1 1/2 year Follow up after L4, L5 Microdisectomy - 51 yr f
Hello everyone, I wanted to give a follow- up on this nerve pain journey.
If like me, nerve pain caused you in desperation to either research what you had, or you needed confirmation and were either a.) Scared to death at the thought of this never going away and desperate for it to stop. b.) Told you need surgery but are too scared to do it. c.) After having surgery have experienced pain again and concerned you re- herniated.
I am sure there is more, but either way you need reassurance or comfort that this will end. I have felt all that and more and do the same thing. I find myself back on reddit looking for others who had similar stories to mine hoping that I am normal and to give me hope that it will eventually go away.
You can follow my threads to see my full story, but the gist is that I had slight herniated disc that caused foot weakness and numbness. I lived with the pain from November to May and finally saw a doctor ( well 3 doctors until I chose Dr. Ellwitz) and that was the best decision for me.
I felt great immediately, over did things such as walking and then 2 weeks post op had pain again and thought I reherniated but only irritated the nerve which lasted about 2 weeks and scared me into submission of doing what the doctor ordered.
Then I was fine until month 4 which I had pain again, went to doctor and they said to wait it out and gave me prednisone which helped for a week and pain went away.
Almost like clock work, I noticed that my pain was also affected by my hormones and then in between that. So I believe as a woman, we are more susceptible to flare-ups due to our hormones.
This was confirmed when I had pain 3 months ago and explained to my doctor what I noticed and they agreed.
Moving forward, I am having nerve pain in my buttocks that has gotten worse, debating on calling doctor for a follow- up MRI to male sure it has not reherniated.
I still have some numbness in my toes and side of calf and have not gained all the muscle I lost by my ankle but it's not as noticeable as before and my strength is back in my foot.
It seems like a lot of people stop posting about their recovery once they feel good, so if like me you are feeling vulnerable, know that you are not alone. Everything does not end on a bad note, just maybe a longer healing journey.
I would l9ve to hear about anyone's recovery after a year, or if you just want to share where your at with some random person out here who understands exactly the fear, depression, and isolation you are feeling, then myself and countless others will support you on this scrappy ass, crazy making, nerve journey!