“I Thought My Nursing Career Was Over | My Herniated Disc & Microdiscectomy Recovery Story”

When back pain turned into a herniated disc, rehab nurse Mary feared her nursing career was over. After months of pain and tough decisions, she chose to undergo a microdiscectomy — and it changed everything.

In this video, Mary shares her personal recovery journey, the fears she faced, and the steps that helped her heal physically and mentally. If you’re struggling with a herniated disc or considering back surgery, this story offers hope, insight, and real recovery tips from someone who’s been there.

Transcript

Ingenious Door-Closing Hack

SPEAKER_04 0:00

But another thing that came in that hip kit was this strap that looks kind of like a seat belt. Um now this the purpose of this is that for people to put it on their feet and help them lift their legs into beds or into chairs. I didn't use it for that. What I used it for was um I hooked it on the handle of I drive a truck, a large pickup truck. And um, which again, the limited range of motion with my neck or anything, my truck door is way out there. And it was painful for me to grab that and shut it. So I hooked this on my door handle, and then I was able to hang the other little loop on my blinker so I could get in and just grab a hold of this and pull my door shut.

Welcome And Show Mission

SPEAKER_00 0:42

Welcome to Bed Back and Beyond, sharing positive stories of recovery from serious back or neck injury. Your host is CK, a fellow champion who draws on her own experience with perniated disc surgery. Join her as she talks with others who have overcome the physical and emotional trauma of a painful injury. And discover for yourself how you can find hope and encouragement in recovery.

Listener Mail And Support

SPEAKER_06 1:10

Hi, and welcome to this episode of Bed Back and Beyond. Before I introduce our guest, I would like to read some fan mail. So in August, I had somebody write in and say Loretta's story, she was the marathon runner, resonated with me so much. I waited 14 months to finally get surgery. So my nerves were so damaged. I lost bladder control, and now I'm seven weeks post-op and want it to be already 100%. But this is still going to be a journey for me. So it was confirming to hear her say that it would six months or more before she was pain-free. I just have to be patient. The emotional trauma from this has been so difficult. Just appreciate hearing a similar story so much. Thank you so much for your fan mail. I really hope that you're recovering well. I can't respond through the fan mail app, but if you go to my website, bedbackbeyond.com and click share your story, you can reach me through there or you can earn email me at ck at bedbackbeyond.com and I'll be able to respond to

Meet Mary: Rehab Nurse Background

SPEAKER_06 2:16

your request. Hi, Mary. Thank you so much for joining me on this episode of Bed Back and Beyond. Just so you know, I was so excited to have you on that I put fake eyelashes on. It's not something I it's not something I normally do. So if they start falling off during the podcast, let me know.

SPEAKER_04 2:31

Okay, okay. You're braver than me. I can't do those. Okay, they're terrible.

SPEAKER_06 2:38

So before we dive into your injury, how about you tell us about yourself?

SPEAKER_04 2:42

Um, well, I'm 46 years old. I am a rehab nurse. I've been a nurse for um 24 years. Um, I work on a in a rehab facility. I had actually wanted to be an occupational therapist, but um life led me to being a nurse instead, but I was still able to work in the the rehab um you know area of healthcare. So so

Early Back Strains And Triggers

SPEAKER_04 3:07

I think God puts you where he wants you. But that being said, that's a very physically demanding nursing job. There is a lot of lifting, and I think that that contributed to my injury. Um, I also have been very active my whole life. Uh the more you know outdoorsy and active things I could be involved in, you know, the better. Um, I've also remodeled a few houses mostly by myself, and that's a lot of that's a lot of things that are strains on your back. And um, so there's been a lot of things that I think that probably led up to my injury. Um, but I think it was actually a a really extended car ride that made it a trigger. That hit me like, you know, like a bolt of lightning. Okay.

SPEAKER_06 3:56

So when did you first start noticing some weird pains or or how were your symptoms started?

SPEAKER_04 4:03

Um, about a little over five years ago, my oldest daughter bought her first house um and it needed some work. It needed a remodel. And um, I was happy to help her with that. And one of the things that needed to be done was the floors needed to be refinished and uh wooden floors in there after ripping carpet out. I I sanded them with a palm sander. So I was bent over for a very extended amount of time for several days in a row. And that was the first time that I had a really bad back pain. Um, where I needed like I needed her assistance to get up. I had to call her because she wasn't there and say, kiddo, you gotta come here and help me stand up. I can't stand up. There's something wrong with my back. And and so of course she was happy to, but it it it recovered really relatively fast, I would say within a few days. Um, but that was the first really bad back pain that I experienced. And then here and there I would have little flare-ups, I guess, or episodes of low back pain that would recover within a few days.

Marathon Car Rides And Sharp Pain

SPEAKER_04 5:11

Um, but then last year, last summer, my two younger kids who were teenagers, and I and um and my longtime boyfriend, we were taking a trip out to Michigan. And we were driving there from I live in the middle of Missouri, and it's about a 13-hour drive from here. And so sitting down, I have a really bad habit of not having a good posture when I slouch, you know, bend over, kind of. And um, my oldest daughter was pregnant with my first grandchild, and she wasn't due for a month, and she stayed in Missouri, but we had been in Michigan for about four hours after that drive, and she called and said, What's it like when your water breaks? I said, Why are you asking me that? And so sure enough, she was in labor. We turned around 13 hours back to Missouri. Um, she had she had her kiddo, no problems whatsoever, but she was early. So she said that they were gonna keep her in the hospital for a few days. My other two kids were devastated that they were gonna miss out on their vacation. So um, I made some meals for my oldest daughter, stuck them in her freezer and said, Would you be angry if if we went back to Michigan? And she goes, No go. She goes, We're gonna be here in the hospital anyway. So 13 hours of the back to Michigan, again, just slouching, trying to be comfortable in a van that I had rented for the trip. And um while we were there, the second trip back, I started having some pretty severe low back pain. And I thought it was just we were in a really hard bed that that in the Airbnb I had rented, and I thought this is just magic's horrible, but um I have to stop you for a second.

SPEAKER_06 7:11

I have to stop you for a second. You said you're 46? Yeah, yeah. So I'm 47, and then somebody 46 says, Yeah, my grandkid, I think we're not old enough to have grandkids.

