5+ months

Just a quick note to say all is still good.  No problems.  I've been able to make it through long days of work consisting of sitting all day with little to no discomfort.  After a long day of sitting for work, I sometimes notice some very slight numbness/decrease in sensitivity along the outside edge of the bottoms of my feet, although this goes away after laying down for a short time and does not cause my any problems or discomfort.  I have not taken any painkillers for my back since my post surgery healing phase.  I've been exercising using my elliptical machine, resistance bands, and my physical therapy circuit which seem to be fine.  Let's hope it stays this way for a long time.

4 months - still good

It has been about 4 months since my disc replacement and everything is still going fine.  My slight hip pain has lessened to the point I don't really notice it unless I bend over forward with me knees locked, but I pretty much never do that, instead bending my knees and hips whenever I bend over.

I finished up with my PT a few weeks ago as I had met all their goals.  They said they might consider having me back at 6 months post op to progress to the last phase if I want, although I don't know if I'll need it.  I still do my circuit of PT exercises maybe 2-3 times per week.  I have not been stretching or nerve flossing as much, but it hasn't seemed to cause any problems.  I have been doing cardio work on my elliptical and some medium resistance work using resistance bands and pushups.

I have more and more days where I sometimes forget I had surgery not that long ago since I feel so normal.  I'm feeling great, much better than I expected.  I hope it stays this way for a long time!

13.5 weeks

Mr. Boeree reviewed my xrays, but I just didn't get around to posting the info until now.  Here is what he had to say:

Dear Tim,

I have now had a chance to have a look at your X-rays and I am very pleased with them.   The implant remains in an excellent position.   As you will see on the flexion and extension views, particularly if you toggle between them, you can really see how the implant moves at that level.   You can also see on the lateral views that the implant is very well bonded to the bone now.  You therefore get a gold star for being an exemplary patient in all respects!

Kind regards,

Nick

So I got that going for me.  At this point, I'm feeling more normal.  The small amount of right hip pain I had when doing a straight leg raise has lessened in the last two weeks and is more like a stiffness instead.  The leg sweating seems to be getting a bit more intermittent as well.  I am still doing physical therapy twice a week, but at this point they are short 15 minute sessions just using the MedEx extension machine.  In addition, I'm doing the circuit of 12 back related exercises given to me by the PTs twice a week and workouts consisting of pushups and seated rows, high rows, pull downs, curls, chest press, chest flies, and straight arm shoulder raises using resistance bands.  I also just bought an elliptical machine which I plan to use to build my cardio back up instead of doing the high impact aerobic routines I used to.  I also do my lower body stretched, retlouping, and nerve gliding most mornings.

They have progressed at PT to lifting 40lbs off the floor with no problems (and using proper form of course).  I have gone for a few short outside bike rides and was able to do my fall yard work with no problems (leaf blowing/vac and carrying the heavy bags of leaves to the curb).  Although, my back muscles do get a little tired after a bit, but I think that would happen even with a healthy disc.  I would also say that my sitting time is pretty much unlimited at this point and I get no soreness from it.

At weeks 11 and 12 I did jog some stairs and noticed some back soreness from that.  It was more of a muscular soreness that extended along the long muscles on either side of my spine.  The soreness actually went up to just below my shoulder blades and extended down my back and flared slightly into my hips.  I wasn't sure if it was from the stair jogging or the PT, so this last week I did not do the jogging, and did not have the soreness.  So I think I may lay off that for awhile yet.  I have also not tried any normal jogging yet either, and even though the surgeons have said I can, I think I'll hold off until spring.

My confidence has gotten better and I am comfortable doing pretty much everything except the intense workouts I used to do before the injury.  I don't think I would try to lift something super heavy or to exert myself 100% yet.  After almost 2 years of issues, I'm just enjoying not hurting anymore too much to risk it.

My posts from this point will probably be more sparse as things are not changing as much and everything is still going well.  I'll of course update if anything starts giving me problems or I do something surprising that I didn't think I would be able to do.

12 weeks - made it

Well, I made it to the magical 12 week mark and am still feeling fine.  This is the milestone date at which Mr. Boeree said I should be cleared to return to normal activities, although after spending almost 7 months this year recovering from my 2 surgeries, I'm still a little hesitant to just jump back in, especially after my experience with my first surgery.  I have not tried any jogging or running yet and probably will wait for a bit yet.  I may try to get in a couple of outside bike rides before the snow comes.

