Anyone ever have microdiscectomy/ laminectomy?

[tazman03]

This shit has been plaguing me for years. Things got really bad in the last 2 years. Constant shooting pain from top of my left ass cheek to the left of my thigh and across my shin.


Finally after physical therapy, XRays and a ton of run around, I was able to get an MRI. Turns out I have had 2 seriously herniated disk that are protruding into an abnormally narrow spinal canal (thanks to genetics) and a fractured vertebrae......... AWESOME!!!

So I ended up with microdiscectomy/ laminectomy on L3-L5. Released from the hospital on a Wednesday, and rushed back in on friday for emergency surgery do to a hematoma...... EVEN BETTER!!!!!

So it's been 4 weeks now and my left leg is still numb. Docs say it's from having to move the nerves, inflamation ect... "Should" go away they say.

Anyone else have this happen and how long did it take for feeling to come back?

I have been totally out of commission for 7 months with all this B.S..... begining to wonder if the feeling will come back. I know it takes time but just seeing what others have experienced.

 

[cyto33]

i was in a chair for a year. mine was bad. l4-l5 same deal. i was pissing myself and would shit and not know it.
i took almost 4 years to get better. and i still have problems.

 

[tazman03]

i was in a chair for a year. mine was bad. l4-l5 same deal. i was pissing myself and would shit and not know it.
i took almost 4 years to get better. and i still have problems.

Dude I know what you mean.....
Thats why they rushed me back to ER. I was pissing all over myself and yet when I wanted to I couldnt. My bladder was just under 1000cc when they took me in.
as far as the other end..... if I dont eat laxitives like skittles then it dont come out and I may as well never get off the shitter cuz the same thing would happen.
Absolutely no control over it.

I am fucking glad I am walking or I guess hobbling around with a cane after only a month. but I still have alot of other problems

Starting to wonder if this was a good idea, but I couldn't take the pain anymore. It had gotten to where I could hardly walk and do basic stuff around the house.

 

[cyto33]

it will come back. it just takes time and a while to heal. i was a high rise steel worker when i hurt mine. i was 19 almost 20. just getting started in life and screwed myself.
but hell you will bounce back as long as you take it slow and do the physio needed.
i'm back in the gym over the last 3 years and its helping. i bench 405 for my max 385 for reps. curl 110 on a cable machine one arm squats sux but like i said take it slow i still am.

 

[tazman03]

ya for sure. like i said, im glad i am able to walk atleast.... I no longer am in pain but just numbness.
I am taking it really slow right now. not lifting anything over 5-10lbs no bending, twisting ect.... just relaxing.



anyone else with experiences?

 

[THAISEXGIRLS]

That sounds like a mean back surgery.

 

[1badmofo]

Damn, makes my neck feel better just hearing about your pain. Pissing and shitting yourself, fuck. After my recent neck surgery, like 5 hours later I could not piss to save my life. I turned on some running water, I walked the halls, I relaxed, I pushed. Pushed so hard I gave myself a hemi. So finally they put in a catheter which hurt like hell, the first thing coming into that tube was blood. Then the next day the male RN takes it out and says, no wonder it hurt she used the biggest one we got. It burned to piss for 3 days.

 

[tazman03]

Damn, makes my neck feel better just hearing about your pain. Pissing and shitting yourself, fuck. After my recent neck surgery, like 5 hours later I could not piss to save my life. I turned on some running water, I walked the halls, I relaxed, I pushed. Pushed so hard I gave myself a hemi. So finally they put in a catheter which hurt like hell, the first thing coming into that tube was blood. Then the next day the male RN takes it out and says, no wonder it hurt she used the biggest one we got. It burned to piss for 3 days.

Ya they did the same with me.....
they told me it takes 3-5 days for bladder to start working again. I was able to piss at the hospital a little, so they assumed everything was fine. went home and had the same problem you did. Couldn't piss to save my life. bladder was so full it was just forcing it out whenever I would get in/out of bed. after second surgery they put the cath in for a week. but 3 weeks after it has been out and I still have a hard time with it.

At least I know that this is a trend with these kind of surgery's now. Im just pissed off that not once did the surgeon ever inform me of the possibilities of the numbness/ bathroom issues. I mean it makes sense that it can happen, but damn to have it happen and be unaware of how or why scared the hell out of me.

 

[Cheappinz]

a laminectomy is when they cut out a portion of the bone to make more space for the spinal nerves to take up..& a discectomy is when the snip away a portion of the disk to also allow for more free space for the nerve.
Did you know some orthopedic surgeons make $ off every suture and every piece of hardware they put in a person?..this I think is not right because it gives them incentive to do what makes them money and not what's best for the patient.
Good luck with your procedures. With today's technology, it should be a fairly fast recovery and you should be feeling much better...

