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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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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1 week post-op

Well, Nick is now one week post op. Where is he at?

- no sciatic pain (or numbness, tingling etc)

- can stand up straight again

- no surgery pain, or surgery complications, wound healing nicely

- very tight hamstrings and glutes

- can't bend forwards much, but can extend his back

- can walk about 1 km at a time, twice a day

- doing stretches three times a day

- applying ice after any of walk or stretches

- practicing sitting, but can only manage about 15 minutes at a time

- has seen his physio once, and will see again in 2 weeks (would have been one week but next week is Christmas)

- no longer taking any painkillers

- fairly happy with his progress, but needless to say there is still a lingering fear that problems aren't resolved yet

 

His daily routine is now stretch - walk - stretch - walk - stretch with sitting up for mealtimes. I've added a page showing the stretches he now doing, 1 week post op.

We also visited an Alexander Technique practitioner today. Not a huge success. He found it quite hard work, especially when sitting down and he's not convinced that he feels any better for it.

Just for the record, his walks today were 2 x 0.7 and 1 x 0.5, no painkillers

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6 days post-op

Not much to report from the morning. Nick woke up late ish after a good nights sleep. Showered, breakfast, stretches and ice. Took top dressing off, leaving steri-strips in place. Nick settled down to do some school work (lying on his back) while I went off to the shops. He found he was a bit unproductive doing the school work but feels better for having started it.

1 pm. Managed a good walk, 1 km in total, to our local bakery for lunch. Ice afterwards and now settled down to watch a film as we are both feeling tired. Reporting no pain at the moment.

7 pm. Just back from seeing the physio. Physio is happy with progress and result of the operation. Straight leg raise is about 40 deg but can't reach his knees yet. One of the physios was disappointed that he couldn't reach his knees yet, but the other was fine about it. Hamstrings and glutes very tight but back muscles fine. Worked on releasing the hamstrings and starting to mobilise his hips and pelvis. Removed the first two exercises from the basic stretches and added three - pelvic tilts, the clam and sit to stand. Also advised to start increasing sitting time.

 

 

Sitting for the journey there (about 20 mins in a car) did cause Nick to stiffen up noticeably but the journey back didn't have the same effect. Ice pack on return. Reporting no pain.

10 pm. Nothing inparticular to report since seeing the physio. Nick has continued to rest on the futon, sat up for supper and did a few stretches. Not reporting any pain so it looks like another day with no painkillers!

 

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5 days post op

4.30 pm. I haven't been at home today so my husband has been looking after Nick. All seems to have gone well. He's followed our daily routine of stretches, walk, stretches with ice afterwards. He's due to go for a walk in half an hour and a thunderstorm has just started, but Nick says he still wants to walk so I guess that's good news. No painkillers taken so far. Still lying on the floor. Pretty chirpy and happy.

5.30 pm. Just found the piece of paper which Nick has been using to record his day on. Just for the record....Stretches 9.45 am, walk 1 pm (0.6 km), stretches 3 pm and just done another walk 5 pm (1 km).

7.30 pm. Did stretches at 7pm, had supper and then did the washing up (bit unlucky for him that he can stand enough to do the washing up!). He's started to talk about doing some school work tomorrow so I'm thinking that he must be feeling better, or possibly very bored.

10.30 pm. Am very pleased that Nick has got through today with no painkillers. My other son was saying, again, how amazing it is to see him standing properly again. Just really hopeful that this great progress continues.

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2 days post-op

9.30 am

Nick seems to have had a good nights sleep and got up about 9 am saying that he felt good. Certainy had a smile on his face, which he didn't have the night before. Went straight in to a full set of physio stretches - we had read that straight after waking up is a good time to do them as your muscles are warm and relaxed.

Managed to sit up for a light breakfast - he's really focusing on sitting up straight now but, likes us all, finds he keeps forgetting and reverts to a slight slouch. Slight dull back ache around the wound area, so 2x 200g Nurofen and an ice-pack for 20 minutes. Back to lying on the floor, although he prefers lying on his side to avoid irritating the wound. Switches sides about every 20 mins.

Note about ice-packs. Buy several, as they need time to re-freeze and you are likely to need ice before they have re-frozen. Also, try to find really slim ones (we found the Boots hot/cold sports compress the best) so that you can lie on them without it forcing your back up.

10.30 am. Just discovered that a thin cushion under Nick's bum takes the pressure off his lower back and helps him to lie on his back in less pain :-)

11 am. Out for a short walk, managed 893 steps (about 0.4 km). We've devised a clever route plan. Starting from home, he walks 20 yards up the road then turns round and walks back. If he feels OK, he sets off again in the opposite direction, again for 20 yards before returning home. If he feels OK, he sets off again. Etc. This way he can walk a fair distance overall but is never more than 20 yards from home should it start to hurt. This works better than one's instinct of walking until it hurts, and then realising that you have to walk the same distance again to get home and hence overdoing it.

