Dexter
16 Jun 2005, 8:58pm
Some of you may recall that I had been suffering from a pinched nerve that started a few months ago. X-rays at the time showed that I may have a degenerating disc as well. The condition has not improved since then. I had a CT scan last week, followed up with a visit to a neurosurgeon today. The CT scan showed the x-ray result to be on target, a pinched nerve from a herniated disc and degenerative disc tissue in my L5 / S1 joint. They will be booking me for surgery in the next 4 to 6 weeks, I will be having a microdiscectomy.
For anyone interested in the medical details:
Reference 1 (http://www.spine-health.com/topics/surg/overview/lumbar/lumb03.html)
Reference 2 (http://my.webmd.com/hw/back_pain/hw218424.asp)
The good news is that this is a very common condition, so the surgery for it is well refined and low risk. The doctor said he does about 200 of these a year, in fact the patient who was before me in his office today has the same problem, with symptoms presenting at around the same time, the doc said our CT scans could almost be photocopies of one another. The surgery is quick, usually day surgery under general anaesthetic, followed by 2 to 4 weeks of limited activity. After that, he wants me to get on a pysiotherapy / exercise program to improve my abdominal and back muscle tone and strength, to avoid future problems. I guess too many years at sitting at a desk have not been helpful ;)
The other good news is that, although I will probably continue to have some mild back pain for the rest of my life (which I have become accustomed to already), he sees no reason to want to do any sort of a spinal fusion procedure. He thinks that with good aftercare I should be able to resume normal activities with manageable pain levels, though I will have to avoid heavy lifting probably for the rest of my life.
So overall a good prognosis, and hopefully I will be able to do some dancing at a certain special wedding coming up in Septemeber....;)
For anyone interested in the medical details:
Reference 1 (http://www.spine-health.com/topics/surg/overview/lumbar/lumb03.html)
Reference 2 (http://my.webmd.com/hw/back_pain/hw218424.asp)
The good news is that this is a very common condition, so the surgery for it is well refined and low risk. The doctor said he does about 200 of these a year, in fact the patient who was before me in his office today has the same problem, with symptoms presenting at around the same time, the doc said our CT scans could almost be photocopies of one another. The surgery is quick, usually day surgery under general anaesthetic, followed by 2 to 4 weeks of limited activity. After that, he wants me to get on a pysiotherapy / exercise program to improve my abdominal and back muscle tone and strength, to avoid future problems. I guess too many years at sitting at a desk have not been helpful ;)
The other good news is that, although I will probably continue to have some mild back pain for the rest of my life (which I have become accustomed to already), he sees no reason to want to do any sort of a spinal fusion procedure. He thinks that with good aftercare I should be able to resume normal activities with manageable pain levels, though I will have to avoid heavy lifting probably for the rest of my life.
So overall a good prognosis, and hopefully I will be able to do some dancing at a certain special wedding coming up in Septemeber....;)