Is Surgery Worth it?!

I had an L5/S1 microdiscectomy in July 2015.  I was up using the loo (wee) within an hour of being return to the ward - they'd made me drink so much fluids!  Up at least 3 times - with help of the nurse but only to carry my drip.  Bowels are another thing....I had codeine and that blocks you up.  I had immediate relief from the nerve pain - best decision I ever made was to have this op.  It was sore for about 10 days around the operation site and I pulled muscles in my stomach getting up and down.  I was walking around the ward every hour whilst still in hospital and gradually increased walking once I was at home.  Main issue was that I couldn't stand still nor sit down for any length of time so was pretty much flat on my back for about 4 weeks.  My advice is not to do this alone - I returned to my parents place for 6 weeks.  I was able to work from home (lying down) at 2.5 weeks.  18 months on I have no issues at all (though I now have osteoarthritis - not caused by op of course)

It is a last resort however - I made the decision to have it when I was crawling on my hands and kees in agony

hi all i can say from my experience is it was the best decision i have ever made. i slipped a disc 17 years ago, i don't remember which one but i think its a common one low down. i had 100% sciatica, off the scale with pain. i absolutely packed my pants and had a complete meltdown in the anaesthetic room! anaesthetist was a lovely bloke who had had the same disc problem as me. i said right, just do it, its now or never and thought of the sciatic pain and i went through with it. when i woke up it just felt like i had been burnt where i had been stitched up, i had two paracetamol and within 10 mins that pain was gone. next day i was up walking and because i was scared they let me stay another night. went home, couple of weeks rest and was near enough back to normal. my surgeon was excited to tell me it was a huge chunk of disc and he wanted to save it to show me but couldn't cus of health n safety! the smile on his face! i owe that surgeon my life and soul. for 11 years life was just normal. but i wasn't careful and was still pulling out washing machines and all that for years and a couple of years ago the disc above kind of came out but they said it was black and shrinking so they reckon its not slipped. if you do have it just be careful how you go and don't go doing the things i did. for me it was the best decision i have made in my life. good luck.

I had L4-L5 dicectomy/lamonectomy in 2008. I was only in the hospital one night, I felt pretty great after, and went to work 3 week after. It hurt so much before, but after it felt like he took a splint out. I had to have a catheter only once in the hospital because I couldn't wee. And it took medicine for my bowels. It was a piece of cake! You'll be fine!!!