Cervical Discectomy part 2
gcwebbyuk
Posts: 1,926
Finally had my surgery on Friday 8th January. A long wait since seeing the first specialist in February last year, although first reported to GP in September 2008!
Took a lot of letters from GP and a letter from a local MP candidate to get a better position on the waiting list - but got there in the end.
The pain had become SO much worse over the past two months, which is why I havent been on here much (haven't really done anything - was signed off from work as of 7th November
) I had been taking Oxycontin on top of my other drugs for three weeks prior to the op, which is a form of oral morphine that releases over 12 hours (it is a controlled drug and is known as "Hillbilly Heroin" in the USA as some people crush it up and take the full 12 hour hit in one go! :shock:
This was my first operation, so was not sure what to expect. :oops:
I had had two MRI scans in the last year, purely of my neck, as the pain was mainly around the neck and arms, although this spread to the legs, which either meant damage occuring to the spinal cord or further damage elsewhere.
On Friday morning I had an MRI of my full spine, which showed the second disk in my neck had got quite a bit worse, but there was a disc starting to prolapse in the lower part of my spine. They estimated that the pain in the legs would be caused by the neck compression, and that the lower spine disc was a red-herring at this point in time, although I may need a further operation later in life.
Op took roughly 2 hours and was back on the ward in around 4-5 hours. They replaced two of the discs - C5/C6 and C6/C7 with titanium spacers, this will cause the vertebrae to fuse together, giving me less movement, but no pinching nerves or spinal cord.
The next morning I woke up, feeling really good (nurses and other patients said I looked like I hadn't even had an operation!) I was able to get out of bed and walk to the loo etc with little problem. I may have overdone it a little though, as by 4ish I was quite tired and achy.
I came home from hospital Sunday afternoon. I would say I am in more pain now than I was before I went into hospital now, but a different kind of pain. Before it was Nerve pain with some muscle pain, the pain now is (as far as I can tell) 100% muscle pain, which I have put down to the muscles being stretched in my neck to make place for the new spacers). I am spending my time at the moment between the sofa and bed, and feeling out of it 90% of the time as I am on double the Oxycontin I was on before the op, plus Diazepam, although I am hoping this will go down after the weekend when the pain starts to subside.
Some pics of my hospital stay:
The day I was admitted - the posed unhappy face was due to the wait, due to the snow we had to rush to the hospital by train rather than drive, then the MRI machine had packed up due to a snow induced power failure, and then had to wait about 4 hours for a bed! -
Just as I got back on the ward, not looking too bad for my first ever op :P
The morning after, with my drainage pot for the blood and gloop from the wound, I earned the nickname "the priest" due to my black dressing gown and white neck dressing that looked like a dog collar!
Dressing change on 11th - wifey and I were a bit nervous as we didn't know what to expect, the steri-strips are due to come off this friday/saturday so will be interested to see what it looks like then!
Just can't wait to get the healing done and get back on my bike. Am guessing early March and I can start again
Took a lot of letters from GP and a letter from a local MP candidate to get a better position on the waiting list - but got there in the end.
The pain had become SO much worse over the past two months, which is why I havent been on here much (haven't really done anything - was signed off from work as of 7th November
) I had been taking Oxycontin on top of my other drugs for three weeks prior to the op, which is a form of oral morphine that releases over 12 hours (it is a controlled drug and is known as "Hillbilly Heroin" in the USA as some people crush it up and take the full 12 hour hit in one go! :shock:This was my first operation, so was not sure what to expect. :oops:
I had had two MRI scans in the last year, purely of my neck, as the pain was mainly around the neck and arms, although this spread to the legs, which either meant damage occuring to the spinal cord or further damage elsewhere.
On Friday morning I had an MRI of my full spine, which showed the second disk in my neck had got quite a bit worse, but there was a disc starting to prolapse in the lower part of my spine. They estimated that the pain in the legs would be caused by the neck compression, and that the lower spine disc was a red-herring at this point in time, although I may need a further operation later in life.
Op took roughly 2 hours and was back on the ward in around 4-5 hours. They replaced two of the discs - C5/C6 and C6/C7 with titanium spacers, this will cause the vertebrae to fuse together, giving me less movement, but no pinching nerves or spinal cord.
The next morning I woke up, feeling really good (nurses and other patients said I looked like I hadn't even had an operation!) I was able to get out of bed and walk to the loo etc with little problem. I may have overdone it a little though, as by 4ish I was quite tired and achy.
