Microdiscectomy Surgery Tomorrow

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Sookie:

Do you mind if I ask how you hurt your back and what is your age.
My injuries are from lifting heavy weights at the gym and I am 41 years old.
Dr. Andrew Fine seems like a VERY competent doctor. I feel like I trust him with my life. But for some reason, for the last month I have been suddenly suffering from Tinnitus (ringing in the ears). I think it might have been because I was taking too much Vicodin and Motrin. I stopped about 1 month ago COLD TURKEY!!! It was hard but I did it. Dr. Kenneth Giraldo is my Pain Management doctor. He is great also. He is in the same office as your surgeon. Did Dr. Glasser perform a Laminectomy with your discectomy? I had both done in Septeraber of 2001 in New York City, Mount Sinai Hospital. I also had a 2 level cervical fusion in Noveraber of 2005 in NYC at NYU hospital. Both were successful. I now have only 20% of my L/5-S/1 left. 80% is gone, causing a lot of lower back pain but no sciatica pain. Sick of all these igym njuries. I am an idiot. I thought working out was supposed to be good for you? What level did you have your surgery on?

Good Luck recovering, keep me updated.

Your Friend,Joe.
 
I am also looking at the same surgery. Please continue to post updates on your surgery and recovery. Thank you.
 
Hi All - I decided to start a new thread to post updates/progress for my upcoming surgery tomorrow. The support and experiences on this board have been very helpful on the process of getting to this point. Thank you all! Hopefully my experience may be helpful for others. The surgery is a minimally invasive microdiscectomy foraminatomy (spelling?). The nuero says it's an hour long procedure that will be outpatient. With surgery scheduled for 1:30 PM I hope to be home for prime time TV. I am keeping my fingers crossed.
 
I missed my appointment with Dr. Fine. My ears were ringing so bad that I could not leave my house. I think Dr. Fine is mad at me.
 
GOD BLESS YOU SOOKIEPOOKA for sharing your
MICRODISCECTOMY SURGERY Journey with us.
It's surgery that my wife wanted instead of
going through the six hour major HEMILAMINECTOMY
that this surgeon did for a Bulging Herniated Disc
L-5 S1 that includes all the hardware. After all this
surgery, there is now impingement on the nerve
from a bone. Very risky corrective surgery is required.
17 months later I'm still in pain, still on pain killers,
still doing PT twice a week. Having this surgery was
a big mistake and what hurts the most emotionally,
I didn't have the final say, final okay about this major
surgery. SURGEON DID A BAIT AND SWITCH ON THE
DAY OF THE SURGERY.

Have a speedy recovery SOOKIEPOOKA and your prayers
are with me.

Leticia
 
to sookiepooka,Joe and megannicole
Hi
I'm a new meraber and I too am looking at lower back surgery for herniated disc L4and L5. Needless to say that most people I deal with find it difficult to believe that I am in so much pain. Some background information on me I am 6 feet 2 1/2 inches tall weight to 235 two 240 and I've been surfing since July 16, 1969 the running joke in my family is the day man stepped on the moon I got my first surfboard and the Moon Landing got all the press.

I've had back problems(degenerative disc) since my early 20s but was able to keep it under control with exercise and stretching. I hurt my back by my employer decided because of my size I should be able to lift a 200 pound machine bent at the waist and extended over a 3 foot table. When I was picking up this machine about halfway through the left it felt like someone had taken a baseball bat to my lower back. I then had an ongoing argument with my manager about this type of lifting his typical response was your big strong man you should be able to do this with no problem. At the time of this injury I was 52 years old and in fine health. For the last 16 weeks I've been sitting at home on disability because my company did not want to deal with me anymore, they still insist they have done nothing wrong. This will be less time I complain about my situation like you guys I hope to keep a positive attitude towarRAB the surgery and recovery time.
Thanks for letting me read along.
Sincerely
Doug(tearabailey)
 
I am glad to hear you are feeling better. Keep it up.
What did you think of Dr. Glasser?
Where did they do the surgery?
 
Good luck to the both of you having surgery I am scheduled for a one level fusion 360 on 20 Jan so I do understand about waiting.
 
