Laminectomy. how long to recover?

[Charlie Stevens]

Over the years, I have gone from having a burning sensation in the soles of my feet, to parts of my feet being numb, sciatic pains in my buttocks and down my legs, and of course, lower back pain. Also I had pains in my legs when walking up inclines. As a self-employed car mechanic, and 59 years old at the time when things started getting bad, I put it all down to growing pains. A couple of doc's put the problems with my feet down to damaged nerves caused by alcohol! I like a drink, but I never wasted any on my feet!

In March 2010, while out for a walk, I suddenly got a terrible ache/pain in my right hip and calf. This went away after a few minutes rest, but after that incident, 20 or 30 yards of walking faster than a snail brought it back on. After some research on the 'net, I began worrying about claudication. Eventually I managed to see the doc in the practice that I really trusted, and after a thorough examination, she assured me my circulation was OK and sent me for an x-ray of my lower back and pelvic region. Some arthritis was found but my doc wasn't satisfied it was the cause of the pain, and sent me for an MRI scan. This time, spinal stenosis was discovered, which it seems I've had since birth. It had been claudication, but it was pseudo-claudication. Bad diagnosis on my part. Good job I decided to be a mechanic instead of a doctor!

After seeing the scan results and chatting to the surgeon's registrar and my doc, I had to decide whether to to have a laminectomy or not. While I could have lived my life at a much slower pace without too much pain, it would mean no more enjoyable walks. It was also giving me pain when riding my motorbike, especially when riding over the bumps and holes that have become a permanent part of our roads. So, I opted for surgery.

A battle with high blood pressure meant that it was January this year before I was finally admitted to hospital. The operation went well, and during the brief moment I saw the surgeon a few hours later, he told me he had needed to do something with a disc as well. I was still groggy from the anaesthetic, so I won't really know what was done until I go back to see the surgeon.

Next day, the physio came to see me and wanted me to walk up and down some stairs before they would let me go home. It didn't matter that I was in agony and could barely walk on a level surface. To my surprise, I handled the stairs easily, probably because I was bent over, but I had to go back to the ward in a wheelchair.

Four hours later, my wife turned up to take me home, but no hospital staff were around, so off we went. I no idea whatsoever when my dressing needed to come off, or even if it might need changing. The stitches turned out to be dissolving ones, luckily. I had plenty of painkillers at home, so I wasn't worried about that. If I had been able to walk out of the hospital, no one would have known I'd left. As it was, a male nurse offered to push me to the exit in a wheelchair while my wife went to get the car.

The first night in my own bed was fine, and I slept well, probably because I'd slept so little during my night in hospital. The first couple of days after that weren't too bad, but then things went downhill. The pain in my right buttock and leg was excruciating and got worse and worse all week until eventually my wife rang the hospital and we went through to see the surgeon. I was examined by a very young female student who seemed to be embarrassed that she had to have a feel around my rectum, but I can tell you, she was nowhere near as embarrassed as I was. Anyway, I eventually saw the surgeon and he assured me that everything was Ok and that as the nerves would be swollen, it would take time for them to settle down.

Four weeks later, and now with a good supply of pregabalin and Solpadol 30/500, and Laxido to counter the effects of the codeine, things were getting better. The wound had healed perfectly, and though it felt strange, I hardly noticed it. I was still getting some back ache, stabbing pains in my buttocks, and aching in my hip when I walked, but it's all part of the healing process, right?

Five weeks to the day after the op, I decided I was finally fit enough to venture away from home. Up to now I hadn't been far from the door as I am mostly at home by myself, so I wanted to wait until we got a decent day and my wife wasn't working. She went to get the car out and I went to get changed. As I turned slightly to steady myself it happened... I thought someone had kicked me three times. There was a strange ripping sensation, almost like velcro and it even seemed like I could hear it, and I felt pain in three distinct places around my back. It was one of those daren't breathe moments because the pain was so intense all around my back. It took a couple of hours for the initial pain to die down, but I was left with stabbing pains in both buttocks whenever I moved and awful back ache. After a couple of days, the pain in my left buttock subsided, but the pain in my right one is still there whenever I move, and when I walk the pain in my right calf is excruciating. It's now been a week since that happened. I thought about going to hospital again, but as I'd heard the surgeon tell the student to send for me after 6 weeks, I decided to wait. Of course, I should have known better, I still haven't heard from them.

And that's where I am at the moment. Six weeks after the op that I thought was going to put me right, I am in far more pain than I ever had before the op and don't know what's going to happen in the future. Hopefully my expected appointment will bring some good news, but at the moment, there are times when I wish I could saw my leg off. Just below my chin would be the right spot.

I think I have written this for myself, rather than for some advice or help, so if you got this far, thanks for putting up with me, and if you gave up half way through, well, I was talking to myself anyway.

 

[Lisette]

Just wanted to send my best wishes and let you know that you are not alone, hope you feel better very soon xx

 

[Moxie Girl]

Thanks Cassie. I was having a bad day and I think I wrote that lot just to get it off my chest, plus it occupied my mind for however long it took me to type. With my typing capabilities, it was probably a couple of hours at least.

I managed to get out of the house for a couple of hours yesterday, and while I couldn't walk far, it definitely improved my mood to be outside after being cooped up for so long.

 

[devy]

I adore the outside, I used to be working with horses all day long so it's extra hard for me to be inactive. Good news from you though, take it easy

 

[JaclynnC]

I still haven't seen the consultant, so rang today to make an appointment, the date of which will be more than 12 weeks after my operation.

My GP finally received a letter from the hospital and told me today that I had a discectomy as well as a laminectomy, so it's not surprising it's taking a long time to heal.

It now looks like I also have a trapped nerve at the top of my spine, affecting my left arm. When I told the doc I wasn't really interested in another operation, at the moment anyway, she said there was no point sending me for an MRI scan. Looks like I need to give this some thought, and hope it doesn't worse.

Hey ho, such is life.

 

[awkwardly balanced]

I have cervical problems, they are a right pain in the neck lol! They can also affect all the body and cause different reactions in my hands, legs and toes etc, they can change the whole picture, also my balance can be affected too, so do be careful.

 

[Colin]

A friend's wife has just been operated on for her neck. I think I need to pay her a visit as part of my research into this.

I don't think mine is too bad yet. I get a pain in the back of my left upper arm when reaching or lifting, also when I turn my head to the left, and occasional pins and needles (what's the correct term?) in my hand. I had noticed when working that my arms and shoulders became tired to the point of being painful if I was working on something overhead. I'd forgotten about that when I was at the doc's, but as I've not worked since last June, that's not surprising.

 

[jkstender]

Please don't let them confuse unfitness with disc problems, I was fit, very fit, but an accident caused my problem, still the consultants say if I was fitter blah blah, how can I get fit when I am numb and in pain and can't move grr, sorry bit of a vent there, but I WAS FIT before it happened, slim, able to carry a bale of hay in each hand, lift food sacks, ride three horses every day, cook and clean and shop, I was wonder woman lol. Then I got hit by a horse and whoops OUCH OUCH.

But back to you, just be aware and keep a pain diary, jot down sensations and what you roughly do, I was amazed to see how some of my pain is made worse by simple things like washing my hair, arms over my head in a shower, now I wash my hair with a hose on taps bending forward and get much less pain. I also find that memory foam helps massively and it helps keep my cervical spine in a less pain position

Good luck xx