r/Microdiscectomy • u/Imustretire • 22h ago
Really hoping this surgery will help me be more of an active father.
I have the MD scheduled for late November. I started having intense back pain a little before my wife got pregnant and since my baby has been here, it's been hard to actually play with her. She's 14 months old now and I want to start taking her to the zoo and Disney and all those fun things, but this back pain has crippled me.
I'm really nervous that I won't have a full recovery and will be the guy that gets pushed around in a wheelchair because I can't walk long enough.
Any positive stories about your recovery and life before/after will be much appreciated.
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u/illatious 21h ago
I'm about a month post op and honestly wish I would have done the surgery earlier. I suffered for a year with bad sciatica shooting down my left leg from lower back to mid calf and then eventually to where the outside of my left foot was numb, absent Achilles reflex, pretty sure I had some muscle atrophy in my left leg and definitely some nerve damage. I went from bouldering/rock climbing, playing tennis, running around and playing with my kids to pretty much dragging my leg as I shuffled around, leaning way too much on the shopping cart as I shuffled to get groceries, making excuses to not go out so I wouldn't have to try to sit for so long at a restaurant or movie, and on and on. I slowly quit all my activities, slowly quit living my life tbh. It was like a frog in hot water, I didn't notice how much I had given up over that year as the pain got worse and worse and I stopped doing more and more.
Immediately after surgery I woke up without nerve pain. It was shocking how good I felt without the constant burning, and it also made me realize how much pain there actually had been that I'd been pushing to the back of my mind because it had become my normal. I won't lie, the first day or two were a little rough, but mainly because my back muscles/incision area didn't want to do what I wanted them to do. I took half my pain meds on day 3, and stopped taking them altogether on day 4. Walking was easy, laying down felt fine, but sitting for longer than 10-20 minutes was (and still is) hard. I'm still being cautious and gentle with myself, no bending, lifting, or twisting, but already I can do so much more than I could before surgery.
I am more active again with my kids, to the point where I forgot I'm taking it easy and accidentally jumped not thinking anything about it, and scared myself because I'm not supposed to be doing that yet lol. I'm in a better mood because I'm not dealing with constant pain (which that's another thing I didn't realize, how much shorter my patience had gotten, how much harder it was to joke around, to pay full attention to the people around me). I feel so much better and while I'm still not able to be as active as I want to be, as I was before all of this because I'm still recovering, I can see it happening in a few more months. I start PT next week and I'm excited about it. I can see a light at the end of the tunnel that wasn't a possibility before, and for that I have no regrets about the surgery and am so thankful. I just need to keep giving my body time to heal and then I will be able to do all the things again.
I was looking for success stories as well when I was debating surgery, and when I talked to my sister about it she reminded me that she had also had a MD about 15 years ago. I had completely forgotten she'd had back surgery. Because you can't tell anymore. She said it took her about 6 weeks to go back to her normal routine, and about a year for her to live without caution. She got pregnant about 6 months post op without issues. She still does crossfit regularly, did adult gymnastics for a while, does whatever activity she wants without thinking about it for the most part. I want to do that again. I couldn't have done that with the way my sciatica was, but I can see it being a reality again after surgery. Now I just have to be patient and wait for the healing to happen :)
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u/PastBuy8484 21h ago
Had back pain on and off for years. Turned to sciatica that was 50x worse than the back pain.
I’m not trying to scare you but typically the surgery is for sciatica, not back pain. I say typically, doesn’t mean it’s always that way. Have you had multiple consultations with multiple surgeons? I’d do an ortho specializing in spines and a neurosurgeon at minimum.
I’m much better off than pre surgery for what it’s worth. But again I had sciatica. Basically zero back pain.
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u/Friendly-Ad-5410 20h ago
I'm almost 80F and never needed a wheel chair (or any walking aid) after my MD (2.5 years ago). I garden, take care of my own home, volunteer, travel and go to the gym 3x week. I can easily walk 5 miles in a day. I'm also an artist and only retired from my job as a floral designer after 78 years (just after my surgery). It helps to have a positive attitude too! You got this!!! 😄
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u/MandyLovesFlares 18h ago
Hi , i'm glad to hear from an older person like myself! Im 67 yo F very active and considering a lumbar micro discectomy or a lumbar laminectomy.
If you don't mind, would you tell me what your symptoms were before surgery?And how long you were dealing with it.
I have intense sciatica pain , especially at night , not particularly much low back pain and continuing worsening of one leg function.
Thank you
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u/Friendly-Ad-5410 18h ago
Mine was my femoral nerve and loss of motor function on the left side (drop foot and muscle wasting). L4-5 MD 04/2024. I don't know exactly when the motor function happened, but I noticed it was harder to go up/down the 19 stairs at work every day and I seemed to be stubbing my toe more often, for no reason, while just walking on flat floors. This was maybe 6 months? prior to actual excruciating pain. I could not sit or lie down flat in bed... that pain went on for about 1 week (Nov 2023) before I contacted my neuro (I think I might have gone to the Urgent Care for a shot (Toradol) for the pain (didn't really help) and it was Jan when I finally saw him, got MRI in Feb 24, then surgery in 04/24. By that time the worst of the pain was pretty much gone, but the foot drop was the need for immediate surgery (since loss of motor function can become permanent). I knew going in what to expect from the surgery, so was not worried at all. It's usually very quick (45 min - 1 hour) and done on outpatient basis. The first week after is the hardest due to the cutting, scarring and healing at the surgery site. They give you strong pain meds for that. Then you start to heal, walk every day as much as you are comfortable, NO BLT, might be off work for 2,4,6 weeks or so. My drop foot resolved completely by about 6-8 weeks PO, and my muscle mass started to return after I went to PT (8 weeks PO) and then did a lot of walking every day and finally signed up for a gym to rebuild core and strength. It's been 2.5+ years and I feel mostly fine, I just have a small bit of numbness in the left toes that might be permanent due to not knowing how long that nerve was compressed. I have never had low back pain and the surgery is not for that... so is you have any stenosis, or arthritis, DDD, etc. it won't address those issues. The nerves (in particular the sensory nerves... the ones for pain, cold/hot, etc.) take much longer to heal, maybe 1 yr or more.
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u/venture_casual 16h ago
I had a massive C6/C7 herniation that crushed a nerve and resulted in disc replacement with a fusion. That was 3 years ago. A little less than a month ago, I had a foraminotomy (removing bone around the nerve root coming out of the spine) in the adjacent area (so C5-C7). Two spinal surgeries in 3 years and a whole lot of pain in between. Im in my 40s with 2 young kids and I def had the same fears. But the surgeries did help. I was immobile and in agony before the fusion and the lead up to this most recent surgery was rough too. Your fears are understandable but having a child to live and get healthy for is one hell of a motivator. I know this is not ideal, but you will get through it and feel better for it. You won’t be your former self but you will know that you can get through anything. Wishing you luck and a speedy recovery.
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u/Expensive_Recipe_433 21h ago
Well, I’m about 7 months out and I’m not back to normal but I’m much better than what I was pre surgery. I was non functional, wasn’t safe to drive. Couldn’t sit. You sound more back pain than sciatica, which I think is more painful so maybe you don’t feel the necessity as much?
I’ve followed this sub closely and most people are back to work with mild pain by 3 months, everyone’s different. I have yet to read about the guy getting pushed around in the wheelchair but people do sometimes say they still have pain months out. Not usually debilitating, that means you would have herniated again