Hey sookiepooka...it must be surgery day tomorrow. I will be having a 360 done. Hope yours turns out well.

Megss thank you for all those pointers. I forgot about the raised toilet seat and shower chair. Boy this is going to be an adventure. Linda
 
Day 3 after discectomy. I feel very heavy and tired today. Legs almost feel like they are on autopilot. I think I'm just really exhausted. I did manage to get out for a walk. It was nice to get out. Walked about a half block and back. I'm getting some strong nerve aches in my butt and down my legs from time to time. Mostly it happens when the meRAB are wearing off and I've been laying down. They do go away, so I think it is just the nerves trying to heal up. Dr. Glasser said that the herniation was huge and the disc material was wrapped around the nerves so he expects moderate discomfort to the nerves for some time. So I'll try not to freak out. It is so scary though to have to same type of pain I had before the surgery. Luckily as I said it goes away with the meRAB. I'll continue to monitor it to make sure it does not worsen. I have cut down on the meRAB a litlle so I can get a real grasp of where I am and how much physical activity I can do without overdoing it. So I'm in a balancing act a little.
I go in to the doc's for a follow up on Thursday.
Joe-Glasser's been OK. I've only seen him two or three times including surgery. He has be nice and I have no compliants. He is very busy though and I have been rescheduled a few times because he is the oncall trauma surgeon at Sarasota Memorial. At least I know he gets a lot of practice. My surgery was at SMH. The staff at the hospital were great. They took wonderful care of me. The doctor's office staff have been responsive. Especially the surgery coordinator. With the doctor's oncall status he has a hard job and does it well.

Gratefully,
SP;)
 
Alright, this will probably be my last post unless someone has questions or comments for me. Things have progressed well every week. This week I have had a bit much of pain down the legs though. However, I have been more active and life does not slow down because I want it to. The swelling at the incision site has gone down to the size of a ping pong ball. Because of the swelling and my increased activity I am still in a bit of pain down my legs(sciatica). I called my surgeon to see if this was typical. They said it was typical and it could take 6-8 weeks for this swelling to go down enough for the leg pain to stop. I am still taking a small dose of lorcet (5-10mg) a couple times a day to help with the pain. I also throw in some advil in between doses. I was hoping to be off them meRAB altogether but I'll have to wait a little longer. Has anyone else experienced this a little more than a month post-op having pain enough to take meRAB?
Thanks to all of you for your comments and support over the past few months. It certainly made my surgery and injury more tolerable. The knowledge given to me by you has been a great help. So THANKS!!!!!:wave:

Gratefully,
Todd
 
Tomorrow is 3 weeks port-op. I am back to normal activity without doing any athletics or strainful activities. Gotta tell ya. This week going back to work full time has been hard pain wise. I am having sciatica aches that are moderate. What a bummer. I went to my post-op checkup yesterday and talk to the dr. He indicated this is par for the coarse so no need to be alarmed. My herniation was "massive" ( his term not mine) and the nerves were not happy. I'm to use good body mechanics and able to lift again. However, not allowed to strain or lift heavy items for another two weeks or so. Be careful! Even though I'm having the pains I still feel like I'm moving forward successfully and things will continue to get better.
The golf ball swelling on at the incision site will be there up to six weeks per the Dr. I have been using ice for that. I think when that swelling goes down the sciatica will improve significantly. The pain hurts but it is a different hurt than before the surgery. I am not sure if that makes sense but I don't know how to describe it. I'll keep trying to stay positive although yesterday was a bit hard.
Leticia - I totally understand your frustration. We have to be our own advocate. At times I have had to be a bit rude to my primary because they would listen to me about how bad I was when this injury happened. But in the end I had to stand up for what I thought was proper treatment and testing. It worked for me and the results justified my standing up for myself. It is hard to fight with Dr.'s that see so many of us with these type of problems on a daily basis. But sometimes necessary. I even changed Dr's when I would not get the appropriate response during this process of mine. I say some prayers for you. Keep at it. YOU(WE) are worth it!

