Back in November I began to experience some pain in my back and over the next two weeks the pain became unbearable and I was actually unable to walk two steps. I ended up crawling around the house ( I posted my story a few months ago on this site so I’m not going to go into too much detail about surgery /recovery etc because if you want you can refer to it) Originally I thought I had slipped a disc in my back and after two weeks I took myself to hospital a and e. I had an emergency MRI and they operated that night and I was in hospital recovering for a week . Had a double discectomy and a spinal cyst excision that was causing CE symptoms. I was on crutches for two months post op because my leg muscles were so weak and I live on my own which was a challenge. Following the removal of the staples ( most painful part of the whole hospital experience) I sourced a musculoskeletal PT who I see once a month. She initially gave me three exercises to do for the first month and then the following month she would reevaluate my progress and the exercises would become more progressive. I basically had to learn to walk again . Started off by walking a few steps on my crutches in my lounge and then that progressed to walking 5/6 steps unaided. Fast forward 5 months post surgery. I did reformer Pilates with my PT and last week she cleared me to begin doing HIT a couple of times a week ( which I used to do daily pre surgery) I can do HIT now without any discomfort at all and it blew me away the first time I did it because I never thought in a million years that I would ever be able to do it again . I can bend , lift and twist but am still very careful. I hinge at the hip when bending, don’t lift anything heavy and twist very occasionally - all of which was passed by my PT given my current level of progress.It was really difficult at first not to do too much , but I religiously followed my PT instructions. I did my exercises every single morning and walked when I felt like it . Nothing more nothing less. After I walk a decent distance or after I have done my HIT I still experience muscle tiredness in my legs the following day and feel like I have run a marathon but I have zero pain . The muscle tiredness is the one thing that surprises me but my surgeon has said I’m on a 18-24 month recovery timeline. During the first few months I experienced occasional tingles and pins and needles in my legs but my surgeon told me to expect that and to see it as a positive sign of nerve regeneration. Those symptoms have now dissipated. I think what I have learned -
I was fortunate to only experience that mind numbing nerve pain for only two weeks prior to surgery but even a short period of nerve compression can lead to an extremely long time to recover.
If you can , source a good PT post surgery ( I began mine 10 days after) and follow their instructions to the letter. Don’t be afraid to ask them anything. That’s what they are there for.
Walk as much as you want to . Listen to your body , it will tell you if you are overdoing things.
Try and maintain a positive attitude, glass half full . It will have a positive impact on your physical recovery.
Be aware of BLT but at times you will inadvertently BLT and not to let it dominate your life. Just be careful , avoid overload .
Avoid searching the internet for exercises. We are all different , different symptoms, surgeries and recovery profiles . There’s no one size fits all approach. The most beneficial thing is a specific , progressive series of exercises prescribed by a professional that will strengthen your core , leg and ankle muscles.
And finally , if you are still reading , If I can get through this at 58 years of age , major surgery, living on my own , learning to walk again , then please believe me there is hope after surgery .
Good luck and please remain positive .