SPEAKER_04 7:22

I know it's weird. It's weird. Yes, she just had her second one. She had yeah, 13 months apart. So congratulations. It it's thank you. Oh, it's great, it's the best thing in the world. It's like yeah, the love for your kids, but with sprinkles on top. It is just the best thing ever.

SPEAKER_06 7:40

So is that what about 40 hours of straight car ride? Basically, it was a lot, yeah. Yeah, over, over.

SPEAKER_04 7:48

So 13 times four was that 52. Yeah, this is a lot of a lot of time slouched over.

SPEAKER_06 7:55

Okay.

Missteps With Care And Escalating Symptoms

SPEAKER_04 7:56

Um, so you get it out of the car and you notice your back is feeling stiff, or I mean, I did notice that, but it was more after we had um gone back to Michigan the second time. It was just kind of it was a sharp, it was a sharp low back pain. And um, I didn't I didn't of course realize that it was a herniation or the severity of it until it it progressed after we got back. And and I probably relatively quickly compared to other people's stories that I've heard you talk about, um, it it was very sharp. And then I started having the sharp pain in my um kind of upper buttock area. And I thought, like you did, that it was an SI joint issue then. Right. Um, and I got a hold of my um primary care provider and and told her that I had suspected that, and would she put me on a steroid dose pack? And um, and she did, and it it the pain led up a little bit after that first round of steroids, but then I would say just a couple few weeks later it came back and was getting worse. Um, and again, I'm you know, lifting on patients at my job and um work working on these houses. I turned two of them into Airbnbs, and so I'm really busy taking care of those. And I had this new grandbaby who, though she was early, you know, she was early, so she was very small, but it was painful for me to even hold her under yeah, under seven pounds. I mean, just no weight at all was really hurting me. And um my pain was oddly enough relieved when I was standing and walking at at that point. I didn't have any pain standing or walking, but sitting like I am now, or any position laying down felt like um the knife or the ice pick in my back.

SPEAKER_03 9:53

Right.

SPEAKER_04 9:53

Um, and it it just again was getting progressively worse. And then I started um, like I said, it was in my in my buttock area, it hadn't traveled down my leg. Um I went to a local chiropractor, which was like the the five the final straw that made it worse. I'd gone to her before. Yeah, I'd gone to her before whenever I had had um you know my my back issue before, and I I think I probably have a bulging disc in my neck too, but I'd had relief with her before. But this time when I went to her, she twerked me exceptionally hard, and immediately I felt a like a bolt of lightning down my entire leg. Oh wow, yeah, and hollered out. It was like this is not okay, and you know, walked

Chiro Setback And Decompression Attempts

SPEAKER_04 10:44

out of there, and um it just got so much worse so fast from there. And I asked my provider for another steroid pack. Um, my best friend is a pharmacist, so I contacted her first and I said, Is this how dangerous is this that I'm taking these clothes together? And and she said, No, go ahead and ask for another one. And right, um, and and then she also said, and by the way, I know another chiropractor that you should go to. And I was like, no-I'm not no, thank you. And she said, No, no, this one doesn't do that. She said, This one has um different different techniques that they use. Well, this one is about an hour and 20 minutes away from my house, but she just raved about him, and so I went ahead and and made an appointment with him and could barely even make the drive there. I mean, the pain was getting so severe so quickly. Um, but he the first time had a a massive tens unit that he put, you know, on my back and and did the heat and cold, and he had one of those decompression tables, right? You know, with the like the harness they put on your waist and everything. Um, and that did give uh just a little bit of relief. I have um an inversion table here that I had I had gotten after I hurt my back years ago, and I couldn't even get on it at that point. It was it was too painful to lay down, like I said. So I couldn't even get on it. Um, but that the decompression table that he used was just so slow with the way that it would pull and then let go, and it would give me temporary relief. But by the time I made that, you know, over hour drive back home, the pain was back.

SPEAKER_03 12:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 12:26

And meanwhile, I had been um contacting my my primary care provider's a nurse practitioner, but I had been asking her, you know, is is there anything else that you can think of right now that would help? So she ordered me um muscle relaxers. And um, I had had a uh hip injury also years ago, and I had been prescribed meloxicam or MOBIC for that. And so I asked her if she could um, you know, reorder that for me, represcribe that. And so she did Is that a pain med or uh it's a it's an NSAD, it's an anti-inflammatory same category. It's like a leave and ibuprofen. Um, but but it's hard on your stomach too. So

Meds, Sleepless Nights, And Hitting Bottom

SPEAKER_04 13:08

so at that point, I was taking, you know, extra strength, Tylenol, a leave, ibuprofen, maloxicam, um, the muscle relaxer. I was I was alternating heat and cold just all the time. It it got to a point where I was lucky to get about three hours of sleep a night just because it was so painful to lay down. I mean, I I just walking, walking, walking, walking was just the only any bit of relief I have, but you can't sleep like that, you know. And so it I was just exhausted and um I I got to where I couldn't work. I I got to where I could barely walk. I was dragging my foot behind me. It was just an incapacitating pain that that people could not possibly understand if they haven't been through it. No, they don't.

SPEAKER_06 14:00

The worst thing I ever experienced in my life was herniating my disc. Yeah. And I don't know that I've ever mentioned it, but I had a pool. And so I would try to float to try and do a little decompression therapy uh for myself as well. And it just it didn't.

SPEAKER_04 14:14

It didn't give you any relief.

SPEAKER_06 14:16

No.

SPEAKER_04 14:17

I well, one of your guests that you had in the past, Jeff, I think his name is, um, that has an online program to try to help people with herniated disc without surgery. I followed him also and was trying to take advice from from him to try to avoid surgery. And one of his main suggestions was was that, and it didn't help me either. I think you know it's so scary to think of going into surgery that you just you just want to exhaust every effort before you get there. But pain is just so overwhelming, and it just oh it just overshadows everything you try to do in in your life.

SPEAKER_06 14:52

Did you get referred to a back pain specialist at all? Or um so I asked you to manage the pain?

