Progress Report: Week 11

This week has been a hard one. I have had pretty bad low back pain; I'd say a 7-8 sometimes. It has been very frightening. I am feeling better today, but it's been hurting pretty bad since Saturday night. Of course all week I feared reherniation, but now I think I just overdid it last weekend. I spent hours out Saturday walking around, shopping, etc., and I think it was just too much for me. Then I ended up sitting in my car for 3 hours waiting for a tow-truck when I can usually only sit for about 30 minutes before the discomfort sets in. Then I ended up sitting at work for two 10 hour days in a row, and I think it was just a perfect storm. It just scared me that the pain was right over the disc, right under the surgery scar. But no new leg pain or weirdness, so I'm hoping that means all is A-OK. I hate that ever since this surgery, I constantly fear any new pain or twinge as a "possible reherniation." My surgeon told me he'd only seen one reherniation after thousands of microdiscectomies. Online I've read the figure to be as large as 20%. I would think that after such a large herniation, I wouldn't have that much disc to reherniate. Which could lead to a whole host of future problems but I am trying to not get too far ahead of myself. Still can not go up on my toes on my bad leg but had a breakthrough -- when up on my toes on that leg, I can hold my weight for a nanosecond. Until recently the foot would just immediately collapse. That is good I think. And the numbness gets slightly better each week. I am only slightly numb in my baby toe and along the side of my foot now. There was a time where I could step on something and not even feel it or know it, so this is good news.