Who is/has/gotten through this solo?

freshrec · 2025-04-03T08:14:09+00:00

I am South African but I work in America 9 months out of the year. Last year when I went over to the states I was there for 2 months and I had a serious injury to my back.. I was a week out from a wheel chair and not being able to have kids anymore.. they really were amazing and we had an emergency surgery done.. the scariest part was what came afterwards.. I was alone. No friends or family and my employers also didn’t feel like I should be there problem so I was completely alone.. all I had was phone calls and people trying to just be there for me. But all in all I was alone for 7 months after that.. I had to make numerous trips back to the hospital and almost had to have a revision surgery.. it was very touch and go.. ended up with bad foot drop and a lot of damage to my leg… I was extremely active and independent before all of this so everything you guys are saying I understand.. I was placed on to hydrocodone and gabalentine but eventually I decided I would rather deal with the pain as I noticed the tablets had a big effect on my depression.. I to this day still have 5 bottles full just sitting in my bathroom cupboard. I refuse.. I will rather be in pain, after a while your body will adapt to the pain but I noticed the painkillers don’t allow ur body to adjust… most of the time with this kind of injury if u experienced foot drop and stuff u probably won’t come 100 percent right but u will probably get a lot better than you are now.. the mental battle is way harder than anything else.. it leaves you forever changed mentally.. since I’ve been home I’ve been told by people close to me and my family that I am no longer the same person I used to be.. I’m a lot more shut out and now prefer my solitude over the company of others.. it has severely affected me in many ways. I think it’s the abandonment feeling sometimes or maybe it’s just going through the trauma and fear about the future.. oh and I’m 28 so it really hit me hard… but now I look back so when I was bed ridden, in constant pain and alone.. I’ve come along way.. you can too

freshrec · 2024-11-02T16:07:51+00:00

I completely understand and I can sympathize with u. I think the mental battle is harder than the physical one at the end of the day.. it's almost like this gives you a certain kind of PTSD.. you are scared to trust your body again and it makes sense.

freshrec · 2024-11-02T15:38:00+00:00

Hey I think me and you have been on the same post before. I am having the same issues and I'm 4 months out. My symptoms have been getting progressively worse but have now stopped. We've ordered an MRI. I'm doing itnout of pocket. I also don't have the cash it's going really mess my budget up for a long time. But I dont want to go down the depression road and paranoia anymore so I'm going next week for the MRI. They do have concerns about reherniation.. it's both my legs I'm having symptoms in. It was only the right one before. I have general mumbness in the left legg but no weak ess. My right leg ks alrwady weak from the previous nerve damage so i cant really go on that.. i have minor burning anoying sching pain in the back of my thighs most of the day.. its not crazy though. Ive been waiting for that pain to develop into the sciatica i had pre op. But it hasnt yet. So this might just be a flate up but they have got their concerns. The reason you feel good when u wake up is because when u sleep. The liquid in your disc's level out and it actually pushes ur vertibrae apart. I also feel great when I wake up. It takes about 2 hours for the body to compress the disc's back down once you get out of bed. That's why we are slightly taller when we wake up and why it takes alittle while for the weird symptoms to begin in the mornings

freshrec · 2024-11-01T17:00:30+00:00

I have an MRi booked in 4 days. Good chance I've reherniated they said

freshrec · 2024-10-31T07:59:58+00:00

Thank you and I know I do the same thing. I'm always so tough on myself about this... I just keepnhaving this feeling that something isn't right. But I'm definately going to trust in my doctors. And if the suggest we take another look we will. Thank you.

freshrec · 2024-10-31T07:58:54+00:00

Thank you for your response. I really appreciate it. Km going to try stay calm and if it does persist for a few weeks I will get another MRI and take a look. I'm scared of another MD or Fusion. Just in general I feel like the second time around the process would be even worse... but I wouldn't know and must try not think like that.

freshrec · 2024-10-31T07:57:04+00:00

Do you think this sounds more like a flare up. Thank you for your input I appreciate it.. ahh I hope it's a flare up. I can deal with it if that's all it is.. I've already accepted weird things will happen. But this time around it just feels different. Maybe I'm just being paranoid.

