Discectomy - After the Operation

[nudangler]

Sitting thinking about my recent posts & realised I am only 2 weeks (+ 3 days now) post op not 3 weeks......doesn't ime fly when you're having fun?

 

[jerlovesmetal]

I am gutted

i

 

[pvnmvecv]

I have now found that my local hospital are unable to fit me in for the lumbar discectomy and are now farming patients out to other hospitals. I agreed to this because I've done something to my back and it really really hurts. Don't know where I'll end up or even how I'll get there, but I am a desperate woman.

I told her not to bother contacting Southampton hospital because they have a 6 month waiting list just for a consultant appointment. I was right, this is never going to end. I was so angry I sent an email to the health minister....like he'll care!

Hope everyone else is okay.....what about Ali?

 

[sismebebr]

So sorry to read about the problems you are having trying to get your op....have you tried Birmingham waiting lists? Not ideal I know as when you're about to undergo surgery it's always better to be close to home.... sometimes needs must.

 

[theres the beef]

Hi there, geez, i am so sorry hun, what a load of shirkers!
They did the same here, my local hospital stopped doing back ops, saying that the hospital that DOES do them (which 60 odd miles away), has all the equipment blah blah blah. They had the equipment in the local hospital before cos they did the ops there before!!!!! Its all bull!

I am still none the wiser either hun, no date, nothing, despite supposedly being a priority case. I keep ringing them daily, they are getting pee'd off with me but i dont care. But hey hey guess what, the surgeon is going on holiday AGAIN!!!!!!!
I was told i would have a date this week.
AAARRRGGGHHH.......I really dont know how much more of this i can take, especially cos of the migraines due to the morphine tablets..AND.......the dose i am currently on is not effective any more and needs increasing...AND...eventually i am going to have to come off them at some point. I am probably going to have really horrible withdrawals.

I am sooooo exasperated with all this, its the 2nd time i have had to go through all this and its driving me insaaaane!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Melza, shall we go and rob a bank and go private? Just don't tell anyone! Hee Hee!!!!!

Luv Ali!!!!!!! xxxxxxxxxx

 

[Megan!]

Picking up on Octavians Birmingham suggestion, why don't we both book in there Ali? Could probably get a bit of shopping done too. I'm in such a muddle about this because I am desperate to get both ends of my spine sorted out, and yet travelling to some strange and distant land is a bit scary (country bumpkin here). If I'm going to do that i might as well go to Poland, I strongly suspect they deliberately make it difficult so that we'll go private in desperation.

You know Ali, I wonder how on earth I always manage to get up and face another day, I must be tougher than I thought.

 

[manx_sue]

Yes you are Melza, you are stronger than you think.
We all have that survival instinct, or are just plain stubborn and refuse to give in. I think that you definetely fall into these categories!

I defenitely cant go to birmingham though, i have a daughter to care for, she's only 7 and i cant leave her, there's no dad around and things at work are so awful, that i cant rely on anyone else and wouldnt put that responsibility on them either, its not fair to.
I am a support worker for people with mental illness, and one resident is currently terminally ill with bowel cancer, and another has a brain tumour, so things are pretty bad.

I have been on the phone to my GP this morning, who checked all my records and found no letters or referrals to anyone for anything.

But He is taking me off the morphine, which i am pleased about, because as i said in my last post, i am worried about the withdrawals.
I am being weaned off it over 3 weeks. And am going back onto amitryptiline, so that should fix my headaches too. He did say that my headaches should get better, but my back may get worse. Its a big old merry go round.
And if the headaches continue, then the caudal epidural is to blame, but don't know what they can do for that.

Its a dire situation isnt it Melza, but what else can we do, apart from wait, and take loads of pills on a daily basis?
If you are able to go to Poland or Birmingham, then I would absolutely tell you to go for it hun, and hope that they can fix you up quick. Its a pain in the arse, to have to go all round the houses to get the treatment, but if they can fix you up hun, then needs must eh?

Love from Ali xxxxx

 

[J M]

I can't go to poland or birmingham. Its the old story of no man in my life (often a blessing) and no one else to help me. Luckily I have one daughter at work now, two boys at uni, but she will freak out if she's left in the flat on her own too long. You never know what to do for the best. The business manager from work told me to write to PALS and complain about whats happening, they have no choice but to follow it up, and I think it's worth a go...I suggest you do it too. And one more thing, did you ever try the TENS machine? I was very sceptical about it working...but it did, they were selling them quite cheap at Lloyds pharmacy. In case no one knows about them, they send a small electric current to the site of the pain and which confuses the brain and alters how we feel the pain. Not sure if I explained that very well but its definitely better than drugs. Mine was on loan before but I might go out and buy one for myself. Give it some thought all you current sufferers.

Mel

 

[raspberry_daisy_twist]

Guys I am so sorry to hear this it stinks. Why don't we form a pressure group and write on mass to the constituant MPs complaining on behalf of each other. In this way the correspondence will build up, a letter from each? They can't ignore it. Just a thought.......

