Going for surgery
Nico
Your account has been helpful to me. I have a L4 L5 herniated disk. I have had three weeks of very bad pain and told it was not a disk problem by GP and physio. Pain now gone but have had a week of numbness and 'dropped foot' has proved it is a disk issue. I can only walk 200 yards and feel like a 70 year old (am 44). I am 4 weeks into this following an injury, i have had teh sciatica fot a week.
Despite no medical insurance I saw a neurosurgeon privately this weekend and he has agreed to carry out discectomy and scan on NHS quickly. I have a scan this week and op the week after. He is so certain of his diagnosis that he is of the view that the scan is simply a formality. I think I am very lucky.
By the time I have the operation I will have had the sciatica for two and a half weeks, with significant loss of power to leg and lost function. All I can do is hobble about.
To be honest I am scared to death. I have read and heard horror stories. I am up for the discectomy but am not going to allow fusion of the vertebra. Your account seems positive, which is the key to having an op of this type.
I have a living to earn a familty to support and the thought of going through life like this leaves me cold. To make matters worse I am on gardening leave and will have to push back my start date for my new job.
All in all not good and I have to say I am at a low but determined to fight back. At the end of the day there are a whole lot of peopkle out there with worse.
I have just joined the forum and thought I might be able to add a fairly positive story. I have had two discectomies - L4/5 and cervical 6/7 (I think). The lumbar operation was in 1990 when I was 33 years old. My disc had prolapsed and then burst so that fragments of the disc material were floating around the spinal column, I had lost the use of my left leg almost completely after about a week of the leg jumping around all over the place of its own accord. I was warned about the possibility of being left incontinent, double incontinent or even paraplegic, but when things seem so bad it is difficult to imagine it getting much worse. I was walking again within a few days but it took about 3 months for the pain to subside and for me to feel able to go back to work and be confident that my back was not about to break in two. In the ensuing 18 years I have had back pain to some degree most days but I rarely take pain killers. I was told to take life easy but at 33 years old, I was too young to "retire". Being broadly sensible and stopping when I had had enough, I have landscaped two gardens, carried more than I should have done and crawled around on the floor more than I did when I was younger. On this particular day I have quite severe pain and I am taking Naproxen and Paracetamol, but I am keeping as active as possible and the pain will no doubt subside soon and I'll get back to full speed again. I have found that keeping a positive attitude and a sense of humour is an essential part of living with a "bad back" and it keeps those around me from dismissing me as a miserable old so-and-so. The day before the operation I asked the surgeon if I would be able to play the piano afterwards and he said I would have no problem at all - which was great because I couldn't play the piano before hand. I was surprised he walked into that one - he must have heard it a million times. Joking reflected my nervousness as much as anything, but we had a laugh and I was able to rest that night. Having any operation is scary and especially when they are fiddling about with things like the spine, but there is real hope of getting on with life afterwards - not quite the same as before perhaps but loads better than the alternative. Best wishes to all who are recovering and to those preparing for the operation.
hello
Hello All, I have just joined this forum and am wishing it had occurred to me sooner to find one. I had a discectomy for a herniated disk L4-L5 2 months ago. I really thought no one would ever really understand the pain and anxiety the whole process would cause until read this whole thread! Nico, I can relate to you completely from the waking up covered in urine after the op, to the feeling completely distressed.
My condition went ignored for almost 5 months. GP kept sending me to A&e who just kept changing my painkillers and sending me home. Until one doctor took pity on me and made calls there and then to have me seen by an osteopath. At that very appointment I was given an epidural of steroids - which did nothing for me- and sent for an MRI. When those results were returned I was sent to see a surgeon straight away but unfortunately he decided to try a nerve root block. The joy of feeling no pain lasted 2 months and then I couldnt walk again. After much nagging and finally a very emotional letter to my surgeon he decided to push me in for surgery (only a whole 15 months of pain later!).
So anyway... post op... at first I felt like my back was going to snap if i tried to move but slowly movement became easier. I have been doing the exercises i was given at hospital but as yet no physio because they got arsey with me for having to cancel an appointment!!! Even though the reason was because the nurse savaged my stitches on removal and re-opened my wound and caused an infection! ANYHOO! I have seen surgeon for check up and he has told me that I dont need physio as I seem alot better and to just go swimming... As I know no better does anyone think I should insist on the physio? As I really dont feel that I can use my back and my posture and the way I sit and walk has all changed since I had to accomodate for trying to move with no pain! I have also been told that for the inside to heal it will take another 3 months (not the 6 weeks I was initially told) so not to sit on low chairs, sit for a long time, lift anythng etc etc was anyone else told this?
Finally! As I feel I may be boring you all with this mini novel of my back (i think the excitement of finding more people like myself has taken over).... does anyone else have pain in their hip and buttock area? Mine has come on slowly since the op and I was worried that i may have re-slipped the disk but my surgeon thinks its from the muscle strip from the surgery that just needs to heal?
Appologies again for the long post and nice to meet you all!