I had xrays today:

The one I was most interested in seeing the the left standing 20 degree one that shows the gap between the disc and the vertebrate. My surgeon here in the US said that everything looked fine and when I asked if the gap between the disc and the vertebrate should be filled in with bone, he said that the gap doesn't completely fill in and you normally just see the bone growth in the left and right "wing" areas that are in contact with the disc.  He also said that you wouldn't really be able to see that bone growth in an xray which I was kind of surprised to hear.  He also said it looks like the disc is functioning properly and he could tell that it was moving the way it was designed to.  He said that I should be cleared to return to whatever activities I want as long as it feels fine.  I then asked him about doing the MedEx physical therapy machine that involves twisting, and he said that I should wait until about 6 months to try that.  So kind of a mixed signal there.

I sent the xrays to Mr. Boeree and he responded right away and said "As for physical restrictions at this stage, I don’t think there need to be any specific limits on what you should do, with reason!  I think it is always sensible to respect your back but you can bend, lift, twist etc, and can get back into most sports at this stage.  Before giving you a full pass I would like to check your x-rays so I’ll get back to you then if I may?"  He just needed to get the xrays loaded into his imaging system.

One small side effect that has surfaced in the last 4-6 weeks is some noticeably increased sweating on my upper hamstrings.  Both my surgeon and Mr. Boeree seemed to think this was an unusual side effect, but both thought that it probably was due the surgery as the parasympathetic nerve system does run down the side of the spine.  Usually, people who have effects experience the opposite, where they get patches of extremely dry skin.  In any case, they said that those types of effects almost always revert back to normal over time as the nerves get back to normal.  It is not a big deal to me, just something I noticed.  Some people even continue to experience nerve pain for up to 9-12 months after surgery (luckily I don't have any of that).

I also asked my surgeon about having to use antibiotics for dental work and he was very adamant that I needed to talk preventative antibiotics whenever I get any kind of dental work including cleanings for the rest of my life.  Apparently, there is some risk of bacteria getting into the bloodstream and traveling to the disc and causing problems.  This is common to all joint replacements such as knees and hips as well.  So he said to make sure to tell my dentist I had an artificial joint beforehand so that they can prescribe them.

10 weeks

I'll keep this one short and sweet.  Still doing well and feeling pretty good.  Getting a bit stronger thanks to my physical therapy, but still feel like I have a ways to go before I get back into good shape.  I went for a short bike ride today for 30mins and was reminded that my cardio fitness level is still pretty low, but that will come back with time.  Still 2 weeks before the magic 12 week mark and my next set of xrays.  Even after that, I think I'll still be pretty hesitant to do anything high impact for awhile, even though I feel good enough to even now.

9 weeks

Recovery is still progressing well.  I'm feeling more normal each day, but still trying to be cautious.  I've been progressing through physical therapy and they have moved me up to some more challenging exercises that definitely make me sweat.  It feels good to be able to do some type of exercise that tires me out.  They have also started me using a MedEx lumbar strengthening machine during my visits.  It is basically a giant workout machine which they can precisely control how far I can move and how resistance is there.  It is basically a restricted back extension machine that focuses on the lumbar spine muscles.  I still have to keep stretching at least twice a day to keep the right sided, straight leg raise pain away (although I did have some soreness today for the first time even though I had done my stretches).

Still good

Not much new to report.  Still doing well with gradual improvement.  I've been building up my sitting time while working.  I am sitting on an exercise ball for part of the day while working.  By about 2:00 I start to feel some back fatigue, but I think this is more muscular fatigue as a result of getting used to sitting for longer periods of time and sitting on the ball which takes more energy.  By the end of the day, I am pretty tired.  It's been almost 2 years since I sat upright through an entire day of work.

I have noticed a decrease in my hip pain after I added in a few new stretches into my PT routine.  Currently, I am doing the following:

Rocking my pelvis back and forth sitting on the ball
Rocking pelvis side to side on the ball
Pelvic circles on the ball
Retlouping (google it) to mobilize nerves.
Straight leg hamstring stretches while lying on my back, and pumping my ankle to also mobilize the nerve.
Glute stretches on my back, one leg straight on the floor, pulling the other knee to the same shoulder for a while and then towards the opposite shoulder.
Laying on my stomach propped up on my elbows for a couple minutes.
Flexing core muscles and holding for 10-30 seconds 10 times per day.
Stretching hamstrings by putting my leg up on the 4th stair with my knee locked.
This one sounds a little strange but it works really well:  I take a tennis ball and put it under one of my glutes and roll around on it along the sciatic nerve channel.  It hurts a little but it really helps to break up any adhesions that can form which kind of glue the sciatic nerve to the surrounding tissues.

Once I started doing the stair stretch, and the tennis ball thing, I noticed a decrease in my hip pain in just a couple days.  I think I maybe had some adhesions on the nerves that I was able to break up a bit.  My right hamstring is still tighter than my left one, but it is getting better.

I feel better each week, but am still not doing any strenuous or high impact exercises yet.  I am pretty out of shape and still have a ways to go to get back to a place where I feel fit again.  I just don't want to take any chances.