 

[tazman03]

Did you know some orthopedic surgeons make $ off every suture and every piece of hardware they put in a person?..this I think is not right because it gives them incentive to do what makes them money and not what's best for the patient.

I didnt know that per say, but I know docs sometimes "say they did something" to charge insurance. Bitch of it is, I didnt have insurance and the only way I did get the surgery was through a financial assistance program through the hospital. Still even with that I owe my good arm and leg, lol. Its ridiculous they way they charge people.

Perfect example..... My girlfriend had to have a surgery almost a year ago. She has insurance, but she still gets a copy of what they bill. Reading through it we noticed things like 1 (BOX) of night gowns even though she used 1 individual, $8 for a Tylenol, 1 (box) of gloves, $20 for a vicodin. Get the idea why insurance in the United States is so expensive.

 

[tazman03]

Any way I had the surgeries 6 weeks ago. Did everything they told me to do/ not to do. Numbness is getting better, but they told me yesterday that most of the time it takes 6 months to a full year for the numbness to go away if not more.

The bitch of it is, that all I had prior to surgery was pain down my legs really bad, not any numbness. Now I have no pain (thank god) but I now have the numbness. It's like a perfect strip down the back of my leg now I cant feel. Makes me walk a little funny and the bathroom bit a trick still, but atleast I can walk and not in pain. Weeks seem like they take for ever to go by, but I notice slight improvements every 2 weeks or so.

Over this whole ordeal I have lost nearly 20lbs. I was lean prior to everything so it's not the good kind of weight loss. Doc says I am ok to start going to the gym and do some light lifting with arms/ shoulders, just no picking up of the floor. I haven't been to the gym in 6 months now. Debating on waiting another month to a month and half and starting really light test/ EQ @ like 200/250mg. gives me time to get eating right again and get my body into swing of moving a little weight around. I know I cant go in full bore but atleast I will mentally feel better after getting back to my normal life and adding back a few lost pounds. this is just a thought right now though. Have to wait and see how my body feels after another 4-6 weeks

 

[DADAWG]

probablly 10-12 years ago i gad a double back surgery the lower one was approximately wher yours was and the other scar is starts about 2 inches up from that. they were both laminectomys but mine werent fractured or herniated disc they were from bone spurs , some of which were inside the spinal column and rubbing on the spinal cord.other than a stiff back in the morning i dont really have any pain from my back but some of the numbness and strength loss never fully recovered . the lack of full recovery is partially my fault for not getting surgery sooner .i have also had a discc removed in my neck and it was replaced witha dead guys leg bone and a steel plate lol.
i was lucky i guess i didnt have all the trouble you guys are talking about my neck surgery was a joke they told me how bad it would be and how i would have to wear a brace for weeks but when they brought me to post op they didnt have a brace that was big enough [ true story , i was a 308# class powerlifter at the time ] they were supposed to find some velcro to extend the brace but i was up and walking the halls when the doctor came by on his rounds. im sure that my weightlifting strengthened my neck and made all of that easier for me. my back surgery was EXTREMELY painfull cutting through a 300 pound powerlifters lower back is like cutting through a slab of beef but even with that surgery i healed quickly , no bleeding , etc. .

 

[tazman03]

Man thats crazy, lol. You know your massive when your neck is as big as a tree stump.

Thats what the doctors kept telling me is because I was young and in great shape I "should" heal rather quickly and be fine. Time will tell. I just hope like you I didnt wait to long. I have had major problems for the last 2 - 3 years. I still cant believe I had all that and still went to work as a mason tender every day. But Bills dont stop just because your hurt ya know.

The funny thing was when the docs kept doing their strength test. you know the pull back with your legs, ok push out with your legs as they hold them with their hands. "Oh ya your fine your strength is still there" lol. Problem is even with my bad leg I am still stronger then what they can hold with their hands.
They also told me it would be a "small" scar...... fuck, I have a 6 inch long by 2 1/2 inch wide pink as a babies ass scar. Battle scar I guess. Dosnt bother me to much though.

 

[DADAWG]

i hate to tell you but i almost bet that 1 leg will never be as strong as the other one again.

 

[marchse]

Microdiscectomy is a microsurgical procedure in which a spinal surgeon uses a microscope and laser incisions to remove a section of vertebra to access a pinched nerve. The surgeon removes the section of disk that is compressing the nerve and replaces the vertebra. Recovery time from microdiscectomy can vary and depends on several factors.

Surgeons generally recommend restricted activity for two weeks and a return to normal activities at six weeks; bending, lifting and twisting should be avoided as much as possible for the rest of your life.


herniated disc treatment