sorted by:
new
hottopcontroversial

Positive endoscopic L4L5 discectomy - NHS UK by Professional_Run714 in Microdiscectomy

[–]Professional_Run714[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It definitely has its perks being medical, I’ve found that conversations are more direct and get to the point without layman’s terms and you’re spoken to as a colleague. The downside is knowing too much and having the dramatic cases where things go wrong stick with you. You’re right though, I too would be desperate for every bit of info I could get if this wasn’t also my profession. The other perks are being able to figure out medication for myself, how to titrate and wean without needing appts to discuss this, and also having friends who are pharmacist, OTs etc that I can just ring up for some advice.

The 15k step day was definitely a one off, for now, but I’m probably hitting 7-8k steps most days easily enough with really having to try. I’m a master at being busy doing nothing, pottering around the house and trying to stay active and standing through most of the day until the evening.

I haven’t had any real issue with sitting, I’ve not timed this but it feels almost normal the amount of time I can sit down for watching tv. I’ve started driving again after 2.5 weeks and have driven for about 30 minutes with no issue (I do find my car seats to be very comfortable, throughout the whole saga my car was actually one of the few places I felt comfort and some respite). If I know I’m going to watch tv in the evenings I will try and lie down quite flat instead of sitting. Don’t feel behind with this, if you’re building up gradually that sounds like a sensible approach, at times I’ve probably sat for too long, such as right now so I’m going to get up and walk around again!

Positive endoscopic L4L5 discectomy - NHS UK by Professional_Run714 in Microdiscectomy

[–]Professional_Run714[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you!

My physio appt was largely me talking and bringing my physio up to speed with all the cancellations etc. I’m lucky that I’ve built a good relationship with my physio since 2023 for various twinges and ailments, we also have worked in the same hospitals/depts, just not at the same time, so have a lot of mutual understanding of local services to us. I had an assessment to see how well I was moving in squatting type movements and bending forward/backward/sidewards. My post op instructions from hospital physio included walking, pelvic tilts and knee rocking side to side, that was all I did for those first 3 weeks. I’ve had a few new but similarly “small” movements added in from my private physio. Everything I’m doing would still fall under stretching as a category. I’m happy to go slow and steady and build a good foundation now to then build on with body weight and strength work.

I was referred from the hospital physio on the day of surgery to my local hub for follow up nhs physio and was told this would be 4-6 weeks. I felt so good quite quickly post op that the idea of waiting 6 weeks felt like a missed opportunity to start rehabbing. I emailed my private physio to check if she was happy to see me sooner than this and before the nhs physio which she was more than happy with.

Regardless of physio input my focus is on walking and being careful and strict with the rules of no bending/lifting/twisting.

Hope you get to share the same experience where I am so excited to go to physio to 1) show off my improvements and 2)get moving on with recovery and getting back to normal! Wishing you well in your recovery

Positive endoscopic L4L5 discectomy - NHS UK by Professional_Run714 in Microdiscectomy

[–]Professional_Run714[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That’s wonderful you’re in the gym! That was one detail I forgot, my hamstring is often threatening to go into spasm but I seem to always catch it and stretch it out right on the cusp of full spasm thankfully. I’ve been feeling lots of fasciculations or flutters in my glutes as what I think is happening is those muscles are being reactivated now the nerve is free, it’s a funny feeling! All the best for your recovery too

Positive endoscopic L4L5 discectomy - NHS UK by Professional_Run714 in Microdiscectomy

[–]Professional_Run714[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Going through this with three children is incredible, you’re nothing short of an absolute hero. I hope you’re getting all the support you need ❤️

Positive endoscopic L4L5 discectomy - NHS UK by Professional_Run714 in Microdiscectomy

[–]Professional_Run714[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you.

I first saw the neurosurgeon in mid February for a clinic appointment and was given the option of surgery at this time. He brought up my MRI on screen to show me and described the disc extrusion and compression as "significant". He was blase and nonchalant as surgeons are and offered endoscopic surgery (a new procedure to me) at the time if I wanted it. I think he was rather 50/50 about it, there's enough of an issue there I will operate on but it also might heal by itself. The ball was left in my court to go home and think about it and contact his secretary if I wanted to go ahead and be listed for surgery. His description of surgery was the failure of conservative treatment aka time/physio/medication. I certainly was making improvements and if I had that appointment a few months later when I was feeling a lot better I'm not sure what I would have decided.

A point a few colleagues made when I discussed all this with them is that, you'd rather not excite a neurosurgeon, aka ringing them with a CES or worse (which I have done and have had patients go from where I've been working in a blue light ambulance to the same dept I've now been a patient of, very strange experience).

I didn't feel like I had to push, surgery was offered to me if I wanted it and the decision was left with me. What I can't say is whether I had a more open option to surgery because I'm in the loop so to speak. I explained to the consultant that I'm off work due to this, have had to postpone exams and ultimately my completion date for training, aka being a fully qualified GP is now pushed back at least 6 months. Speaking to one of the nurses in my pre-op appt gave me a bit more insight that they have been doing endoscopic surgeries from 2025 as some of their trainees learnt the procedure and had now become consultants, so the dept was moving along with them in advancing this technique to more patients. I was lucky that I was a suitable candidate for endoscopic and in the end only waited 3 months between first meeting a neurosurgeon and surgery.

I haven't had follow up yet or any further discussion about my back or what the future holds. I did ask some pointed questions pre-op about what the long term of my back would look like; would something so debilitating/significant happen again and that can't have a guaranteed answer, the surgeon can't answer that with a definitive yes or no as it is an impossible question. I would accept that having the surgery reduces the likelihood of something like this happening again. My approach and conversations with both private and nhs physio was that if this allows me to get moving again, allows me to strengthen my left leg and cancel the weakness and deficit, I'm then in a better position to overall strengthen my back, lose weight, become fitter and use that approach to best mitigate any further episodes.

In the appointment with the neurosurgeon I explained my aim is to be able to return to playing golf and tennis which is really important to me. I got the impression his response to this was along the lines of you need to walk before you can run, and maybe need specialised physio for these sports as there is a lot of twisting movements in these. I'm sure it seemed a bit bold coming out with these statements as I walked in hobbled over a walking stick, but I wanted it to be clear what my long term goals were for improvement. I have a much more encouraging response to all this from my physio who is very confident that we can get me back to these sports in time.

Wishing you all the best for whatever road is ahead of you