My Micro Discectomy Diary.........

Best of luck Rob and hope all goes according to plan. 🙂

Good news Rob. As you know I lost my nerve and took myself off the list. Later I thought I really did not want to put up with the pain and medication forever and went ahead. Three weeks now and so pleased I went ahead. The aftermath of the op was nowhere as bad as I thought and already I can see improvements - not least the lack of nerve pain.

How long is the waiting list?

Angela

Thanks Angela! No idea on date yet although i have been quite lucky that i managed to get a contact in the outpatients department and she is having a word with the admissions team and asking that i be considered for any cancellations. Im nervous but know in my heart of hearts its the only option i have left available to me!

And thanks Caroline, very kind of you to offer your support and course ill keep you updated!

Take care all!

Rob x

Hi Rob,

Good news that you're now in the queue. Looks like someone else is on the list now 🙂

[url]BBC Sport - Andy Murray: Back surgery set to end Wimbledon champion's year[/url]

Hm. Interesting. I wonder how long it will be before he can get back to full training.

Rob. If you are going down the cancellation route you could go into hospital quickly. It suddenly occurred to me to make a couple of suggestions in advance.

Buy a packet of frozen peas to lie on after exercise. I use them for about 20 minutes after my two walks of the day. Do put them in a plastic carrier bag or the bed or chair will be very wet! Ice packs can also be used but many of these are uncomfortable and unless you have them already more expensive.

Buy one of those things the street cleaners use to pick up things from the floor. One of the hardest things is remembering and overcoming the urge to bend. A light plastic version does not cost much and I find it really good.

Angela

Thanks Hugh, hope your still fighting fit!

And thanks too Angela, got so much to consider about the hospital stay and recovery lol! I hadnt thought about anything to be honest lol!

Cheers guys!

Mornign team!

I have started a blog to keep a track of my progress and to keep a track of dates etc.....follow it here if at all interested!

[url]Being one of London's Finest Black Cabbies and coping (or not) with Sciatica[/url]

Theres two entries so far!

Have a great Sunday all!

Rob!

Hi,

I know I am not the most popular of people on these forums due to ancieties but I would like to say something positive to you. For sciatica, a discectomy is more or less curative. I kean, I had my op in June and sciatica was gone. I had zero surgical pain (literally). Since my muscles had atrophied recovery was bound to be protracted and complicated. If your psoture is fine, then your pain will be eliminated and surgery related discomfort will be gone within four weeks. If the sciatica goes, your life will be back to normal. I think people who have had what I had have a nuch longer and ore complicated experience of recovery since the hard work os left to do after the surgery. My surgery only removed the cause of my deformity, but the postural and muscle imbalances can take months to improve and until they do, severe disconfort is experienced. I do wish you all the best. I know you will be having the surgery where I had mine. The surgical teams at the hospital are very experienced and perform this surgery routinely. They put dissolving sutures in my incision. Apparently this is not always done at that hospital so tell your surgeon on the day of the surgery that you will perform them. Getting the staples out is hardly going to be fun. My incision was covered by a very thick bandage. It did not cause any pain but since it was so fat, it provided some reassurance. The docs can see signs of bleeding and discharge through it. My bandage was dry and on day three it was changed to a reduced size dressing before I was discharged. I was given a corset which I was unable to wear due to my postural defor ity (it actually made my movement much worse). On day one the physio may not see you. My ohysio did not see me until the next afternoon, more than 24 hours after the surgery qnd I was quite annoyed by that because you need some advice regarding movements. The physio told me it is standard practice for them to take this long. I thought this was fairly pathetic because the nurses didn't always know what surgery I just had and didn't even care if O got up or stayed in bed. I was quite surprised as to how many nurses asked me what surgery I just had. I was allowed to get up within an hour of returning to the ward and the nurse who helped me did something really stupid. I was obviously groggy. I needed to pee so I asked them to help me get up (the surgeon had written I could mobilise on the day in his notes). A nurse told me how to get up she took. Me to the toilet with my IV fluid thing, but she did not wait in the toilet or even outside. It was very dangerous as I could have fainted and within a minute I felt so light headed. I opened the door and thankfully the sister was there and she helped me back to bed. I don't think the aftercare is great down there, but you can get through it in two ways. First, ask your surgeon what you can and cannot do after surgery. Also, make sure you ask them to let you use the commode. It is much better tha walking to the toilet since your back is still a little wobbly so soon after surgery. Contrary to what others may have reported, sitting is not a problem. I actuallybsat on the commode for forty mjnutes or so at a time on day one because it was hard to pee and it took time (I found the beeping sounds and talking in the ward very distracting so I used my phone to drown out the sounds by listening to Miles Davies, but it still took time to get going). I asked the nurses if sitting so long would harm my back and theybsaid most of the patients with disc surgery use the commode and sometimes it takes time and it does bot cause any damage. The things that would not usually cause a disc prolapse are not a risk. It may be uncomfortable to sit because youbjustbhad surgery but it does not cause a recurrence. The doctors told me that a prolapse is a wear and tear problem so even if you do prolapse again it will happen over time. Be sensible but don't be afraid either.
Anyway, I am going to sleep now. Take care and I hope it all goes well.

