Discectomy done

I debated whether or not to respond to you but in the end decided I have to say that you have to stop looking for problems and concentrate on recovering. You are very lucky that you had no nerve involvement which means there is no reason for you not to make a full recovery. The chances of you reherniating your disc are very slim and sitting on a toilet would not cause this. I also cannot urinate when lying down and was up immediately after my discectomy and two hours after my fusion operation. You will feel light headed at first but you need to push on through. I have never had a back brace and the younger surgeons all seem to go for this option and the older ones still use braces. I went home 24 hours after my discectomy so hopefully they will let you home today where you can start to recover. My advice would be concentrate on your forthcoming child and try not to worry about things that might not even happen, trust me if you end up disabled you will have loads of time to think about things. I am sorry if this sounds a bit harsh but I believe that worrying about things will not help you recover and will stop you doing important things ie your exercises in case you make things worse. Trust your doctors and believe what they are telling you.

Wend x

i agree with wend after having my discectomy it felt weird having a pee due to all factors including feeling a bit weak like wend said just stay positive and you will be fine.

Hi,

Thanks. First day pain was nonexistent. Passing water and opening bowels is still a little weird but I am sure I will get there. I didn't sleep well last night, since the hospital sounds were distracting and some guy started playing the radio at 4am. This took its toll yesterday evening when sudden tiredness hot me. I also vomitted and had laxatives so I felt totally wiped out. I was glad my parebts and family were there at the time. I felt ligtheaded and thought I will collapse ans needed someone by me. For some reasons the nurses and sisters here don't seem to be too interested in that.
I was a bit shocked how little they cared. No one here seems to know what surgery I had and if there are any questions on movement etc, they loom at me as if they have no idea what I am talking about. Trust me, these guys are bad. I think they will discharge me today and I know I can get better at home. It will take some time though. I am weak and feel I need to sleep a lot. Can't feel comfortable in this hospital. It is too loud.
I hate the constant buzzing, telephone calls, radios. When you feel like throwing up or just sleeping, he external sounds can be so irritating. The doc came yesterday and so did the lhysio. I do feel lightheaded but my blood pressure and blood sugar is normal. Could it be the side effects of the drugs?
There is no csf leak, no headaches etc. I just need rest I think. I am ready to go home. If they discharge me today I will be glad.
Anyway, the physio did say to pace myself and get more active each successive day but never overdo it. He said I should anticipate when I am likely to get tired and obly walk to incorporate the time it would take me to get back and rest. By the time you feel tired you are already too late so he said I must pace myself.
It will probablycome back but after this op, my balance feels so weird. It is almost as if I am tilting left to rigt like a bobble head. It's funny. They definitely loosened up something back there. Problem is my right leg kind of elongated over the mobths since I was tilted to the left for ao long. I will have to learn to walk again.
One last thing. Please advise: any idea how long it takes before the incision pain syarts to subside? Also, any tips on healing. The physio obly showed me basic exercises.

Also, I am not afraid. I didn't even take my pain meds last night. It is not too bad anyway. When I have the meds the incision pain does not go away anyway. I will take them befoee they check the wound though and I will also need them for the journey home. After that, he co-codamol can go in the trash. Pain meds never did much for me anyway.
I can hack this. Rest, walk, rest and eat sensibly.
I am going to do my physio. I do get some nervy twinges and pain on my left butt cheek. They said this will settle. Strength movement etc is normal, but the pain coming from that area can cause a little alarm bell.
😮
As I sit here in the hospital waiting for breakfast that is likely to make me want to throw up later, I think I can now tell everyone who fears this op to not be. I am far from recovered but the pain Ibhave is wound pain. It is not even that severe. It is hard to get in and out of bed, and walking is weird but I didn't feel any pain on day one at all. A little pain yesterday and a little more today but that's because I am not fond of the side effects of the painkiller's. I think if this incision pain goes away the main hing would be to try and learn tk walk again. That is going to be a challenge. Once I got that down, I am sure the rest could be dealt with. However, these first few days are going to vary. On day one, I felt OK in some ways. Yesterday I threw up and had bowel movements that nearly left me unconscious. I felt dizzy and I just wanted to rest, which is hard if you find noise annoying. I find the sounds annoying. There is constant buzzing. Other patients, bless them, can be loud and annoying (not because they are sick because they can be inconsiderate - playin the radio at four AM, shouting when they could use the buzzer and relatives who come to visit and talk loud. I cannot sleep in a place like this, and I think peeing here is also hard. It is noisy and sometimes you just get distracted.
Hospital stay is nevessary, and if you have serious problems they will deal with it, but if you are doing OK and have people to take care of you, you may be better off at home.

