Rob even though you have no pain do not stop all your tablets at once. The hospital gave me the same tablets as I was already taking and said my GP must sort out stopping them. He is a cautious soul and would only let me drop one Tramadol. a week and I only finished taking the last one a day last week. My pregablin he reduced the dose first of all and then cut one tablet a day. I am currently cutting the second on alternate days then every third day.
You are in hospital the same stay as me - two nights and I was then given the choice of coming home or staying a third night. I voted to lose the motorway noise!!! I think my surgeon only came to see me at the end of his operating day on the Friday because it was the weekend coming up, and after that I saw the senior registrar and junior doctors.
I have been back to the hospital I had the op at today for a physio assessment before physio treatment starting at MRI tomorrow. The girl assessing me thought I had made excellent progress and said they do not do many operations on people my age!!! Apparently they would normally not do a discectomy as they cannot tell until inside you whether you have turned to stone. In my case I was lucky as because he was operating on my spinal canal he was already inside and found he could do the disc as well!! Whilst she thinks my recovery and progress as far as the op is concerned is very good she does not consider I will improve any further because the rest is down to my osteoarthritis of the spine. I am however, very pleased with as far as I have got - seeing as how he only gave me a 50-60% chance of success it is far, far more than that but I shall just have to accept I will not be running, or walking marathons (darn it!!!!)
I agree - we must all think of Clare now (and Wend too).
Good luck with your recovery.
Angela
Hi all
Right, im 3 days post op and so far so good. I came home yesterday as planned after a two night stay in hospital. The sciatic leg pain appeared all but gone but i was not sure until i was able to get up out of bed with the help of the PT's. It was an amazing feeling to finally be pain free. Having be signed off by the doctors and PT's i was allowed home yesterday with Paracetamol only for the pain. I was mobile at hospital and to be honest didnt find sitting terribly uncomfortable but i know it is the worse position to be in so remain in a laying down position for the most part. Last night i slept like a log in my own bed and woke this morning to what i can only describe as my kind of heaven........no, Nicole Scherzingger wasn't next to me!!! I was pain free in the left leg and butt. Mornings had always been my problem, the pain would always be at its peak on waking up and although never went would decline to an ache as the day wore on or as the tablets really kicked in. Surprisingly, i have been getting the occasional numbness in the right thigh as opposed to the left leg where all my problems arose from but ive put this down to no more than being laid up for the most part and some nerve damage from the presumed prodding the surgeons may have done. It is not painful at all, just numb so i can live with that! Its still very early on in my recovery and having read Hughs and Angelas stories they both have experienced the occasional return of sciatica or pain so im prepared for this but i can only remain positive at this stage and thank my lucky stars i appear to have had a reasonable result!
I will give updates regularly as have others before me, in the meantime! Love and best wishes to you all!
Back to Breaking Bad on Netflix......being in bed has some benefits! lol!
Rob
All good, all good.
I must admit the thing that surprises me most is your assertion that you will be back at work in six weeks. I am amazed they are even considering that given your job. Driving all day - particularly in London - will be very hard indeed. Are you sure they know your job when they said that. Most people are told they can drive very short distances at 4-6 weeks. Actually the hospital Clare and I attend say three months.
I bet Rio was glad to see you again.
love, Angela
Seeing Rio was amazing! He was all over me, bless him lol!
As for the six weeks Angela, thats what my surgeon said.....having said that and knowing my job and what it entails i will be making a steady return and only doing short shifts initially with plenty of breaks to stretch and exercise the legs and back.
I dont want to do anything that could jeopardise what so far hs done wonders.
Regards
Rob x
Morning all
Well im six days in now post op and i feel im at a bit of a crossroads i guess. I have shared a couple of PM's with Hugh who has done his level best to keep me positive so for that i thank you mate.
Well, in respect to how i was i am still much better. I always knew the chances of 100% relief was very rare but vast improvement was probable. The feelings and sensations i currently have are nowhere near as crippling as pre op but i do have a couple of concerns. As you all know my left side was my problem and since the op i now have a peculiar prickly heat/tingling sensation in the top of the right thigh which works its way around to the outside of the thigh. It is not a pain but more of a sensation which was never present pre op. If when i wake and yawn and you know how you stretch your body i do get a millisecond of pain in that area as the stretch reaches its peak but other than that it goes back to this numb to the touch and tingling feeling.The butt pain from the left and hamstring pain from pre opp has all but gone, although i do get some slight sciatic pain in the left calf particularly down by the ankle but again nowhere near as bad as pre op and only a 2-3/10 on the pain scale. So you can see, its not as bad as before but its all the not knowing how each day will be and how it might resolve itself.
Sorry for going off on one, feel free to tell me to shut the hell up, lol!
Have great Sunday everyone.
Rob
Rob I really would not worry about the sensation in your right leg. Pre op I had pain in both legs and some numbness and burning on right thigh. Post op the sciatic pain had gone and the burning but the numbness in right thigh was worse plus the other slightly odd sensations you have been getting. The sen registrar who examined me the last day in hospital told me not to worry as I must bear in mind all the poking round they had done higher up had upset the area. Both he and the physio told me that the numbness would be likely to be the last thing to clear. My numbness finally cleared completely two weeks ago but still get some tenderness and the occasional twinge when I wake up.
