So...my previous post, I told you I was going in for lumbar surgery. Lamenectomy Decompression with Disectomy to be exact. Well, I did have the surgery; it took a little over 2 hours and my surgeon said everything went well and he was able to remove a lot of bulging disc fragments. He also informed me that my sciatic nerve was approximately double in size. Quite likely it was irritated due to the disc lying on it and should go back to normal now that the disc was removed.
I spent the night in the hospital being monitored [and starving] as my nurses waited patiently for me to fart. Yep. You read that right. I had to "pass gas" in order for them to let me eat. So, if you know me well, which you probably don't, I'll just let you know that I don't pass gas as often as some. Actually, It may be days between bouts of natural gas. When my team told me what I had to do to get fed, I laughed. Not about the farting part of it, more because I knew, and my husband knew, we could be stuck there for days.
The rest of the day passed with no farting. By nightfall I was starving. I wanted a chicken salad sandwich on a croissant from Panera, but alas, no passy gassy, no eaty. Those were the rules. I managed to live through the night without nourishment and my team allowed me to have a few sips of water beginning the next day. They also started giving me Reglan to get my digestive tract moving. After four doses and a few hours, there was still nothing. It had been over 36 hours since I last ate. My team finally caved and allowed me some jello and a few crackers. Within an hour it finally happened. A fart. A little one, but hey, they didn't say it had to be a butt blower in order to eat. And boy was I starving. I had my sandwich, not from Panera, very generic, in fact I'm not sure I even tasted it going down. I inhaled that puppy so fast I questioned if I dreamed it. My husband brought me a pumpkin muffie, which was delicious and sort of like having cake.
Sciatic pain was gone upon my awakening from surgery, however, incision, as well as muscle pain, came in the place of it. With good meds I was able to start walking daily. Walking is the key to getting strong back muscles again. So, I walked the halls with my granny walker about every other hour. I was determined to break free from the hospital. It took a little bit of me repeating that I wanted to get checked out for them to finally sign me out; I'd already passed all their dismissal tests, so why keep me? Once at home I mostly slept, walked and slept. Drugs will do that to you. With lumbar surgery they give you this awful looking back brace to wear for the next six weeks. SIX WEEKS?!?! Are you kidding me? The thing is annoying. And hot. And annoying. You even have to sleep in it. And no showering. That's right, sponge baths only. Yuck! Something about keeping the sutures dry. Well, I can now tell you from experience that the back brace makes you sweat so you're not keeping the sutures dry anyway, so...they should let you have a real quick shower. I thought about taping some thick plastic sheeting to my surgery site and giving myself the water-running-over-my-body that I craved. But, in the end (2 weeks) I had survived. I also got pretty good at sponge baths.
So...I said above that when I woke from surgery that my sciatic pain was gone, right? Well, on day ten post op the sciatic pain returned. I called my surgeon and the nurse told me it happens sometimes and to take more narcotics and rest. Like I could do anything else? At 2 weeks and 2 days I had my first post op appointment. My doc was a little concerned about the return of the pain so he prescribed me another steroid pack. I believe this was my 4th steroid pack, plus the two steroid Epidural's we tried in March and April and quite possibly in surgery they finished up with a local steroid before stitching me up. Basically, I'm well roided up.
I am now 6 weeks post op and the pain is still the same. I've been doing my own research on my issues and have come to a self-diagnosis. I'm pretty sure I have Piriformus Syndrome. I think the surgery I had worked to fix the lumbar issues, but since I've been out of commission for so long I think I have a new problem. Piriformus Syndrome is where the muscle (it's a thin muscle that runs in your butt, from hip bone to thigh) becomes tight and sort of rolls up on itself causing it to feel knotted. When this happens, it also presses on the sciatic nerve causing pain to run down the leg, just as in when the disc is on the nerve in the lumbar. Yay! me. NOT!
So, today, at the six week post op appointment with my surgeon, and my back has been feeling a little strained/inflamed. I've been taking more anti-inflammatories. My surgeon said my x-ray looks OK but the back straining & weakness has him concerned. I'll be going to PT for about a month and if there's no change he will order another MRI. I could have another disc defragment. If so, surgically, he will go in through my abdomen and put in a fake disc. I pray for PT to fix all problems and my back to never act like this again. The excellent news of the day though: I can now go without my awesome back brace accessory unless I'm at work. And, I start back to work tomorrow!
Until next time,
Adios Muchachos,
Mel
P.S. I titled it Part 1 because I'm sure this isn't the end of the story.
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