Discectomy - After the Operation

[ycnskann]

I don't know what areas people are from on this site but our Trust will only okay an MRI when requested by a consultant, the one who is always on annual leave or has a long waiting list for an appointment.....Oh yes bmw1, how I wish I had the cash to sort this sorry spine of mine out. I would really like to have an interested professional look at my scans and give me a realistic long term prognosis, I don't think its going to happen though.

 

[SinisterGrin]

melza!! lovely to hear from you, although i wish things were better. just wanted to let you know that i seriously considered getting in my car on 4th oct and driving down from scotland through the night to pick you up and take you to southampton. i wish that i could! hope this surgery offers some relief for you. make sure you let us know.
things are still going well for me. so far, my op seems to have been a success (13 months post op now). i am back doing 2-3 ballet classes a week and also experimented with a personal trainer at the gym (awful experience). still not pregnant, still hoping.
thinking of you all xx
ps...ali - how's things?

 

[lagaria]

Hey guys,

Haven't posted in a while, as i have nothing new to report, same old same old!!

How are you guys doing?
Melza and Tracey, sorry i have been rubbish replying to e mails, i am not very good at that as i have showed! Apologies to you both with lots of hugs and luv n stuff

Hi Jess,

Good to hear from you, so brilliant to hear you are doing well, its good to hear happy news!!
I hope it may long continue for you hun

Lots of kind wishes 2u all,

Luv Ali xxx

 

[Maurquise Burks]

Hi all,

Just an update 6 months after my L5/S1 micro discectomy. Well, I am absolutely over the moon! I am virtually completely pain free and have been for some time. Okay, if I do anything to excess then I get a reminder but doesn't that often happen anyway? Going to see my surgeon on Thursday to get the final okay, but to be honest I've been leading a virtually normal life for a few months now. Yes, I am careful when I bend & try not to lift anything too heavy, just being aware really. So all you people out there who are in the same boat that I was some eight months ago, please take comfort and reassurance that there are some real successes in an operation. I honestly think though that the reason that I have had the level of satisfaction and success that I have is because I had the operation some six weeks after I first had the sciatica so had no or virtually no nerve damage.

Best of luck to everyone who has got to have the operation and for all those who have had one, I hope that you are doing okay and are pain free.

Cheers, Colin.

 

[David Moreno]

Hi all,


I am so glad to hear your success story Colin and I am sure there are others out there. I also think you point about speedily done operations before nerve damage sets in, is a very very important one.

However, my personnal experince of friends and family who have had these procedures in the South Wales area tells me that the reality of the situation is that the majority are not successful!

I was offered a laminectomy in South Wales, but when I asked them in 2008 for evidence of their 'Safety & Efficacy rates' they replied that they did not keep such records and never have. They had also 'not carried out' any 'Randomised Control Trials' on this procedure, in other words, the spine unit, had no idea how safe or effective these 'gold standard procdures' were. After further research, I now suspect that this position is the same all over the UK, Europe & the USA.

I would urge others to do their research on their local spine units and alternative surgical procedures elsewhere before commiting to surgery.

Best wishes as always

SPINELF

 

[Beckster]

Good advice Spinelf, but not always a realistic option. I too have been offered a laminectomy and have waited 10 months for a surgery date, which is now Oct 5th. The pre assessment this week revealed I have a suspected heart murmur and it seems that needs to be checked out before they go ahead, although I haven't been told anything else since then.

But this might have been a good thing because I constantly asked the consultant whether this procedure would remove the terrible pain I have in my neck and end the killer headaches, but he never really answered. In truth I don't feel comfortable about the op now as I don't know if it will solve the problems I have and why go through the ordeal of surgery if not. I'm thinking that the only option for me would be to go privately so that the consultant may (or may not) have time to discuss all the options available to me and help me to decide the best way forward. That killer headache nearly wiped me out yesterday, 14 hours it went on for...and that was with pain killers!

I don't know what the heck I'm doing now and feel like life (NHS) has shoved me in a ditch, but not ready to give up on myself yet...I just need some cash.

Hi Ali and Jess, really glad you recovered Jess, it gives hope to all. Ali, how did you get on with the spine foundation, or is that another brick wall? xx

 

[amarugian]

Ali
hi - hope you are ok, sorry to hear latest nerve block didnt work, you must be at your wits end. What is happening with the spinal foundation referral are you any closer to getting pct referral? keep me posted with that.

I just wanted to ask you about the epidural adhesions if you dont mind. How long after your second discectomy did you know something was badly wrong and did you get the sciatica pain in the same places that you had it pre op?

