11 weeks post-op - very positive vibes

Well, we are all feeling a lot more positive this week! Nick has managed full days at school and he has been back on court a few times. He also says that he feels like he is improving, which is fantastic.

11 weeks post op summary

• School. Managing full days at school, although he does feel sore by the end of the day and needs to lie down when he gets home.
• Tennis. Doing gentle hitting for about 20 minutes once every two/three days. Feels general muscle ache afterwards but nothing worse. Coach commented today that Nick is moving much better post microdiscectomy compared to post nerve decompression.
• Physio exercises. No change on the 9 weeks programme except we have added bridging back in. His pelvic tilts are definitely improving.
• Sports massage. Had another this week and although tougher this time it still seemed to help, though not as much as the previous occasion.
• Muscles. Muscles not feeling tight.
• Sciatic pain. Not getting any :-)
• Sitting. Not brilliant, but managing lessons at school.
• Posture. Improving, especially when he's not thinking about it. Interesting psychological point there.
• Straight leg raise. Same - 60 degrees one side, 90 degrees other.
• Emotions. Much, much better. Seems more like his former self - positive, motivated, cheerful and generally much better.

So, you can see why I started with 'feeling a lot more positive'. I am now starting to look forward to improvements, rather than worrying about any lack of improvements.

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Operation Day!

7.20. At the hospital waiting to see the nurse. Operation booked for 8 am. Nick feeling thirsty and tired.

8.15. Seen nurse, anaethetist and surgeon. Looks like going into theatre 9 ish.

9.45. Nick went in at 9.30 am. Am told op takes about 30 mins, so I should be called down to recovery soon!

10.50. Still not back and working hard not to start worrying.

11 am. Surgeon came up to say all has gone well. Took longer than expected as Nick's disc is still very soft and 'like rubber' and so hard to remove. Nerve is now definitely not compressed at all. Not much disc left so he says he would be surprised if there is a re-hernia. Nick can expect relief from the sciatica very quickly, but to expect some residual back pain initially.

11.30 am. Went down to recovery. Nick very very groggy but otherwise fine. Reports some mild back pain, but basically he's still asleep. Taken back to his room.

12 pm. Another visit from the surgeon to check on Nick, who is now a little more alert but is still dozing on and off. Drinking a lot.

1.30 pm. Bit more pain so taken some painkillers. Wound has bled a fair bit but I gather that is normal. He's beginning to get a bit hungry.

2.45 pm. Both Nick and I slept for an hour. Nick has managed to get out of bed but says that standing tall and straight feels strange! No pain and sounding much more chirpy. Eating well.

5 pm. After a few chirpy hours and plenty to drink Nick is tired again and has fallen asleep. He reports no pain at all, and no sciatica but that may be due to the drugs still flowing through him.

6 pm. Supper arrives. Have you ever tried eating canelloni whilst lying completely horizontal? But, great discovery - can sit at almost 45 degrees with leg straight! That's the first time in almost 12 months. Still no pain reports and to his delight there is football on TV.

8 pm. Have left Nick looking comfortable and pretty chirpy, watching football with my husband, so I can get home for some rest.

Overall today seems to have gone well so I should be able to sleep better tonight.

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Brief history

15 months ago, aged 14, Nick started to have leg and back pain. As a keen tennis player, it was diagnosed as a muscular problem due to not stretching enough. So for the following few months he religiously performed a series of physio stretches several times a day (glutes, hamstrings, quads, piriformis etc).

The pain didn’t improve, and 3 months later his GP referred him to first an osteo and then a neurosurgeon. It took the neurosurgeon about 60 seconds to diagnose a herniated disc, and it was confirmed in an MRI the next day.

By this stage Nick was losing sensation in his foot, had reduced reflexes in his leg, had severe sciatica and couldn’t sit or stand for more than about 15 minutes without pain. He had difficulty bending forward, and could only reach his knees. These problems made life at school a nightmare for him.

10 months ago he had nerve decompression surgery to relieve the pressure on his sciatic nerve. Initially the situation improved, but very quickly (a matter of weeks) his original problems came back. He regularly saw his physio and tried to keep fit by swimming and cycling. However, his nerve was severely tethered and no amount of work seemed to release it.

3 months ago he tried a steroid injection in his spine to reduce the inflammation. He had relief for about a day, but beyond that it had limited effect.

1 month ago it was decided that the only option left for him was a micro-discectomy. By this stage he could not stand, sit, walk or even lie without pain.

This is where he is at today. He takes painkillers three times a day just to carry out his day to day activities. Remember he is only 15 years old! I hope this blog will help anyone else in a similar situation.