Thr male nurse here is going to take the needle out of my hand. I am scared. I have two needles, one of which they used for IV fluids. Ibam scared of them taking them out. Does it hurt? They will change the wound bandage too. Will that hurt as well? Oh dear he is coming here to do it. I am so scared. At least they did the discectomy under anaeasthetic. I am scared. Help!!

He took them out. it was not too bad. Redressing that bandage would be worse though. Why can't they keep you under aneaathetic until you are fully recovered the little things are worse. The op is fine because they do that when you are asleep. After that is done, all little things hurt more. You are more aware of that stuff. I hope they let me go today, to mybwife and my family. I know they will take care of me. All I have to make is not to do anythig to aggravate my condition and let myself heal. I thibk it will take me a long time to get anywhere back to normal though. The incision pain is quite disabling and who knows how his dissipates. my surgeon said it can take time and some people have permanent pain issues in the area though this is rare. Anyone want to reassure me about the incision?

Hi,

I was discharged at around 3pm. The dressing was changed and the nurse said unless there is a discharge or blood, there should be no need for any further dressings. The wound was dry and the stitches will dissolve. When he changed the dressibg, I thought it would hurt but it did not. I was veru susrprisee. Using dissolving stitches was a great idea. They said after 10 days I shoild shower and wash normally. I was given codeine and paracetamol. The nurse said I should use them only if there is pain. I used them this morning when I was in the ward because I thought changing the dressing and taking out needles frok my hands would be painful. It was not. I have not taken any pain meds since this morning and I am proud to say I am off all of them.
I now realise he whole experience was very painless. Walking may be a bit hard for a while because I will have to rebalance myself but this surgery causes only minimal pain. My main issue is the slight bladder and bowel dysfunction but I think that would soon be sorted. Seriously, anyone fearing this surgery, there is nothing at all to worry about. I was up and about within an hour of being in the ward with zero pain. I think people avoding surgery are making a really tragic decision. I did not want to have this. I was petrified and you won't find a more squaemish person than myself. When he surgeon saw me he knew I will be much better, more active, productive and happier by having the surgery and he just couldn't see the logic behind me choosing to remain incapacitated, twisted and reclusove. Now that I have seen the results, I can see what he meant. The suffering was so momentary that I almost chose to live my whole life crippled. I feel almost 100%, and I feel within days my walking would normalise. I just have to get through these few days where the incision is healing, but trust me, this does not feel like a major thing. The night before I had my surgery, a friend of my neighbour's was leaving and I was standin outside my garden crying, and seeing off my sister who had come to wish me all the best. This lady asked what the problem was. We told her. She said her husband did not have the surgey and has lived with this problem for 21 years. Today I thibk how tragic. That guy was so scared of the op he chose twenty years of suffering. He instead went to my old chiropractor whom he obviously still sees, so even twenty years of seeing that guy would not have fixed me.
I know it is scary, but these doctors on the NHS are real pros. My surgeon, Dr Arif Khan (a brilliant spinal surgeon who has had an enormous amount of success with these operations, changed my life. This guy does about 4-5 of these ops a week and has been doing them for twenty years. They know the common problems that happen. Techniques are refined. I am already much better and it is only day 3.
I highly recommend people suffering from a prolapsed disc to have this surgery. Although the hospital was a mixed bag, I also recommend Dr Arif Khan. He was so good at what he does. When I went to Whipps Cross for the pre-op, the nurse who saw me said that people come from all over the UK to see Dr Khan. The aneasthetist told me the same thing and said if she ever had to have back surgery, she would like him to do it. Overall, I was in good hands and I trusted him. I resisted the operation and he convinced me to have it. I thank him.

