Hi..discectomy on 1st Nov

:D well done jules

your doing so well, keep it up and thanks for posting as i have found when people have their surgery and start to feel better then they dont post anymore, i feel it is good to hear when people are doing well and what to expect post-op. have you had any follow up app yet with the hospital? no other news my end only what i posted yesterday, oh and i hope you do well at your course at least you,ll be able to consentrate now being out of pain.hoping you continue to do well. gail

Hi Gail,

Yes, I have a follow-up appt on 10th Dec with the surgeon....I'm going to take some chocs and thank you cards for him and the Team as they were all brilliant. It's thanks to them that I have my life back! :D

Take care,

Jules xx :D :D

Just wanted to know if anyone post op ever gets a feeling in their back where it feels like it needs to be stretched, its not a pain more of an ache but its uncomfortable.

Anyway, just wondered if anyone has felt that, what have they done to ease the feeling....( please dont say just stretched :-) )

Ta

Russ

hi wuffy

try lying down on ur back on one of them sausage shaped foam thingys, (that you can get from your physio) lay it below the area on ur back that you feel needs 'streched', i remember doing this and although it feels uncomfortable whilst lying on it, when you get up after 10mins i felt a difference.

kimberley

Hey Kimberley

Thanks for that, will see if I can get one of those sausage shaped foam thingys and give it a sht, trouble with all this is u never know if it is normal or if other people suffer with the same things too.... never know what is or isnt a silly question either...

Once again, thanks for your answer

Russ

Hi Russ,

I remember the physio saying something about watching your posture because if you over or under compensate you would feel the need to bend over the other way...dont know if this helps.....I feel like I could do with a physio follow up though......just to check that what I'm doing is OK....and ask questions like....when, if ever will I be able to bend/stretch carry something more than an iron/kettle?

Take care,

Jules xx :D :D

HI everyone,

Just thought I'd update the blog. It's been 5 weeks sice I had the op. I've had a bit of a setback this week; the sciatic pain has returned in my left leg. I've been experiencing pain down to my foot with numbness in my calf and toes and thermal changes which is similar but not nearly as bad as prior to the op. I'm also having back pain left of lower centre which is also similar. It means I have to take Co-Codamol rather that mostly Paracetamol but it could be a lot worse. My negative side says the disc may have re-prolapsed, or there is some debris or scar tissue causing a prob ( the surgeon said I have a smaller than average canal so may make me more prone to this?) and my positive side says this is probably part of the healing process with the nerve still maybe not quite firing on all cyliders. I am anxious about it and anxious about the pain as I don not wish what I went through before on anyone or myself again. I recall ( I think it was Raine) saying she used to get anxious if she got some back pain) I know what this feels like now!!

Anyway, I see the surgeon on Monday so I'll find out more then but it may well be a case of \"wait and see\".

Take care,

Jules xx

Hi Jules,

sorry only just seen this .. ooops

I am trying to be real careful so not to over compensate but I get this feeling where it feels I must strecth, but in an uncomfortable kinda way and its like an anxious feeling, its the strangest thing, but then the next minute its fine and i am real worried stretching coz I just think that it will start the sciatic pain off all over again... ho hum

How are u doing now, all good I hope, hows the recovery coming along ??????

Russ x :lol:

HI Russ,

Have you seen your surgeon yet? Have you mentioned it to him/her? I've just updated my blog...had a bit of a setback this week, but hopefully it's only a temporary thing, be grateful for your comments on my situ.

Cheers,

Jules x :D :D

Will go check yours out, I havent been back in touch with my consultant as firstly he has retired from surgery but more over I wanted to see how I cope on my own, I tried cutting down on meds but then realised I still needed them as I have pain still in my back but am determined not to let it get me down, pain is still so much better than how it was.

Right, Im off to read yours and will either reply on it tonight or tomorrow, sorry to hear there is a setback but hope it all works out.

Keep yer chin up

Russ x

Jules

OK well as u know I replied elsewhere prior to reading this, it would seem we have the same thing, I have pain in my leg for the past day and a half and my lower back pain/sore has been around for a while, I am only on Co-Codamol which at one point I stopped for a day and went straight back on it.

The pain in the leg I only used to get when I stood or sat, now I have the pain, not so intense but its there and its not when I stannd or sit its JUST there... I believe it is either some kind of swelling, or bruising from the prolapse or either from the op.

Logic tells me it should not however be as it was prior to the op, that was bone siitting on nerve and the pain was intense, there is no reason why that would have happened unless I would have been stupid by bending or lifting etc, I havent and Im sure u havent so whilst I, like u, worry as a normal person would, deep down, I believe it is part of hte healing process.

Im into week eight now of post op and whilst driving is still a prob for me, walking is great and I dont think I have walked so much in all my life :-)

I saw my consultant in week six, he was pleased with my recovery but also said I will still have some pain for what could be upto a year.

The other point is I still have two slipped discs, the op was to sort out the sciatic nerve and I believe it has worked.

Hoped this has helped but if not, make out someone else wrote it :-)

Russ x

Hi Wuffy,

Thanks for that, you make perfect sense! I guess what it is is that the recovery from the operation is quite quick on one level with the op site healing but then there is a slower recovery period for the nerves and the disc itself...my surgeon also said it could take up to a year for things to settle down but I got a bit worried as initially I had no pain in my leg whatsoever but now I do. Maybe I came off the co-codamol too quickly and am more focused on the pain due to being anxious...which could make the pain probably worse...and probably the euphoria from the operation has died down a bit and again is being replaced by worry. I just need to go and get my head in order and things will be good again. See I'm feeling better already. Thanks my discectomy buddy! :D :D What's going to happen with your 2 prolapsed discs? Will you be having further surgery or are they going to let time heal?

Take care,

Jules xx :D :D

My discs will be as they are now, the options are to have them taken out and replaced and that brings greater danger or have them fused and having had the sciatic pain, any pain less than that is manageable, u know what Im saying, that pain was so intense it was unreal.

This now is uncomfortable/pain/sore and having had it for two years now the only time it didnt hurt was when I had the sciatic pain, and now I think that was only coz the pain in leg was worse than back. My consultant did not seem to think I should operate on discs and I trusted him with my life, if he would have said do it I would have, he was the old type consultant, doing a job he wanted to do and studied till he got to where he wanted to be.

Have to pop offline for a little but will beback later or tomorrow.

Dont worry as worrying wont make it beter anyway..... and at least we are hgoing threough the same things, means either its all normal or we are both abnormal....u decide :-)

Russ x

hi jules& russ

i sincerely hope your not having relapses!!!, what im thinking is its been a few weeks now so maybe the spine is healing itself now, and of course the nerves as well after they were bruised, i cant imagine the discs prolapsing again cos dont they remove them and replace with artificial ones?? and maybe cos you,ve both been feeling so great you could have just overdone it a little. i know its all maybes and im not a medical person but i am trying to think on the posotive side of things. i hope for both of you the pain eases and it will be good news at the follow up appointments.good luck. gail

p.s do they do a mri scan at 3 months to check the healing is going well?

HI Gail,

Thanks for your support. As only the prolapsed portion of my disc was removed ans from my research, there is a 10% risk of re-herniation but hopefully it hasn't come to that. I'm not sure if they do another MRI at 3 months...I'm thinking probably not if all is within normal limits, which I'm thinking after chatting with Russ and getting over my earlier \"wobble\" that I probably am within normaility (although other people may have different opinions..lol).

So this probably answers Russ's earlier dilemma over whether we are normal.......I think we probably are!!! :boing: :clown: :bat:

Take care,

Jules xx