Discectomy - After the Operation

[?cozicat?]

Jo, sorry to hear about your pain, but things can change. You sound like you need another mri. My pain swops sides frequently and the mri shows problems on both sides. I would go and pester your gp for another scan.

 

[Superior Jeans]

Good Luck Chris for Wednesday,

I was offered an operation for pain/sciatica on my right side but refused as by the time I went to see the surgeon it had swopped to my left, the mri was by then 3 months old. Then more recently I was offered another operation this time on both sides as the new mri showed problems had changed.
I was amazed to see that one mri I had done in June this year was already quite different to one done more recently in September this year.

 

[kab]

Good to read some of the positives in here, gives everyone some hope.

Just joined and thought I'd post my story so far.

I have suffered from lower back problems for years, affected by too much bending, sitting etc. About 6 weeks ago it was getting worse than ever so I arranged a visit to my GP a few days later where he got me to lie on a bed and raise my legs (to which I could only raise them about 6 inches before the pain was too much) he said it was sciatica and that it will take ~5 weeks to clear up - no further advice, medication etc.

A couple of weeks ago I woke with a major cramp in my left leg that wouldn't subside, I also had a shooting pain in the leg and back. I self refered to a physio who gave me some stretching exercises. Continued these for the next week or so but it culminated in me being unable to get out of bed for the pain. I eventually got up and twisted to the opposite side which moved the pain to the right leg/back. My right foot and leg were numb along with my left toe.
Called NHS 24 and spoke with my own GP who again said rest for 5 weeks etc etc - nothing further even though I wasn't exactly mobile with a numb leg. I left this until the next morning but decided i wasn't happy with his prognosis so called NHS 24 again, this time speaking with another GP who immediately refered me to an out of hours clinic that day. After speaking with him at the clinic he checked no bladder problems etc, arranged a pair of crutches, prescribed some medication and filled in the paperwork for an MRI scan. Unfortunately this could take 5/6 weeks. Off I hobbled home to be greeted by a phone call by the same GP who refered me to neurology the next day to speed the process again. THANK YOU DR NIVEN!
After attending the next day I chose to be admitted as an in patient and wait on an MRI scan (still allowed to leave each day) - I got the scan the 2nd day which showed an extremely enlarged disc impinging on the nerves causing my bilateral sciatica. I was immediately admitted for emergency surgery which happened at 11 that night.
Next day, post op, the pain was gome but numbness in right leg and left toe still there. Physio saw me, made me walk on flat and up/down stairs with crutches before I was allowed home.
It's now 10 days post op and I feel the numbness/weakness is getting better each day (slightly) and I can get around better. I have tried to keep as mobile as possible which maybe helped. Got a physio appointment on Wednesday, hopefully get some exercises to do.

My message is that if your GP is fobbing you off force the issue, change GP, moan, whinge do anything to get seen!

Good luck all!

 

[Tahneej]

Hi Cascara
please can you go through the differences noted?

 

[Tukmyhamster]

Hello everyone

Just joined here following a net search.. so much info and seems a great place for support and advice..

In brief

After several years of back pain (no idea when or why it first started... rugby and lifting at work mostly to blame i think), mostly controlled through Chiro in January of this year things got a whole heap worse... by March I first visited my gp... recieved the usual advice ... no change so in may returned and was given stronger meds codeine and dechlofenac... (owever u spell it) was little help... was refered to physio which took 11 weeks

physio gave me exercises to do but i actually felt they were making matters worse then on one visit during an exercise i thought my hamstring had snapped.... I now think this is where my disc popped as from that day on had incredibly bad sciatica.. I knew the name of the best consultant at the hospital so asked for a referal and the physio obliged...

I went to see gp and had them refer for mri and acted like my own care manager to make sure it was done before i saw the consultant to avoid any more time wasting and this worked (think that's good advice anyone in a similar situation)

Anyway saw consultant on friday and this is where it gets complicated and where i start to get fearful

i have a prolapse at l4 and l5 and already knew that surgery would be the outcome and had accepted that (cant live with the current pain so no choice) but what i wasn't prepared for was that he felt my mri showed a possible 'infection' lower in my spine , s1 i think he said... i cant remember as from that point i went in to a bit of a shut down and a lot of the things he said far too quickly and its all jumbled so not sure... anyway he is referring for blood tests to identify if there is an infection and has scheduled my surgery (Micro d) to be done within 3 weeks if blood tests allow...

All the info i have found about infections is pretty much freaking me out... i guess i need to stay calm and await test results... will be back to let you all know...