Thanks Hope!! Appreciate the heads up!!!! Top man!!!!

I had the date for my surgery confirmed this afternoon, i was fortunate because i managed to get the email address of someone at the hospital who has helped get appointments brought forward and changed etc. I was looking at somewhere towards the summer of 2014 but with her help ive managed to get an appointment for October 14th so only about two weeks away!!

Excited but also nervous! Will keep you all up to date!!

Regards

Rob

Hi Rob,

Great news, 2 weeks will fly by! Look forward to reading you updates on your blog!

Hi Rob

So glad for you. You do not want too much time thinking about it. I am four weeks' this weekend and doing fine. You will lie in the ward after the op and wish you had gone for it before - I know I did. I too am reading your blog. I tried to join your facebook page but I guess you did not recognise my surname.

Angela

Thanks Hugh and Angela! Very kind of you both!!!

Angela, resend your request on facebook, you are correct i didn't recognise the name, DOH!!! lol

Apologies!

Bought myself a walking aid for when recovery begins in a few weeks......................:):):)

He/she is gorgeous and at least you can up your distances together gradually. What name have you given. What sort of spaniel is he/she.

Angela

Hey Angela

Being a big United fan it had to be something related.....a friends Doberman was called Trafford but he would have killed me if i'd have used that so we settled on.........Rio! lol

He is a King Charles Cavalier, aged 8 weeks and 3 days today. We collected him Tuesday, hes really settled in too. Going to the vets for a health check and first injections this afternoon too. He is a pedigree too with Kennel Club registration. His dad is a champion cav and so are lots more in his line. Not cheap, but we got a good'un!

Just love him to bits already!! Hee hee!!!

Rob x

Great idea Rob

Might just have to follow you with getting a dog. Having moved from a town to a village, there are not exactly many places to walk to, but having a dog allows you to wander aimlessly without looking stupid, and all of us post op know how much we should be walking!:D:D Good luck for your forthcoming surgery x

Wishing you all the best Rob - and hope all goes well with your recovery. Your little dog will be such a wonderful companion for you - and as you say, a good excuse to exercise at the same time. great idea.

Just called the hospital as planned to confirm my surgery for Monday and admission time. I have to be on the ward by 7.00am Monday 14th October 2013. Im 6'4" and a big wimp! Had a minor surgery on my wrist but it was private and same day in and out but this is going to be my first admission and i aint looking forward to it one little bit! Going to take my sons iPad with SIM so i can atleast get online so will hopefully be able to give you some updates from my hospital bed and to remain in touch with the outside world! Bricking it and want this weekend to last a lifetime! lol

Have a good one all!!

Hi Rob

No ...... you don't want this weekend to last forever, you are looking forward to awakening without the pain on Monday afternoon. The op itself is nothing to worry about honestly and you will probably only be in overnight, or two nights like I was.

love Angela

Yes this weekend will drag Rob - think of me turning up on the day of my planned surgery, only to have it postponed by NINE days (that was really hard). However like Angela says you will soon be largely free of your pain and after months of suffering that is absolute bliss 🙂 Will be thinking of you on Monday and trusting it all goes smoothly, there are some brilliant surgeons out there, working hard to make us all better. Keep us posted x

Great news Rob, seriously dont stress too much about the surgery just focus on the end result and not being in agony any more. Looking forward to reading about your update once you're out of surgery. I took my ipad in as well which was a good send. Didn't sleep much the first night. Good luck for Monday mate.

