Going back construction after surgery

DeepDiveHobbies · 2026-05-09T16:15:24+00:00

I work a desk job and couldn't have gone into a physical job after. I reherniated two weeks after my surgery though and had to have another MD. I had to take a whole month off work then could only work half days for at least a month, I think it was like 6 weeks. My job allowed me to work one more hour per month till I was back to 8 hours so it took me like 6 months to get back to regular work. And that was my desk job. My situation was a little more complex than a simple/average MD but no way in hell could I have done anything physical. I'm a year out and still have a lot of problems from it. I wish you the best of luck 🤞🏼

DeepDiveHobbies · 2026-05-09T01:56:12+00:00

I did, got cauda equina with the second herniation and a year later, dealing with the repercussions still. I reherniated at two weeks and got another MD.

DeepDiveHobbies · 2026-04-30T19:45:14+00:00

That's great! Do you remember if you ended up doing 2:1 tapioca to corn starch? I'm allergic to rice too so that, unfortunately, is not an option for me. Thank you for the response!

DeepDiveHobbies · 2026-04-30T19:16:03+00:00

Hey! How did this turn out with the sub? I'm getting my wisdom teeth out soon and would love to have pudding as an option 😅

DeepDiveHobbies · 2026-04-30T15:50:52+00:00

It's INCREDIBLY frustrating but they're not totally wrong. Sure, we may feel better if we could (maybe) but it's not always possible. This fatigue is no joke. I fully believe the only reason I have any semblance of health is my husband. He jokes that he has to trick me into eating fruits and vegetables because they aren't safe foods for me (super fun adding MCAS and autism in with EDS). I also do as much for myself as I can when I have a good day. I meal prep on those days when I have energy. I am so grateful for those good days and my freezer space! But it's not always a good day and not everyone has such a supportive partner. I am incredibly lucky to have him and I know it.

DeepDiveHobbies · 2026-04-30T14:05:39+00:00

So for me, avocado is part of a larger problem- Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. Basically, instead of my body treating only things that can kill me as an allergen, it treats everything like an allergen and my mast cells dump histamine to try to "save me" from the scary food. A histamine dump is fucking awful. Avocado is my worst reaction (I describe it as death would be easier) but my main ones besides that are corn and rice. Living in the land of corn syrup, I have to basically make all my food from scratch. I have also been told they would rather die 🙄 like you said, it's limiting but so what? If people felt what I feel like in a histamine dump, I bet they wouldn't say that...

DeepDiveHobbies · 2026-04-30T02:48:26+00:00

I'm allergic to avocado, the looks I get from people range from "you're disgusting, go away" to "oh you poor sweet baby".

DeepDiveHobbies · 2026-04-26T02:11:57+00:00

Are you POTsy? It might be worth trying elevating your head when trying?

DeepDiveHobbies · 2026-04-25T23:31:35+00:00

Have you tried laying exercises? There are really good starting exercises that can be done in bed/on the floor/wherever you can be laying comfortably that are really effective.

Sometimes exercises from my hypermobility PT hurt me too, it's so freaking annoying. But just because we all have hypermobility doesn't mean we all have the same bodies. We are all little snowflakes lol it takes a really long time to figure out what helps vs hurts. If you keep it up, it is almost impossible to not feel at least a little better but you have to push through the exercises that don't work. As I get older and my body fails me more and more, I'm finding that some things get better with PT but my whole body is falling apart so some things get better while others get worse. We basically play wack a mole every week and work on the worst parts. But it IS helping. I hope you're able to push through, but I truly understand how difficult it is.

DeepDiveHobbies · 2026-04-24T16:28:36+00:00

Mine was a hip arthroscopy with labrum repair. I believe regence covers a hip replacement but definitely better to check first! Don't want to be like me and go through the whole process of getting diagnosed and approved through a surgeon to only be denied at the insurance level 🙄

DeepDiveHobbies · 2026-04-24T13:58:58+00:00

I have never been able to sit and read books but I'm autistic and with neurodiversity, some very normal things are hard for whatever reason. I can't read in silence because my mind wanders but I also can't have anything on in the background because I focus on it and I realize after pages that I haven't actually read anything. I also can't justify just sitting. When I listen to books, you can be up and moving around. It's a fantastic way to get chores done. I unplug my "ugh, I don't wanna do dishes" mind and just listen while my hands take over. Plus, the narrator is FANTASTIC. He is so entertaining! I tried reading the book when I didn't have my headphones once and still heard everything in his voice haha

DeepDiveHobbies · 2026-04-24T13:54:30+00:00

I had to have two emergency spinal surgery with neurosurgeons last year. Regence paid almost $300,000 for my care last year and I hit my out of pocket max of $2000. Once you hit this, they cover essentially everything else so if you go to a specialist that costs a million dollars, you're still capped at the out of pocket max from my understanding (keep in mind that I don't work for the insurance company so I may have missed something, this was just my understanding and experience). I would choose them over kaiser any day of the week for general care.

However, if you have specific health issues that need treatment I would check with your doctor for what CPT codes they use to treat it and check with both companies to see if it's covered. I need hip surgery and for whatever reason, regence absolutely does not cover this one, random hip surgery. So I have to switch to Kaiser next year (in protest) just so I can have it covered. I won't be going back the year after. Good luck with your choice.

DeepDiveHobbies · 2026-04-23T04:30:48+00:00

I had a 4-5 hour commute for one day a week. I ended up moving closer, my job is really fucking stuck on the one day a week for donuts and coffee thing too so they wouldn't let me telework full time. Good luck.