 

[Heather !]

OMG I feel awful that you Melza & you AliH78 r being messed about so much. I moaned that I had to wait a few weeks!!! Mind you flip side of my coin is that I don't feel any different to how I felt before the op so I 'm beginning to wonder whether it was worth it??

 

[bobcat11eob]

in case it's any help to any of you, i got given a tens machine when admitted overnight at the local nhs hospital because my sciatic pain was so bad and was told it was mine to take home. so it might be worth asking if you are seeing a physio or anyone at a nearby hospital...

ali, i am so glad to hear you are coming off the morphine and especially that you are being helped to do so slowly. it messed my stomach up so badly, but thankfully all seems to be back to normal now. my 3 weeks of withdrawals were almost as bad as the pre-op pain. honestly, it was awful. and when i look back now, i was pretty close to requiring support worker for mental health issues myself. coming off the amitriptyline cause 2 weeks of insomnia, so watch out for that one...

i am 8 weeks post op (i think...have lost count). still not back at work, but on full sick pay so not worrying about it. thankfully i can take my time and wait until i am as ready as possible. probably another couple of weeks. i have been swimming and doing a 'back to basics' class with the local oaps. have also strated pilates. i am finding i am really sore the next day, but it is muscle sore, so not too scary. the nerve on my 'bad' leg is still really, really tight and doesn't seem to be getting any better. if i am sitting with a straight back, then i can't straighten my leg! all very different to the days of getting my chest on my knees. i am officially retired from all things gymnastics related!

ooohh, also managed to build some ikea furniture at the weekend...i know that's what you're all eventually waiting to be able to do!

stay strong,
jess xx

 

[whiavncc]

Hi Octavian,

This is my second round of surgery, I was first operated on less than a year ago, but it was unsuccessful and my back and leg problems are exactly the same as they were before.

I wish i could give you some advice, but am not having much success myself, so don't have any!!!

Melza...I have heard the TENS machines are good, how do i get one on loan? Who do i ask?

Love Ali xxx

 

[Charlotte?]

I laughed out loud at your ikea comment!!! Well done for that, flat packs are a nightmare!!!

I was in hospital as an emergency case in August due to my horrendous sciatic pain, but first of all they wanted to give me IBRUPROFEN!!!! I thought she was joking!....Then they gave me gas and air, and finally, 3 hours later, some intravenous morphine. Never was offered a TENS machine, nor was it suggested. I was in hospital for 11 days, and saw the physio daily, but they never mentioned it...hmmm strange.

Thanks for the heads up on the insomnia issue with the amitriptyline, i will watch out for that.

Yeah, i'm glad i am coming off the morphine too, i am currently on near enough 200mg a day, so wasnt looking forward to coming off it. The doc did say that my back pain will probably get worse, but hey, it cant be any worse than it is now, because the morphine wasnt touching it anyways!!!

Thanks, love Ali xxxx

 

[>.>]

Ali, ask your physio if they have a TENS machine you could borrow (as you may remember I am never asking those people for a single thing ever again!) Or do you have an occupational health physio, thats where I got mine from. I'm sure they were on offer at Lloyds pharmacy, maybe £15.00, and worth every penny. Have a look around, if you have a lloyds pharmacy of course.

You want a laugh folks? As some of you may remember I have conflict in my workplace, they were supposed to make adaptions for me to go back to work, they didn't make them, Occy health wouldn't let me go back to work and now I'm on incapacity benefit. Oh, and the whole nurses station (my work area) has been condemned by health and safety as it is too low anyway.

Last week I had to go and get assessed for my fitness to return to work by occy health,you can be sure I was going to pass with flying colours because I needed to be fit enough to work (do you follow that?) Actually the pain in my lumbar spine had settled down really well anyway, it was just my neck I played down. So guess what???????

I threw the bedspread over my bed a couple of days ago and felt a muscle crunch (or something just as bad) close to the lumbar disc problem, that's why I'm in so much pain at the moment. And today I found i have to attend an assessment at work on the 22nd Oct, will they ever leave me alone!. So, dear friends, how do I get around that one. Will my union man rescue me?

I shall leave you to ponder while I will take some more pills.....by the way, I don't even check the labels anymore.

Love to all

x

 

[uarlnfre]

Hey there,

Geez, thats a bit of a pickle isn't it? Do you have a union rep?

I don't have a physiotherapist, or occy health anyone! I have been referred to occy health, but apparently the waiting lists for assessment, are 7 months long! I am on it however! They haven't referred me for physio, The only reason i saw the physio in hospital, was cos they wanted me to get mobile and get home....thats it.

I have recieved an appointment for the pain clinic this morning, however, it is not until the 12th November!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

When will it end? WILL it ever end??????

 

[heppeee]

Hi Guys,

I never thought I would ever make it onto this thread. It has seemed such a long road to get to the surgery suit. I had my discectomy on 9/10/08 and this is my 4th day into recovery. I expected to come home yesterday but because of a few setbacks i stayed an extra day.

