Joined: 22 Oct 2007 Posts: 1 Location: newcastle, england
L4 / L5 operation w/ pain down my leg - WHY? Posted: 10-22-07 17:43pm
Hello ,i am quite concerned about my back
at the moment i have just had my 3rd l4-l5
operation in may this year and i have a
scan booked for wed this week as all the
pain is back ,the leg pain down my right
leg and now really bad back pain i have
had 3 operations in 2 years .....i have no
answers to why this is keep happening , i
live on tablets ,i really dont know if i
should have another operation as it keeps
reoccuring ,the doctors at the hospital
said they can do this op many times ,but
they keep going through the same cut ,i
really need to know why this keeps
happening ????i am 42 and its really
getting me down .thanks heather
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RichT
Active User, Really EHEALTHy
Joined: 22 Jul 2007 Posts: 910
Thanks: 21
Thanked:0
Posted: 10-24-07 21:29pm
Hello Heather,
It REALLY HURT to read your post. I can't
even imagine the pain and what you have
been through.
Heather, have you seen other doctors for a
second opinion? Something isn't right,
and I get this very uneasy feeling that
the surgeons you have had for the past
surgeries are not doing something right.
Some questions - Has the same surgeon done
all three surgeries? Have you obtained
second and third opinions? May I ask
where you live? What did the surgeons do
for each surgery?
I'll await your reply.
Take care.
RichT
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Spicey
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 02 Nov 2007 Posts: 8 Location: , UK
Posted: 11-02-07 12:18pm
Hi Heather,
I'm in the UK too. I'm just having a
re-occurrance of pain down the legs myself
after L4/5 surgery but this time they
think it's coming from L5/S1 instead. I
agree with RichT, try to get another
opinion. The only thing I can think of is
swelling in the area causing pressure on
the nerves. I sympathise with you, I
really do. I've had 5 years of pain now -
sometimes quite bearable but other times
completely unbearable, and it does get you
down. Try to keep your chin up is all I
can say really! Hugs, M x
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jinnymc
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 27 Nov 2007 Posts: 16
Im the Same Posted: 11-27-07 21:34pm
hi heather i really feel for you im having
same problems i live on morhpine and
tramadol seen my surgoen again yesterday
and she says doing another operation will
not do anything for me im just so upset im
40 and feel 80 in the last 3 weeks ive
been out 3 times 2 of them where to the
hospital what my surgoen is doing is
sending me to pain clinic have you been to
one of them if so how do things work there
i do wish you luck if you ever need to
talk im always on here jinnymc
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Spicey
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 02 Nov 2007 Posts: 8 Location: , UK
Posted: 11-28-07 09:02am
Hi jinnymc,
I have been to a pain clinic in the UK but
I assume they would be similar wherever
you are.
Basically, they help you to find a way to
manage your pain, whether it's trying new
medications, physiotherapy, tens machines
- whatever they think is best suited to
you. It's a way of trying to help you to
live with the pain you have. Before I
went I was very negative about it to be
honest, because to me it felt like I was
having to admit that this was as good as
it gets. It was hard not to see it as
doctors giving up on me and being forced
to try and find a way of living with the
pain you have rather than trying to deal
with the cause. I hope that's making
sense!
My advice is to keep an open mind. People
in our situation are used to dealing with
the pain day in, day out and become our
own experts at managing it already.
However, the pain clinic may just have
something that can help you out that you
hadn't already thought of and anything
that helps even a little bit is welcome -
I'll sure you'll agree. Good luck with
everything.
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jinnymc
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 27 Nov 2007 Posts: 16
Thanks Spicey Posted: 12-04-07 21:35pm
thanks for your reply what you have said
is just how i feel i want something to
work has i just want to get back to my old
self im really down with this ive always
been a get up and go person but i just
dont seem to beable to be like this
anymore some days i cant even get myself
out of bed or even off the couch or even
just do simple things like i said i just
want to get back to normal do you think
after l4/5 discetomy and decompression
people get back to normal i remember when
i was in hospital a guy was on his 2nd
operation and he said to me its never the
same once you have it done but i didnt
think he meant it would be like this thank
you angain jinnymc {manchester}
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Spicey
New User, Becoming EHEALTHy
Joined: 02 Nov 2007 Posts: 8 Location: , UK
Posted: 12-09-07 12:40pm
Hi again jinnymc,
I think it's certainly true that once you
have had spinal surgery will never quite
get back to 100% again. That said, when I
had my surgery in 2004 I had a follow up
18 months later. I was disappointed with
the progress I'd made, and I asked my
surgeon if my recovery was complete, ie.
is that as good it's going to get from now
on. He basically said that most of the
healing would have been complete by that
time. I was gutted. However, I did not
find that to be the case. I continued to
improve month on month for about 2 and
half years after the operation.
Eventually I was even able to start
jogging which is something I never thought
I'd be able to do again. How much of this
continued improvement was my mental
attitude I really don't know. A couple of
years ago I went through some pretty
drastic changes in my personal life so it
was case of having to get on with it on my
own. Living alone is very hard when you
have a back problem but I managed and
conitinued to improve despite my problems.
Up until a couple of months ago, although
I still suffered from pain on a daily
basis, it was certainly a level that I was
able to cope with and live with
successfully. Although I'm always very
careful where my back is concerned, it
wasn't in a state where it was stopping me
from doing what I wanted to do.
I'm now finding myself trying to focus on
that positive again now, as it appears I
now have a prolapse in the disc beneath
the one I had the surgery on. Last week I
couldn't even shower or get myself dressed
for 2 days because the pain was so bad and
because the pain killers I'd had to take
made me feel so unwell. So I can
completely understand how you are feeling.
It's so hard to keep going with this
sometimes, but accute bouts of back pain
always improve over time. It may take a
really long time, but it does get better
(or at least improves to a more managable
level).
The correct type of exercise really helps
me when able to do it so if you get the
chance to have some physio have a chat
with them about it. I used to see a
chiropractor that had a rehab gym attached
to it. I found that was very helpful at
keeping the muscles surrounding the
problem area and the core stability
muscles nice and strong and that is such a
vital part of managing a back problem.
I appear to be ranting! I hope you find
my rantings helpful. Hang in there and
try to stay positive - I know how stupid
that sounds, but we have to.
