6 months post op

Nick is now 6months post op. He continues to progress well and is noticeably better than one month ago....

• Sitting is no longer a problem for him
• He now stands straight pretty much all the time and it is becoming more natural and less of an effort for him. When tired he does still need to concentrate on standing straight though as his back muscles are not yet fully strengthened
• Still has tight hamstring on his right side, resulting in him being noticeably still a little lopsided....

• He does physio stretches, movement work and core strengthening work every day at least once, usually twice
• His core is improving and beginning to engage properly, resulting in a better connection between his upper and lower back and his hips. As a consequence he has started to use his hips again when playing tennis.
• Tennis. Can now manage a couple of hours at a time and has played some competitive matches. He's discovered that, not surprisingly, his consistency is poor and he gets tired easily. He played in a National tournament in May and was a little demoralised to see how his peer group have progressed in his absence. However, being Nick, this has simply motivated him more to improve
• School. So far he has managed to sit through all his exams without issue and only has two left so we are hopeful that he will be alright
• Emotionally. Happier as he can now play tennis again, although being in the middle of his GCSEs means that he's not exactly ecstatic! Does get frustrated with his standard of tennis and lack of fitness and has come to realise that returning to his former standard will take a while.
• Outlook - we are anticipating him needing only a few more physio sessions, but more strength and conditioning and movement work as they will take a while to fully recover.

 

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5 months post-op

Gosh, Nick is now 5 months post-op. It sounds like a long time but it doesn't feel like a long time. This is where Nick is at....

• Most day to day activities do not cause him a problem. He can walk, run, sit, lie etc without difficulty. However there are a few tweaks to this...

1. Sitting for longer than about an hour causes him discomfort and sometimes pain
2. When tired, or after sitting for a while, he tends to push his upper back forward because his back still doesn't have full strength to hold him upright
3. He still can't reach much below his knees (with legs kept straight)
4. He still has a lower straight leg raise on his right side

• He is focusing hard on improving his core and back strength and does exercises at least once if not twice a day. He also stretches a lot.
• He's lost a lot of fitness and put on a little weight so he needs to work on those too.
• Tennis. He is playing tennis again but needs to do a full warm up routine and stretches afterwards. He needs a good rest (lying down) afterwards and at the moment can only manage playing every other day - two days in a row would be too much for him. He has played a few competitive matches and each time he copes better.
• School. He started his GCSEs yesterday and has coped so far. He decided to drop one exam because it was a 2 hour paper and he had 3 hours of other exams scheduled for the same day - five hours of sitting would be too much for him. We have also arranged for him to be allowed 'supervised rest breaks' during exams if he needs to stand up and stretch out - required a letter from his doctor and organising with his school.
• Emotionally. Much happier and more like his former self. This is probably partly because he is not often in pain but probably mainly because he is back playing tennis, which is the love of his life. He is a lot more chirpy and cheerful than of recent months which is really love to see.
• Physio. His physio is anticipating about 6 more sessions will be needed, and expects him to be able to return fully to his pre-herniated disc days. He can't wait!

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4 months post-op update - feeling good!

Nick is now making good progress :-) He is....

• Doing a lot of strength work on his core and legs, under the weekly guidance of his physio
• Continuing a lot of stretching
• Playing tennis again, although so far only a maximum of one hour at a time
• Able to sit for reasonable lengths of time for his GCSE revision
• Standing straight most of the time
• Much more optimistic and positive
• Starting to plan his return to competitive tennis

Progress seems to be improving pretty quickly over the last few weeks. Each day he pushes himself just a little further and so far there have been no bad effects. He is slightly cautious still, which is not surprising really, but he is so happy to be able to play tennis again! So pretty good news overall.

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3 months post-op

Well, Nick is now 3 months post-op and somehow 3 months feels like a landmark. I should have written this update a few days ago, but it was his 16th birthday yesterday and I wanted him to enjoy his birthday rather than thinking about his back.

Bit of a sideline, but he wanted a tennis theme for his birthday cake to celebrate getting back on court. So not my best ever cake, but it does undeniably have a tennis theme...

And another shot from his birthday - sitting by the sofa enjoying some time with his brother. It is easy to forget that a few months ago he wouldn't have been able to sit like this...

Anyway, where is Nick at?

