MicroDiscectomy Week 4

Walking - 2 X 20 minutes per day with ease.
Straight Leg Raise: 60 degrees on each leg (it was earlier only 10 degrees on my right leg)

·         Right leg still has some weakness and foot drop as compared to left leg

Side leg raise: Perfect on left leg raise @ 60 degree. Not so perfect on right leg raise @40 degree.
Radiating pain: Absolute ZERO.
Stairs: Climbing up is possible. Climbing down is still cumbersome.
Numbness: still persists on right leg (foot, thigh and buttocks). But, I can feel some improvements here.
Urinary side effects: still persists

Can I walk on my own: YES
Can I sit for longer durations: I believe so, even though I have not tried for more than 30 mins at a stretch


Recovery has been exactly to the book apart from the urinary complication.

Black out - vasovagal attack - 06-Mar-2011

A funny thing happened today. I fainted today and my kids had written me off.

1700 hrs: Got up and went to toilet at approx 1715 hrs. Luckily left the door unlocked.

The moment I sat down in the toilet, i blanked out. The next thing i could remember was my wife calling me. I opened my eyes to see my wife and a whole lot of neighbours. Events as explained by them:

·I had taken a very long deep breadth with lots of noise.

·My wife heard it from outside and rushed in. I had fainted on the potty seat. Luckily I had fallen on the side and was lying on the wash basin. A fall in the front would have undone the whole surgery efforts.

·I did not respned for the next 30 minutes with people pouring water on me and banging on my chest…. My eyes and mouth were dead open. There was no sweatness and my body had turned ice cold.

·Finally, I woke up and was immediately able to get up and walk back to bed.

·No abnormal behaviour noted in ECG. Blood sugar was normal. BP was low at 100/80.

Not sure what had happened. But, looks like i had a miraculous escape.

Lessons learned: No self medication, leave the bathroom doors unlocked and have someone always nearby.

MicroDiscectomy - Lessons Learned

• The doctor is the GOD. Follow the instructions to the core. Do not bring in your intellectual brain into this phase.
• Have Patience during Rehabilitation. Avoid responding to any of the below 2 situations. Take recovery as per what doctor planned.
• There will be times when you will be at lows as you will not be able to do many things on day 1
• There will be times when you will feel you can do more and will want to do more.
• Have an assistant during surgery and always near you till full recovery. Do not believe that you can manage alone
• Avoid Coughing or Sneezing post surgery - take good care. Learn how to cough/sneeze properly - jist in case if you have to.
• Avoid Constipation at all costs
• Plan to have stool softeners atleast 2 days before surgery and continue for atleast 2 weeks post surgery till you are sure of normal stool discharge. Eat Lots of high fibre foods.
• Never stretch your back:
• You need to be able to sit and get up with stress on your legs and not with stress on your back. Learn how to lie down on the bed and how to get up from the bed.
• Get a "raised toilet seat", if your toilet seat is low.
• If you happen to originally sleep on the floor due to your back pain - buy a good bed before surgery. You will not be able to sit down or lie down post the surgery
• Get firm office chairs of decent height which also has a firm back support. You should be able to sit into and get up using your legs and not your back.

Microdiscectomy Week 2 - Discharge from Hospital - 19/Feb/2011

Finally, I am discharged from hospital on the 10th day.

• Able to walk slowly.
• Weakness exist in calf muscles
• Climbing steps is possible with extreme caution.
• Took an hour's flight to reach from Surgery centre (Coimbatore) to my hometown (Chennai). The travel included an hour of taxi travel to airport, an hour of waiting at airport lounge, an hour of flight and an hour of taxi travel from airport to home. I was able to manage it without any inconvinience.

At home:

• Fully on bed rest
• Three small Walks of atleast 0.5 km each
• No sitting, No Bending, No Twisting and No Lifting