SPEAKER_04 14:58

Yeah. So I asked my my provider being in the healthcare uh industry, kind of like know what needs to happen next. But luckily, one of my coworkers that I'd known for about 20 years had she'd had this injury too, and she she said, Mary, you advocate for your patients all the time. You've got to advocate for yourself more aggressively. Yeah, she's like more aggressively. And so so I got a hold of my primary care provider and I said, Listen, I said, I I currently can't work, you know. I am I'm uh the only income in my house, so I have got to do something here. Can you please refer me to the the um pain management clinic and a neurosurgeon, both? Okay, and so um and she did. And so at that point, again, I was just I was not sleeping, I was not able to work, I couldn't hold my grandbaby. It was just so miserable. And probably about two weeks had gone by and I hadn't heard anything from either one of those clinics. And um now the pain management clinic is within the healthcare system that I work in. And so um one of my aunts is actually a nurse practitioner that that used to work in that clinic, and so I got a hold of her and she she suggested um that I not get the injections. So because of course that's what they wanted to do, you know, they wanted to do the injections, and I and and she had not had this same injury, but just in working there, she suggested I not, and I said, why? And so she said, because I she

Self-Advocacy And Referrals

SPEAKER_04 16:36

said, I see more people have more pain with them than relief. And so she said, if I were you, I would have already had surgery. And so um, and so I said, Okay, well, thank you. So um, and then that same co-worker who had told me to advocate for myself, I asked her about it and because I knew she had had the injections, and then she told me the same thing then, no, don't do it. She said, if you can avoid it, if you can get approved for the surgery without the injections, don't do it because she was one of those people that it just made her pain even worse. Right. And I think it's the pressure in there. Yes, exactly.

SPEAKER_06 17:12

It is, yeah. I did one injection, um, and I maybe felt better for two weeks and then it and it wore off. And now someone had I I didn't chase this down to see if it's true or not, but somebody told me those cortisone injections have limited returns. So you can only get it so many times before your body just gets used to it. And I thought at that time I was 40 or 41, and I thought, well, I don't want to use up my cortisone before I hit 80, you know, because I'll probably need it for other things later. Right. And I just it's like, and I had interviewed somebody on the podcast who had the injection and the pain from the pressure had him on the floor, right? And he didn't do it. Uh yeah, another time.

SPEAKER_04 17:55

I think I know who you're talking about, and I watched his interview with you more than once just because it was giving me hope whenever, whenever I before I had had my surgery, you know, that he was doing so well afterwards.

SPEAKER_03 18:07

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 18:08

Um, but so I so I didn't hound the pain clinic because I had multiple people telling me that, but I went ahead and called the neurosurgeon clinic myself, even though I'd had the referral and said, Look, this is who I am, this is who referred me, this is what's going on. And they, you know, and I haven't heard anything. Can you tell me like what like when can I expect to hear from you or get get my name on the books for an appointment for a consult? And they said, Oh, well, it says

MRI Ordeal And Nerve Root Crush

SPEAKER_04 18:39

here that you have um chronic low back pain with no sciatica. And I said, What do I said? I have acute on chronic, which means I have chronic, but I have new onset on top of that. Um, and I have debilitating sciatica where I can't walk. And they said you have an MRI yet? I by that point I had, and again, I had to get get a hold of my provider and say, I need you to order me this, like ASAP. And just getting that done was was miserable because that was a two-hour drive that and I couldn't drive. So my boyfriend had to drive me there. I I live out in a very rural area, so um, he had to drive me there and just trying to lay on that table because laying or sitting was so painful for the amount of time that it takes. I was trying to be still and crying, and the poor, the poor MRI tech was just you could just tell like, I'm so sorry, and I said, it's okay. So um, which can I show you my image from my MRI? Because it's kind of unique from the other ones um that I've seen. Yeah, please. Okay. Um, so when I first got it, the I didn't get an image in in the the report that I received. I didn't actually see the image until I went to my neurosurgeon consult. And so the first image that he showed me was this one. And my let me find it. So my hernia is not that big.

SPEAKER_06 20:08

No, it kind of looks like mine, but it hooks.

SPEAKER_04 20:11

Where am I going?

SPEAKER_06 20:12

It hooks down. It does, I can see that.

SPEAKER_04 20:14

Yeah, so it it goes out and down. And so though I saw that and I thought that is what is causing all this pain, that little thing.

SPEAKER_06 20:23

That's how I felt about mine. I was like, this is a joke. It looked like a little thumbprint, right?

SPEAKER_04 20:28

Yeah, and so and like you've mentioned in your podcast, you see other people, and it's like a golf ball in there. And and I I was like, that's it. And he said, Yeah, but but the real reason that you're having all this pain is this, and so in this one, that entire um nerve root on that side, yeah, the entire thing is cra is being crushed.

SPEAKER_06 20:51

Crushed, yeah, I can see that.

SPEAKER_04 20:53

So that nerve root is supposed to be kind of in a U shape. Um, and that entire side was crushed off. So there was never any relief by that point, no matter what position

Surgical Options And Swift Approval

SPEAKER_04 21:05

I was in, no what no matter what medication I had um taken. By that point, my provider had had ordered me some actual strong pain medicine, which of course I didn't want to take because prior to this I didn't take any medicine, nothing, you know, like a vitamin everything. And that was it. And so at this point, I had like a a chart about like the different times I should be taking these medicines just to try to function because you get in a very dark place whenever you're in that kind of pain and and kind of are in a you know, if if I have to live like this for the rest of my life, I don't know how long I want to live, you know. And right, yeah. I wasn't a depress, I've never been a depressed person, but it just really it really takes your life away for a while. Yes.

SPEAKER_06 21:50

And it's funny, I can look back, my I I like threw my back out in April and then I herniated my disc in June. Um, and so I was in pain you for two months. I had my surgery in August. So June, yeah, July, August. So when I talk about it now, I'm like, that's so fast. But back then it felt like every day forever. Yeah. What's taking so long? Why is nobody helping me?

SPEAKER_04 22:16

So when you say you threw it out and then you herniated it, was that two different injuries, two different incidences?

