Well that's me off my bike for a while

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

I still have to learn to sit again, and my right leg is still weaker than my left but nothing worse than pre op...

 

[fossyant]

Good news indeed

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

Good news indeed

It is, but there is still a long recovery ahead, however my consultant had told me not to get rid of my 2 wheeled bikes and that he may even get me walking with only 1 crutch for life rather than 2 which is also good news but indicative of the fact he also doesn't think that there is much chance of a 100% recovery from before my disc went to now sadly.

 

[Saluki]

Great news.
Full steam ahead for a nice recovery and a semblance of normality? Get well soon (couldn't find a grape 'smiley')

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

best news ive seen for a while

Hour ate you doing?
And in English, how are you doing?

 

[raleighnut]

The op went really well thank you. I was only on theatre for 4 hours and son back on the ward. I have recovered far better than expected by anyone and have been cleared by physio and my consultant to come home today,

I didn't realise that you were expecting
I hope mother and baby are fine.



I blame the Morphine.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

It has actually been pointed out that I am seriously lucky I haven't been pregnant to full term because there is no way my back would have lasted a pregnancy at all and then there would have been very little that could have been done! And that was from my consultant.

 

[ScotiaLass]

The op went really well thank you. I was only on theatre for 4 hours and son back on the ward. I have recovered far better than expected by anyone and have been cleared by physio and my consultant to come home today, 2 days earlier than expected. The PCA came and catheter came out a day earlier than usual and I have walled with crutches sooner than expected.

I've been back on the level of pain meds I was on before the op for a couple of days now and my consultant has made it clear he wants me to continue taking the pain meds rather than not exercising. I can try cycling again in 3-4 weeks time. I see him again in 6 weeks. I would see physio at the hospital if I had any way of getting to them... Do they have left me with instructions which is basically to carry on with what I am doing.

I'm also taller and not just taller in the 'I now have the disc height back' but also in a my pelvis and spine never held this position before.

The only downside is that I have a chest infection, but we were expecting that. I had a rattle before they operated but was completely symptom free. I'm still symptom free in that there is no temperature or anything like that, but my chest is no longer clear so cultures are being done.

However it won't stop me going home today.
So currently all positive.

Great news! I've been thinking about you and wondering how you were doing.
Keep going girl!

 

[roadrash]

Hour ate you doing?
And in English, how are you doing?

im doing ok thanks , back feels better than ever but pain and numbness down my right leg, some days un bearable ( feels like the worst toothache imaginable, but in leg ) others , not too bad . Been told to expect it as the nerves that were trapped begin to repair themselves, and to allow up to 18 months for them to repair fully.
stitches come out tomorrow

I wish you well , and if your leg pain is like mine , you have my sympathy, good luck.

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

im doing ok thanks , back feels better than ever but pain and numbness down my right leg, some days un bearable ( feels like the worst toothache imaginable, but in leg ) others , not too bad . Been told to expect it as the nerves that were trapped begin to repair themselves, and to allow up to 18 months for them to repair fully.
stitches come out tomorrow

I wish you well , and if your leg pain is like mine , you have my sympathy, good luck.

I have been lucky in that sense. I had all the incredibly intense leg pain back at Christmas & through the New Year and now have the nerve pain meds high enough to deal with it (Pregabalin 300mg three times a day - I prefer their side effects to the nerve pain!). I get a lot of aching in the muscles and you can trace the sciatic nerve through the leg by where it is most painful, but the rest of the pain I can deal with with the morphine and paracetamol. I do get leg pain, I have it now, so I guess there is still a lot of healing for me to do as well. I have a high bone density diet planned (or continued because I was already treating osteoporosis myself rather than via drugs) which should help with the new bone generation - I still have no idea on where the bone graft was taken from, I totally forgot to ask, but I don't have any other scars so I guess he used the same entry site.