I think rehab will be tough. My left side muscles shortened and the right side lengthened. It will take time to realign. The incision hurts more today and sitting is uncomforable. My balance is off.
Does anyone know when it is safe to start walking more? I had my surgery on Thursday .

Hopeisthere!!!

hi there hopehasgone, sorry i dont know your real first name!. i really hope you recover well from your operation. after reading your last few postings ive noticed a lot of questions that you have just about every bit of your stay in hospital, surely the docs will have told you about assurance with your insision,and when its safe to walk more ?. having said that maybe only you can decide in a way, obviously if youre in a lot of pain you probably need to rest, as pain eases i have walked, slowly, a little at a time, not overdoing it :), these things take time. now you have had your operation maybe you could change your username to Hopeisthere as a positive start.:), just an idea,no offence intended to your original username:)

all the best to you.

Hi,

Thanks. Will step up the walking this week when I can. Still being cautious as it has been less than a week and i do get tired easily. Thanks for your message

Hi,

Walked aroind the house for ten minutes at a time. I did it around three times. I was able to walk his much before the op anyway. It was uncofotable then due to the disc prolapse, and it is uncomfortable now because of the pain at the incision area. The pain I can handle, but the stiffness and swelling around the incision just restricts my movement. How long before that settles down? I am five days post op. Bladder and bowel functioning, I have been off pain meds since Saturday and the incision dressing is dry and clear.
Hqve been doing my physio as instructed. Three times per day and no more. I hate exercise. I am sticking to it, but it scares the heck out of me because I believe it was exercises that brought me to this horrible state. Now exercise is good, but I am a klutz and I know I can easily make a mistake. Trust me, I am that clumsy wih my co-ordination. I haven't been given any such exercises but lying on my sromach or on the floor for that matter is such a scary thig. I worry that getting up from those positions can cause me further harm and I don't really like physio or physio's. I will do ot but it scares me more than anything else. Man, I have a list of professions I hate. Chiropractors are at the top and physios make the top five too. I just hope I can recover sufficiently to just go out and buy a pint of milk, and post my letters and just walk around. I don't want to go world biking, hiking, wrestle genetically enhanced koala bears or run a marathon to raise money for an orphanage. Just walking and bein able to live independently. Is that too much too ask? Also, while I am in this mood and also bored to death in bed, I would just like to say why do so many people love to go back to the sorts of activities that cause disc or back problems? I just don't get it. I mean, I have been disabled for the last year. I cannot even go to the end of my road to post a letter without extreme discomfort. I spent almost everyday crying at home, mourning the life I had lost. Next month my wife is due to give birth to our daughter and I just want to be functional. I mean, why would anyone risk the misery of permanent disability for the sake of mountain biking or something totally inessential as running. Here are plenty of ways to stay fit. This brings me to anoher point, society's obsession with sports and exercises. If you walk and eat healthy and try to stay healthy, you shouldn't really need to exercises that much. Robert Musil, a great modernist writer (whose Man Withot Qualities is an overlooked literary materpiece), had some health problems and his doctor prescribed exercise that brought on his fatal stroke. They say he had an amused look on his face when he died because he understood the irony that exercise was ro prolong his life, yet it contributed to his death. I am saying that society in general seems way to obsessed with keeping fit and in my view the lure of sports and physical activity takes young people away from developig their brains. The ones who played football when I was at school may have been fitter then but now have crummu jobs, pot bellies and no brains. He point is leisure activities have a place, but when people make them to be something so much more important it is just sad.
Now I will let the people pass judgement on these views. I hope responses can follow the thread of logic that sports etc are not exaxtlt essential to living so why would a person wih existing back condition, who has recovered, risk it again? In the end, if you have recovered youbmay not be as lucky next time around. I can see why a professional athlete would but if you are able and have managed to avoid getting disabled due to a prolapsed disc, you should be able to find something else to do that is just as fulfilling.