SPEAKER_06 22:22

Yeah. So I had a long history all my life of just throwing my back out, you know, the muscles, and it would take about three weeks for it to go away. So that's nothing new for me. And my dogs pulled me backward on my in a walk uh in April, and I slammed my leg back to make sure I didn't fall over, but then I threw my back out. So I had that normal back pain, low back pain. But it didn't go away after three weeks, and it started to shift. Okay. It started to move, and then the pain moved to my glute. And I would so so like May, I had to skip a bridal shower for a cousin because I was in so much pain. Right, but all that would happen would I would stand up from sitting and get the sharpest pain in my glute, yeah, and hold my breath for a couple seconds, and then it would go away. Yeah, and then I could

Thanksgiving Eve Surgery And Relief

SPEAKER_06 23:12

walk around just normal. But then uh it got to the point where I was needing my husband's help to get out of the bed in the morning because just standing up was so painful. But then one morning in June he came over, I rolled over and I got hit with the most agonizing pain. I remembered writhing and trying to so I think that was so. My guess is maybe I had a bulging disc from April, and then in June it herniated it. Came out, yeah.

SPEAKER_03 23:40

Yeah, mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_06 23:41

And that's uh that's when the worst pain started down the leg.

SPEAKER_04 23:45

Yeah. Is that when you went to the emergency room?

SPEAKER_06 23:48

Yes. Okay, yeah. Called the ambulance, it took me two hours to get from my bedroom to the living room, which was on the same floor. Right, yeah. And I was saying, I we were trying to go to a wedding, and I was like, we can get to the wedding. And my husband's saying, See, that's not gonna happen. That's not happening. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But the emergency room just gave me three days of intense uh prednisone, didn't give me an MRI, and they said, go see this back pain specialist. So that was a two a two-week wait just to get to the back pain specialist.

SPEAKER_04 24:24

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 24:24

Um, he's the one that ordered the MRI, and then he gave me five days of the medrill dose pack prednisone.

SPEAKER_04 24:30

Yeah. Which was now did you have any relief with the with the oral steroids at all?

SPEAKER_06 24:36

A little bit, not, but most came with the with the medrill dose pack. Oh, okay. And then it came back. I'm assuming it came back. I wasn't able, I didn't, I never got enough relief to go back to work. Yeah. Or to I was pretty much just stuck on the couch until I had surgery.

SPEAKER_04 24:53

Now, did you happen to notice that your pain was worse at one time of a day versus another?

Home Prep And No BLT Rules

SPEAKER_06 25:00

I didn't, but I do see people on the forums talking about at night their pain gets so much worse. In fact, somebody just emailed me over TikTok to say, is this normal?

SPEAKER_04 25:10

Yeah, it's I don't feel actually. I I'm I'm a day shift nurse, and so I'm there whenever people are waking up and I leave at a seven or a little after. So I don't see my patients at night, and I didn't realize that that is a pretty common thing. But you feel, but that happened to me. The pain, it's like the sun would come down and the pain would go up. And I was like, I feel like a werewolf or something because it would just get to where every day I was dreading seeing the sunset because the pain would get so much worse. Yeah, you know, and again, the medication just didn't do anything, it didn't do anything at all, except I would try to take a whole bunch of the different ones, including sleeping medicine at night, to try to just get even a few hours of sleep. But but yeah, it's it's I don't know, there's gotta be something to the lunar pole or the you know, that's what the farmer's almanac is based on is the lunar cycle. So there's gotta be something related to that. Maybe, yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 26:06

Um, so when you finally got in to see the neurologist with your MRI, did he say absolutely this is a surgery case?

SPEAKER_04 26:12

So it was a neurosurgeon that I saw. Yeah. So yeah, I went to him and he said, because of course, you know, there's a whole list of questions that they want to ask if you if you've done all these other efforts prior to coming to them. And though I hadn't been prescribed physical therapy, because I'm a rehab nurse, I'm friends with a bunch of physical therapists. Um, I had asked them for entire time up to that point, what can I do to try to help this? And so they're telling me, try these exercises, try these exercises. And some of them I just that are common ones, like the um, oh, like you know, the dead bugs and the um what bird dogs, whatever. I could barely do them. I could just barely even do them at all. And and so I was trying, and it was just so painful to try to do any of them. So I, you know, I checked, yes, that I had done everything except

Recovery Tools That Actually Help

SPEAKER_04 27:06

for the um the injections up to that point. And whenever I went in there, he said, Well, you have two options. He said, Um, the way that you're herniated, this is not gonna heal on its own. And I think that he just meant because it didn't stick straight out because it did have that hook going down. He said, We can go ahead and try to give you an injection, but I can tell you right now that your pain will come back because this hernia is not gonna go away on its own. He said, If you would like to do that, you can. He said, Um, you may have pain relief for a day and you may have pain relief for a couple weeks. He said, but it's not gonna be long term with the way that that's herniated, and since that entire nerve root is pinched off. And he said, or the other option is is we can get you into surgery. And I'm like, when can we do surgery? Yeah, you know, give it to me, please. Yeah, and so it it's crazy as it is. Um, that was the Tuesday before Thanksgiving of last year that my my initial consult was, and he said, I happen to have an opening tomorrow because I have a cancellation. He said, Yeah, he said, if your insurance will approve you, he said, we can do it tomorrow. And so where where the neurosurgeon is is like two and a half hours away. And I said, Yes, please, because you know you're so miserable at that point. You just want some sort of relief. So they called my insurance approved me just almost immediately, and he said, you know, all the pre-op things, nothing by mouth after midnight, go get the you know, the hippoclins bathing stuff, do all that. Well, um, I have I have animals and I have a wood furnace, and I still have two teenagers at home. So we had to drive all the way home, get get stuff prepared for surgery, go all the way, you know, be back at the hospital at like six o'clock the next morning. Um and but I was more than happy to do it. And so he got me in the very next day. That's amazing. Yeah, the day before I Thanksgiving last year. And I I said prior to him taking me back, I said, just out of curiosity, if you wouldn't have been able to get me in today, um, when would your next opening be? And he said, in two months, right?

SPEAKER_06 29:31

So I was like, Yes, you know, so yeah. Oh my goodness. Now, do you so you didn't have to deal with people saying, Don't get surgery, whatever you do.