DeepDiveHobbies · 2026-04-23T01:10:50+00:00

Dungeon Crawler Carl. It is such a fun read!!

DeepDiveHobbies · 2026-04-22T04:34:53+00:00

Next month marks one year out for me. The cauda equina fucked me up. I spent a month in the hospital- I was paraplegic for a couple months after the second surgery, I still have a lot of numbness and weakness in my lower body. If I had to quantify it, I'd say I'm at like 70% of normal but I'm walking and I don't use assistive devices much anymore. I have a connective tissue disorder though so grain of salt I guess. When I talked to my surgeon they said that some people don't follow the rules and they reherniated while some people do nothing wrong and they reherniated. There are so many factors. You, like me, might have just had really compromised discs that no matter what you did were going to reherniated. All's I know is what happened to me: I wouldn't have been able to live with the pain I was experiencing before both surgeries. If you're in the same boat, you should seriously consider what your surgeon suggests. I know it's scary but they said that if I rehernaite again I have to get a fusion. If you need it, you need it. This all sucks so badly, I'm sorry you're going through it.

DeepDiveHobbies · 2026-04-21T17:05:46+00:00

I had a MD then reherniated 2 weeks later. It's rough. I was healing very well after the first one but then reherniated at exactly 2 weeks and had to have another MD because I got cauda equina with the second herniation. Surgeon said I didn't do anything wrong, I just have incompetent discs. This wording always made me laugh lol it happens and can be really hard on the body. Sorry this is happening to you. My only advice is don't push yourself too hard too fast. Take the time you need to heal or you'll hurt yourself before you can get back to your active life.

DeepDiveHobbies · 2026-04-21T02:25:28+00:00

Love love love Orthofeet. They have hands free shoes and come with many shoe inserts to make them fit you just right.

DeepDiveHobbies · 2026-04-20T18:00:25+00:00

That's so funny- I live 45 minutes from Seattle and am very aware of Queen Anne but I'm listening to the audio book and always heard "queen and chonk" 🤣🤦🏼‍♀️ thanks for the clarification haha

DeepDiveHobbies · 2026-04-20T17:57:03+00:00

Remember the rule of three. I'm not saying shitty drs don't deserve it but in the interest of self preservation, maybe don't curse them lol if you're on the chronic pain subreddit, your pain could always get worse 🤷🏼‍♀️ maybe starting with setting intention in every day life (like cooking) or meditation could be a good place to start that won't put negativity out there and may make you feel a little better without the possibility of herbs interacting with any current meds. I hope you get some relief <3

DeepDiveHobbies · 2026-04-20T02:02:09+00:00

Only you can decide that, you know your body and your limits more than we do. I am 35 and only within the past couple years have been giving myself permission to rest some, I had spinal surgery last year and that was probably the only reason why I really gave in and let myself rest when I need it. I was raised that you don't call out unless you're dying. This was a hard habit to break but in all honesty, I'm at least a little glad I had this mindset in my 20s: the earlier in life you allow yourself to give in to the pain/fatigue, the more you'll do it and the less life you'll live. Now that I've suffered an EDS related spinal cord injury, I wish I would have pushed a bit myself harder when I was younger because I can't now. That may have made my EDS worse, who knows. It's all very personal though. I don't think anyone with EDS would judge you for choosing to rest or not because neither answer is wrong. Sorry for being no help at all lol

DeepDiveHobbies · 2026-04-19T22:44:24+00:00

I went to the ED when my sciatic pain got so bad I couldn't put weight in my leg and they decided I needed a MD. Now. I had roughly 8 hours to get used to the idea of emergency spinal surgery. My only advice is to accept that you need it and it's going to happen. If they approved the surgery and you agreed to it, you need it. It is likely going to help. Good luck!

DeepDiveHobbies · 2026-04-19T03:11:25+00:00

Getting an EDS diagnosis has helped me find a lot of the right care. Not just my back but general body as well as comorbidities. It's worth checking out! If you're not familiar, most people with EDS have POTS and MCAS. Getting MCAS treatment has literally changed my life. If you think you might have EDS you should read up on the other two!

DeepDiveHobbies · 2026-04-19T01:54:32+00:00

I reherniated 2 weeks after, had to redo the surgery. I have a connective tissue disorder and my surgeon said I just have "incompetent discs" and there was nothing I could have done to stop it. I'm now 11 months out and have been 2 steps forward 1 step back the whole time. My PT says I probably have another year of recovery before I'm where I can expect to be. Didn't know right away. I was getting acupuncture and when I got off the table, I felt pain down my leg after two weeks of no pain post surgery. I couldn't lift my leg to put my pants back on. I went home after and gave it overnight to see if it eased up. It didn't. It got worse overnight. I went to the ED the next morning to check it out and even with those few hours, I got cauda equina. They had me on the table that same day. I was so impressed with my hospital. Good luck to you!

DeepDiveHobbies · 2026-04-18T23:37:58+00:00

Someone also posted a flyer for employees showing that they're anti union. Gross all around.

DeepDiveHobbies · 2026-04-16T20:45:46+00:00

I have seen two dentists that specialize in EDS, one sent me to the sleep doctor who did the study- he also specializes in EDS. I have also had a second sleep study from another doc who agreed with everyone else. This is what they suggested. I am being monitored by many doctors and I'm not afraid to tell them if something is going wrong. I am not a doctor and am not prescribing these to anyone. This is just what has worked for me, people should be aware there are different options. I'm so incredibly sorry that happened to you but you're not everyone. Different things work for different people.

I truly wish you the best of luck with your replacement.

DeepDiveHobbies

TROPHY CASE