discectomy surgery- what to expect

[potter198912]

I am booked in for discectomy in a few weeks.

I am glad to finally be getting the treatment I need after a long time of pain, but now I have a date I am nervous!

I have had quite a few operations before, but I am still scared.

Does anyone have any experience and can advise me on what to expect?

Thank you

bump

I had this op last year, I was up and walking around as soon as the anaesthetic wore off. The first 2 weeks were a bit rough but I stopped taking codeine after 2 days as it didn't agree with my stomach. I struggled with tenderness at the incision site but self inflicted as i didn't want to take the pain relief offered and was largely gone after around 10 days. The best advice I can give is invest in a litter picker to avoid bending, twisting afterwards.

@Cami65 thank you very much for your reply

Can I please ask- Did you have to have a catheter fitted?

I had this surgery in 2019. Immediately coming round from the GA, I was pain free. No nerve pain! It was wonderful.

I was up and moving on second day.

I don't remember have a catheter at all.

No catheter here either. Surgery was less than 45 minutes. I was kept in recovery a bit longer than usual but only because I was a bit groggy from anaesthetic. Surgery at 4pm, using the toilet independently at 9pm that evening and home first thing the next morning. I was so, so, so tired for about a week, almost like a hangover. The advice I was given was keep moving, so I tried to do a few laps up and down the hallway every hour for the first few days. By 1 week after I was pushing 8000 steps a day with no issues, aside from tiredness.

@Cami65 @DappledOliveGroves thank you both for your replies! I was more worried about a catheter than the surgery to be honest 🤣

Glad to hear you both had such positive outcomes!

I know what you mean, I was like a maniac on the morning of my op! But honestly nothing to worry about and the feeling of walking with no leg pain was something else. I paced my room all night with the novelty of it!

Very best of luck for a successful op and a speedy recovery!

@Cami65 thank you!

I am just so excited to not hang this horrendous pain down my leg 😭

**have

No catheter for me

Like pp, I remember coming round from the anaesthetic and immediately realising I was pain free. I could have cried with happiness

As soon as the grogginess had worn off, I was up and about. I had to stay in for one night and show the nurses I could eat, drink, wee and poo so they knew everything was working

But I was back to normal pretty much straight away

however, I did have to have quite a bit of physio because I had spent ages sitting and walking in a wonky way, so my body needed to be straightened out and muscles needed to be strengthened so I could hold myself properly again

Best of luck with your surgery

I had this surgery - my disc had ruptured and crushed my sciatic nerve so the pain was horrific
the surgery was amazing but recovery was a good 9 months - I was off work for three months, couldn’t drive for six and had very intensive physio for months
I was I hospital for five days - had a catheter, hard to mobilise initially sent home with crutches and a back brace
I think it will depend on various factors
i had twenty years of back issues and since surgery apart from a very odd twinge - nothing so that in itself was wonderful .

My disc herniated and I got cauda equina so my op was moved to an emergency
5hr op, walked an hour after and discharged 21hrs after the op
Back on a horse 8 weeks later. I did a LOT of recovery work

thank you for all of your replies , sorry to hear some of you had not such a nice experience with your discs!

i've been told I will need to stay in 2 nights, but i''m hopeful it may only be 1 depending on time of surgery etc (i'm going private but unsure if this will make any difference to how long I wait on the day for surgery)

A few other practical things that might be helpful:

I had 5 days worth of clean clothes/underwear set out in advance so that I wasn't bending in/out of drawers, an extra long phone cable and a keep warm cup & water bottle near where I would be spending my first few days home.

Depending on which disc, consider low or high or rise bottoms. I couldn't bear anything that sat on the wound but don't like nighties. I was L5/S1 so I lived in harem style leggings with a high, wide waistband for a week or two. Socks were bloody difficult so I recommend slip on shoes/slippers for handiness at first. Especially if you are advised to wear those horrible compression socks (which I was for 4 weeks!)

I was able to leave hospital first thing the next morning once the physio was happy I could get up and down stairs, also private

@Cami65 thank you for your helpful reply! I am purchasing the some comfy high waisted bottoms today! (Mine is l4/l5) so my wound will also be low !

I had an L5/S1 discectomy a couple of years ago. Two things I would really recommend are a picker upper gadget, and a pair of trainers with the laces replaced with those stretchy elastic ones, so you can easily get your feet in and out of them with minimal need to bend. I had a pair of skechers that I could get on and off with my picker upper. And walk walk walk as soon as you're able to. When it was too icy outside I used to pace round and round the house. My elderly cat (now sadly deceased) used to walk with me and we would wander round downstairs for ages with him at my heels, getting our steps in.

I still had a bit of pain afterwards from residual nerve damage and was terrified that it wasn't going to go away, but it did within a few months and I've been totally pain free ever since. Best thing I ever did - I had a very bad herniation and wasn't capable of driving or doing a full day's work because I just couldn't sit down.

@evilharpy thank you for your reply!

Glad to hear you got there in the end.

How soon were you up and walking after surgery?

Had a telephone appointment with my consultant yesterday and not I'm worried about the pain etc 🤦‍♀️🤣 I'm pretty good with pain, but I'm absolutely terrified of doing to much and making myself worse ! With 2 young children it going to be difficult 😥 although thankfully I do have a big support network who I'm sure will help me as much a I possibly need

Reviving an old thread to ask how it went ?