The original pain I had pre op is starting to creep back in and I have on/off pain in other areas of my knackered leg. I have brought this up with my surgeon who fobs me off with the line "you cant possibly have pain in that part of your leg because its a different nerve line - ie S1. Your problem was L4/L5 and your L5/S1 disc is perfectly healthy and in tact- you must be letting your imagination run away with you - by the way youre discharged!"

My physio thinks the pain is due to scar tissue but cant understand why I am getting pain in different places - my GP is starting to get concerned and has now referred me out of area for a totally independant review, so now back on the tread mill of waiting to be seen.

I so wanted to be one of the lucky ones
Keep smiling,

Gill (Bonnie 10)

 

[Kelsey Frazier]

Hey Bonnie,


Sorry to hear you are having problems and your doctors are fobbing you off.
I have a good bunch of doctors who are really understanding and recognise that adhesions are a real problem.

After my 2nd microdiscectomy in November last year, about a month later, the pain really hit me, and it was in the same place and same leg. By february, i knew that something was badly up, because i had such bad sciatica. I asked for a scan which showed that my disc was fine, but showed the scar tissue wrapped around my L4 nerve root.

I am still on colossal amounts of painkillers (including oramorph), and yes, the nerve root block didn't help at all.
I have a tens machine, which if i get the electrode pads in the right place, its quite soothing. Having hot baths help too.
I am under my pain management team now, and they are thinking of other ways to control my pain. But nothing can be done in terms of removing the adhesions.

As for the spinal foundation, my doctors aren't keen, due to them not being associated with the NHS, and so wouldn't give me the referral. They said that it may not work and may worsen my condition, and also if it did go wrong, the NHS would find it difficult to correct it.

So.....basically, its pain management for life now.
I have up and down days, i am on anti-depressants because i found it so hard to come to terms with whats happened to me.

On the whole though, i am ok with it, i try to rise above the pain and get on with doing stuff.
I am going to college now to get some qualifications which i am really enjoying.

So Bonnie, ask for a repeat MRI scan, and if it shows adhesions, try to get under the care of your local Pain management team, they may find something to help make things easier for you.

Lots of Love and best wishes,
Ali xxxxx

And for the rest of you guys too, hope things improve and well done to you guys who have had successful surgery xxxx

 

[anewsxjk]

I don't know what the heck I'm doing now and feel like life (NHS) has shoved me in a ditch, but not ready to give up on myself yet...I just need some cash.

Hi Ali and Jess, really glad you recovered Jess, it gives hope to all. Ali, how did you get on with the spine foundation, or is that another brick wall? xx[/quote]




Melza, you can't really blame your NHS spine surgeons for not giving you an answer with regards to your heart condition. you see, the standard spinal decompression surgery is soooo! destructive (due to the very
invasive nature of it) it would put a great deal of preasure on you heart.
This is greatly increased by the general anaesthesia used and post op complication rates. they are 'scared in to inaction' at the thought of medical malpractice case.

There are other less invasive minimal endoscopic and laser surgical treatments available privately, and The Spinal Foundation is as good as any, read their information on 'aware state anaesthesia', I've had it done and it worked exactly as it states, this would reduce heart stress and there is usually no blood loss either, Mr. Knight is worth speaking to! tell him about your condition, you never know, it worked for me! Remember my Surgeons were no more helpful than yours and remember the lack of clinical evidence I discovered in 2008 (below) has just been confirmed to me as being the same in September 2009.

Ali, When I was looking at being referred from the NHS to Mr. Knight, my local Health board approached Spinal Surgeons in Manchester and Cardiff spinal unit areas to seek guidence, they all said the same as yours,
but only 'off the record', I asked for copies of letters, Consultants names, minutes of meetings, I asked what was said in regard to clinical detail, I asked for proof of Mr.Knights poor clinical outcomes,
ALI Mate! They had nothing!! They still have nothing!!!

Its your body!
You know how you feel!
you do the research!
you decide!!!
Don't give up,

Best wishes all

SPINELF

 

[john Galt]

Hello Spinelf, I actually don't mind whether they operate or not, but I would like to know what they have decided. Today is Thursday, my admission is this Sunday, and I think someone should have an idea about whether I will be going or not. It's all so frustrating because when I was told the surgery date would probably be in June I signed back on to my Open University course, silly me! Now I may or may not have surgery but even so I have an essay to complete by the 21st Oct!

The best laid plans and all that. If Ali is in the same frame of mind as I am she'll be too exhausted to chase any more solutions to this back stuff, I'm quite sure that if this surgery is cancelled I shall give up completely, as in not chasing treatment any more rather than expiring. I'm just too tired with it all. And for those who think I may be worried about a heart murmer, I'm not, heart murmurs are funny things anyway and they have one thing in their favour...they don't hurt!