Sookiepooka
 
3 weeks and back to work? You are a stronger person than most!
SounRAB like you are on the right road to recovery. I knew that Neurosurgeons office was good. I just felt it immediately. Its a gut feeling but if you dont get it, DO NOT use that doctor. I am seeing Dr. Fine 2/9/10. I have to ask him about my new problem (Tinnitus). Its killing me! Talk about torture...
Can you get in and out of bed easily now?
Also, Does sitting in a regular chair hurt?

Keep strong, Joe.
 
Back to work tomorrow. The pain gets less and less. The swelling is better but still moderate. Waiting for the incision swelling to go down. I've been tapering on the meRAB which is a bit difficult to do. But it is good. Energy is getting back to normal and I feel like I'm finally moving forward. The pain is definitely better than before my surgery now. I was worried about that!!!! The only pain I'm having is a bit of nevrve pain from swelling dwon the legs but not horrible. And pain right at the spine where the work was done, again not horrible just annoying. I'll see my surgeon for a follow up on the 3rd. I don't expect there to be much but a "how do you feel?" kinda thing.

Thanks - Sookiepooka

Welcome Tearabailey!
 
Hi I'm a new meraber. Just to let you know, I had moderate to severe pain in my low back and neck. My back is getting better now, but my neck is still stiff. I am going through a new therapy that I found through my neurosurgeon. This therapy is supposedly a new thing in the US. I just know that after 2 treatments, I feel much more relaxed and the burning pain in my butt and leg was gone for about 2 hours. The crazy thing is that I was able to sleep a little bit better. The treatment took about 1 hour and the therapists put a unit that was electric on my back. It was like a TENS but they said it wasn't actually a TENS. They took it from the top to the bottom of my spine and on my face. I definitely was more relaxed after my first time. I just hope this works for me. In reading about your pain, just thought you might want to know.
 
hello,

my fiance is going through the same butt muscle ache and sciatica, and its one month post op for him (L5 S1 microdisectomy) ...please post your progress so that we can have an idea if the nerve pain will improve.

thanks!
 
Sookie, I'm just wondering if you could post your current progress, and which pain meRAB you found most helpful? It gives me great comfort that this has happened to others as well, and since I'm in the same situation, it would be great to find out more about what helped you. (My Dr. seems very top-notch but he's not so great at communicating things that are going to happen.)

I am 3 weeks post-microdiscectomy on L5-S1, and like you my symptoms are in some ways worse than pre-op. Like you I had back problems for years that finally went down my leg after a weightlifting incident, resulting in sciatica pain. Then 5 months later, I hurt it even worse, giving me nurabness in outer right toes and crippling leg pain, especially when standing up after driving or lying down.

My neurologist and a pain doc both thought my herniation was bad enough to require surgery, but I got a steroid epidural (with flouroscopy) as a last-ditch effort. That helped a lot, but not enough; just bought me enough time to meet with four surgeons to find someone I felt comfortable with.

A month after the injection, I finally got surgery since it was getting worse, not better.

Right after surgery I was obviously hurting pretty bad in the incision area, but my leg felt totally great and I thought I was cured! Problem is that after the post-op steroid pack finished, my leg pain started coming back gradually but strongly. Slightly different pain, more tingly and in some new areas in addition to the old ones, but nonetheless pretty scary, and bad like pre-op. I had Hydrocodone 7.5mg pain meRAB, which helped but didn't cure.

Two weeks post-op, by the time of my first post-op doctor visit when I got the staples out, my leg pain was approaching crippling again. Not as bad as before the epidural, but really bad. I basically never sit down since that makes it even worse: I'm always either standing or laying down. (As I write this I'm in bed with my laptop on a stand.)

My doc gave me more steroiRAB and Lyrica, but neither seem to be doing any good (it's been 5 days now), so in addition to those I'm still doing constant hydrocodone (7.5 every 4-6 hrs) and occasional Soma (muscle relaxant).

Anyone had experience with better pain meRAB for this post-surgical nerve pain? Luckily I'm a tutor who only HAS to sit for one-hour chunks 10 times a week, but even that is killing me.

Thanks to everyone for all the experiences you've already posted! And since this pain seems pretty common, any pain med recommendations that would help during regeneration would be greatly appreciated. Also, any PT exercises would be great as well.

cheers,
chris :)
 
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