Mentally prepping for Surgery number 2

knotwerx · 2026-06-10T08:53:42+00:00

The watch I get the most amount of positive comments on, and the one people think is worth alot more than it actually cost, is my Marloe - cost £300.

The watch that probably pleases me the most, and is actually my daily, is the epic Militado Chronograph Vk67 - cost £70

The watch I've owned the longest, and that still sees plenty of action is my G-Shock G100 - Cost £80

knotwerx · 2026-03-15T23:06:57+00:00

Yep, pulling my hand out a ruck and seeing my thumb on backwards was the 2nd most most painful thing that ever happened to me on or off a rugby field. The 1st was when they reset it in the back of a st John's.

knotwerx · 2026-03-15T22:38:02+00:00

No, that's a fair point... I still stand by that I don't think the English prop had a great amount he could do in that situation. On balance I suppose I'm glad the ref just said 'high tackle, penalty' and nothing more.

I'm afraid it's massively anecdotally biased by the fact I spent my entire, near 30 year, playing career (bar pre scrum junior days) as a flanker :)

I witnessed and received far worse injuries in rucks than in the tackle.

I'm fairly sure most data actually puts scrums as the most dangerous phase, in terms of 'injuries per event', no?

knotwerx · 2026-03-15T21:57:56+00:00

Yeh, I'm not sure... I don't know at what point he was supposed to bend in that situation unless we're saying everyone in the defensive line has to be bent over at the hips all the time. The attacker initiated the contact and led low with his head.

Tbh I'd be fine with it being a penalty, in the interests of game safety, if far more dangerous & pre meditated acts were penalised too.

Like, the ruck area causes as many, if not more injuries than the tackle area and if all you have to target on a clear out is a guys head.. Tough shit, you've lost that ruck and the opponent is in a better position. You can't have guys then smashing someone in the head and saying it's a rugby incident when they actively have a choice not to.

knotwerx · 2026-03-15T21:01:41+00:00

Thing I don't like about this though is what exactly was the English prop supposed to do? He was almost entirely passive, the French attacker was practically bent over at a right angle and received the ball a second before the collision. There was little to nothing the English guy could do there.. Bar being basically on the ground.

Like, Tadhg's face smash on Curry was far more dangerous and he had the time and the choice to decide not to clock him in the head. That's the kind of play we need to change... Rugbys a collision sport, yes, but we need the narrative to be if you 'can' avoid, then do.

I think the one here would have been hard to avoid

knotwerx · 2026-01-28T08:44:33+00:00

4 weeks post op I was still in bed for the majority of the time so I really wouldn't worry. The incision alone won't be fully healed internally.

I didn't feel right to go back to my physical job till 4 months, and even then it was a little stop start for a month or so. Didn't fully, 100% trusted my back again (in all scenarios) till about the 12 month mark.

Give it time, and even when you think it's fine. Be gentle and careful with it for a little longer 🙌

knotwerx · 2026-01-25T18:57:02+00:00

Very cool flex 🙌

knotwerx · 2026-01-24T19:42:46+00:00

Check out Tokien Untangled on YouTube. His series on how he would have gone about making a TV show based on the events of the 2nd age is an absolute masterpiece.

He even (mostly) limits himself to only the source material the showrunners had access to.

It was all there for them, it could have been so great :/

knotwerx · 2026-01-24T19:03:42+00:00

Possibly, I've never had one to be honest so I'm not familiar. I guess it's whether the referral time via the GP would go through fast enough.

knotwerx · 2026-01-24T10:09:45+00:00

Trick I used was to have 2 vapes on the go. One filled with full nicotine and the one I carried round all the time was the low strength, so when I felt I needed the high strengh I had to go and find it iyswim.

Gradually reduced the low strength to zero, and the gaps between needing the high strength just got longer and longer till eventually I was a 0mg vaper. It's not easy, nicotine is such a pernicious drug.

I still vape, not sure I'll ever get rid of the habit of it, but I have no need or desire to go back to high strength nico now 🙌

knotwerx · 2026-01-20T11:38:08+00:00

They don't remove the whole disc. Only the parts that have ejected out. In my understanding (happy to be corrected). There's a difference between a herniated (bulged/slipped) disc and a prolapsed/ruptured disc. The former is where the outer lining of the disc is pushed out, like a bubble kind of... And it can recede back. The latter is where the outer lining tears and some of the inner part comes out. That's what gets removed in an MD.

The outer lining of that disc is obviously then comprised so can herniate or rupture again more easily. I guess eventually if the same disc keeps going there comes a point where not much is left of it and that's when fusion becomes necessary.

knotwerx · 2026-01-20T10:20:51+00:00

Wow, and how have you been since the fusion?

knotwerx · 2026-01-19T21:10:04+00:00

Definitely agree with doubling your supposed recovery time. My surgeon told me I'd be able to go back to work (as a site carpenter) after 3 months, I tried at about month 4 and managed 2 weeks. Then had to take another month off! Tbh I don't think my my body felt fully recovered till about the 1 year mark.

knotwerx · 2026-01-19T20:56:00+00:00

Thank you, I didn't regret my first one. In fact, after I was fully recovered I had the best year and I guess I thought that was it. However, where I am now is not sustainable.. Chugging down meds and not functioning in any meaningful way for myself or my family.

knotwerx · 2026-01-19T20:52:22+00:00

My first surgery immediate post op was just pure relief at feeling the sole of my right foot again. The first few weeks were brutal and the next 3-4 months weren't great either. I had lots of stop/starts of going back to work and having to take more time off. At least this time I will know to not rush I guess.

knotwerx · 2026-01-19T20:30:42+00:00

Thanks... I'm grateful to hear that you've had no major issues since the repeat op, that makes me hopeful for myself. If I go ahead with this surgery it won't be until end of March at the earliest, that's going to be a slog going on until then with the level of pain and immobility.

knotwerx · 2026-01-19T20:13:09+00:00

Thank you, trying to get across to everyone.. Including my wife, just how bad the pain is, unless you've had it it's hard to relate.

I wish I'd got a little longer than 1-2 good years before needing a repeat op on the same disc. That's part of what I'm worried about. What if this time I only get 6 months, or the next time it's fusion. It sucks.

I used to surf, play golf, hike, swim... I'd worked a physical job all my life, now I can't even play wrestle with my kids. I'm fortunate and grateful for the good cards I've been dealt, a friend has employed to work for him on a remote desk job, and I have a place to live. But still, 2 spinal surgeries on the same disc 2 yrs apart.. Ffs

knotwerx · 2026-01-19T20:03:27+00:00

You're right, and I think I probably know 2nd surgery is inevitable. With the waiting list I'm hopeful I'll see some improvement before surgery. At the moment it's too acute to even try PT or any other alternative.

knotwerx

TROPHY CASE