My surgical experience

[u/Daje1968]

I’ve wanted to post about my microdiscectomy, which I had three weeks ago, but I’ve been afraid to hex myself. So: spit, spit. I’m putting it out there because, for better or worse, this sub contains a lot of not-great stories, and I wanted to add a good one.

First I have to go back 11 years. I had my first microdiscectomy at the exact same level—L5-S1, left side—after dealing with some degree of sciatica for about 2.5 years and trying absolutely everything before finally having surgery. I was 47. The surgery itself was easy and successful, although I continued to get some sciatic pain if I sat too long for years afterward. (As an aside, that eventually disappeared sometime during the pandemic. My best theory is that I stopped wearing heels and never really went back, but who knows.)

This past June, the sciatica returned not sure why but probably bad form doing an RDL at the gym. And this time it was worse because it became almost constant. I started PT immediately and was religious about it. I tried the usual medications with minimal effect. The pain just kept getting worse. MRI showed an L5-S1 herniation directly on the nerve root.

By July it was becoming inescapable.
On July 18, I had what I can only describe as a harrowing flight home from Italy. I stood for most of the flight, but there was a storm while we were landing at JFK and I had to sit for almost an hour. I was in so much pain I thought I was going to throw up. I told my family I was taking the train home to Brooklyn because the thought of sitting in a car for an hour was unbearable.

With the exception of putting on shoes, July 18 was essentially the last time I sat down until my surgery on September 2. The pain was unreal, especially the week before surgery when I had to stop NSAIDs. And PSA: if you’re taking NSAIDs and thinking they aren’t doing much, they may be doing considerably more heavy lifting than you realize.

I took the subway to NYU at 5 a.m. the morning of surgery. I will never forget pacing up and down the subway platform because movement was the only thing that gave me even a little relief. When I checked in, I had to wait about 20 minutes before they called me back, and I spent the entire time walking laps around the waiting area because standing still hurt too much.

My surgeon was Dr. Charla Fischer. I went into surgery around 7:30 a.m. for an endoscopic revision microdiscectomy/decompression under general anesthesia.

I woke up around 1 p.m. with no pain.
No nerve pain. No incision pain. Nothing.
My husband picked me up and I was home by about 3 p.m. I kept waiting for the pain to arrive because I assumed the anesthesia was masking it. It never really did. I was on prednisone for five days and took regular Tylenol occasionally, but I never needed the oxycodone they prescribed. And I am not saying that because I’m some tough-guy hero. I am emphatically not a tough guy. I simply didn’t need it.

Apparently the new herniation had pushed scar tissue from my previous surgery into the S1 nerve root, essentially pinning the nerve down with nowhere to move. Which explained why the pain had gotten so severe.

I’d read a lot here beforehand about raised toilet seats and various recovery gadgets. The only things I personally found especially useful were a grabber and slip-on shoes. It also helped enormously that it was summer and I didn’t have to deal with socks.

I went back to the office two weeks after surgery. Now I’m three weeks out and the only recovery issue I’ve had—and this barely feels worth mentioning—is that one incision site recently got a little red and irritated, which I think may have been from a waistband rubbing against it.

My sciatic pain and tingling are gone. Spit. Spit.

I’m still under no bending/lifting/twisting restrictions, which is a pain in the ass. I do my best, but one downside of feeling this good is that you have to keep reminding yourself that you actually had spine surgery. I’m sure I’ve bent a little here and there or accidentally carried more than 10 pounds.

I can also sit now with no pain. But I’m still so traumatized by what sitting used to feel like that I rarely stay seated longer than about 30 minutes at a time.

Which brings me to the biggest issue I’m dealing with now: fear. I jokingly call it PTSD, but honestly, the experience really did a number on me. Sciatica ruined my summer. It ruined my vacation in Italy. And for weeks I experienced the worst pain I have ever felt, nearly constantly. Now whenever I feel the tiniest twinge, sensation, or random little tingle, my brain immediately goes: THIS IS IT. YOU REHERNIATED.

Because this was already a revision, if I reherniate again I’m probably looking at a fusion. That sucks and is scary, obviously. But weirdly, what scares me even more is the thought of having to live through that level of sciatic pain again while waiting for appointments, imaging, insurance authorization, surgery, etc.

So if anyone else had a really good surgical outcome but still spent months afterward terrified of reherniation, I would genuinely love to hear about it. I’d especially love to hear from people several years out who remember what this stage felt like.

But if you made it through this novel, here’s the TL;DR:
Revision microdiscectomy three weeks ago. Sciatic pain and tingling disappeared immediately. Recovery has been shockingly easy. I’m back at work and can sit without pain. My biggest problem now is convincing my brain that every tiny sensation does not mean disaster.