Going for operation
I have now been given a firm date for the discectomy operation next monday. This is a big help as I am due to start a new job and cant until this is sorted. I am hobbling about and cant control my right leg. Thankfully I havent got some of the frightening symptoms described by some of the people posting, but am really worried I will be stuck like this.
To tell you the truth I am scared but thankful I am having the operation so soon. I think the hard part is the not knowing or waiting.
I would like to highlight 'breathworks' who you can google. These guys provide practical help for back pain and run courses in dealing with it. Also the author Jon Kabat-Zinn's 'whereever you go there you are' and 'full catastrophe living' are great.
Fingers crossed.................................................................
spinal surgery
Hi, i have just joined the forum,and thought i,d spend 10mins or so to tell you my experience with back pain etc.. Mine started 4yrs ago after my employer got me working on my hands and knees, but i,ll cut a long story short, after 6 months of intense pain in my lower back, i still could,nt work as i worked in a factory, and the work was uncomfortable for me. Anyway after 7 mths off work they sacked me. In the meantime i was going from doctor to doctor, then eventually they sent me on a weeks physhio (but with no difference in my condition). Then the physio said i needed a MRI scan, which i had, then they said yr results will take 6-8weeks, I heard nothing for 3months, I phoned them and i was told they had lost them.(which took another 3-4 months) By this time i was getting worse much worse... Then a year and a half later i got a appointment through to see a nurosurgeon. The day arrived and he said you need a operation, but please bare in mind by this time i was losing control of my bowels (if you know wot i mean ). I had told him all this and said to him, you wont make me wait another year will you?. That was in sept 2006. I got the surgery date for 17th feb 2008 but they cancelled. Then i got another one through for 09 march 2008, I did go in hospital and had the operation 10th march 08, i was told they had operated on L4 L5 L3 L4 which was obviously worse than i thought. They let me out the next morning (after been on morphine and drip twice all night). I had 16 staples which i cant deny was painful especially getting in and out of bed, but it did get easier.... Now after 8-9weeks i,m much worse, if i stand or walk to 5 metres my left leg really gives me some gipp(very hurtful and discomfort), my right leg i get shooting pains. If i stand for 5 minutes or bend over to far my back still hurts,then i start to walk like a duck.(which b4 my op i was never like that) I feel as though my social life is well and truely over i,m 46 and feel like 96. i cant do housework cook wash or iron, i also have put 2 stone on so that don,t help..Ive been to see my surgeon a little earlier and he just says i,m not healed,but surely i cant be worse like i am. I,d love information off anyone who is going through the same( pain etc being worse after op)SORRY IN ADVANCE, BUT THOUGHT I,D SHARE MY EXPERIENCE....:):mad:
Hi Sandy,
So, so sorry to hear you are having such a tough time. Fear makes things worse, not moving makes things worse. Please try to find a good phyiso who is pilates based. Its the best thing you can do for your back. You must move your back, if you don't you will seize up and scar tissue will form and you will end up so much worse than even before. So sorry to hear you needed so much operated on, but now you must stay flexible and strong. Check out google for pilates teachers, remedial teachers in your area. its so worth it.
I haven't been online as since my op we have moved to France to start a new life. I'm mountain biking and walking every day, but if I don't do my exercises then everything starts to stiffen up. Now i know i need to expand my exercises and keep moving onwards and upwards. All I know is I won't be a victim of back pain for the rest of my life and its getting better every week. My motto is to have flexible back but strong supporting muscles.
Good luck. Its not an easy path, I've sobbed and raged and demanded why me, just after an op on one disc, but things are getting better every week. Good luck
Hi All,
I have a bilateral bulging disc at L5/S1. For the last 6 months i have had a lot of leg pain but was able to carry on working as a fire fighter. In March after coiming back from my honeymoon both my legs went into total spasm. I was sent to A&E but they just sent me home with some pain killers. I have gone through the process of seeing doctors and having tests but nothing was done until i got an MRI. After having the scan the pian got worse and i can hardly walk cannot sit down and have been on the floor for 8 weeks, i even eat laying on the floor.
I saw a pain doctor last week and because i am finding it hard to pee she said that i should have surgery ASAP. I am now seeing a sugeon on friday and am very worried. I have read some of the stories on this post and as a 33 year old man i do not want to end up in a worse state than i am already in.
Is there anyone who can give me some advice or make me feel better about what is going on.
Out of Hospital
Guys
I am so sorry to hear about your suffering. Hang on in there. I have today just got out of hospital. L4 L5 herniated idsk and discectomy.
Off morphine yesterday. The result was instant. No Sciatica full finction back like magic. I am lucky. The post op pain is nothing compared with what I thought it would be or what I had before. The physio starts now.
The neurosurgical unit I have just got out of was filled with people much worse than me, many requiring brian surgery. Compared with these poor souls this was just rewiring a plug.
I have found 'breathworks' meditations great for pain and would reccomend you google them. There is light at the end of the tunnel.
The main thing I think is to not get depressed and keep believing - it is so important.