I came home from hospital Sunday afternoon. I would say I am in more pain now than I was before I went into hospital now, but a different kind of pain. Before it was Nerve pain with some muscle pain, the pain now is (as far as I can tell) 100% muscle pain, which I have put down to the muscles being stretched in my neck to make place for the new spacers). I am spending my time at the moment between the sofa and bed, and feeling out of it 90% of the time as I am on double the Oxycontin I was on before the op, plus Diazepam, although I am hoping this will go down after the weekend when the pain starts to subside.
Some pics of my hospital stay:
The day I was admitted - the posed unhappy face was due to the wait, due to the snow we had to rush to the hospital by train rather than drive, then the MRI machine had packed up due to a snow induced power failure, and then had to wait about 4 hours for a bed! -
Just as I got back on the ward, not looking too bad for my first ever op :P
The morning after, with my drainage pot for the blood and gloop from the wound, I earned the nickname "the priest" due to my black dressing gown and white neck dressing that looked like a dog collar!
Dressing change on 11th - wifey and I were a bit nervous as we didn't know what to expect, the steri-strips are due to come off this friday/saturday so will be interested to see what it looks like then!
Just can't wait to get the healing done and get back on my bike. Am guessing early March and I can start again
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Comments
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Glad to hear things have gone so well!
Titanium eh? I prefer carbon myself ;-)0 -
me too - was trying to think of some kind of carbon fibre implant they could give me at the same time, but they declined 8)0
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i've got a titanium plate in my shoulder and a titanium joint in my hip.my scrap value is rising.
glad to see you are doing well mate,don't know what happened about the waiting list,i only waited 12 weeks from seeing consultant and him saying we'll operate to the op.
i have similar photos,one with a felt pen mark on my hip and the other with a oxygen mask on.
good luck ,and i hope you'll be riding again soon0 -
I'm literally just back from my first ride after having my face put back together with four titanium plates in December. I was lucky in having the op only 10 days after the accident that shoved my cheekbones in and even luckier in having a consultant who told me I was fine to start riding again - but that I mustn't come off! Mind you even though it's only been a 5 weeks or so since the accident and even though I'm now down to 10st or so thanks to not being able to eat, and I've done some gym bike work, it's amazing how quickly you lose fitness.
Hope the pain goes and you're back in the saddle soon, with only the right kind of pain.
- Tim0 -
do your plates stay in or will you have them taken out ??oldhamtj wrote:I'm literally just back from my first ride after having my face put back together with four titanium plates in December. I was lucky in having the op only 10 days after the accident that shoved my cheekbones in and even luckier in having a consultant who told me I was fine to start riding again - but that I mustn't come off! Mind you even though it's only been a 5 weeks or so since the accident and even though I'm now down to 10st or so thanks to not being able to eat, and I've done some gym bike work, it's amazing how quickly you lose fitness.
Hope the pain goes and you're back in the saddle soon, with only the right kind of pain.
- Tim0 -
turpinr wrote:
do your plates stay in or will you have them taken out ??oldhamtj wrote:I'm literally just back from my first ride after having my face put back together with four titanium plates in December. I was lucky in having the op only 10 days after the accident that shoved my cheekbones in and even luckier in having a consultant who told me I was fine to start riding again - but that I mustn't come off! Mind you even though it's only been a 5 weeks or so since the accident and even though I'm now down to 10st or so thanks to not being able to eat, and I've done some gym bike work, it's amazing how quickly you lose fitness.
Hope the pain goes and you're back in the saddle soon, with only the right kind of pain.
- Tim
They'll stay in. Two of them could be taken out through my mouth if really necessary, the other two would require another bicoronal flap - the peel-the-skin-off-your-face procedure I had which needs an incision from the bottom of one ear to the top of the other. 4 hours on the table to do that, 30+ stitches, not to be repeated if it can possibly be avoided.
Mind you the stitches from that came out after a week while the stitches in my mouth are still there after nearly four! And they're very annoying too. Not as annoying as the blurring-up of my left eye though as the lacrimal gland settles down. But at least I can eat again. Now if I can keep the weight down and get the fitness back I don't think I've lost too much power. The hills were tough on my breath today rather than on my legs.
-Tim0 -
They'll stay in. Two of them could be taken out through my mouth if really necessary, the other two would require another bicoronal flap - the peel-the-skin-off-your-face procedure I had which needs an incision from the bottom of one ear to the top of the other. 4 hours on the table to do that, 30+ stitches, not to be repeated if it can possibly be avoided.