He did ask me if i had been out of the country or knew of any way i could have contracted an infection... I went to Cuba in February... I don't know why he asked that ? I have been to lots of countries before and have had salmonella before but that was years ago... I had blood test 4 years ago for everything as we were going for IVF treatment and you have to have that, with no problems... I am generally in good health otherwise, a little overweight and probably drink too much wine from time to time but nothing major. I used to smoke.

anyone know anything about spine infections ???

thanks in advance and good luck to everyone who is in pain, recovering, enduring or fighting ...

 

[Dhan Noon]

Hi Lawrence b, did the doctor actually say it was an infection of the spine, I'm thinking they picked up an infection somewhere in your body, not specifically the spinal area. This would have been revealed in the blood tests you had. It would be better to wait until you have more info before you research, though it would have freaked me out too. You have a lot going on at the moment and don't need to increase the stress levels, do yourself a favour and wait till you see your doc again for more details.

Get that bottle of wine out and relax!

 

[Jonathan Crabtree]

Just an update and a few positive comments about the NHS (for a change)

13 days post op on lower back L4,L5 and S1

I had a physiotherapy appointment and was given some exercises to do with another apointment in a weeks time. They also refered me to Hydrotherapy with which an appointment was booked for next week as well.
This all seems very efficient for the NHS after the initial slow start (not seeing a physio at first.)

Well done NHS!

 

[FLSwampBoi]

Thanks Cassie
8 weeks post op now and am taking things into my own hands had an alexandra technique session last monday and a floatation session yesterday, the alexandra session was wierd but I am hopefully moving in the right direction he totally turned me very slowly left to put my body back in alignment I was totally on the squif, have had alot of pain the last 2 days but today a bit easier but now got pins and needles in foot again but am hoping my body is responding to the alexandra realignment and after a few sessions this will work. Am still doing my physio but really don't have much faith in it!
As to going back to the doc have decided I'll give myself 6 weeks and hope I get well otherwise back to doc and then unfortunately this time onto the nhs system I was lucky and went private before but my outpatients limit was reached so end of that!
Jo

 

[anewsavd]

What happened did you have to go through it all again and get the other side done? I unfortunately am stuck as to what to do I had my op done on works private health insurance but have reached the outpatients limit on the policy so cannot go back and see that surgeon unless I pay and he's not cheap so I'd have to start the process with a new surgeon through the nhs?

Am in agony to walk again with near enough exactly the same symptoms as before my op but in the other leg.

Jo

 

[Mc.Zee]

Hi everyone
I posted back in may. Had l4 l5 discectomy and decompression last Wednesday and I feel great now! Apart from pain around the op site and my back being a bit stiff. Other pain, pins n needles, numbness and tingling has gone. I noticed it as soon as I came round in recovery and am just amazed it's been so effective. I can lie flat again I can walk without limp or sticks. Really is fantastic
I get the occasional strange feeling in my leg but passes within minutes
I still feel really tired and get tired easily. I was terrified before the op but all that worry has been worth it!

 

[Dulaslawn]

That's great news and thanks for coming back to post. It's important that the success stories are reported as much as the disappointments (I think successful ops are under-reported). Your story will help give people hope and confidence.

I had similar nightmarish visions about surgery when I was first told I had a slipped disc, but after months of disappointment with conservative treatments I've come to accept surgery as the best chance for me, and I'm now looking forward to it (discectomy and decompression surgery scheduled 1 month from now).

I really hope you continue to improve and don't have any relapses. Just remember to take it steady and build up your core muscles gradually. Good luck with your rehabilitation !

 

[nextGREAT1]

Good Luck Chris for Wednesday,

I was offered an operation for pain/sciatica on my right side but refused as by the time I went to see the surgeon it had swopped to my left, the mri was by then 3 months old. Then more recently I was offered another operation this time on both sides as the new mri showed problems had changed.
I was amazed to see that one mri I had done in June this year was already quite different to one done more recently in September this year.

Hi
Cassie
Well had my results and you were right, my scan revealed a disc prolapse on the left hand side, scar tissue and a nerve impingement. The surgeon has agreed to perform a "Revision Lumber Decompression". I really hope this is the end of it all.

Chris

 

[The Dark Knight.]

Good Luck to all those waiting for their ops! Seems to be quite a few of us.



Jim, I do hope so!

 

[Josh Am]

Yes Jim, you are somehow right.

Its really rare that people with successful surgery and pain-free life come on forum and start a thread telling that they are felling great and pain-free.

