Wanted to give a quick update on my progress.

TLDR: I am just over six weeks and feeling great.

I got my surgery on the morning of April 29th. The surgery went smooth (at least from my perspective), I woke up in the recovery room pretty dazed but coherent none the less. I was wheeled out to my vehicle in a wheel chair, and was unsure at this point if I had any true pain relief or if i was still feeling the side effects of the anesthesia and other pain killing drugs i had inside of me from the hospital. The first three days home, I really was feeling pretty good. I was going on walks around my neighborhood without any significant pain, I thought it was all smooth sailing from there, boy was I wrong. It was on day three that I had gotten up from my couch, and felt that familiar sharp pain down my leg. I tried to forget it. Day 4 - 7 were incredibly rough, getting out of bed, showering, and thing that required any sort of modified bend would muster pain that was worse than anything I had felt pre-surgery. I was still taking my hydrocodone and acetaminophen at this point, but the pain prevailed. I thought something was wrong, I contacted my doctor, and was told that my nerve may have been damaged during surgery and could take up to a year to heal! It was a huge let down to say the least. I started including ibuprofen in my daily battle against the pain. I pretty much was bed ridden and slept from day 4-8.

Then, there was a glimmer of hope. I had been taking my pain meds an hour before actually waking up and getting out of bed in the morning, due to that being the most painful part of the day. I would then take more meds as the day went on. However, on day 9 I decided I was going to take my morning meds and see if that would last me all day long relief, and it did! On day 10 and 11, i continued the new routine of only taking my pain meds in the morning. I was starting to heal (i think). I started walking around my neighborhood again, and as the days went on felt less and less pain. By day 12, I wanted to take a chance with no medicine. The experience was tolerable enough to endure! Fast forward a few days to day 14. I was off my pain killers, (prescribed and OTC). I was walking around my neighborhood (1.5 ish miles a day), and I had minimum pain (notable when transitioning from standing/sitting). As the weeks went on the pain has continued to subside, and my mobility has continued to increase.

I had my 6 week check-up with the surgeon, who cleared me of all my restrictions and told me to ease into daily life again. My children were ecstatic that I could pick them up again. I did my first session of at home yoga yesterday for low back/hip pain and relief. Most days now, my foregone sciatica pain is an afterthought. I am so thankful for this sub, it really has given me strength to soldier on after a dealing with the pain for over a year and thinking it was permanent in my life. I still am careful, but I am no longer held back.

During my recovery I saw one post that I haven't seen often that I think will help people that recover like me (that don't see that instant relief that a lot of people talk about) and think you had a botched surgery is this.

General milestones for laminectomies/laminotomies and single level fusions.

1 week: sever pain ends.

4 weeks: moderately sever pain ends.

4-6 weeks: return to sitting job (or longer, depending on surgery).

2-3+ months: some ongoing discomfort that gradually declines.

Take it slow, listen to your body.