There seems to be an emerging picture here, namely that GPS keep fobbing people off when they need MRI scans and surgery. I dont think people understand how depressing this is. This is what we pay our taxes for. You have a right to request an MRI scan.
Rod
Hope this positive spin helps you if you are down. Keep going.
Pain in the butt
Another newcomer here!
I got back pain last summer and was told it was nothing by the GP. By September I had a crampy feeling in my right buttock and by Christmas the pain was travelling down my leg. Now, I get sharp pains where my bottom meets the top of my right leg if I walk or stand for longer than a few minutes. I also have pain down my right leg when lying on my back, and I struggle to roll over in bed. My leg pain goes down to my foot. I get no pain sitting down.
As I'm a police officer, I am no longer able to do my job and am desk-bound. My GP finally referred me in March but I have heard nothing from the NHS since. I went to the police convalescence home for a fortnight and had physio and pilates twice a day with no improvement. My physio there pestered my work and they kindly paid for an MRI scan which shows I have a large prolapse at L4/5.
I went to see a private consultant today (again paid for by work) who looked at the scans and immediately said I need a discectomy. He said it would cost about £5k private and I could have it done within 6 weeks. On the NHS I could be looking at next year. I don't have private medical insurance and it looks like I'm going to just have to sit it out. Literally.
I take codiene and diclofenac with no result. I was prescribed tramadol but they made me ill. I don't know what else to try. I bought a TENS machine but it barely distracts me from my bottom and leg pain. My physios have discharged me and said there is nothing more they can do for me. I can't exercise, swim, do the ironing or even cook properly.
I am 28 years old and feeling increadingly despondent.
I had a muscle spasm in my back that was so bad it led to nerve damage and permanent pain and numbness in my left leg. It is also causing other problems with my spine. I was a mechanic/machinist most of my life and had the injury during 4 years of hauling heavy food items. I can't even be reliable enough for any real job. Please take care of yourself and listen to your body more that what other people say. it's your life. Good Luck and God Bless RJ
Don't feel to bad I'm having very similar problems it's been 3 years now after an operation and I'm having problems in other areas of my back. I can't work either at least for anything gainful. RJ
Reply Misswol
Hi
Read your post. I did exactly as you did and saw consultant privately. The consultant I saw agreed to send me fast through the NHS - I was dead lucky.This was due in part to me having a dropped foot. My friend like you was told he would be charged. He got his boss to plit it it cost £7,5k he paid half his boss paid half.
I think you have three options. 1 symptoms reported get worse,like dropped foot or incontinence which will move you immediately up nhs list. 2 go privately and take out a loan. From what i know the sooner you have the op the higher your chances of recovery. I pay my taxes and am disgusted that someone in an essential service is not getting sorted now, why else do we pay tax.3 wait for a year on nhs.my own personal opinion is 2 if you can afford itbut this is a subjective view. there is a lot of stuff on discectomys on the internet.
The latter course runs the risk of you getting down - watch out for that.
Yoga might help if you are intterested i can reccomend a book.this condition cansort itself on its own sometimes.
rod
Hi,
Do not sit it out you may have a lot of nerve damage in a year. I have had such a hard time with the NHS. In the last 8 weeks i have been in A&E 4 times with pain and urination problems. They just seem to go through the same thing of pain killers and a quick check of your responses and then send you home. The only reason why i am seeing a sergeon today is beacause i have been to my GP over and over and over again. They finaly gave me an MRI 4 weeks ago and when they looked at it things seemed to move quicker as they seem to be a little worried now. I hope today that i can get an op quick but i have no faith what's so ever in the NHS. I can go private as i have been saving for a car and have the money but i shouldn't have to. Oh and by the way i am in the fire service and again they do not do a lot for you a bit of treatment here and there but thats about it.
I will let you know how things go today but like i said i have no faith, I can see myself having to pay out for a private op.
Olli
Hi All,
Saw the surgeon today and i will be having my operation in about 7-10 days. They are going to phone me on Tuesday for a date. Hope all goes well and i will let know how it goes.
Olli
Reply Fireolli
Hi
Well done. The worst part is not knowing. I and the other 2 people who had herniated disks( 3 in all) in the ward all had instant relief and success. The pain isnt bad and is managable. I am three days out and feeling great. Codine helps. Going for walk into village today!
I totally agree with your comment about not leaving the operation too long. My surgeon said that that as time goes by the chances of success diminish and it increases the chance of nerve damage. Also my mate who is a GP said a similar thing.I think you need to make as much fuss as possible to get this done on the NHS. Glad you have your date, the rest will follow.Good luck.
This is a biased view but from my limited personal experience I think discectomies are a great solution to this problem. From what I have read this procedure maximises your chance of success.My sciatica and dropped foot simply werent improving.
When you are ill it all seems pretty depressing but it is worth remembering that for the men and women carrying out this procedure, compared with what they do generally it is pretty routine. Having said that it carries its risks which if the force is against you can be serious but statsiticlly not very likely.
rod