Herniated Disc Update #5Easy Weight Loss

Well it's after 4:00 pm on a Tuesday and I just remembered that I hadn't written, or even started, a post for the WWU.  That's unusual for me but I've been even more scattered than usual because, drumroll please...I'm scheduled to have surgery on Monday.

I guess from that announcement you deduced that my visit with the neurosurgeon last week went well.  It did.  Jeff went with me; we first met with the PA, who was super friendly and informative.  Before he came in the room he went over the paperwork that I'd brought, checked my MRI, and said that all I needed was to have the disc fragment that is pressing on the nerve removed and I'd be back to my old self once I'd recovered from the surgery...with no nerve pain.

No. Nerve. Pain.

Of course Jeff and I had a lot of questions, starting with how successful is this surgery?  The PA said very successful.  We asked what would happen and learned about the procedure and how they would only work on the left side, with the actual operation taking about 30 minutes.  It would be done on an outpatient level, at one of the local hospitals.

After more questions (what would the restrictions be, what is the recovery like, etc), I asked one last question:  did I need to have the injections and pain management and physical therapy, then, if this surgery is so successful?  Because I was wondering, what the hell, did I just waste five months with that when I could have had surgery right away and avoid being in pain all this time?

No.  He said that even if I had presented to them back in April, with the MRI and extreme pain, they still would have had me go through pain management because sometimes the epidural steroid injections can give enough pain relief while the swelling is going down for the disc to shrink and/or move away from the nerve...and it might not be an issue after that.  They don't do surgery unless other options to fix this have been exhausted.

Hearing that was confirmation that I hadn't been foolish in trying to get the herniated disc healed without jumping into surgery.  It made me feel good, plus made me feel like I'd gone to the right neurosurgeon.  He was recommended by pretty much everyone when I was asking who to see, from healthcare professionals to friends who had used him, but still, you don't know until you actually meet with the person.

When the surgeon came in, we liked him right away.  And then peppered him with questions, LOL.  Jeff the statistics person asked what percentage success rate did this particular operation have:  92 - 95% was the surgeon's response.  Well, we were both leaning toward the surgical option, but hearing that was the final kicker toward doing it.

The thought of getting my life back is very appealing.  Obviously I don't want to do anything impulsive just to have that, but after more than six months of hurting, I'm at the point of being willing to try something different.

Oh, speaking of being scattered, the other great news is that the surgeon said I can stop taking Gabapentin!  Really happy about that - I might get my brain back to normal.  Or at least normal for me.

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