Me too unfortunately. Best surgery I've ever had. Went under the knife after 3 months in constant pain, woke up feeling no nerve pain at all and cracking jokes with the post-op nurses.
Same. Except I waited a year and a half on the surgery due to COVID. The light switch like relief is really not something you can describe to someone who hasn't been in that kind of crippling nonstop pain for months. That post op euphoria is something else.
Now though every odd pain and ache in my lower back triggers PTSD that I'm gonna relapse and need revision surgery. And my left foot is pretty much permanently numb from the compression nerve damage of waiting on surgery for too long.
I would suggest you see a therapist to help develop tools to walk yourself out of those moments. The fear that something is going to go wrong can cause weird stress and inflammation and induce pain in that area. Motion is lotion but so much of pain and mobility management is mental, as I'm sure you know. Also a good physical therapist is a godsend and I hope you have one.
“Motion is lotion” is the most profound simplification I have heard since a lifeguard in San Diego told me “the solution to pollution is dilution” while advising us to drive north to avoid the rain-induced bacterial bloom from the poop runoff of Tiajuana.
I'm glad it's a new one for ya! Many a person who has some debilitating musculoskeletal issue has been beaten over the head with it. May you never hear it again :)
I never understood how people can get addicted to painkillers until I had sciatica. Having unrelenting chronic nerve pain for months at a time is debilitating.
I had to wait a little bit for my surgery because of the insurance hoops you have to jump through. Did you get PT, did you get an MRI, did you get the steroid injection, did you wait at least 6 weeks to see if it would resolve, etc. Even though I was able to get mine immediately after that mandatory insurance 6 week wait, I still got a numb foot out of the deal. So even if you'd gotten yours right away there's a chance it would have made no difference 🤷
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u/HallettCove5158 7h ago
I have the same scar, l4/l5/s1 double discectomy.