Still, big percentage of spinal surgeries are unfortunately failures because of wrong indication and wrong approach. I heard a good thing from one local neurosurgeon: "Believe me, its not the best surgeon who does best surgeries, best surgeon is who can best decide when not to operate".

 

[Carbon_Life]

Hi
I am desparate for advice please.... I am 4 weeks post-op L4/L5 Microdiscectomy. Since the op the awful sciatic pain has thankfully gone but I've been left with a muscle/cramp like ache in all of my right leg, seems to move up and down the leg throughout the day and night. Physio says pain and numbness in the first few weeks is normal but this is not numbness at all.
Over the last couple of weeks I have tried to keep active doing quite alot of walking and probably standing a quite alot too. I try to alternate this with laying for a few hours during the day. I am really confused am I doing too much or not enough?
My biggest concern is that I have permanent nerve damage and will have to live with this aching leg.
Would be very grateful for any advice.

 

[? Surfer ? Sarah]

Im going to add some advice based on my experiences (see my thread).

If I could have my time again I would of still had the 1st operation but I wouldn't of had the other operations. The reason for this is normally the success rate of your 1st operation is very good to treat a prolapsed disc but the success rate declines rapidly with each successive Op. The main reason for this is scar tissue which can be a nightmare for the patient and especially the surgeon. For example when I had my fusion last year the procedure is normally a couple of hrs but my Op took 7hrs. This was due to the scar tissue although it varies between patients how much scar tissue you have.

This is why im uncertain whether to go for a 5th Op. If my problem was just a prolapsed disc then I would wait and see if this improves with time. However the disc wall has broken so the contents of the disc has moved into my spinal canal, I believe this is called a disc extrusion.

So my advice to anyone who has already had 1 operation and has been diagnosed with another prolapsed disc is to try and delay having an operation if you can. Depending on your circumstances and your pain if you wait long enough the disc does actually dry up and this no longer presses on the nerves. The trouble is this can take upto 2yrs which is why I said it depends on your circumstances.

I forgot to add that the problem with scar tissue is it can cause pain similiar to having a prolapsed disc. So after numerous Ops your no better off. No point the surgeon trying to remove this because it will only return.

 

[Asheii]

There's another reason why those who only have the first op have better outcomes and success rate declines with later operations;

It's not that later operations are harder to recover from, but the other way around: those who are put in for more operations are the ones who aren't recovering.

What that means is that whatever approach you use for your health problem, there may be the possibility of other contributing factors that are not being addressed.

So if you really need another operation, then perhaps it should happen, but also we should keep our minds open to the possibility that there are other things going on that need tackling in different ways, without which the patient will never fully get better.

 

[Gillenador]

Normally the cause for multiple back operations is those patients who are prone to frequent disc prolapses. For example my surgeon believes the reason why my discs prolapse so easily and frequently is down to genetics.

If you have had 2 or more operations on your spine your are very likely to suffer from failed back syndrome. This is why I advise people to be very cautious in having successive operations to treat a prolapsed disc.

Another thing worth mentioning is how multiple operations can have a detrimental effect on your mental state. I have found that with each successive operation has caused me to suffer from depression. I was told one of the causes of this is the drugs used in a GA.

So I strongly urge everyone to be cautious. Like I said in my previous post if I had my time again I wouldn't of agreed to my 2nd,3rd,4th Operation.

 

[archie7letta]

Does he have any evidence for this?

I find genetics a very unsatisfactory explanation for so many things: it could just as easily be that there are aspects to the problem that the surgeon doesn't understand. It risks deterring patients from exploring other aspects of their problem, which is unforgivable.

To illustrate, imagine two people hit by the same bus at the same moment: one suffers a broken leg, the other doesn't. So genetics may explain part of thedifference, perhaps, but please let's not overlook the bus. The leg wasn't broken because of genes

 

[jbammvdp]

No he doesn't have any evidence of this and I do agree with what you say. Like I said in the thread I posted I also found out that I have a problem with my right hip that also needs an operation. Now I have asked my GP, Spinal surgeon, Pain management specialist if this problem with my hip could of caused the problems in my spine due to this possibly affecting my posture and the answer was no. I found this rather strange because apparently I could of been born with this hip problem.

I will add though that the reason why my surgeon thinks it could be due to genetics is because I have a niece and uncle who also have had many problems with their spines which has resulted in operations.

My parents have often disagreed with genetics being the cause and also believe an underlying issue is causing the problems with my spine and hip because they feel these are connected in some way.