SPEAKER_04 29:45

Well, uh some of my patients, I mean, over the years had had uh back surgery, you know, fusions and stuff, and and had, and so they had said to me over the years, whatever you do, don't ever get back surgery. And I had a really big Fear despite wanting to go ahead and go through with it. Because when I was a baby nurse at like 21 years old, one of my first patients was a woman who had had a laminectomy in her neck and she was 38 years old. And it very lasting impression on me, it left her paralyzed. Yeah. And so I was terrified. Terrified after all this to go in. But luckily woke up and was one of the lucky people who I woke up and was immediately going, my leg doesn't hurt anymore.

unknown 30:32

You know.

SPEAKER_04 30:33

So it's great. It's euphoria whenever you've been dealing with that pain to wake up and your back hurts, of course, because they just cut into you, but to not have that nerve pain shooting down your leg that is just so unbearable was was just such a relief.

SPEAKER_06 30:50

So how did you you only had 24 hours notice that you're gonna get surgery? Yeah. How did you how did you get your house prepared or or or what did you do in order to be ready for that?

SPEAKER_04 31:01

Well, um, I my like I said, my kids are luckily older, and so two teenagers at home still. I just kind of told them, hey, they're gonna take me in. You know, I need you to take care of the animals, and we have a wood furnace that has to be filled in the wintertime. I need you to do this, I need you to do this. Um, I'm gonna come home. I was supposed to host Thanksgiving for my family that year, and I said, this is not gonna happen. So um, you know, got a hold of the rest of my family, the extended family, and they of course understood because they knew I'd been going through that. And um yeah, and so um my boyfriend and I have been seeing each other for a little over five years, and

Post-Op Flares And Fear Management

SPEAKER_04 31:40

he went to the store for me and got me stuff that he knew I'd need here. And prior to that, I hadn't gotten some adaptive equipment that was helping me just to deal with life up until that point. Because with the way that that herniation was hooked down like that, it was affecting my movement, um, you know, up here too. So it was, I couldn't even move my head up and down because that was putting pressure on my spine. And so I mean, I just had to like use my eyeballs to look down. It was it was very limiting.

SPEAKER_06 32:11

Yeah. Were you giving the no bending, lifting, twisting for six weeks? Yeah, yeah. Okay. Yeah. Some of the some doctors are starting to do three weeks.

SPEAKER_04 32:21

Yeah, I I I think I would be too afraid to do it sooner than six weeks. Right. I mean, I I feel like I did a little bit, you know, really small movements, but but I hear about people doing physical therapy like right after surgery. And yeah, and uh my neurosurgeon would not prescribe physical therapy, as a matter of fact. And and I was like, are you but I'm a rehab nurse. Like that's what that's what I live with is people doing therapy after injuries. Are you sure I feel so I on my own reached out to my coworkers that were physical therapists and said, I need you to please tell me some other things that I can do to help me. Because, you know, they say strengthen your your back and your core, but prior to this, I worked out five days a week. I mean, and and I had a strong core, but I really think that I'd probably had a bulge and then just that sitting position for such an extended period of time is what made my my disc tissue go out and down like that.

SPEAKER_06 33:27

Yeah, okay. Not all doctors prescribe physical therapy. Um, and I'm not sure why. I think some of them think it's too dangerous. My physical therapy was such a blessing as far as emotional support. Getting back, yeah, getting me past the move, the fear of moving again, yeah. You know, and and just explaining all the different random pains and shocks that would come up and send me into a panic, and they would like talk me down.

SPEAKER_04 33:52

So I have to tell you, you did you talked me down a couple of times whenever I reached out to you and said, Is this normal? Because like the post-surgical um inflammation, you know, they just the neurosurgeons are are wonderful at what they do, but they just I feel like they don't give enough um information about what happens afterwards.

SPEAKER_06 34:14

Right. Yeah. Yeah. I always think if I had the time, you know, the book what to expect when you're expecting for pregnancy. If I had the time, I would write a what to expect when you're recovering from microdisectomy.

SPEAKER_04 34:27

Well, you doing this podcast is just it's such a blessing to people that are out there going through this and and all of your social medias. It

Work, Restrictions, And Returning To Lifting

SPEAKER_04 34:35

really is.

SPEAKER_06 34:35

Thank you. Yeah, I'm just trying to do what I wish I had when I was recovering. Now you had mentioned that you had some tools that you use during your recovery that made it a little bit easier for you.

SPEAKER_04 34:47

Do you want to explain what those were? Yeah. So the the grabber that everybody um you you know is familiar with, I still use this. I had made a TikTok that said I don't need this anymore.

SPEAKER_06 34:59

I do remember that one.

SPEAKER_04 35:00

Yeah, I still use this often. Um, and I've gone through a few of them because I still have some pain uh to this day, even though it's been a year, it it's like at this moment, it's a zero out of 10, you know, it but I still have every day it seems like I have at least a little bit. And there's sometimes whenever I've been doing too much that I have a flare up, and then and I just know I to listen to my body now. Right, you know, I think prior to the injury, a lot of times it was just like, oh, I'm gonna push through this, you know. But but now if I have a flare up, I'll use my equipment again and and limit my my um you know, my motion. My I kind of go a couple days with less bending, lifting, and twisting to just not irritate my back if possible. Um, and I think a big part of what my um pain was before is lifting heavy and twisting at the same time. Yes, I think that kind of makes like a shredding uh motion on the on the disc tissue. Uh, so I definitely avoid that. But that grabber I still use. And one thing that I heard a lot of people talk about is using that to get dressed, and that thing did not have as strong of a grip as I needed to pull my pants up or to take my socks off. So there's a a dressing stick that has this hook on one side and this other hook on the other one. This was I couldn't have gotten dressed by myself without this thing, and it's firm, you know, it's a wooden stick. Also, the sack aid. I've a couple people have talked about that, but now I couldn't figure that out.

SPEAKER_06 36:41

Were you able to figure that out?