Friday was my worse day so far, only 1 day after surgery I was so low I thought i'd never walk again. I woke up at around midnight on thursday/friday and actually didnt feel that bad, that must have been the morphine that I had in my PCA to fight the pain when I needed it. However little did I know that they would take it away at 9am that morning and substitute the morphine with co-dydromaol and Diclofenac. After the morphine wore off my pain hit the roof. I tried to explaine to the nurses that for the last 2 years I had been taking 2 x 30mg of Dyhydrocodine and the co-dydromol was only 500mg of paracetemol and only 10mg of codine and was nowhere near my usuall tollerance, anyway not to mention that these meds where only dished out every 6 hours if you where lucky. My advice for anyone reading this thread who is expecting surgery soon is to talk to your consultant and the anythestist and agree your pain control prior to surgery, then there can be no arguments after.

Anyway im in day 4 of recovery still a long road ahead....

lol my wife is telling me I have perched too long infront of the pc, so I better go. Will update soon.

 

[Cougar Hunter]

90awk..... i had horrendous withdrawals after going from 60mgs of dihydrocodeine 4 x a day (plus the occasional morphine tablet, diazepam, paracetamol, diclofenac and amitriptyline) to 8mgs of codeine due to a prescribing error in hospital. i had the shakes, hot and cold spells, awful diarrhoea and was weak, dizzy and felt really sick for 2 or 3 days. what i wanted to let you know is it will go away and you will feel so much better really soon. i think it took a couple of weeks til i felt normal again, but had been on the drugs so long it was hard to remember what that was like. added bonus was losing about a stone in weight, which has unfortunately returned due to non-stop eating and limited exercise, but it was nice while it lasted!

ali - if you have trouble locating a tens machine, send me a message with your address and i will send you mine. it's lurking in a cupboard somewhere and i would much rather it was helping you. also, my physio recommended i call the pain clinic (18 week wait here) and let them know i was available at short notice and request a cancellation. this was not exactly graciously received, but if you haven't already tried, it might be worth a shot. hang in there... and you too melza...the relief in pain in your lumbar spine (however temporary) is a good sign cos it means the prolapse (if that's what you have) is mobile and the pain could be away for years and even more significant, it has not herniated like mine did, cos then there's no relief til it's removed.

jess xx

 

[RaneJavier]

Hey Jess,

wow thank you so much! thats really kind, I will bear that in mind!
Just concerned if you have a replapse, that you might need it?

Referring to your comment to Melza, about the disc being herniated, thats exactly what mine is, and it just will not let up. That and the fact that my pipes are a bit clogged if you get my drift?!?!? That doesn't help matters much!

I saw my disc on the scan, and a healthy one is white, mine is black!!!!
And for that exact reason, i want the surgeon to fuse it. Its at risk of coming out again in my opinion. Its happened once, i am sure it will happen again. He won't though, and says the discectomy is the best option, i'm not convinced. I have talked about this several times with him, and it all falls on deaf ears.
He tells me i am a priority case, am on the list as an urgent case, yet no surgery lists have been drawn up, and he is on holiday again. I was put on the list in flippin' august. And that was 9 months after recurrence of my pain and symptoms.
I am backed into a corner, and i hate it, i have no choice or control over my treatment and it sucks.

And the most stupid thing of all, is that i was in hospital in august, and saw him there, why could'nt he have just transferred me, and done it there and then, instead of saying he want my pain controlled efficiently, discharged from hospital, and to see him in outpatients? My outpatients appointment was 2 days after i was discharged from hospital, and i was immediately put on the urgent surgery list. Hardly seemed worth it. Why the heck didnt he just do it there and then while i was in hospital?? It would have been better in terms of saving the NHS time.

I feel like telling them the poke their surgery up their jacksies, but i know i really need it........balls balls and more balls.......!

Sorry guys for moaning so much, but a girl needs to vent her spleen every now and then!!!! Love you all xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

[FLO]

I'm right in there with you Ali, in fact I feel so angry and let down that I'm going to write a formal complaint to the hospital. It really feels like they are playing games to see how long it will take for us to snap.....and I think I'm pretty close. Not sure whether to hit out at the chief exec or go through that PALS thing.

Oh, and when I said some of the pain had settled down I meant that I was able to take proper big steps when I was walking....I don't know why that was but I've gone and destroyed that little bit of relief now. The nerve irritation is probably my biggest nightmare. The nurse explained that when the disc herniates/ruptures the gungy stuff inside gets onto the nerve root and causes the irritation, I don't know many people who have two cold hot water bottles to keep their legs cool in bed, one on my legs and one ready for the change over. Amazing what cunning plans you can come up with isn't it. Not found one for the neck and shoulder pain yet, and that really does hurt like hell. Can't I be put out til they can get round to treating me....I truly don't want another painful and miserable christmas.

 

[iqeouuxripzincedp]

Hi everyone

Does any one know if there is side effects to comming of Dicloflex??? My Doctor has said because its not addictive, I could stop it straight away.


Thanks
Cas08