Generally, he is continuing as he was, making slow but steady progress. He is still a long long way from being back to normal though. We are due to see his consultant tomorrow. This was following Nick's physio's concerns that something may not be quite right as she feels he is not progressing as quickly as she would have hoped. I will update next week as to what his consultant says.

At the moment...

• Sitting. Able to sit reasonable lengths of time, but is invariably tired and a little sore if he sits for too long
• Exercise. Still continuing his physio exercises but also playing tennis for about 20 minutes twice a week. Feels quite achy afterwards, even though he does stretch before and after playing.
• Standing. When not tired and pain free, he can stand straight. Otherwise he tends to tilt his pelvis and looks quite awkward.
• Bending. Still struggling to bend forwards.
• Muscles. Generally he says they feel fine, at least for the obvious ones (hams, glutes, calves etc). Stretching them every day.
• School. Managing normal school days, though usually tired and achy at the end of the day. Generally manages to complete his homework in the evenings but sometimes too tired and achy to sit up to do it.
• Sciatic pain - none
• Emotionally. Feels 'alright', says he feels 'happy and sad'. Happy because he is playing some tennis, sad because he's not better and still has problems.

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10 weeks post-op: ups & downs

10 weeks post op and I have to admit that I'm not entirely sure where Nick is at. This week has had it's ups and downs, some improvements and some setbacks....

• Last week he managed three half days at school and then the half term break started. On the positive side, it felt like he was managing greater chunks of time at school, and by the end of the week he managed a double lesson without having to get up in the middle. On the other hand, he still needs to lie down at break, lunch and free periods and he didn't manage a full day.
• He had a school trip to the theatre one evening for his GCSE controlled assessment - 2 hours and 20 minutes including the interval. When he got home he seemed OK - certainly a lot better than I was expecting and he didn't want a painkiller. But the next morning he was absolutely exhausted and didn't make it into school until lunchtime. But at least he made it.
• Sitting - still a problem, but he hasn't done much in the last few days as he is taking the half-term break as an opportunity to rest as much as possible
• Posture - generally good except when in pain
• Straight leg raise, about 60 degrees on one side, 90 degrees on the other
• Exercise - not doing much. Doing his physio exercises (same as last week) but focusing on his pelvic tilts. He thinks that they are getting easier, but he's not sure. I'm doing a lot of hamstring stretches with him.
• Tennis. His physio said that he could try some gentle hitting, max 15 mins every 2 to 3 days. He hit against the wall in our garden yesterday and said that it felt OK. He was a little stiff in unexpected places afterwards, but the stiffness seems to have gone today so I suspect just a case of waking up some muscles.
• Sciatic pain - not routinely mentioning any. A little reoccurrence when stretching his hamstrings out fully.
• Buttock pain - seems to gone completely, at last.
• Bending forwards. No change and he is getting increasingly frustrated by this. I noticed that when he bends over with his knees bent then he is quite lopsided. When I took the photo below he swore to me that he was even, and didn't believe otherwise until I showed him the photo.

 

• Sports massage. Is loving them. And coped much better with school the day afterwards. Next one tomorrow.

Emotionally. Tricky this one! He sort of lost the plot a little over the last few days and ended up doing pretty much not much at all other than lying on the floor. In the end I lost my temper with him and that seems to have jolted him out of it and today he has been back to doing his exercise with gusto. And he has resumed his school work too. I felt pretty crap, but I knew that he needed it.

Overall, if I am being honest both Nick and I are a bit concerned that he has not improved more. We both keep being told that it will take a long time but sometimes I wonder if we are clutching at straws when we see an improvement. And I spend a lot of my time trying to stop myself worrying about it. But it's not easy! I keep deciding to book an appointment with our GP, but then I don't as I wonder whether we are just being impatient. I am beginning to try and find out where he should be at at 3 months post op as we are nearly there and 3 months seems like a long time.

 

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9 weeks post op

Two main aspects to the last week...

1. Nick is gradually increasing how many lessons at school he can make in a day, and
2. Working on improving his pelvic mobility.

Our weekly summary.....

