L5-S1 Lamiectomy Recovery – 4 Months

I can confidently say I’m counting months now and thinking about more than rebuilding.  There is still a lot to rebuild, but I’m adding things I want to do too.

General Recovery Update

Life is much more normal again.  People tend not to see that I’ve been through “something” and interactions are pretty normal.  Often, friends forget to ask how my back is since they don’t notice.  I’m not 100%, but I feel I’ve graduated to another level in the recovery process.

Pain

Pain is not much of an issue.  Mostly sore muscles from us now, and that is from predictable, or “good” use.  Meaning, when I do exercises I am working harder now and getting sore as expected.  Rarely am I getting pain I don’t expect.

My muscles in my back will still go into protective spasm every now and then.  This is a normal protection mechanism of your body.  Dr. Bawa said that is normal and part of the mental recovery where it could take a good year.  I think I’m doing a lot better with that as of recent.  Proof being that I am doing more.

Numbness and Sensations

I noticed that I don’t have good temperature sensation in my rear end.  I’ve noticed that I got some back in my foot fairly quickly.  Then I noticed that my little toes don’ t have temperature yet.  When I sat on a hot car seat, I realized that only one side felt hot.  I suppose you could look at that as a good thing.  Temperature is on the list of “things I’ll get back last”.  So, I’m not too stressed there.

I’d say that I am pretty used to the numbness now.  Initially I was bothered by it often, but now I occasionally notice it an it doesn’t other me.

Activities

I think that in the past three weeks I can say my life is back to “normal” from an activities level.  I’m not as strong of a rider, but I’m riding.  I can get the boat out and fish offshore.  I can play with the kids a bit.  I’m working without much fear of travel.

I even let myself walk about into the surf a bit to see my little girls on their surfboards.  That was a big deal for me both from physical abilities and just to see my kids surf.  They are getting good too.  Every time a wave hit me I was nervous, but none were a problem.

Walking

Walking is still nice, but it is being replaced with more exercises. When I get uncomfortable, walking is still one of the best things for me.
[edit 9/2/2013]
Doing a normal walk today, I felt what seemed as though my right meniscus came loose or moved.  Tons of pain.  I know that it is torn.  I just hope it didn’t get suddenly worse.  When it moves, it hurts like mad and makes me limp.  It is not every step, but it is making me worried and has happened a few times.

Biking

I’ve stretched a number of rides past an hour.  The good side-part is that the distance is going up fast for the ride time.  I want to focus on ride time and am trying not to hammer, but my averages are going up nicely.  Still not where I was, but not embarrassing either.  This is my “4 month ride”.

Boat

As mentioned about, I’ve had a number of good trips.  A lot like normal.  There are things I will not do like lift heavy things, but that is just smart.  Trips with family and fishing runs are going well.

Returning to Life

Again this week life is feeling more normal.  I even took vacation this week for lots of beach time.