SPEAKER_04 36:42

Well, yeah, but again, I'm a rehab nurse, so I help my patients with these all the time. So yeah, you I couldn't bunch your socks on here. I should have put the sock in here, and then you throw it on the floor, and you're holding on to these to these ropes in your hands, and so your sock is all wadded up on the end, and then you slide your foot in here and uh and pull it, uh-huh, and

Tech, Procedures, And Long-Term Outlook

SPEAKER_04 37:05

then the sock goes print over your heel, but then you can use that dressing stick to pull it the rest of the way up.

SPEAKER_06 37:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 37:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 37:12

So I would just push the sock off. I couldn't do it. So I forgot, you know, I just gave up on socks for months.

SPEAKER_04 37:20

Yeah, yeah. Well, the little ankle socks were definitely a lot easier. Um, and another thing that I used that came all so all of these things came in a hip kit. It's called a hip kit on Amazon.

SPEAKER_03 37:33

That's why I asked the things from your hip surgery.

SPEAKER_04 37:35

Yeah, yeah. Um, was uh so this back scratcher, which is extendable, I taped my razor onto this. I couldn't, you know, us ladies were I and there was no I looked online specifically for some sort of extendable razor adapter or something. I didn't find any, but this came in that kit, and I thought this is perfect. I can reach all the way down to my feet with this thing. So I did a little MacGyvering with this, and you have some medical tape and just taped my razor on that. Um I just wore long dresses and my hairy legs. I didn't do it often. I only did it when I had but another thing that came in that hip kit was this strap that looks kind of like a seat belt. Um now this the purpose of this is that for people to put it on their feet and help them lift their legs into beds or into chairs. I didn't use it for that. What I used it for was um I hooked it on the handle of I drive a truck, a large pickup truck. And um, which again, the limited range of motion with my neck or anything, my truck door is way out there, and it was painful for me to grab that and shut it. So I hooked this on my door handle, and then I was able to hang the other little loop on my blinker so I could get in and just grab a hold of this and pull my door shut. And I didn't I didn't have to pull that heavy door or um you know turn my neck or anything. So these other things that come in the kit that are for other purposes, um, are are handy for other things as well.

unknown 39:17

Okay.

SPEAKER_04 39:18

And then the last thing that I used that hip replacement kit.

SPEAKER_06 39:21

Yeah, yeah. The Amazon hip replacement surgical kit, or I can't remember what it's called, but I'll put it up on the screen.

SPEAKER_04 39:27

Okay, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 39:28

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 39:29

And then the other thing I used that didn't come in that, but was again very handy because of the no bending and even the no ho was just a cup in the bathroom. So so I before I went to any of the the consults, I just was having a really hard time with oral hygiene. So brushing my teeth and mouthwash and stuff. I was just making such a mess. And then I finally thought, why don't I have to spit from three feet up into a cup and then rinse the cup out. Yeah, little, little, you know, um things like this that really make a difference and and make you not have to be in pain for little everyday

When To Choose Surgery And How To Push

SPEAKER_04 40:10

things.

SPEAKER_06 40:11

Right.

SPEAKER_04 40:11

Helped so much.

SPEAKER_06 40:13

That's great.

SPEAKER_04 40:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 40:15

Thank you for sharing. Yeah. I did a I did a um how to prep for surgery video on YouTube. And I did, I think I did include the rinsing a with a cup just to be able to brush your teeth.

SPEAKER_04 40:26

Absolutely. Yeah, because other you don't realize how far away that sink is until you can't bend over. Oh, one more thing that that I don't have here. Um, a walker. So I didn't I didn't get a walker, but I wanted to share on here that people who do get one, um, they can also use it for um an assistive device for their toilet. So if they don't want to get a toilet riser or handles, they can use their walker and put it right over facing the wall, the toilet, and then turn around and sit down and then use the walker to stand up.

SPEAKER_06 41:01

Yeah, so helpful.

SPEAKER_04 41:02

Yeah, and I got a bidet too.

SPEAKER_06 41:05

So that's yeah. The bidet is like number four or number three a most recommended product.

SPEAKER_04 41:11

Yep, yeah. Well, that was thanks to you. Watching your videos is why I got that.

SPEAKER_06 41:17

It's it's it's a little awkward at first, the first time you use it. You have to get it. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 41:21

But then you get used to it and you want all the toilets to have it.

SPEAKER_06 41:23

Exactly. Everyone says once you go there, you don't go back.

SPEAKER_04 41:27

Absolutely, yeah. I agree.

SPEAKER_06 41:29

How about um how did you do with like ups and downs and pains post surgery? Did you have any moments where you're where you were like, did I reherniate? What is this pain?

SPEAKER_04 41:39

Well, so um listening to to you and some other people, I I did have an idea that there was gonna be, you know, a potential flare-up afterwards. And I was kind of expecting the two-week mark, but mine came a lot sooner than that. And of course it terrified me. And I think when you've lived in that that pain for a while, you just you panic whenever you have uh any of that return pain because my return uh sciatic pain, you know, it was gone initially after the surgery, and then when it came back, it was it it at least as bad, if not a little worse. Um, and it was just like a bolt of lightning shooting down the leg, you know, every single time that I would stand up. And at that point, I was able to, I had to sleep in my recliner for a while after surgery. Um, it was hard to get up, but once I got up, that pain would shoot down my leg and it would almost bring me to the floor. It was so bad. And I thought that's it. I reherniated. Yeah, that's I'm gonna have to do this again. And and um, but it eventually eased up a little bit. I did ask for another steroid dose pack. Um, and that that made it less, but it didn't make it go away completely. Um, and I I continued to take the pain medicine that they had prescribed after surgery, and and it was giving me relief as opposed to prior to surgery when

Gratitude And Closing Invitation

SPEAKER_04 43:05

I was not getting any relief. And so I thought, okay, that's gotta be a good sign. And another thing, um like with that moment and since then when I have flare-ups that scare me, is like I don't know about you, but for me, coughing or sneezing or even clearing my throat, you know, any kind of internal pressure, you could feel it in that nerve down your leg or your lower back. Did you have that? So now if I get a little bit scared, um, I'll do that, I'll cough or do something to see if I feel any of that pain. And I don't, you know, but that's kind of like a reassurance. Okay, it's not, it's just a flare-up, it's not pushing on my nerve, it's just a little bit of anger back there in the back.

