Here’s today’s revelation: My next step is surgery.
That’s the decision we came to this morning at the doctor’s office. It’s the decision Helaine and I anticipated last night.
Over the last month and a half my life has been dominated by pain and pain avoidance. It’s a crappy way-of-life.
I am scheduled at the former Hospital of St. Raphael Friday morning at 7am. The means ‘in-the-hospital’ at 5:30 am.
“That’s when I usually go to bed,” I told the surgeon, a triathelete who looks like one! This is going to be on his schedule.
My surgery has come together quickly. Once the decision was made the world shifted into high gear. Blood work, urine, x-ray and a rapid fire boatload of questions and warnings.
The plan is a small incision in my back to allow trimming the herniated disk currently squeezing my S1 nerve. Very straightforward.
If all goes well my leg pain will be gone. The wound from the incision will be a bigger short term problem. Within a few weeks I should be ready to go back to work.
A Lumbar Discectomy is routine surgery performed every day… but it is surgery. I have asked lots of questions and am happy the right team will be in place.
I asked the surgeon if he’d save some images for me to put in the blog.
“You want a picture of the disk,” he asked with more than a little pride in his ability to take one?
Hell yeah.