This is my first attempt at discussing my situation on-line. I had been suffering from lower back pain for about 5 years when the occasional incident turned into chronic sciatic pain in March 2011. I was referred to a Neurosurgeon at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, Ontario who told me that I was a candidate for a discectomy. We decided to wait a few months for the surgery as my daughter was getting married and I didn't want to take the risk of missing the wedding if he encountered any problems during the surgery. Immediately after the wedding on July 1st, my situation starting to decline dramatically. I was in so much pain and wasn't able to walk without the use of a walker. I was taking high doses of narcotic pain medications and still the pain persisted. After 2 trips to the Emergency ward at the hospital I was given an anti-inflammatory medication that reduced my symptoms to the point where I could walk again and could function to some degree while I waited for the surgery.
I had the surgery on August 10th. Recovery has been slow. It's been a month now since surgery and I still am not able to sit for any longer that 15 minutes, I can only walk for short distances and I spend most of my time on the couch. The pain is still quite bad and I haven't been able to reduce the pain medication yet. It is definitely sciatic pain. The numbness in my foot has disappeared though, which is great. I was just wondering if other people have had similar experiences. If the disc isn't pressing on the nerve any more, I don't understand why the pain hasn't been reduced. I understand that the nerve needs to regenerate and heal, but the pain seems to be getting worse…not better. Is that normal? My follow-up appointment with the surgeon is in 2 weeks so I hope to get some answers then. Any comments or suggestions would be great.