SPEAKER_06 43:52

Sometimes my some of my flare-ups come around my cramps when I have really bad the hormones, yeah, the hormonal stuff, yeah, yeah, yeah. Cramps, I can feel the cramps in my, I feel like I have pain in my surgical side, and this is like six really later. Yeah, I'm like, my scar hurts. I'll say to my husband, but when they're when they're particularly bad, it'll cause a flare down my legs. Wow, and that took some getting used to, like just your periods coming.

SPEAKER_04 44:19

Like right, yeah. Yeah, what about weather? Do you have any pain?

SPEAKER_06 44:23

I haven't noticed weather. No, no, but when I have a really hard day at work, uh where I don't get a chance to sit down much or I'm on my feet all day, my back will still to this day like tighten up like it did during the herniated disc. And my husband will say, It feels like you have two rods, and so I'll just use a really good heating pad. Oh, he can even feel it, yes, he can feel it externally. Wow, he can feel my back. Um, and as soon as the back tightens up, it sends a flare down my leg. But yeah, just use a really good heating pad and take some Advil or whatever and relax for a day. And it usually goes away within 24 hours. Good, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 45:01

Now, did you have any like odd sensations for a while after your surgery um that you didn't have before? Because I felt like when I went back to work, I kept feeling like so like suddenly there was cold water on my leg. And I'd never had that before.

SPEAKER_06 45:20

No, no. My numbness never went away. Like my numb, my leg is still still so and I can only really notice it when I'm shaving. You can feel the difference. Okay, yeah. It's tingling, but my my nerve is still a little bit compressed, still because there's a chunk of this material stuck on my nerve. But uh, yeah, so that never went away, but I never got the cold water sensation. I have heard people say, like, I feel like my leg's in ice. Yeah, yeah, it's weird. Yeah, nerves do all kinds of weird things when they're regenerating, don't they? Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 45:51

Like the whole inside of your body is just kind of freaking out after you did that.

SPEAKER_06 45:56

Yeah, I really got um just surprised by the muscle spasms. Like I knew muscle spasms would happen. They had given me a prescription for muscle relaxers, but I remember the first time it came, I was just laying down on the couch and all of a sudden I got this spasm and I almost like jumped in the air. Wow. Yeah, I was like, Oh my gosh. And that list.

SPEAKER_04 46:18

Did you take those muscle relaxers before surgery at all?

SPEAKER_06 46:22

No. No, no, I never got muscle relaxers, I never got gabapentin or or anything like that, just steroids and tylenol.

SPEAKER_04 46:31

I actually asked my provider for either gabapentin or lyrica, that's the other medication that's similar to gabapentin. Um, and she didn't prescribe it for me. She said, I really would rather you not take that. There are just a lot of bad side effects, and I don't want you to start on that and have a hard time getting off of it.

SPEAKER_03 46:52

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 46:52

Um, and another girl that I had followed on um TikTok and Instagram that had the same surgery, they had put her on gabapentin, and um, she's around our age too, and she had a horrible time getting off of it. So I'm a memory.

SPEAKER_06 47:10

Huh? Is that the girl that had the memory loss on the gabapentin?

SPEAKER_04 47:14

Um, no, she had like a like almost withdrawal symptoms. She was I her name is Amberly, she's a flight nurse. Did you happen to see anybody? Yeah, she's she had a full recovery. She actually had surgery, I think, two weeks prior to me. So I reached out to her and and talked to her. And and again, she's a nurse that does a lot of heavy lifting. And I had asked her, um, are you gonna go back to your job? And she said, Yeah, I have to. And which also, when I first had my surgery, my neurosurgeon said that I was gonna have a 30-pound lifting restriction for life. And I said, Well, I can't go, I can't do my job like that. I take care of adults that clearly weigh more than 30 pounds. And so um, so then I was just devastated because I love my job. And so I reached out to my boss and I told her what was going on, and um, you know, of course she didn't want me to go because I've worked there for so long. I'm a I'm a shift manager on on the weekends on the unit I work on. And um so I went ahead and applied for an office, a clinic nursing position and told her I I didn't guess I had a choice. And so I was hired on there and um I started to go in for orientation and then I had another follow-up, and I hated it by the way. Not I am not a clinic nurse at all. Yes, and um I then had another follow-up with my neurosurgeon, and he lifted my restrictions, and I was like, oh, and so I got a hold of my old director and I said, Did you fill my position? Can I have my old job back? And she's like, Yes, come back, please.

SPEAKER_06 48:50

Oh, great. Yeah, so you're back up lifting patients.

SPEAKER_04 48:53

Yeah, yeah. So I was able to come back, but for a while when I first came back, I still had, you know, pain. And and luckily my coworkers were were great, and they they would try to do the lifting if they could for me, you know, like I would be their last resort to lift on people. And so, but even like opening doors or um, you know, just little things that you don't think would would hurt your back or put pressure on your back, just uh scooching a chair out for somebody. I mean, just the the littlest things at first, right after surgery. Well, I say right after, but 12 weeks, you know, 12 weeks after surgery, there was still pain definitely in there. And it was scary to go back to to that position, but but it's great now. Yeah, I don't have any pain. Usually I'm just more cautious than else, yeah.

SPEAKER_06 49:41

It took me six months to get to pain free.

SPEAKER_04 49:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 49:44

Um, and there's twice after my surgery that I asked for an MRI because I was swore I had re-herniated. Oh, scared. Yeah, yeah, two different times my pain hit me so bad.

SPEAKER_04 49:53

So, did you get them? Did you get an MRI?

SPEAKER_06 49:56

And yeah, I got MRIs both times and it was normal.

SPEAKER_04 49:59

It was just now did your did you still have evidence of the hernia in your MRI? Because I've seen people that have had repeat ones done and after surgery, and it doesn't look like they had any relief, but like they can still see the hernia there, but I guess the it's off of their nerve route.

SPEAKER_06 50:18

Yes. So when you look at my MRI, um, you can still see the chunk of uh disc material that's stuck to my nerve. Yeah, but you can see like there's a line of demarcation, so you can tell that it's separate from the disc.

SPEAKER_04 50:32

Okay.