Hi Daveyam,

I thank you for your positive message but I had thought about changing my username to hopehasreturned, shortly after the operation, but in my typical style, I will only make such a change when I can walk my high street without looking like Quasimodo and without diacomfort. If I can walk more than I was able to pre op then I will definitely change my name. As I said before surgery, I never had much back pain or leg pain. My main problem was antalgic scoliosis due to a large central prolapsed disc. Walking while tilted to the left caused a lot of strain on adjacent joints and muscles and that made walking difficult. When the joints and muscles fatigued I was a sitting duck. I was able to walk around in the house (I knew my limits - my chair or my bed were never far away, but it was getting very very very depressing and claustrophobic). However, I knew the op would not get me instant results because my main problem was bot pain. It was posture. P
Leaning to the left for eight months or so shortened the muscles on my left side. The muscles on the right side got stretched beyond belief, and my balance is still pretty wonky. I think the rehab will be hard. My body is still propelled to the left and this is a nuisance because as I straighten out I can feel the left side of my body (where the muscles were shortened) putting up a fight. I mean, I think thia will be a hard struggle but once the incision heals I will have a better idea of how well I am. Until then the best name is.
hopehasbeendeferred.

Hi,

An interesting challenge appears before me. My body had listed for so long, certain muscle groups have atrophied. This will take time to correct. I do not believe I have the same kind of pressure I had before because that was always apparent when I lay flat on my back. I hope it does not come back. If I try to remain optimistic, I am going to guess that my body is now trying to deal with moving in the right posture and this is straining my back. The incision point almost feels like a pivot. When I walk, the shorter muscles on my left try to pull me in that direction. However, unlike before, my body now seems to want to be at a neutral point, but at the same time, it is struggling. In the meantime, I am worried sick if any of this struggle will cause me to prolapse the damn disc again. Walking is weird. I mean, today has been one week since the op. The surgeon told me that sometimes people are left with some back pain because the removal of a disc can cause spinal instability. Until the incision heals, I cannot be sure what I will be left with. At present, my back hurts. It feels stiff and sore and getting in and out of bed is an issue, as is standing from a seated position. I hope these symptoms go away very soon. If all I am left with a is a slightly crooked posture, I will know that it will correct itself in time. I think having residual pain as a result of the operation would be quite tough to deal with. If there is anyone on these forums, please tell me more about the incision and at what point it starts to feel OK.

to hopehasbeendeferred

Hi Daveyam,

I thank you for your positive message but I had thought about changing my username to hopehasreturned, shortly after the operation, but in my typical style, I will only make such a change when I can walk my high street without looking like Quasimodo and without diacomfort. If I can walk more than I was able to pre op then I will definitely change my name. As I said before surgery, I never had much back pain or leg pain. My main problem was antalgic scoliosis due to a large central prolapsed disc. Walking while tilted to the left caused a lot of strain on adjacent joints and muscles and that made walking difficult. When the joints and muscles fatigued I was a sitting duck. I was able to walk around in the house (I knew my limits - my chair or my bed were never far away, but it was getting very very very depressing and claustrophobic). However, I knew the op would not get me instant results because my main problem was bot pain. It was posture. P
Leaning to the left for eight months or so shortened the muscles on my left side. The muscles on the right side got stretched beyond belief, and my balance is still pretty wonky. I think the rehab will be hard. My body is still propelled to the left and this is a nuisance because as I straighten out I can feel the left side of my body (where the muscles were shortened) putting up a fight. I mean, I think thia will be a hard struggle but once the incision heals I will have a better idea of how well I am. Until then the best name is.
hopehasbeendeferred.

hi there, i really hope you make a full recovery!!! blimey, you have been thru the wringer! ive been reading about your horrible time with that chiro chap, charging you £100 a week and getting nowhere, with your body tilting to one side, due to your condition , i dont think he should have laid a hand on you! no-one would touch me when they found out i had a slipped disc because they were worried they may have made me worse, my sciatic pain was horrendous, which is just as well because turned out to be a herniated disc !.that was in the late 1990s.
i know exactly what you mean in your postings, you just want your life back, same as me, your wife is expecting and you want to be back to normal, or as near as you can be. all people are different with their ailments and subsequent ops and recovery time, MOST recover:) and a few dont.:( but theres no reason why you should'nt.:). you sound as if you've had a normal life before your condition and that you are a young man. the younger you are the better chance of recovery.:).

