surgery outcome

[http://dummy.us.eu.org/robert (Robert)]

Flora suggested that I send out a mass email about the surgery that I had
about 1.5 weeks ago.

The outcome of the surgery was very positive.  My left leg pain went away
immediately.  Unfortunately, I'm still left with some neuropathy in the
leg due to nerve damage.  (When I first visited the neurosurgeon, he said
that I already had permanent damage at that point.)  The doctor said that
it will take 3 or 4 months for the neuropathy to become less noticable.
In the meantime, I have "foot drop", which means that my foot slaps to the
ground when I walk.  I think it's getting better, but it will take a
while.

Unsurprisingly, I also have some back pain due to the surgery itself. The
primary problem is sleeping.  In the middle of night, I'll wake up with a
pounding pain in my back, about the same as a bad headache (not migraine
level).  So far, I've been taking pain medication at that point and wait
for it to kick in.  I also have some pain in the morning, but, eventually,
it subsides.

I went to my first post-op physical therapy appointment yesterday.  I was
given some exercises to do at home.  Unfortunately, there was no
availability next week, so I'll pick up PT again the week after.  The
doctor wanted me to do 16 sessions, but my feeling is that that is
excessive.  My appointment with him is the week after next and I'll
discuss it with him, then.

He didn't want me to go back to work for one month, but I talked him into
working at home after 2 weeks.  My first day "back" to work will be June
11.  I will be working from home for 2 weeks and my first day back to the
office will be June 25.

I'm hoping I'll be in ship-shape by mid-August so that I can go to the
family reunion.  I'll find out more after a few weeks of physical therapy.

Among the many things that I can and cannot do, I'm supposed to walk 3
times a day.  Prior to the operation, I suggested to the doctor about
walking about the block and he said "that's fine".  It's only a 5 minute
walk, but I guess that's good enough.

I'm not supposed to lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk for 4
weeks after that the surgery.  During my session, I wanted to ask my
physical therapist about weeding and doing yard work, but forgot.
However, it seems like he doesn't think I should do anything strenuous,
including weeding.  We are going to looking into hiring someone for the
next few months until I can start doing yard work again.

I get the impression that the doctor and his team are doing everything
posisble to avoid re-injury.  Given my tendency to push myself, that's
probably a wise decision :-).

Because the various pain killers make me light-headed, I haven't been
driving.  Noelle has been doing all the driving for the last (about) 4
weeks.  Of course, biking is completely out of the question.  Light rail
and buses are my preferred methods to get to my physical therapy sessions.

I've been sleeping in the living room on the futon due to my still getting
up in the middle of night, feeding myself pain pills, and bingeing on
Netflix until the pain passes.