Newbie from the UK
 

Hi all, I'm so glad I've found this site.

I have had back problems for 15 years, with a L5/S1 hermniated disk confirmed in 2004. This was treated conservatively however since 2010 the burning pain in my left leg has been getting progressively worse, with burning pains in hip, unable to stand still for long periods and in 2012 numbness on the inner aspect of my left foot.

My new wife got me to see a spinal surgeon and the MRI confirmed that my disk in L5/S1 had completely gone, and I now had bone on bone. My first nerve root block worked well for 3 months however work demanded I travel seven hours one way by car and train to a work appointment and during that journey I had pain travelling down my left buttock, thigh and behind my Knee so much that I had to book into a hotel and rest. I had a further nerve root block in January 2013 and this only lasted a week.

Fortunatley I have private health with my employers and my surgeon has now agreed to perform a ADR using the M6.

I would really appreciate any advice form you as to recovery times to expect, physical excercises you found of use pre and post op, and what type of pain to expect.......as my wife tells me suck it up :-)

Luckily I have one of the best spinal surgeons in the UK on my doorstep who I have full confidence in

Thanks for taking time to read my little journey

Mike,

Recovery time is very patient dependant as well as work dependant. Some people are able to return to sedentary jobs in a few weeks, others take 8 weeks or more.

In terms of pain it is usually a different pain that what you felt before, i.e. it is surgical. I am a pretty big wimp when it comes to pain and I found it manageable - much better than I was BEFORE the surgery. I was also lucky in that my numbness and pain in my leg occurred only a month before my surgery so that started going away within days of my surgery, however the longer you have had the secondary symptoms generally the longer they take to subside - and if they have been going on for too long then they may be permanent.

In terms of exercises post-op - nothing beats walking, seriously. Your doctor doctor should provide additional exercises and stretches that will help, and given the degeneration you have I would expect you to have serious hamstring tightness and distraction pain when your spine gets jacked back up to normal. This subsides over time though. :) FYI most physios will not have experience with ADR patients, if they do that is a bonus, but my doctor's guidance was anything that is okay for fusion is okay for ADR and your physio SHOULD know what to do with fusion patients. In terms of specific excercises, they should start off relative light and then build up over the course of weeks.

Hope that offers some help.

-Jeff

I presume you are going with Dr. Dare?

Hi Jeff,

Thanks for your reply, luckily the job I have now is quite sedentary, so getting back to work ASAP will be be brisk hopefully. I'm glad also the pain you had was better post op to pre op, as anything better than I am now is a +

With regards the physio it was something I hadn't thought of and thank you for pointing it out, I have now spoken to the spinal unit and im glad to say yhey have their own dedicated Physios .

Can I be cheeky Jeff and ask you one more question, what type pain relief did you have before the op, as my Doctor has given me Pregabalina yesterday and the side effects look quite interesting to say the least :-)

Again many thanks Jeff for your reply

Hi Lillyth,

No I'm going with Mr Paul Rhys Davies at the South Wales Spinal centre, he comes very highly recommended by Amy medical professionals I work with, for your info here is the link for his Spinal unit where he works

South Wales Spinal Centre

Which implant do they use, do you know?

Mr Paul Rhys Davies my consultant uses the M6-l. Luckily he lectures on the insertion of the M6 to fellow surgeons in Europe......he was questioned like Nixon at my consultation :-)

No worries. I tried NSAIDs like celebrex - no relief. I tried Pregabalin, it made me VERY tired and didn't really do much for the pain so I stopped after a week. Never tried narcos beyond Tylenol 1. For the most part I lived with the pain. Oh yeah I also used a TENS unit which I found helpful for very acute episodes.

-Jeff

I am so happy to hear your surgeon is so knowledgeable!

Thanks Lillyth, hope everything's has gone as planned for you