Some wound pain after the walk so more ice spray. Nick's saying that the nurofen isn't helping at all so trying paracetamol this time - 2 x 500 mg. He's trying to have a snooze now.

12.30 pm. Didn't manage to snooze much and by 12.30 decided to do another round of physio stretches, followed by ice spray for 20 mins. Pain only when moves, so perhaps paracetamol is working better than nurofen. Slight frustration that the best position to alleviate pain is lying on his front, but then he can't do anything at all and gets fed up!

4 pm. Further ice spray at 2.15 pm and then another walk at 3.15 pm. Managed a little more this time (about 0.6 km) and Nick said it felt better. Only has a low level of back pain. More ice-spray on return and now has settled down to watch a James Bond film!

5.45 pm. Another set of physio exercises followed by ice spray. Reporting 'very low' levels of pain. Keeping fingers crossed it stays that way. Have now added a page on this blog showing these physio exercises that he's been doing.

10.45 pm. Not much changed since my last post. Nick managed to sit up for supper without issue but did head back to the futon pretty quickly. More ice spray around 9 pm. Slight back pain before going to bed, and he was worried that he wouldn't be able to sleep well so 2 x 500 g paracetamol before bedtime.

Overall not a bad day, and both of us relieved no sudden increase in pain like last night. Ice spray definitely his preferred method of cooling his back because you can cover a greater area and he doesn't have to worry about keeping a pack in place. We seem to have developed a routine of stretching, walking, stretching, walking and a final stretching session coupled with applying ice every 1.5 hours. Hoping that the progress keeps up.

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1 day post-op

8.20 am. Arrive at the hospital. Nick awake and fairly chirpy. Didn't have a great night, 'not bad' says Nick. Difficult getting to sleep and had a few painkillers to cope with wound pain. Wound hurts when knocked or pressed against, which is tricky when you are lying all the time! Healthy appetite and has enjoyed breakfast. Taken a couple of ibuprofen. Expecting physio to visit after breakfast.

10.30 am. Spoken to surgeon who is happy with Nick's progress. Also seen physio which has proven really helpful. Have a list of very basic and gentle stretches for him to do 3 times a day and had a good discussion about when to see his normal physio again. Nick's recommended to start gentle, short walks as soon as possible. Nick reporting that he can sit straight without pain :-) and they checked that he can walk upstairs. Having a shower here at the hospital after which they will replace his dressing and then he can go home!

Dressing and steri-strips came off in the shower so we've had our first glance of the wound.

11.30 am and Nick's back home! We have some extra painkillers in case his wound starts to hurt, but he is pain free at the moment :-) He's set up on the futon on the living room floor with his laptop and bag of food to his side. When he stands up he can now stand straight and suddenly seems taller than before.

 

1.30 pm. Managed to sit up at dining table for a quick lunch, although he said it was tiring on his back muscles. Full set of physio stretches followed by ice on back for 20 mins (using an exercise band to hold in place as he is is lying on his side to avoid pressure on the wound).

2.30 pm. Short 10 minute walk (approx 0.5 km) followed by ice-pack and 2 x nurofen. Slight back ache. Measured height - 1.5 cms taller than pre-surgery!

5 pm. Full set of physio stretches followed by Deep Freeze ice-spray. Spray easier to use, but only lasted about 10 minutes so reapplied after 10 mins. Some mild dull back ache around the wound. Nick finds most comfortable position is lying on his side.

We are both learning that you need to use a timer/stopwatch etc to remind us when next activity is, otherwise you just lose track of time.

6.30 pm. More ice spray. A little bit of back pain around the wound but not enough to require any painkillers.

9.30 pm. Had a bit of a set back this evening. All was going well - little pain, managed to sit up for supper and was pretty happy about life until about 8.30 pm. Wound started to hurt so we put an ice pack on and waited 20 mins. But the pain worsened and Nick described the sensation as if the wound was ripping apart. Indeed, it had started to bleed again.

So, took a Diydrocodeine and Nick has been lying face down (lying on back hurts too much) since then. He's feeling very miserable indeed. Shame, cos today had been going so well.

10.20 pm. Diydrocodeine has had desired effect and Nick's pain has greatly reduced. Gone to bed now, hopeful that he will manage a good nights sleep.

I think that today we have been amazed at the impact the surgery has had. We expected a reduction in sciatic pain, but there has been a huge impact on his 'structural' or biomechanics as well. He can now stand properly, he looks as flexible as you would expect a teenager to be and he walks normally. I hadn't realised the impact that the hernia had had on these. He says that he feels 'freed'. The pain this evening is surgery pain and I am sure it will disapate over the next few days.

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