SPEAKER_06 50:32

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 50:33

Did did they say and you had a laminectomy also, right? Yes. So did they say they left like a bigger window over that chunk?

SPEAKER_06 50:41

Okay, to for the pressure for freedom of movement, so that's more. Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 50:47

So I wonder, I never asked this. I don't know if you did, if if that bone like grows a little bit or scar tissue into the window that they leave there. I don't know.

SPEAKER_06 50:57

I know I never asked. I didn't ask. I didn't either. I just I don't feel like I I said the the numbness never went away, but my pain never returned. So I'm assuming that the movement is still there, right? So I'm guessing now. Maybe if Lady Spine Doc ever sees one of my pot podcasts, she can answer.

SPEAKER_04 51:13

I follow her too. Yeah. Oh, also, she does the barricade. Did you ask about that?

SPEAKER_06 51:19

No, does she do barricade? Yeah, she does, yeah.

SPEAKER_04 51:21

So I had asked my neurosurgeon, would he do a barricade to you know try to prevent recarnation? And he doesn't do them.

SPEAKER_06 51:28

So I was yeah, I I think there's some risk of new it is, and I do think there's some risk of maybe rejection or or allergic reaction or something like that. But I would love to have a barricade patient come on and tell their story. Yeah, and now even the disc instead of fusions, they do a total disc replacement. Yeah. Um, so that's just seems a lot better than a fusion, in in my opinion. But who am I?

SPEAKER_04 51:54

I think they have to go in from from the front to do that, though. I think so. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 51:59

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 52:00

Cause well, actually, I have a coworker that did have a disc replacement in her neck. Um, and she she had they had to go in the front for her, but I can't imagine them going you know through all of your organs in the front for your well for some spinal fusions, they have to go through the front. Do they?

SPEAKER_06 52:16

Yeah, it depends on uh yeah, location and all that, right? Yeah, yeah. Uh what else did I want to ask you, Mary?

SPEAKER_04 52:26

Did your surgeon um tell you that there was like a potential limit on on how long your surgery would be good for or anything? I just had a patient this weekend who had had a fusion, but she had had a prior um disc, an open disc ectom. I mean, again, she was an older lady, but she said that her surgeon years ago, whenever she had hers done, had told her that hers would probably only last five years and then she would have to go back in and get her a fusion. Um, but she said hers lasted 15 years.

SPEAKER_03 53:00

Yeah.

SPEAKER_04 53:01

And then she started having the pain again, and then she went and got a fusion. But again, that was that was uh, you know, a long time ago. I'm hoping and praying that our less invasive injuries are more long lasting.

SPEAKER_06 53:13

I see that a lot. Uh some of you know uh the people will get online and say, don't get a disgustectomy because it just guarantees you a fusion down the line. Right. And that's not a hundred percent, um, especially if your herniation was due to injury. Some herniations are just due to poor spine health. Right. And I in my, like I said, who am I um nobody opinion, that if you have poor spine health and you have vertebrae that are shifting, then I feel like you're most likely going to be someone who needs um a fusion. You know, there's all those different spine conditions. But yeah, hopefully you and I continue going wonderfully.

SPEAKER_04 53:52

Fingers crossed. My one of the providers um that I worked with on the rehab unit has had multiple back surgeries and he has had to have um multiple fusions. So I think that avoiding a fusion, if at all possible, you know, is recommended because then people tend to get adjacent disc syndrome. Right. And then they have to go back in and get the next level fused and the next level fused. And he he this provider is uh is evidence of that. So over the years we've worked together. I've seen them have to go back multiple times to get more levels fused.

SPEAKER_06 54:28

Yeah, I have seen that. Yeah, yeah. So if you knew somebody who was saying, do I do I get this back surgery or not, what were any uh things you would like them to hear from you or from your experience?

SPEAKER_04 54:42

Um, I had a great surgery outcome, but I think that people should, as painful as it is and and as frustrating as it is, I do think that people should jump through the hoops and exhaust the other efforts because I do know a few people who have who have been able to avoid surgery and and and are living pain-free with with just the more um conservative measures, you know. So I think if people are able to to avoid it, that they should. But I the imaging is definitely a confirmation of what's going on back there. But then you also hear of people who have um herniated discs and and they didn't even know it until you know on multiple levels, and they're not even having symptoms uh at the other level. So so I mean, I do think that if you're having pain that's limiting your life and your your ability to to work and you know, hold hold your grandbaby or do anything that that would be your normal, you know, activities of daily living that that people should definitely advocate to get the imaging for a for a confirmation of what's going on and then push to keep making things happen because you know it it I just feel like if you don't speak up, then then they're then the doctors or providers think, oh well, they're fine, you know. Yes, the squeaky wheel gets the oil, unfortunately. And if you don't squeak, then they think you're fine. So if people are still living in pain, then they still have to say this isn't working, we need to do something else. And even if they have a consult, you know, if the if the specialist is not reaching out to them, call their office and say, Hey, what's the game plan here? Because I can't live like this. But but yeah, I I think that that surgery is definitely something that gives a lot of us our life back whenever it's been taken away from this pain. And as scary as it is, it's it's scarier to think of of living years like that.

SPEAKER_06 56:43

Pain, right?

SPEAKER_04 56:43

Yeah.

SPEAKER_06 56:44

Yeah. Mary, I really appreciate you taking the time out of your day to just come on, bed back and beyond and share your story.

SPEAKER_04 56:53

Thank you so much for having me. I felt like I've met you already because I just watched all of your all of your videos and social media's over again. I refer you to everybody that that says that they're having back issues. I'm like, listen, this lady and her and her stories had got me through my my whole ordeal. You gotta go watch her and listen to her advice.

SPEAKER_06 57:13

I appreciate I appreciate your referrals and saying such nice things. I really appreciate it.

SPEAKER_04 57:18

It truly has. And thank you for doing what you're doing. I really appreciate it. Thank you.

SPEAKER_06 57:23

If you are a person who has a positive story of recovery from a herniated disc or back surgery, and you'd like to share your story on the podcast, head over to bedbackbeyond.com and click share your story. I'd love to hear your voice on the show. Mary, once again, thank you. Thank you.