Mind you the stitches from that came out after a week while the stitches in my mouth are still there after nearly four! And they're very annoying too. Not as annoying as the blurring-up of my left eye though as the lacrimal gland settles down. But at least I can eat again. Now if I can keep the weight down and get the fitness back I don't think I've lost too much power. The hills were tough on my breath today rather than on my legs.
-Tim[/quote]
peel the skin off your face ??no wonder you want your going to leave them in !!0 -
turpinr wrote:peel the skin off your face ??no wonder you want your going to leave them in !!
I should have said peel it down, I suppose. Not just peeling the top layer off. Apart from the scar running ear to ear and some muscle-stretching and nerve damage it's not too bad. Also got a facelift...
Having the tubes for the drains taken out was an interesting experience...feeling them sliding out from under the scalp...
But I am very grateful for how I was treated and for the fact that my legs and arms and back and so on weren't hurt. I missed the bike enough as it was.0 -
Just got the MRIs taken the day of the op, am waiting for the post-op xrays showing the titanium spacer plates in place, but here are the MRIs:
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If you look at what looks like the 5th disk down (in fact C6/C7), you can just about make out how it had started to actually curve down in my spinal cord - aparently not good!
On my previous MRIs it was the disk above this that was worse, and the surgeon was concentrating on, this disk got BAD quick and is the reason my health went downhill so quick :-(
Both this disk and the one above C5/C6 have now been removed and replaced with a titanium spacer - this means I wont bend at those two points of my neck.
If you look at what looks like the 5th disk down (in fact C6/C7) you can see how bad the "bulge" had bulged!
At least my centre spine is healthy!
Look at the size of those love handles! Once I am healthy, they are gonna go!
The disc just on the bend of the spine L5/S1 between the lumbar portion and sacral portion is also starting to bulge. This can lead to sciatica. It's not bad enough to operate on yet, but could mean another op later in life - happy days!
You can just about make out the three troublesome discs
You can see how wonky my spine has become probably from being tensed up. Hopefully now the pressue in my neck and the nerve pinching has gone, it should start to straighten up
My wife caught me napping 0 -
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I can't see any pics due to being at work, which may be a good thing!
Glad to hear there's been some major progress though, I stumbled upon the thread from ages ago when you were 'down', so it's nice to see an improvement and some light at the end of the tunnel for you.
It's just a shame it took so long, it should be no more than 18 weeks from referral to treatment.0 -
Many thanks yeah its slowly getting there
Some pics, including op scope and post-op xray pics:
http://s284.photobucket.com/albums/ll9/gcwebbyuk/Neck/0 -
hey dude do yourself a favour and buy a copy of Treat Your Own Back (Paperback)
by Robin A. McKenzie
it may well save u from a discectomy on ur lumbar spine.
Bottomline if you look at the influence of most physiotherapeutic and osteo/chiro treatments have on the disc when viewed during a dynamic MRI Scanner its minimal. an extension manouver, as discussed in the book, has been shown to centralise disc bulges when the directional preference is appropriate. Read the book, could b best tenner u ever spend..!
all the bestCouple of 5 spots, a hummer and a handjob.....0 -
I have his other book - Treat your own neck - it came in fairly handy, but a lot of the stuff in there was bits discussed with physio previously. I am always a little embaressed by the front cover, looks like some lovers guide kinda book!
I had my first session with physio today, he was happy with my progress after 1 month. And after looking at the MRI said that the bulge in my lumbar is probably nothing worse than most people have who don't even realise there is a problem - so nothing to worry about really.
He gave me a bit of a manipulation in my thorasic area, which helped a lot, and my actual head/neck movement feels better already. I have a few simple moves to do a few times a day to try and keep it mobile so it doesn't tense up too - so will have to stick to them.
I also finished on the pregabalin today, and am also now down to 2x5mg of Oxycontin, down from 2x20 when I came out of hospital, to 2x10 a week after.
Another week and I should be drug free apart from the off paracetamol when needed, can't wait!
Then I can have a nice beer! 8)0 -
The disc just on the bend of the spine L5/S1 between the lumbar portion and sacral portion is also starting to bulge. This can lead to sciatica. It's not bad enough to operate on yet, but could mean another op later in life - happy days!
The wifey just had a discectomy at L5/S1 - went well, but takes a while to recover apparently.Visit Ireland - all of it! Cycle in Dublin and know fear!!
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