T6/7 Hernia - Successful Surgery Report!
Please see my previous post for symptoms and MRI images - https://www.reddit.com/r/ThoracicHerniatedDisc/s/O9UcaKEzvH
Full disclosure - I ran my hospital notes through AI because they're an illiterate painful mess and I'm still on oxycodone and it's a big job doing the report! Thank you for the grace. Apologies for the essay.
I’m home after a week in hospital following surgery for a calcified thoracic disc herniation. The biggest positive: the surgery was successful, and my legs already felt noticeably less tingly and tired immediately afterwards. The chest/rib pain and getting mobile again have been much harder than I expected.
Before surgery, the team explained they would approach from the right to avoid the aorta and other major blood vessels. Because the herniation was calcified, they would need to drill through bone to reach it and remove the hardened disc material. This involved temporarily deflating the lung and placing a chest drain afterwards. They described it as an anterior approach; my three large incisions are on the upper-right side of my back.
On Monday morning, I had a CT-guided wire placed under local anaesthetic to mark the surgical location. The placement was painful, and I had right-sided pain with breathing afterwards. Getting IV access was also difficult and eventually needed ultrasound guidance.
After surgery, I woke with significant back/chest pain, a wet cough and a sore throat from intubation. Coughing and deep breathing hurt, so I was initially taking shallow breaths. I had a chest drain, urinary catheter and morphine drip. Despite all that, the improvement in my leg symptoms was noticeable straight away.
Over the next few days:
- I had chest X-rays around clamping and removing the drain. Removal was very painful; the opening was stitched closed without local anaesthetic.
- I was given a spirometer and told to do ten deep breaths each hour. My initial readings were only around 250–500.
- A postoperative spinal CT showed enough bone remained that I didn’t need screws — a huge relief. I was then cleared to start moving with physio and nursing support.
- Pain relief changed from IV morphine to oral oxycodone and paracetamol, including 10 mg slow-release oxycodone morning and night, with fast-release top-ups as needed.
Getting moving was surprisingly difficult. My first standing and shuffling session was cut short because my heart rate rose and I looked pale. My chest felt tight, with a constant stitch-like feeling around the ribs, and even short trips required a lot of rest afterwards.
After the catheter came out, I could pee, although an ultrasound initially showed I wasn’t fully emptying my bladder. I gradually progressed from needing help to getting to the bathroom and back independently. Stool softeners helped with constipation, and my bowels started moving before discharge.
The original plan was to go home on Friday, but the team kept me over the weekend to improve my mobility and give my lungs more time to recover. By then I was doing short corridor walks, although walking longer than about ten minutes made the stapled incision areas very sore. Deep back-muscle pain, rib tightness and coughing were still difficult.
I went home the following Monday with stool softeners and 5 mg fast-release oxycodone. I have 16 staples and one chest-drain stitch, which need removing during a GP home visit.
Overall: an encouraging early improvement in my leg symptoms, no screws needed, and gradually increasing independence — but the first week of chest, rib and back recovery has been tough. It’s still very early days. But at least the hernia is out and my spinal cord can breathe again!
As a note; I'm based in The Netherlands and had my surgery with a Dr. Boselie at Heerlen Zyuderland. I do not speak Dutch so the extra language barrier was a bit difficult but we all pulled through <3