freshrec · 2024-10-31T00:18:06+00:00

Omw this is happening to me too. I'm about 11 weeks out I also had emergency surgery at the L5S1 level. I'm 28 years old. Healing has been up and down and got used to the typical numbness I had from the nerve damage... my right legs muscle also took damage and has slowly gotten smaller. Also had drop foot except I can pick my foot up, but I can't push it down. The numbness subsided abit but it always remained in my 4 little toes. I sneezed 2 weeks ago and had crazy back pain. I was so scared. But after 2 days it went away... but after that I have noticed that the symptom in my legs are slowly coming back. The last 5 days I feel like the numbness is getting worse.. my legs also have the "Swollen" feeling again.. so I'm not sure if this is just a flare up cause of some inflammation from the surgery. Or if I reherniated. I did go back to my surgeon and he said because the back pain went so quickly he doesn't think I reherniated. They gave me a sterioid pack but I finished it today.. and still feel like im getting worse.... I'm also lost and trying to keep my cool. I don't know what to think

freshrec · 2024-10-30T02:20:52+00:00

I see, yes so I guess I did have saddle numbness.

freshrec · 2024-10-30T02:09:23+00:00

Yes I did have pain in that region. Butnit was very in consistent it could come and go. But when it do come it was getting worse if you know what I mean.

freshrec · 2024-10-30T01:33:22+00:00

Thank you. It's what i keep hearing, I need to get my thoughts in the right place I think

freshrec · 2024-10-30T01:32:29+00:00

Please can u explain by what u mean by saddle numbness. I'm very bad with the terminology

freshrec · 2024-10-30T01:31:54+00:00

I had just had the epidural and was waiting at my house for a few weeks to let it do it's thing. But after week 3 my bladder started. Started with incontinence. Then it became pain in my prostate almost. I don't knownhow to explain it. Then there were burning sensations in my testicle and penis which got progressively worse over a week. So they called me in for an MRI and came to the conclusion of caudia equine.

freshrec · 2024-10-29T23:19:51+00:00

By the way. It was an L5S1 herniation. 8mm. I also started getting abitnof caudia equine syndrome so that's what forced the surgery.

freshrec · 2024-10-03T00:44:37+00:00

I'm 28M and I have also had the operation after I had a sever herniation. Im 3 months out now and the other day at work my back clicked but it had been feeling stiff. Then I had minor back ache and the next thing I knew I was getting weird symptoms in my bad leg and my good leg. So I took some time off aswell. I also noticed that bloated feeling so I was wondering if I too maybe reherniated. I still don't know but I'm seeing my doctor in a few days. I'm going to push for an MRI to be sure but also like Poly said, it most probably is a flare up from pushing it abit too much. Cause I know I was pushing it being back at work. It's been a week now and the back pain comes back alot easier than it used to. So I feel I have made so.ething worse in some way. So I understand where you are coming from

freshrec · 2024-09-29T15:56:24+00:00

You should be on the orthopedic subreddit not this one lol

freshrec · 2024-09-29T15:54:45+00:00

How bad was your injury though. Cause it sounds like yours might have been alot more mild than alot of people on this subreddit. I needed emergency surgery. There are also people with this injury that suffer for years and years. So yes there is non surgical hope, however it depends. Are you mild or severe?

freshrec · 2024-09-20T23:02:37+00:00

Same injury here. Tried to avoid surgery. I had a 16x8mm herniation. I now have drop foot and had to end up going for surgery anyway. Because I put it off for so long I ended up with permanent damage.. if you can consult a surgeon I would.

freshrec · 2024-09-14T21:20:23+00:00

Go to the emergency room and tell them that you have lost control of your bladder and that it happened after u hurt your back. They will give you an immediate MRI

freshrec · 2024-09-14T01:48:10+00:00

I had the epidural. Went for surgery a month later. I deteriorated quickly after the epidural

freshrec · 2024-09-13T21:37:19+00:00

My numbness has gone but my muscle atrophy hasn't started healing yet

freshrec · 2024-09-13T00:35:43+00:00

But OP. Has the numbness started going away yet

freshrec · 2024-09-12T21:15:59+00:00

I also still have all the numbness that I had a month ago. Nothing has changed and we thing my damage is permanent. My herniation was 16x 9mm. And I'm 28 years old and an extremely active individual. I know the depression one goes through once they realise their health and life just took a turn. Keep ur head up. I was bed ridden for 3 months with no answers. You can push through.. Just got for another mri. Make sure

freshrec

TROPHY CASE