all the best,daveyam

Hi,
Thank you for your message of support, daveyam. I hope to be well enough to live an ordinary life. Even if I am not 100% after the op (I doubt anyone is ever really 100%), I will be happy with even 70-80%. I just want to be able to go to the end of my road and post my lettets, buy a bottle of water, just walk around. I have no desire to tske up skayeboarding or zumba. I think, objectively speaking, there is no reason to believe the op went wrong or anything. I just have to give it more time. I think my week four reporys will be more indicstive of actual progress. For now, I will just try to rest, walk in the house, and have nutritious food. Everyday I have my dark moments though. I think that is normal because many people who have posted success stories here also had hard times. It is not a smooth road. Daveyam, did you end up having a discectomy too? I was wondering what your story was?

I would also like to state that posting on this forum has been quite therapeutic for me. Telling family and friends about my problems does not always work. There is only so much they can listen to and say. Here, we are all united by our stories. People from all walks of life had written about their lives. Some of us got better, some of us got worse, and others are livin in hope. I think I could not have gone through this journey without coming here and talking about it. I also feel quite touched by the support I have received. My journey is gar from over and I expect there to be many more challenges before I recover but I would like to say a big thank you tk everyone who has read or responded to my posts.
I think some people need more moral support than others. Some have inner strength. I never did. Life always came easy to me. I guess I never really thought something like this will ever happen to me. In many ways my life just continued until I was unable to cope and at that point I realised I was very unwell. I just became incapable of going out and working. I had to stop studying and I just felt so disabled. This sort of experience is so profound and so cataclysmic, only those who have been through this can relate. I think being here helps us all gain strength, and I for one thank everyone. I hope to continue posting.

I

Hi,

In terms of recovery, yesterday was the worst day. I think since last Tuesday I was tryong to walk more. By Friday, I thinkbI probably exhausted the muscles around the incision. I think over the weekend matters were not helped since I cannot seem to find a rhythm for this whole recovery thing. My walking has been uncomfortable since I had my op because my mucles bevame imbalanced durig the time I had my prolapse. Some muscles are short, others are long. My balance is weird. Yesterday, I was not looking too great. Mind you, I am not really walking that much but I think it may have been a little more than my body can handle at present, since the incision is still fresh.
On Friday I had to visit my nurse who applied a new dressing. There was nothing to report.
I think once I hit the two week mark, I will be much happier. I will only rest once the incision stops hurting and I can walk longer than I was able to pre op without much doscomfort, I will be happy to live with that. My mai problem is that even now my back spasms as I walk. This is very uncomfortable and gets worse if I continue walking or being active. This is very disabling since my muscles get so stiff I feel they will snap. Pre-op this happened because I walked in a weird posture and that would exhaust the muscles and joints around the hips. Now the same joints and hips are inflamed because of the incision and also because my muscles are longer on one side of my body. After the incision heals and things settle down, only then will I know how well I am. People who have leg pain, not to diminish their suffering in any way, often improve much more quickly because once the pressure is off and there is no nerve damage, they just have to wait for the incision to heal. The people who develop postural problems have a longer road to recovery because their muscles are badly imbalanced. They need more time. My right leg is longer so during my walks a lot of pressure is placed on that leg and my knee is getting a real hammering. I hope my body does self correct itself. At present I am just going to try and keep going the way I am. I think I will try and stay up for longer today. I won't walk much but I want to sit for arpund twenty minutes at a time followed by a one or two minute walk. I will go to bed mid-day though and stay there for around two hours. If I start to feel tired, I will return to bed again.

I will keep reportig back. I think once I am stable (I hope that is within the comi g weeks), I will probably stop writing here. I think after I stabilise, it will probably be months rather than days that I would notice postural changes and I think that is a longer term thing so I will eventually start writing about those things. I also feel that even though my posts here maybe of interest to people with disc based postural problems in the future. There is very little information in regards to that. I had a list. That was, in a way, my main and only symptom. There was very little nerve pain (so subtle ot was barely noticeable). There wasn't much back pain either but I just could not straighten out my body. There was an irretractable muscles spasm arpund my right hip. It caused a lot of problems with walking. As I walked my back would seize up. This confined me to my house for several months. I am on sick leave from work and have stopped studying. It is a terrible situation. Since my posture is still not 100% correct, I anticiapte a gradual decline in sy ptoms as posture improves and muacles realign and regain their strength. That won't happen anytime soon so my voew of the surgery in my condition is that I may eventually get better but it will not be an easy rehabilitation process. I hope to see further improvements, but for now I will try to stay calm. I know that does not always work for me, but I will try my best.