• Sitting. Can make it through a double lesson (1 hr 20 mins) but gets up in the middle to loosen his back. Doesn't enjoy the double periods and really they are still a struggle for him but he is managing them
• Standing. As before, stands well when not in pain but tilts his pelvis when in pain
• Finds lying down the only really effective way to alleviate pain. Still needs quite a lot of lying down time to recover. Is now lying on his front propped up on his elbows as part of his physio exercises which he seems to like
• Muscles - Nick says that they don't feel tight any more so it looks like all that stretching has finally paid off!
• Bending forwards. Still not great, about a quarter of the way down his shin but he is trying not to focus on this in favour of focusing on improvements elsewhere
• Physio exercises - see new 9 week post op tab. Now working on pelvic mobility
• Has asked for another sports massage as he found it really helped
• Emotionally - says 'Don't feel too bad', and he seems generally more cheerful

Schooling

Has managed three full days and one half day. He was ill with a 'mini-flu' type thing on the fifth day. So missing some classes and only just about keeping up but this is an improvement overall. The downside of the extra time at school is that he spends more time in pain, which results on poor posture, and it can be hard for him to do his physio exercises. He now gets up at 6 am to do a set before he leaves - not easy for a teenager!

Pelvic tilting

His physio felt that Nick needed to correct his posture, and in particular his tendency to tilt his pelvis when in pain. However, Nick finds it really hard to do pelvic tilts, so he is having to learn how to do them. See tab on 9 weeks post op exercises. Hard work getting him to do them often enough (they're just not cool for a teenage boy).

Nick is the taller one on the left. For this photo he is trying to stand straight but is still tilting his pelvis. The other boy is my older son, one year older than Nick - he does a lot of strength and conditioning work as he is rower so perhaps not a very fair comparison for Nick!

Emotionally

Nick seems much more calm and settled now. It's possible that being back at school helps to distract him from his back, plus he gets to see all his friends again which cheers him up. But he is really looking forward to the half term break next week so that he can rest more plus have more time to do his physio exercises more often.

 

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8 weeks post-op - tough times

This last week seems to have felt like really hard work, for both Nick and myself.

Nick has found it very tough trying to get back to school, constantly trying but not managing. And every time he does make it to a lesson he ends up with more work to do whilst having to recover from making the lesson in the first place. He admitted to me that he had considered stopping school completely, which is extraordinary for him because he has always been completely determined to complete his schooling.

He was in school for a full day yesterday, which we now realise was a bit too soon. He was absolutely shattered afterwards and consequently needed a lie-in the next morning.

He is also still worried that something is not right, or at least that he is not progressing as much as he should be. His physio was re-iterating to him yesterday that it will take time because his nerve was compressed for so long. Also, Nick was using how far forwards he could bend as an indicator of progress. The physio discouraged this, pointing out that other aspects may be improving (eg how long he can sit) so he shouldn't focus on just one indicator.

He's had the start of a couple of flare-ups, but each time we have managed to divert it by rest or Diazepam. Each time it has been sitting that has caused the problem.

People are now starting to ask when he'll be starting to play tennis again - well meant questions but for someone who struggles to sit yet alone run it doesn't really help being asked when he can play tennis!

His year group at school are going through various activities designed to help them plan university/career paths which is creating another cause of anxiety for him. Hardly surprisingly he can't contemplate careers when all he has ever wanted to do was to play tennis and that's something he can't do at the moment.

Overall, this is where he is at...

• Can sit for about an hour at a time before his upper back starts to ache and he feels stiff
• Generally standing and walking properly unless pain has kicked in, when he then tends to lean forwards
• Only once taken any pain meds this week, and that was after sitting for too long
• Still needing to lie down a lot
• Finds gentle stationary cycling helps to mobilise his back
• Muscles - generally he says his muscles feel looser... hamstrings slightly, glutes fine, calves slightly. New last night at the physio was that his QL is tight
• Tried a sports massage last night, focusing on his QLs, glutes and hamstrings. Also being taught to breathe better to help relax. Comment re sports massage - yes, seems to have helped
• Emotionally, fragile. Ups and downs. Sometimes very worried about it all, sometimes pretty calm
• Schooling - tricky but slowly managing to sit through some lessons. Took an iPad into school yesterday so that he could type lying down. Double lessons still a bit of a nightmare for him
• Some of his physio exercises trigger pain on occasions so he tends to mix and match what he does, avoiding those that are painful. No new exercises added this week to his 7 week routine

Each evening we plan out the next day. I then email school and his teachers to let them know when Nick is hoping to be in and I keep my fingers crossed that he'll wake up the next morning feeling ready for it. It does make it hard for me to get much done as I never know in advance when I will be needed to take/collect him to/from school but we have found that planning more than one day in advance just doesn't work.

