc has prolapsed. So now i've been discharged on what seems to be the norm (Tramadol, Diazepam, Paracetamol???) & wait for surgery which i am informed should be carried out quite quickly within the next 8-14 weeks as i need the surgery ''urgently'' I have also been given crutches to get around. However, if anyone with prolapsed discs & the symptoms you get has tried to use these it is nigh on impossible.

So sorry to have ranted on but at least it stopped me crying for a good 15 minutes so that i could see the screen to type.

Take care

Tracey x

 

[Deans]

Hi Everyone. I was pleased to find this forum and to the experiences of those of us who are going through the same thing. Probably like many of you, I just kept thinking that the back pain and the sciatica would go away by themselves. Unfortunately this method of ignoring it and hoping it would go away has not really worked.

I just found out yesterday that I will going in to have a discectomy next Monday (on L4/5). Hearing how long many of you have had to wait for your operations I feel very fortunate that mine will be happening so quickly. I am very nervous about the procedure but think I have a good Neurosurgeon and hopefully the outcome will be a good one, as many of you have reported.

Look forward to continuing to hear your experiences on this bumpy road.

 

[iizdjsour]

Welcome to the world of misery Tracey, although I have no words of comfort for you I'm afraid. My NHS employers have been absolutely awful and I just want to hand in my notice and be done with it....except that might be a silly thing to do. And don't even think about approaching unions, I think they're batting for the other team. I've done loads of bawling myself, although I'm not normally a tearful person, but I think it helps somehow. Better stop now though because it will ruin your looks.

I am now in a very positive position and can report that surgery will take place for me on 13th November...whoopie! Sixteen months later and I finally get somewhere. Not private treatment after all but at the local hospital....fortunately not with that dreaded consultant either. Feeling quite nervous now. Really worried about the loss of feeling in my fingers, especially my thumbs, but seems like I have to put up with it till March....it's a good job I'm not important isn't it!

Ali, I found I could send you a private message and did so....still struggling with the the functions on here.

Take care everyone

 

[Peanut Palomino]

I wish this were my first introduction to the world of misery, I thought i'd left it behind having had my microdiscectomy May 2008. But hey ......... thats life. I did try the unions, & have to agree with you. My rep didn't even turn up for the meeting!!!!
So glad you have a date at last, at least for the initial problem & my thoughts will be with you as you last out until March. (makes me wonder how differently these 'specialists' would treat us if they had experienced pain & stress as we all have)

Take care

Tracey

 

[Steve Uk]

'(makes me wonder how differently these 'specialists' would treat us if they had experienced pain & stress as we all have)'

Maybe that could be arranged.......

Ali where are you? I'm hoping you some made progress too, I hope you're not feeling too miserable at the moment.

 

[hummerhead2002]

Hey everyone! hey Melza, have replied to your message!!

Am back in hospital again folks, the withdrawals from the morphine ended, and the back pain came back with a vengeance....hence where i am!!

Tracey, i too was made to wait several hours in A&E in a bloody chair!!...not only that but the paramedics called out to me arrived in a bloody car...a CAR!!!! That concrete hard trolley i eventually got onto was bliss!!!
My hell continued however...the A&E doctor began treating me with tramadol, naturally did nothing, then eventually wrote me up some iv morphine. That was fine, except every time i asked for it, they wouldnt give it to me, and persistently ignored my screams of pain, saying that i thought i was the only patient there with any pain (my friend heard them say that).
Eventually (7 hours later) i was given gas&air (love that stuff!) and transferred to a hospital which is better equipped to deal with my pain, and have nice humans who work here! Not pig robot people!

The downside ,however, is, that after all that withdrawal crap from the morphine....i am back on it all!! Patches,liquid...and with codiene as well....so am an opiate addled mess again.

My surgeon (dear man isnt he Melza ha ha!) has been to see me and will be pushing me up the list...as far as i am aware, i am staying here in hospital until they can transfer me for my surgery.
Am back on crutches, and my mobility has nosedived again.
A very depressing time it is, particuarly with crimbo next month, no working for me until the new year and my poor daughter has a poorly mummy in hospital, so she is being looked after by friends (i am missing her dearly).

Have been here a week so far, so father christmas, if you can hear me, i have been a good girl...so please can i have my back fixed for christmas??? Thanks!! I will leave you a few extra mince pies...i was going to say brandy, but you might crash your sleigh, and damage YOUR back and will still be on the waiting list for surgery next christmas...!!!

Anyway folks, lets rejoice with Melza, whose treatment journey is about to begin!! It truly is wonderful, and will be upholding you with prayers my friend

Will no doubt be on here again soon, i just adore this patientline thing, it keeps me sane!! Much love everyone xxxxxx

 

[xgeqauomiziievehy]

Thank you Octavian for both your kind and wise words!!
Don't know how long this is gonna take, but hopefully not too long eh?
The morphine is horrendous, is making me feel really ill. At least it gets me out of eating hospital food eh??? Hehe!!

Anyway, must try to get some shut eye now (fat chance of that though, I am on an orthopaedic ward with loads of OAP's with broken hips and they don't do quiet at night time!!!)

Anyhoo....byeeee for nowww!!!!