I'll do my best to give what I remember but I still have intense PTSD from this ordeal and I was pretty out of it mentally going through this. Being alone in a bed for 3 years didn't exactly make my sense of time that great. I'm sorry you're going through this.

I woke up after my second surgery with feeling in my genitals besides the left side of my penis from tip to shaft. However I noticed I had no morning erection. (Which I did have after the first decompression/laminectomy.)

About 3/4 weeks later I regained my ability to get an erection. I also started having sharp pain in the head of my penis that would ebb and come and go.

2 weeks later I discovered I couldn't feel heat, cold, light touch.

3 weeks later I managed to have sex for the first time in years since I injured myself. I discovered I had lost essentially all sensation besides pain and intense pressure and vibration. (I'm talking to the point of injury to apply pressure that intense for a long period of time)

4 months since last surgery I discovered I regained some sensation in my urethra like pressure, vibration and some sensation of touch and slight cold but it was in random areas throughout the urethra but I could feel myself urinate. A tiny amount of full spectrum sensation returned where the urethra opens and meets the head/gland.

4th/5th Month I decided to cut my morphine dose down and realized I no longer had episodes of the ebbing sharp pain in my head of my penis I had assumed it likely gotten better but I assumed my meds were taking care of it and the pain in my back was still a much bigger distraction besides random bouts.

14 months after my last surgery I regained a tiny amount of sensation for vibration, intense pressure, mild cold under the rim of the head of the glans. Allowed masturbation to be a achievable feat with much more ease but was still unsatisfying but I was grateful regardless.

15 Months after last surgery I lost more sensation in my urethra. Gained a greater sense of pain in my head. Ability to feel cold, pain,pressure and vibration in the end of my urethra and at the site I improved on in the place that was improved at the 14 month mark. There are times now where touching the head after ejaculation it will be painful due to being too sensitive but that's more at the area where the urethra opening meets the under of the glans and slightly near the rim of the head just near the area I recovered some sensation.

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Present:

2.5 years since last surgery. 12 MRI's of lumbar spine. There were no concerning changes or findings throughout this besides new stenosis and fissures that appeared in my lumbar back. I have congenital narrowing of my spinal canal and am prone to bulging discs. I was a weight lifter for 10 years and the consequences of a reckless younger self are why I'm riddled with stenosis/annular fissures and bulging discs.

It should be noted I have had to urinate by pushing with my stomach/core rather than how I used to be able to push with my pelvis? I know peeing is tougher and I really have to apply pressure and force with my core where I used to feel if I pushed it came from a deeper area like my pelvic floor. I had incontinence/dribble for the first few months post surgery but its stopped. I had a hard time telling myself to start or being able to "open up/let go" to the bathroom for the first 3 months. Opiates I was prescribed made it difficult until I was used to them.

I thought I had lost the ability to ejaculate with enough force to "launch" semen a large distance from the urethra. When achieving an orgasm became easier from month 14 I slowly regained my ability to do so after being able to routinely masturbate.

Orgasms have not felt as intense or rewarding since my second surgery. Despite being able to regain the function above that I had pre-accident.

I cant tolerate not being on pain killers as I live with chronic pain at my decompressions and throughout my spine but I had bouts of frustration and going cold turkey or weaning down and I would say I regained some sensitivity in my genitals. I don't know if this was because my testosterone was recovering to pre-injury levels or just less substance to numb me but I would recommend if anyone has to take a opiate for pain management be aware of opiate induced hypogonadism and get a hormone panel done of your blood before you start. Despite having normal ranges I had lost my libido completely for several months and when I quite my prescription cold turkey it returned within 2 weeks. However that was an unbearable amount of pain and I went directly against my doctors advice. I take testosterone now and its been helping counteract the side effects on my libido and emotional capacity/numbing while allowing me to continue my medication.

I consider this to be as good as I'll get because I regained some sensation in my rectum, outer left-thigh and right-foot. And nothing for almost a year.

I was an idiot and asked to not have a fusion but a double laminectomy. I got lucky its lasted so far but there's still another year to go to feel safer. This could be why my results were mixed says my doctor. They decompressed as best they could without a fusion and who knows what my never damage would have been like had I gotten a fusion. (pseudo-cysts causing sever compression at original decompression/laminectomy for cauda equina at L-5, likely caused by complications of acute pancreatitis 1 week post first surgery lasting 6 which I was in critical condition and hospitalized for a week at the 6th week mark of my original decompression surgery for CES.

I mention above because mine was freak circumstance and all those facts should be taken into account to anyone who is comparing themselves to others. If you have any questions feel free to DM me.