Sometimes the pain is bad enough to have my leg cramped up in pain and it is very clearly all down the sciatic nerve. The muscle pain I have been told to deal with using morphine. It is a toss up between taking enough morphine and pregabalin and not knowing what day of the week it is, to putting up with the pain and being lucid! Some days are better than others as you say and I have been working on the staying/getting active option as much as possible which really has helped even when I have really not felt like doing it. I am desperately stubborn like that!

It does look like there is some permanent nerve damage for me, but at least it comes in the form of paralysis and weakness rather than continual nerve pain - I have been there and done that and it is hell! it is telling that he has said he hopes to get me walking again with only the 1 crutch but probably not ever without.

Curiously I don't have a very big scar and have no stitches to come out at all!

I would have physio if I was able to get to them, but I can ring them anytime to arrange it as needed if I am able to travel in a car that far anytime soon!
Otherwise I just need to keep doing what I have been doing, which is being bloody minded and getting up and out twice a day no matter what (and using the morphine to enable to me to do that!).

 

[roadrash]

your description of the leg/nerve pain is exactly the same. i dont know about your bone graft but mine was done using artificial graft material, and then the metalwork,
interesting that you have no stitches to be removed, i have two incisions that run parralel for about 4 inches at the base of my spine L4/L5, Im currently using both crutches (one when mrs roadrash isnt nagging) i will be losing one very shortly, Dont know about you but i find sitting and standing from a sitting position to be a killer ,when standing as shown by physio, its the last little bit , tucking bum in and straightning up arrgghh hurts thinking about it,
annoyed with myself that i forgot to get a copy or photo of xray, will have to wait for follow up appointment in 3 weeks.
I have been given no extra pain relief just carry on with original , fentanyl patch 600 mg gabapentin 3x daily , 2x daily 25mg amytriptyline, paracetamol as and when.

 

[Scoosh]

and GWS to both of our CC Tough Nuts !

 

[andytheflyer]

Well done SNSSO. Looks like progress. If one leg's stronger than the other you'll have to take up haggis chasing (..around hills.....).

The partial paralysis and weakness in one leg is what I ended up with after my cervical decompressions - mine has partly worn off now. Never did get around to haggis chasing, can't stand the stuff.

 

[Ganymede]

Good to hear your news, @SatNavSaysStraightOn - I hope your recovery continues and you Get Well Soon!

Also best regards to @roadrash - keep b*ggering on!

 

[SatNavSaysStraightOn]

your description of the leg/nerve pain is exactly the same. i dont know about your bone graft but mine was done using artificial graft material, and then the metalwork,
interesting that you have no stitches to be removed, i have two incisions that run parralel for about 4 inches at the base of my spine L4/L5, Im currently using both crutches (one when mrs roadrash isnt nagging) i will be losing one very shortly, Dont know about you but i find sitting and standing from a sitting position to be a killer ,when standing as shown by physio, its the last little bit , tucking bum in and straightning up arrgghh hurts thinking about it,
annoyed with myself that i forgot to get a copy or photo of xray, will have to wait for follow up appointment in 3 weeks.
I have been given no extra pain relief just carry on with original , fentanyl patch 600 mg gabapentin 3x daily , 2x daily 25mg amytriptyline, paracetamol as and when.

its the changing of position that does me in, but right now it is surgical pain that is getting me, so even lying back against something hurts like blazes. tucking my bum in and straightening is not something I need think about with it being L5-S1. I can't do anything else! I haven't looked at the wound yet - that will be 3 days before I have any idea, but I got the impression that I had a single wound of around 3 inches, but I need to check that bit. There is also the drain site... I haven't had an x-ray done. I guess he is confident enough with his work and my recovery... in fact so far I haven't had a single x-ray at all, just 3 MRI's. won't be loosing any crutches any time soon. I find only 1 is problematic for me, it causes me a lot of pain and I don't really know which one to loose because I have the pre-existing issues to deal with as well which include a left wrist which has had 11 operations on it. right now I just want to find a comfy position and can't! I think my buttock muscles are bruised as well!