I have just had four really bad days - a lot of back pain standing and walking and really unsure whether it is something wrong with the op, my osteoarthritis coming back with a vengeance, I have done toomuch or too little, the effect of coming off the last of my medication or the result of two sessions of physio on Tuesday/Wednesday at the two hospitals. I am currently in bed lying on the frozen peas. On Friday I have an appt with the rheumatology consultant and the following Tuesday my post op appt with neuro surgeon. I desperately want to have some idea what is going on before then so I can get some answers.
Angela
Brillo1902, for what it is worth, my experience post op has also been some nerve pain returning around the one to two week mark. Well, either pain returning or a sign of the anaesthetic and stronger meds wearing off and unmasking what was there already. I was a bit anxious about this too but it resolved well after a few days. When it came back in a milder form again I found either lying down or walking helped.
Thanks Angela and Subi......i just think i need to be more realistic here! I dont enjoy my own company a great deal and nor do i like feeling like a prisoner in my own bed! Its so damn boring and im not particularly interesting! Been watching a great series on Netflix called Breaking Bad but watched about 60 hours of it now and only 3 hours left so ill be completely at a loose end soon.
Thanks again!!
As for today, nothing really to report....the sensation in my right leg has definitely lessened but not gone altogether. When i wake in the morning and stretch it does hurt a little. Im going to go for a few more walks i think just to break things up a little more.
Best regards
Rob x
Hi gang
Im pleased to say im feeling much better and more optimistic now!
Stupidly i had stopped taking my meds and have now gone back to them which has definitely had an impact
The numbing sensation in the right leg has decreased and only intermittent now.
The sciatica in my left leg has reduced significantly again!
I think i was doing too much, and not listening to my body!
Thanks to everyone who has been supportive throughout!
Team Sciaitcans.............I love you all!! (Guys included, oo-er missus!)
🙂
Good to hear Rob, recovery is a rollercoaster!
Hi all
11 days into post op and i gotta say the improvements are slow and methodical but they are improvements, nonetheless!
I still get the numb sensation intermittently in my right thigh but it does not bother me now. The sciatica feelings in my left leg are also intermittent and not debillitating at all at the moment. If the operation was not going to be the 100% cure i and others all hoped for it had to atleast improve things significantly and so far it has done that! Ive still not heard from PT dept but i think another week and that will begin. The clips came out today and didnt hurt in the slightest.
Overall, im very happy with where im at and the walking is coming along too! Took Rio for the first time yesterday and he loved it! Things are looking up.............albeit only slightly lol!
Have a great weekend everyone!
Rob
Sounds like you're heading in the right direction which is good. I think the first 2 weeks are toughest and it get incrementally easier after that.
Team sciaticans makes me think of that tv show where you had to do gladiatorial things. Erm, perhaps it was called Gladiator?? All sorts of activities that would of course be no good whatsoever for the spine!!! 😀 that said they run a gym class near me that looks like a cross between Spider-Man and gladiators so maybe there's something in it.
Glad things are going well Rob - just don't be too impatient. The trouble is, that certainly in my case, the first five days were a doddle. No pain or discomfort - even the wound was completely pain free and getting in and out of bed no problem either. I think to a certain degree you are cushioned by the anaesthetic and the morphine on day one and two and then you are not really doing much at first. Then after about day 5 you increase your walking from a little trot round the house to short walks outside and you start getting the occasional twinge or pull. You are also cutting down your medication or even stopping it and this is not necessarily straightforward. But ...... the operation was definitely worthwhile and we just have to put up with a certain amount of snakes and ladders and not forget we have had an operation.
Glad Rio is keeping you on your toes.
Angela
Hi Rob
How are things going apart from the boredom of being at home? Are you and Rio managing some good walks yet though weather has not been conducive to that.
I have just put my update on the bulging disc thread.
Angela
Hi Angela, glad to read from your post on the other thread that your recovery has gone aswell as you coudl have hoped for! Ever so happy for you and your family!
As for me, my backs absolutely gone and im in a bad bad way since i read your comment on my Facebook picture! That was my wife laying down with the dog, not me! She weren't impressed but i fell over laughing and still am PMSL!!
In all honesty, im doing well..... think i may have jumped the gun with the scepticism about my recovery. I am doing ever so well. I start PT tomorrow at 11am but the tingling and numbness in my right leg which was the new pain has diminshed and almost completely gone. As for the left leg which was always the problem, the butt pain appears to have gone altogether, certainly for the time being anyway and the thigh pain has reduced down to a bare 2/10 and even then only when i think about it. I have done lots of walking and even drove to the local shopping centre to do some Xmas shopping today with my wife. All good so far and the drive is only 15 minutes at worse!
Anyway, hope your all doing well! God bless!!!
Rob xxx