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6 weeks post-op review

Nick is now 6 weeks post-op, and today he saw his surgeon for his follow up appointment. He also saw his physio yesterday.

This is where Nick is at....

• Occasionally a little sciatic pain in his calf and thigh
• No lower back pain
• A little upper back ache when he sits for a long time (maybe stiffness?)
• Able to sit for about an hour at a time
• Bending forwards. Sometimes reaches about half way down his calf, sometimes he can only reach his knees. Update as writing this - Nick has just been able to reach three quarters down his calf!
• Sitting straight leg raise - to virtually horizontal
• Lying straight leg raise - about 50 degrees
• Very tight hamstrings, glutes and calf muscles
• Not taking any pain medication or muscle relaxants. Finishing off his course of anti-inflammatories
• Doing the 6 weeks post-op exercises which now includes some strengthening work, along with lots of stretching
• Not been able to go back to school yet as today was the first time he could sit for as long as an hour
• Managing to sit some of his mock exams at home
• Emotionally, prior to our visit to the surgeon he was a little worried about progress, however the surgeon has put his mind at rest

The surgeon was completely comfortable with Nick's progress. Specifically...

 

• he felt that Nick was likely to experience a little sciatic pain because the nerve is healing and was compressed for such a long time prior to his operation (about 15 months)
• Nick should not worry about experiencing occasional pain. If necessary he should take some painkillers, but unless the pain continues for as long as a week some pain is not a concern
• Nick will need to push through some pain in order to continue progressing
• Nick should try to keep as mobile as possible - to continue walking and doing his physio exercises
• Nick should try to return to school, probably on a gradual basis initially, to avoid getting left behind
• Nick needs to keep a long term view, and not just focus on each day at a time, as he will have good days and bad days - it’s the long term progress that is important

Overall, the surgeon was completely relaxed about Nick's progress, which I think was the main factor in re-assuring Nick. Nick was noticeably happier and more relaxed afterwards, which in itself was lovely to see.

And I have coined a new phrase - 'surgeons think in months, physios in weeks and patients in days'. I think this reflects the differing perspectives that each have and helps both Nick and me to remember to look beyond each day.

 

And I have added in his 6 weeks post-op exercises in a new tab.

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5 weeks post-op summary

Nick is now 5 weeks post-op. Generally he feels he is doing quite well, fairly positive about it all. Not taking any painkillers or muscle relaxants, just continuing his course of anti-inflammatories. This is where he is at....

 

• Stands tall and straight
• Sitting - haven't really tested recently. Can do about 30 minutes - will be trying a 45 minute session at school tomorrow
• Bending forwards. Can reach past his knees, about 2 inches.
• Describes a hamstring tightness as the reason for being unable to bend further (rather than sciatica)
• Sciatica - occasionally has a little sciatic pain in his calf
• Buttock pain/ache seems to have gone
• Doing the 4 weeks post-op exercise routine
• Finds swimming a bit tricky, can trigger mild sciatica
• Schoolwork. Doing some at home but finds he gets very tired. Doing most of it lying down. Hoping to do a GCSE at school on Friday
• Currently trying to plan how he can return to school, whilst still doing physio stretches and not over-doing it and causing a flare-up.

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4 weeks + 5 days post op. 1 step back, 2 steps forwards

One step back, two steps forward

Nick visited the physio again this evening. To his delight he seems to be better now than he was pre his flare-up. His straight leg raise is now about 50 degrees and he can reach about two inches below his knees. He has no sciatica, even when she raises his leg. He does have incredibly tight hamstrings and it is this tightness, rather than sciatic pain, that prevents him raising his leg further. We regard this as good news, because we know that we can loosen his hamstrings.

He has some additional exercises - see page '4 weeks (post flare-up) exercises' and is back to a little cycling and some swimming. He is beginning to think about how he will cope when he goes back to school which we are hoping he will do next week. So tomorrow I need to start talking to the school again about his return.

So, it looks like he took one step back but two steps forwards.

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4 weeks + 1 day - over the flare-up!