Love to all

x

 

[ccancerb]

Hey Bonnie10

Try not to panic... The nerve pains in your leg could maybe just be a result of your doing a bit more. I find that my leg and buttock pains come and go and are sometimes quite strong, and then sometimes not there at all, but definitely worse if I've been doing more. So it could maybe be nothing, just the nerves playing up for no reason? I'm trying not to worry about sporadic pains, anyway.

Hope you are feeling a bit better today.

Msksquared

 

[Pompal 09.]

well its been a long time since i posted and much has happened. I was due to have my spinal fusion 10th september but i didn't get that far. 25th August i was admitted with Cauda Equina and had decompression surgery and spinal fusion on 26th. I thought that was bad enough but no I developed an infection. this was washed out 3 times under anaesthetic but finally the surgeon removed a huge chunk as i has developed blood poisining!! I'm pleased to say i've come through it and i have now undergone reconstructive surgery. (although my back now looks like a dogs chewed it) i still have mega nerve pain and have a catheter insitu but i'm getting there!

 

[MetfoupeBut]

Tracey! Its really good to hear from you but very sorry you had such a bad time, I can't imagine how awful its been for you. There's not a lot else I can say except I hope you recover soon and that your back problems will be improved after all this.

My surgery is on Monday (at least I know that now) and I'm seriously worried about the outcome, being a bit of a scaredy cat I'm afraid. I can only hope its a success and I can get on with things again.

Love to you Tracey and wishing you the very best. x

 

[chuckstervandam]

Hiya, all the best for Monday. my thoughts are with you. Best wishes to everyone else. Tracey xx

 

[Paddy Max]

Best of luck for tomorrow Melza.

tracey - best of luck for your recovery.

Hope everyone else is going ok.

 

[HenHoxEncot]

Good luck, Melza. I really really hope it goes well.

Tracey - you have been in the wars. I hope that your recovery goes from strength to strength.

Sending healing wishes to everyone.

Msksquared

 

[Baps .]

I am so sorry to read all the pain you have been through .I have also been bothered with sciatica over the years i usualy have it a couple off weeks then it goes away . this time i different i have had it 10 weeks and still counting my doctor came out to my house as i could not even stand i have had an mri scan and have been told that i need an operation within the next coule off weeks . I thought great that will take the pain away until i thought i would look up the internet to see if i could find anything about it,and by god i have read some horror stories and i am now wondering if i want to get the operation.my family all want me to but i am terrified .

 

[ovenmitts09]

Tracey
you are one plucky lady, after everything you have been through I am utterly amazed that you still sound so positive, my heart goes out to you. Best of luck with the recovery - lets hope that this time, despite the awful set backs you have described above, its third time lucky.

Bonnie10

Melza - fingers crossed x

 

[Chesna Rudra]

just logged on for the first time in a while and wanted to send some gentle healing hugs to everyone, particularly tracey....oh my goodness!! you are clearly a survivor! hope all is well. and to melza too...hopefully you are in a post-op happy haze right now, pain free and not just cos of the morphine. thinking of you!!
ali...how are things with you? i just read spinelf's inspiring post. don't give up the fight. you WILL get there in the end.
for anyone who put up with my moaning about fertility issues (now i no longer have back stuff to moan about!)....i have been given the all-clear, am reported to be fertile and ready to go, however we are still having sperm issues and have been referred for ICSI, a form of IVF. so hospital trips aren't over for me yet, although thank goodness i am rarely in pain.
lots of love xx

 

[Matt T.]

I'm back!!! Thank you for your good wishes everyone but I'm afraid things didn't turn out as hoped. Having suffered with lack of sleep and near starvation (I do dramatics) the consultant decided he couldn't go ahead because the blood clotting factor in my test was 'abnormal'. I think cancelling was his only option but I wish they'd spotted that sooner, one test was taken on the 21st sept and another the day before the op date. I am now left hanging again while they investigate possible causes, when the registrar told me this I asked whether the results of the heart echo results were okay....he thinks so.

I felt so very very sorry for another patient though, she had travelled from the Isle of Wight (to Southampton) to have some pins removed from her spine, she set off at 4am to get to the hospital for 7.30....and the consultant cancelled her around midday because he ran out of time, and then I was cancelled at 1.30. That poor woman! I had this blood problem before but a previous consultant told me my blood was fine (and laughed because I had spent over 12 years believing I had a problem) so I didn't tell the other hospital about it. If I didn't have history with my blood I would have thought this consultant was fibbing. What a tangle!

I am now waving my little white flag and hope that I'll inherit a big lump of cash so I can go private. The NHS is just too exhausting and the process takes too damned long.