Walking is still a problem. I just had a stroll, which was not a long one. However, I noticed a strange thing. The direction I am walking has a lot to do with the stability of my walk. My left leg and hip muscles have shortened. When I walk up those muscles are under more suress and I kind of limp. When I walk down, I am using the longer leg and my walking feels more stable. When I walk down my left side muscles also feel as if they are being stretched. Since I woke up from the operation I felt an odd pulling sensation on my left side. I originally felt that my muscles were being stretched on the left side. To a greater or lesser extent, that i still happening. I think this will be a big challenege in the coming weeks. Sometimes my muscles get faitgued and I look the way I did on my worst days befoee the operation. Yesterday I took a short walk in my small front garden (it is small but it is quite wide so you can walk in any direction).
A neighbour came out to throw out garbage and she said I looked straighter than before. A couple of other people spotted me too and they later told my wife that I looked better, so these things do encourage me. However, this problem is not going to be resolved in a hurry. Unlike people who reported significant improvements within a one month period, I think it would be much harder for me to rebalance because there are plenty of muscular problems. Until these subside I cannot be fully satisfied. My muscles also get really stiff when they are under duress or when they get fatigued and that leads to muscle spasms etc.
I think since I appear to be the only person who has specifically had more problems with principal symptoms being gait related. I am sure my challenges will interest other people as well. I will keep posting but things are far from perfect.

Hi Fella

Seriously, my man!!! You need to take a chill pill!!!

Firstly, you've had the operation, its now time to focus on the rehabilitation period and the time that your body is going to need to recover fully! The fact outsiders, such as your neighbour have noticed an improvement is something to be positive about which if i'm not mistaken from reading a thread a week or so ago you clearly stated you were going to be ultra positive!! I'm a firm believer in thinking and being positive aids the body to recover and heal faster and better!!

Your going to be a father soon and you need to set a good example to him/her from day one!! They pick up quickly on our weaknesses and you constant worry is a weakness! In the nicest possible way and only because i love the expression, 'Grow a pair!' lol!!!

I hope she does not mind me using her as an example but Yogi, or Clare as she has become to me has not worked for in excess of 12 months, been a prisoner in her own home for the vast majority of it, pain from the minute she wakes to the minute her body can take no more and she falls asleep, undergone two failed discectomies (which is rarer than rocking horse *) and now has to undergo a third multi hour operation whereby her spine is to be fused together as a last resort! Currently, she gets around her house in lots of oohs, aahs, ouches etc using something you would expect only a decrepit OAP using in the form of a zimmer frame, pees and *s on a commode and has been unable to be a mother or wife to her son and husband.......and yet she still finds time to look on the positive!! Hope my man, you have lots of hope!! Grab it with both hands and take back control of your life and future!!

You'll probably hate me and misinterpret me but i hope you can see beyond that and see that life is worth living and yours is soon to become a whole lot better!!

Be lucky buddy!!

thanks rob

and as we speak i have just been crying in front of my children as i again have took a turn for the worse something that i don't often do as i try not to let them see me in that way i have a sneaky suspision i may end up in salford before next week if i do get help that i so need i will just stay in bed till next week i really don't want anything to become an emergency as i want to get this op over with and think ahead to good times and get back to my old self.

hopehasgone every person on here has been trying to help you but you seem to bring another negative attitude and plus you mentioned about people who have just suffered with leg pain seem to get over discectomies easier well that's not the case it can take a long time to recover you only need to read emlou posts to know she still suffers with sciatica from time to time, please just stay positive.

