Update/Spinal Surgeon/Sciatica

You are all so generous with your kind comments.
Thank you.❤️

Great news Marilla! So glad it went well.

Marilla I am so pleased everything went well. That ghastly pain is in the past and thank goodness you were able to have the surgery done quickly. Waiting on the NHS would have been torture.

Oh that's excellent news! It must feel like a whole new life. Thanks for the update.

Marilla what good news to brighten this Monday, thank you for posting, may you continue upwards. Best Wishes.

Suki70 thank you for your kind thoughts.
The surgery went really well and I am in week 4 of recovery.
I am pain free. Doing very simple exercises and walking for twenty minutes a day. I am so very grateful!

Marilla taking early retirement was a very wise decision. Coping with severe pain on top of all the stress and extra work teachers are having to cope with now would have been impossible.
Hope the surgery goes well and you are soon pain free.

Apologies to you both. My reply seems flat and rather dull!
I always wonder how I would manage if I had to work with this current bout of pain. I am so glad I took early retirement!
It was the best decision I have ever made.

I was a teacher and had the most delightful group of children, but I just remember standing in front of them and thinking, ‘I don’t want to be here anymore!’ I handed in my notice the next day and finished in the summer term.

Hello Laurie and Jane
I find I am tired all the time, always falling asleep especially in the afternoons and teatime. Yes, I feel very lazy and guilty that I can’t complete simple chores without stopping to rest.

Laurie I will be very interested to know how you get on with the neurosurgeon.
I hope meeting goes well and you have a plan of what is to happen next with your treatment.

I am having surgery on Monday. I fervently hope it isn’t cancelled because of COVID. I ended up having to opt for a private consultation and surgery. I couldn’t wait any longer with this debilitating pain.

I suppose that living with such pain must deplete your energy reserves. Its pretty debilitating. I hope you find relief in some form soon.

Mariella. Firstly, I hope today finds you not in so much discomfort. I have just been diagnosed with a similar problem (C5 & 6, C6 &7 degeneration) and I don't know what to do with myself because of the pain. I am off to see a neurosurgeon in the morning. But I would ask....one of my other problems is fatigue. I am so tired and exhausted with it all. Are you the same? I feel lazy and I dont know how I could go to work if I had too(am retired). The neurologist seemed suprised when I said I was tired. Am sending you healthy thoughts

Luckygirl the surgeon is a neuro surgeon rather than orthopaedic. ?

I had the same problem and it was finally operated on after 18 months of severe pain. So bad that I was on liquid morphine for the last 6 months. If I had had a nest egg to pay for private treatment, I would have done in the blink of an eye. Go for it - the improvement in your quality of life will be worth every penny!

Sorry - neuro-surgeon of course.

My OH (he was a doctor) used to say that if he needed this surgery he would go to a neurologist and not an orthopaedic surgeon.

Poor Marilla!

Most people here have had the problem and can understand your pain. My pain was such (every second the nerve twanged to an unimaginable degree) that I would have jumped off a cliff if I hadn't had the surgery (disc very damaged and bulging).

This occurred during the summer holidays and my husband rang round every private hospital but it so happened that no surgeons were available - school holidays! Eventually he found one who was available and when I was ushered in to see him my blood ran cold as he was um, er, rather ancient! By now, I couldn't sit or stand and although I watched his hands (fairly..... steady!) I was apprehensive but went ahead as he was 'it', or wait weeks.

To be fair, this surgeon did point out to me that over a period of time, most probably six months to a year, the herniated disc would desiccate and the pain would lesson if not disappear but I felt unable to wait so had the operation soon after. I wonder if you were told this - although obviously each case is different.

We went ahead and the relief when waking up (good!) and realising that the pain I was feeling was post-operational and not nerve-related was immense. This was some twenty years ago and I can't actually remember if I was nerve-pain free immediately but I think I was more or less.

I never regretted having this operation as it restored me to my old self again and not the sniveling wreck, crying with the pain that I was prior to the operation!

Please do ensure that you have a 'total care' package including consultations, all diagnostic tests, anesthetic fees, theatre time, pain relief and a follow up consultation.

I am sorry that you are suffering and wish you well as soon as possible.

We would have if we could stand the wait which was very long in my case. I couldn't bear the prospect of wasting years of my dwindling life as incapacitated as I was. It was money well spent.

Thank you once again for taking the time to respond to the update. I did think there would be more Grans opting for the NHS. Not one of you have gone that way.
I think it is a sign of the times!

Marilla I am sorry to hear about your pain and I do know a little of what you have gone through as I have spinal arthritis and a lumbar scoliosis which cant be fixed. If it could I would pay the money and go today. That would be my advice- pain is so debilitating and has no virtues. Get it done. Happy Christmas.

I had private surgery and treatment for cancer.
I was had all the tests and was in hospital within 2 weeks. I had my op and was home recuperating before my first NHS appointment was even due.

I waivered about the cost but my partner was resolute from the beginning, that we should get the best we could afford.
In the end we spent the money we had put aside to get a new car! No contest.

I recommend you go ahead. Your surgeon will pick his/her best people for all aspects of your care (analysing your tests and scans, your anaesthetyst, etc) and the costs are clearly spelled out in advance.
I wish you all the luck, in whatever you decide ... and do come back and let us know how things are going ?

Good to hear such positive experiences on here!

I had the same sort of surgery on my spine about 2 1/2 years ago after months of pain. My op was done in a private hospital on the NHS as the local NHS hospital didn’t offer the op.

I arrived in the morning at 7, went for the op at 8 and was back on the ward by 10 30. I left the hospital at 1 and I have had no pain and no numbness since.

I would suggest you get the op as soon as possible if you can afford it as I still can’t believe the difference it made to me.

I had the surgery some years ago, it changed my life completely I've never looked back. Go for it, privately if you're able.

Hello Marilla (I've followed the trail!)
Going on what you've said, yes, I'd go private. I think that I would be in two minds any other year, but things being as they are...
Excellent advice from Charleygirl5
I'll bear that in mind when/if I'm in the same position.
What is going on with your spine sounds very similar to mine. I'll have a look for my report, I know that it mentions bulging and squashing

Grannyben was your surgery quite recent? Seven hours is a long time to be in surgery. Have you made a good recovery?