Flippy - I Rant, You Read
Monday, June 26, 2006
Two Month Surgery Anniversary
Two months (and three hours) ago I’d just gotten home from my outpatient microdiscectomy. I had a large herniated disc at L4-5 that wasn’t responding to conservative treatment. So, I popped in to my local hospital for a 45 minute surgery. When I woke up in recovery, all I could think about was how sore my throat was from the breathing tube. Ick, they should warn you that that’s going to happen. Then, the nurse got me a cookie and something to drink. As a chaser, I got two Percocet. After that, she walked me to the bathroom (omigawd, I think I’d blocked this part out), helped me take off the anti-embolism stockings while yelling at me, “Don’t bend at the waist! Don’t bend like that! Ack, how many times do I have to tell you?”. Then, she helped me to the toilet to pee. I had so forgotten that part. Anyway, she was a fabulous nurse (thank you, Susan, at Valley Hospital—and Tracey, who was with me before surgery) and for some reason (could it have been the drugs????) I wasn’t at all embarrassed. We got that taken care of, so she got me into a wheelchair and took me downstairs to my parents’ car. I was a bit surprised that I only felt uncomfortable getting into the car, there wasn’t any pain. I guess when you’ve just gotten out of anesthesia and just taken two Percocets, you’re feelin’ no pain.
When I got home, I did what everyone does after surgery. I ate Jell-O. I think we had whipped cream for it (my general preference), but I couldn’t be bothered. I managed the stairs okay right from the start though. I was slow, but pretty steady. We settled in for a bit of tv watching. I posted a bit to let people know I was alive. And then, I was exhausted. Here’s where I give advice - if you have a raised bed, like we do, make sure you have a regular bed for about a week after surgery. My first night was horrible because I had to pee constantly, but mostly wasn’t able to because the drugs gave me urinary retention. I must’ve gotten in and out of bed at least a dozen times during the night. By morning, the muscles in my thighs and hips were KILLING me. My legs hurt way more than my back. I loaded up on pain pills, but nothing would make it go away completely. So, regular height bed, people.
My first week was a haze of pain pills and hockey. I couldn’t sit for long periods of time (nor was I supposed to) because it hurt. It hurt to sit and watch tv. It hurt to sit at my computer. I could only lay down on my side, with a pillow between my legs. My legs were super sore the whole week. But, if you had the easy in-n-out bed, you probably wouldn’t end up feeling that badly.
Our serious pool algae (our filter got blocked, underneath the solar cover) started at that time. We were fully stocked with groceries because we had a bunch delivered, but they can’t deliver pool chemicals. I finally felt brave and drove a block the grocery store. I took a pillow to cushion the incision, but I didn’t feel horrible. I shuffled through the store carefully, worried that people rushing around would run into me. I started to feel a little faint when we were waiting to check out, but part of that was because it was warm in store. I sat down while Leigh-Ann checked out, then we walked over to Starbucks. Hey, it had been a week!
The first several weeks were very disappointing for me because everything I’d read about successful herniated disc surgeries said that patients felt immediate relief from leg pain. I didn’t. Not for a few weeks at least. Last month though, my surgeon told me that the nerve was, “red, angry, and twisted”, so he expected it would take some time for it to heal. He did a few tests and said I was 70% better. At the time, I didn’t really believe him. Now, I do.
I’ve gone from having pain going down both upper thighs, and down my left calf, to very very rare pain in my right leg and a lot of improvement in my left leg. My symptoms seem to be reversing, in order. I no longer have any left calf pain at all, even if I do a lot of walking. The left thigh pain comes and goes, but mostly it’s pretty good. One thing I do have is the occasional sciatica that is a stabbing pain in my butt. Literally. My bladder seems to be getting better, but not in a predictable fashion. Still, it’s going in the right direction and some days I’m perfectly normal. The incision healed well, although it still looks like railroad tracks. So, even though I’m mad about wasting money on the injections, I’m happy I had the surgery. I’m doing a lot better. I have a follow-up with the surgeon on Thursday and hopefully he can get them to get moving on the physical therapy. They were supposed to have called me a while ago after they’d set it up. I think that’s the final thing I’ll need to feel close to 100%.
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Hey,
Thanks for the update, good to hear you’re getting better. I know when you first get the disc herniation and how bad it is, and you feel your world is caving in… then the thought of a back operation…
I’ve had the epidural injection, and just hanging out at home waiting, although 12 days out from my injection I’m starting to improve.. although I’ve still got serious pain in my left bum cheek, thigh and calf (and almost ankle).
Anyhow sounds like your mending well, keep us posted on your continual improvement, I’m interested to see how long it takes you to get to 100% (hopefully not too long).
Kind Regards,
Matt
http://www.mylifemytravel.com/wolffMatt on 06/26 at 11:20 PM -
I was so glad to read this post! Thrilled that you’re so much better and that the prognosis is good for even more improvement.
Helly on 06/27 at 01:38 AM -
That really is good news. Thanks for the update!
Nancy on 06/28 at 04:22 PM