Phew, Nick seems to have got over the flare-up. He can stand and sit properly again, has virtually no pain (just a little sensation in his calf), needed no painkillers today and is generally back to his normal pre flare-up self. He has been incredibly cautious today re exercise, basically just a couple of short walks and the basic physio stretches but he says that he wants to start re-introducing the 1 week post-op exercises tomorrow.

 

He tried a little gentle swimming in a hydro pool yesterday but found that it triggered a little pain in his calf so will wait until next week before going again. Mind you, his idea of 'gentle' was 100 lengths - admittedly it's a very small pool - which was a bit more than I was envisaging!

 

I'll give him one last diazepam tonight to help him sleep but I am hopeful that he is back on the road to recovery.

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4 weeks post-op summary

This is Nick at 4 weeks post-op.
In the last few days has had what seems to be a flare-up. Still monitoring it closely and because of the flare-up he is now really cautious of over-doing it. Just prior to this flare-up he was doing really well...

Pre his flare-up....

• Could sit about 20 minutes then again if he had a brief walk in between
• Could reach just below his knees
• Could stand up straight and walk correctly
• No problems with surgery wound
• Was off painkillers and no need for ice/heat
• Some residual pain in his calf and buttock
• Doing the three weeks post op exercise routine, including some cycling

Post his flare-up....

• Taking anti-inflammatories and muscle relaxants
• Back to the 'basic physio stretches' only
• Walking about 1 km gently
• Sleeping a lot - probably because of the muscle relaxants
• Can still reach below his knees
• Can stand properly, although could manage this only once he started taking the muscle relaxants/anti-inflammatories. Before the meds and in peak flare-up he could no longer stand or sit
• We've ditched taking his exams for the moment until we are over this flare-up.

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3 weeks + 5 days - something happening

Something's happening but we are not quite sure what....

Straight off this morning Nick found it painful to lie on the floor with his legs out straight, but at the same time he was saying that his back felt looser and more flexible when standing. So rather than persist with his stretches he went for a short walk. Came back feeling a lot better, and could then lie down and do his stretches. The pain had been in his buttocks, and he described it like pulling a muscle (and as a sports person he does know what that feels like). Not sciatic and nothing in his back and no more than the normal slight ache in his calf.

During the day he followed his three week post op routine. In the afternoon he ended up lying on his bedroom floor (only because he couldn't be bothered to carry his school books downstairs to the living room). When he got up to do some lunges he had the pain in his buttock back again. So again, went for a walk which helped but the pain was still there. Lay down flat on his back and after about 20 minutes realised that he could stretch his legs out again.

We concluded that it felt more muscular than a nerve issue so I massaged some Deep Heat in to see if that would help. His glutes were very tight and massaging them resulted in some pain in his buttocks and calf. But at the time of writing this he seems fine again.

He's seeing his physio tomorrow so with any luck she might be able to shed some light on this. The only other thing that has happened is that he has what looks like an infected tummy button, but I can't see how that could be connected to his micro-discectomy!

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3 weeks + 3 days

 

Yesterday was a bit of a washout for Nick's new routine. We started off well, but at 11 am there was a fatal accident outside our house and being the first on the scene it took me a few hours before I was free again. Both Nick and I found the whole incident very distressing and neither of us felt like doing exercises. Fortunately one of Nick's friends come over in the afternoon, which both cheered him up and distracted him from the police activity going on outside. Overall he only managed a few exercises and one short walk.

 

Today was much better. Nick carried out all of his new activities (see tab on 3 week post op exercises) except a swim. And to our delighted he was able to reach below his knees today for the first time! He did need to rest between activities and he says that he thinks the key is to be patient, but none the less this is, finally, a visible improvement. Yippee!!

 

I have added a page of his new exercises routine.

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3 weeks + 1 day post-op. Physio visit.

 

Nick went back to see the physio today. Generally happy with progress but did re-iterate that this will take some time. The main issues are twofold. Firstly his nerve is still tethered somewhere, which is why he still cannot get beyond about 40 degrees in the straight leg raise or bend forwards to touch his toes (with his knees straight). Secondly, a lot of his other muscles have tightened up, eg his hamstrings, glutes etc as a result of his limited movement for such a long time.