Thanks everyone for your kind wishes and thoughts! As some of you know have started a blog and added to it this morning. If interested.......................

[url]Being one of London's Finest Black Cabbies and coping (or not) with Sciatica[/url]

Take care all! x

Good luck for your op brillo1902

I'm 5 weeks into recovery (discectomy operation number two) and going well. It is much better being on the 'other side' of surgery and being able to feel like you are finally getting somewhere.

Hi Rob

Good luck for tomorrow. Just think 24 hours and the really bad pain will have vanished.

I suppose you are the last of the line - Emlou, Clare, Hugh, me and now finally yourself - we seem to have been on here a long time. You really had to join us eventually you know! I wonder how Emlou is doing.

With love and prayers, Angela

Thanks guys, off to bed now! Bag packed and raring to go........lol!!!! Not!!

Surprisingly, the pain has eased right off in the last 48 hours down to a 3-4/10. Almost tempted to cancel, but i know that im only one false move away from excruciating agony so here we go..............speak tomorrow night!!

Love to you all!! x

Morning team, right it's the morning after and I don't really know a great deal. Yesterday was a long day. Had to be on the admission ward for 7am but found out I was last down for surgery so a long wait and not being able to drink was awful. Anyway got the call and was anaesthetised about 2pm. Woke up in recovery about 4pm and the leg pain appeared and appears to have gone. The only pain is where they cut me open. I was given morphine for this and told I could request it as and when needed. I'm pleased to say I have not needed it so far. Once a bed had been made available on the ward I was transported and dumped in the care of the ward nurses. Slightly taken back really because no one at this point had given me a how it went, what I can and can't do etc......I thought this was a little off. As yet no one has still told me except for the fact I will have a visit from a physio today. So with this all in mind I still can't give you a definitive how it went. I've gad a **** nights sleep but this is because of the gentleman I'm sharing this ward with. Also trying to pee in a bottle because they don't want me up yet proved a challenge with all this commotion. I'll be surprised if I had more than an hours sleep lol.

All the best

Rob

Great news Rob. Glad it is over and it sounds pretty much all normal. Sad about the night's sleep. When I had mine we had the motorway and the railway outside the windows to cope with and as a very hot night we had to have windows open.

I did know later in day how it had gone as the surgeon called in to see me. However, when I asked him a question about doing something (cannot now remember what) he said and I quote - I've done my bit, nothing to do with me the physios tell you all that. I too didn't see the physios until the second day so that is quite normal though the nurses did get me up in the night to use a commode. Think they had to really as earlier I had used one of the very very shallow spinal bedpans and they upended the lot under me so a complete bed change was necessary. I guess it also depends what time your op was. Mine was 10 am in the morning.

Once it got to the physios they do the exercises with you and in theory show you how to get in and out of bed. However, the nurses had already done that bit. Although I thought my hospital great, the only crit I would give is that you were given little or no advice even to direct questions and to be honest I have just followed what Emlou and particularly Hugh has said.

Great to see you on our side of the op. Take care.

love, Angela

Thanks Angela, been told I can go home tomorrow. The physio was happy for me to go today but nurses and doctor would rather tomorrow morning. I had the drain removed from the incision this afternoon and was taken for a walk off the ward and up and down one flight of stairs. The physio was taken back by the ease at which I was doing it all. Saw the surgeon this afternoon and he said everything went according to plan and the incision was very minimal. So far no leg or butt pain and still managing without pain killers. Early signs are promising. Now my thoughts and concerns turn to Clare who has without doubt been dealt the short straw and suffers more than the rest of us combined. Good luck at the hospital tomorrow and my thoughts will certainly be with you.

Regards

Rob

Great news Rob, glad to hear that it all went well. I didn't see the surgeon until the next day. Apparently we spoke when I was in recovery and despite being lucid, I cannot recall speaking to her at all!

Just be aware that you may feel an increase in pain after a couple of days once the steroids wear off but compared to the pre op pain is easy to deal with. Use ice along with any painkillers. Dont be a martyr, if you start feeling sore, take some painkillers.

Next time I'm in London, I'll buy you a pint. Promise not to make you go 'south of the river' 😉