Hi Brillo,

Thank you fpr your email. I have also become a prisoner in my own home. I have only worked a few days since December last year. I worked only three days this year. I cannpt really go out. I had to stop my studies. I completely sympathise with Clare, but trust me, my suffering has been terrible. I couldn't walk even short distances. Things may get better but the real recovery is still quite some way away. I also did not mean to say people who have discectomies for leg pain have an easier time. I meant postural problems and muscle imbalances continue months after the op, beyond the operation recovery. As long as a discectomy has gpne well, after the surgical pain has home, they can continue with the physio and pretty much get back to normal. For me, the problem was the scoliotic curve and that will take time to correct itself. The problem is complex because it isbhard to stretch muacles on one side. It makes walking very imbalanced and until things get more comfortable, I cannot really do anything extra. Anyway, I do apologise if I have offended anybody. I have high anxiety but I can't control it. I am sorry that people feel I am always fixating on the negative but I think this is anoher by-product of this terrible condition. I was not always this way. I just want to walk to a local restaurant and have a meal with my wife. I just want to be able to do the shopping for our baby. Yes, that time should come but that does not make these days any easier.
Anyway, sorry for always being negative but I just can't shake off my anxiety. I jusybhope things get better soon. I will try to only post progress from now.

Youll be fine my man! Lifes too short to worry!!

Keep up the high spirits and before you know it youll be on the other side!

Be lucky y'all!

Once again I find myself having to post on one of your posts. For one it is not a competition on who is worse or has the most issues. However you have to understand that in previous posts you stated you didn't have any pain before your surgery it was a postural problem, this is why you are getting such responses. Some of us on here live in huge amounts of pain daily and live on morphine and cannot understand why you think you are so bad. Whilst not being able to stand straight is a problem in the scheme of things it isn't that bad. You also need to see a physio before you start talking about recovery times as guessing doesn't help. So whilst you may not like this post you need to hear it as you are not helping yourself or anybody else who might be thinking of having a discectomy. There is nothing wrong with worrying but to worry needlessly is stupid. Since surgery you have been out for walks, you can sit and people think you look straighter - what more do you expect so soon after surgery! My advice is to go and speak to your GP as perhaps you need help dealing with your anxieties and coming on here and getting advice doesn't seem to help at all.

Wend

Hi,

My GP does not rwally take me seriously when I mention my anxieties. She knew me in better days and she just seems to think I am superman. I did go out for a walk but it was only outside on the road. Sonce then I have had more stiffness in my back. I think what would help me is if people mentioned how they got throgh the first few weeks after their dicectomies. I just don't have a rhythm to these days. I think I have seen a decline because my body feels more tired these days. I asked the physio before O left hospital and he said each day I should aim to walk more than the previous day. This is making my muscles tired and stiff. I think Ibuprofen helped me withbthe stiffness sometimes in the past but not when this sort of thing was at its peak. I was not prescribed Ibuprofen after the op, so I am not sure if I am supposed to take it.

Hi Wend,

I think I also need to point out that it is not just about standing up straight. The wrong posture sends pressure to the joints and muscles in my lower back. Movement makes those muscles fatigue and theubget really stiff. This makes walking impossible. I think muscle imbalances are difficult to deal with because, as you kbow, the doctors recommend walking after discectomies. If your posture is weird then the pressure goes to the wrong joints and muscles and that makes walking harder. The more I walk after the muacles get tired the harder itbgetsband eventually my body starts shaking and it is all very distressing and incomfortable.

Ok i give up!!

so do i nothing we say will ever help everyone walks in stiffness with disc prolapse like wend said you were lucky you never suffered any real pain IBUPROFEN your lucky, like wend said it's not a competition this is the last response you will get from me i have issues of my own everyone has told you to relax i suggest you lie down and thank yourself lucky.

Hope (refuse to use the full monika - way too negative) - when is your baby due? How is your wife? Do you have names yet? Do you know what you are having?

Hi

Ok, now something really has happened. There is a mark on my bandage. It is at the bottom, perhaps blood? Can't really tell. Will have to see my doctor tomorrow. I hope the woind hasn't opened up.
I thabk all those people who responded to earlier posts. I can understand that people do not want to a anynore. I wish everyone the best and thank you for the messages.

As for the baby, yes we have thought of a name. I hope the baby gets my mind of my back problems. I kbow it is hard to believe but normally I never get this anxious with other health issues I have had. I think once the ba y arrives I will be in a mucb better place.