So, she is stepping up his activity levels. Nick felt ready for this too so is happy with the idea. The main extra activities are

• Cycling, but starting off with only a few minutes and gradually building up and avoiding hills or bumpy roads. Nick will start off indoors until he can manage a reasonable amount of time.
• Lunges, for 2-3 minutes
• Bridge with a stability ball, holding for 10 seconds, 10 times over
• Wobble board balance. Total of 20 minutes a day. Nick struggled just to stand still, but once he can manage that to try squats
• Standing hamstring stretches for 2-3 minutes at a time
• Sitting. To limit to 20 minutes, then walk, then resume sitting (rather than sitting until it hurts)
• Swimming. He can start swimming lengths if he wants to.

He is to continue his walking. For his existing '1 week post-op' stretches, to continue any which he feels are working for him. He's decided to continue the clam and the sit to stand.

Nick also tried out the cross trainer but found that it caused pain in his calf, plus we don't have access to one at home so we decided to leave it out.


Overall, the physio felt that Nick should be reducing the amount of time he spends lying down so we've decided that he should follow a rotation of the above to keep him moving. Not great news for his exam revision!


Will get a page up tomorrow summarising the three weeks post op routine with a few photos.


 

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3 weeks post-op

 

Nick is now 3 weeks post-op. Most of his day is still spent lying on the floor, interspersed with stretches (3 x day) and walks (3 x day) but overall this is where he is at....

• Slight pain in his calf. He's not sure whether this is sciatic or not and he is struggling to describe it. Not causing him a lot of concern though, and we are hoping it is just the nerve recovering.
• Tight muscle ache in his thigh - describes it as like a very tight muscle being slightly stretched
• Bending - may have been able to touch his knees today. Not checking regularly so not too sure. He feels there is some improvement.
• Walking - managing approx one mile (1.6 km) three times a day. Walks slightly stiffly but still hugely better than before the op. Getting rather board of the local area so occasionally we drive a few minutes to a different park.
• Sitting - can manage 35 minutes at a time but can feel himself tightening up and it might be inducing the calf pain. Has to concentrate on sitting straight. He is practicing sitting up at a table because he has exams to sit in a weeks time, and a return to school in three weeks time.
• Car journeys - has managed a couple of long journeys (about 2 hours) but each caused a fair amount of pain and/or stiffness so we wouldn't recommend car journeys at this stage.
• Sleeping - generally sleeping OK but sometimes feels too alert to sleep.
• Concentrating - difficulties concentrating for long, school work taking a lot longer than normal.
• No problems with the surgery wound but sometimes feels the need for some ice as it feels like it's bruised (no visible sign of bruising). Massaging vitamin E oil into it twice a day.
• Painkillers - not needing any at the moment.
• Hamstrings and glutes - still feel tight, not much change
• Physio/stretches - doing three sets a day. Feels ready for further physio and current stretches take less time to complete now.
• Emotionally - 'not worried but don't feel everything is fantastic yet'. Starting to talk about when and how he will be able to return to playing tennis.

 

 

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2 weeks + 4 days - slow progress time

 

I think this is going to be a frustrating period for Nick. Although nothing is worse, progress is so slow and small that it's easy to overlook any improvements. He had problems getting to sleep again last night, so woke up late this morning. Most of the day has been spent lying down, although he has done his usual 3 sets of stretches and a few walks. We've increased the walking distance a little - walks today were 1.6 km and 1.4 km so far and he is planning on one more walk later this evening.

I wish that he was able to see his physio this week, but being between Christmas and New Year both his usual physios are on holiday so his next appointment is not for another four days. I feel that he is ready to be pushed a little, but I would prefer the physio to decide on the pushing rather than me.

He is still getting the strange sensation in his leg, but reading forums and other blogs this seems to be fairly common. I just have to stop worrying about it!

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2 weeks + 2 days post op + shopping

 

Well, we can conclude from today that shopping 2 weeks post a microdiscectomy is not a good idea. 30 minutes drive to the shops plus 10 minutes standing waiting for an assistant to be free (it is the first day of the post Christmas sales) plus 10 minutes to discuss/decide which laptop to buy left Nick actually sitting on the display units in a desperate attempt to relieve the increasing back pain. Fortunately it then took only 5 minutes to pay before making a hasty retreat back to the car and then to home. Equally fortunate was the fact this was at John Lewis, so no comments were made about a 6 ft 3 teenager sitting on the display units!

Pain not bad enough to require any painkillers and after lying flat on his back again he recovered, but I would definitely not recommend shopping.

Other than that, the usual 3 x stretches plus two further walks (we decided that the shopping trip counted as a walk) of 2 x 1 km and lots of lying down.

Steri strips are now off so we are massaging the wound twice a day with vitamin E oil which I know from my own extensive experience of scars will help the wound to heal quickly and neatly.

 

 

 

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2 weeks post op - Christmas Day

2 weeks post op and it's Christmas Day!

 

Well we have managed to get through Christmas Day. A lot of lying down for Nick, together with the usual sets of stretches and walks (haven't been able to measure the walks but less than normal). No need for any painkillers yet (as at 8 pm) nor ice, and he has been able to sit through most of the meals.

Generally, Nick says he feels happy with progress and he's managing to be very patient. Plan to step up a little in a few days time once we are back home, but hoping that this progress continues.

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2nd week post op (days 8 to 13)

 

Will probably now keep one post for each week but will update it daily. Nick has settled into a routine and I suspect that not a huge amount will change over the next seven days. I'll put the latest day's comments at the top.

13 days post op

Made the mistake of doing too much today, not intentionally but simply because of what was happening. Firstly we had to get Nick up to my parents house - normally a 2 hour drive - which required him to sit for too long. We did stop twice but it was still a bit too much for him. Secondly we had a round of Christmas presents with my sisters and their kids. Nick 'reclined' on a sofa, but again it was too much. So he skipped joining in for supper, took a couple of paracetamol and had a rest on the floor. Felt better after about half an hour and managed to sit up to eat quickly but then went back to lying down.

Tomorrow, Christmas Day, is going to be quite a challenge for him!

12 days post op

Forgot to complete this! Nothing particularly exciting to report - three walks of 1.3 km, 1.1 km and 1 km, and three sets of physio stretches. Managed 10 minutes in the car too. Didn't use any ice. Feeling fine although still slightly concerned about the sensation in his leg.

11 days post op.

Slept well, waking up pretty late. Usual routine, 3 walks (1 km, 1.1 km and 0.7 km), 3 sets of stretches and ice after each. Slight pain in his leg, but generally looking mobile and flexible. Friend came over for a few hours and Nick coped fine this time.

 

10 days post op.

Managed to sleep fine last night, perhaps the extra evening walk helped. He tried sitting at a desk this afternoon for schoolwork, but only managed 20 minutes before he started to feel a little pain so he stopped for a rest before continuing. Managed a total of about 30 minutes. He's getting a little frustrated by this sensation in his leg - not pain, not sciatica just a sort of feeling. It's not getting worse, and might be dissapating a little so I'm not concerned about it yet.

Today's walks - 2 x 1 km and 1 x 0.5 km. Physio x 3. Ice after walks and stretches. Generally no pain and in good spirits.

 

9 days post op.


6 am. Nick woke up at 4 am and hasn't been able to sleep. Not pain, just being alert and not tired. He was so active before - even in the week pre op he was cycling 10 miles to/from school - and now he's doing nothing. Am going to have to find some way of tiring him that doesn't risk his recovery. In the meantime he has a book and a mug of hot chocolate.

9 pm. The usual routine today, except that he went for an extra walk this evening so total walks today have been 1 km, 1 km and 0.7 km. Reporting no pain but hamstrings and glutes still feel very tight. He's been trying out various ways of stretching his hamstrings but it hasn't been particularly effective. Has been doing quite a bit of schoolwork and says that he wants to try sitting up at a table tomorrow for his school work.

Although Christmas Day is only 5 days away he says that it doesn't feel like Christmas because he hasn't been at school with his friends for the pre-Christmas build up. So I got him to help me wrap up the presents this evening and tomorrow he's going to help me make the mince pies and chocolate logs.

 

8 days post op.

Looking good and in reasonable spirits. Managed two walks of 0.9 km and 0.5 km. Reporting very low to low levels of pain, pain being tight sensation in his hamstrings. Done three sets of physio exercises with ice afterwards and sat up for abut half an hour at supper (as well as for breakfast and lunch for about 15 minutes each). He was on his own for about 4 hours this afternoon but coped fine. Able to shower now without any problems.

 

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