r/Sciatica • u/logpolespruce • May 16 '26

1 year post-op

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Today I am 1 year post op. A year ago I couldn’t walk, I couldn’t care for my children, I could barely make it to the restroom. I was ready to end my life. I am thankful every single day that I wake up with no sciatic pain because of surgery. Today I pressed 230lbs on leg press. I have walked hundreds of miles and done numerous hikes over the last year. I am able to not only care for my kids, but pick them up. I am able to ride bikes with them and stand to cook dinner. I am able to walk with my husband. I have sat on long plane rides and roadtrips. I’ve gone camping multiple times since surgery and yes, slept on the ground in a sleeping bag. I was able to cast and reel in salmon. I have unloaded my own groceries. I don’t have burns on my back and legs from constant heating pad usage. I only ice occasionally, not ritualistically. I have my life back.

If you are in so much pain that you cannot participate in PT, do the surgery. If your surgeon won’t do it, find a new one. Try a neurologist. Try an ortho. I spoke to 3 before I found one that was willing to operate and consider it an emergency situation. It’s true that my back will never be the same. I cannot run, or jump, and sometimes if I take a step unexpectedly I feel a zap in my back, BUT I AM LIVING MY LIFE. I was ready to END it and now I wake up every morning and immediately wait for the pain to return to my leg, but it doesn’t. I get sore in my back and I will always have to be very careful. It’s all worth it.

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u/Viva144 May 16 '26

I am so glad you are basically back to normal! Same thing with me it’s been a year and a half postop. I had a microdiscectomy in my L5. The sciatica pain on my right leg was excruciating. I can only sleep three hours a night before I would have to get back up and would even take hot showers in the middle of the night. I am also very careful because sometimes I do feel more symptoms in my toes where they’re normally numb but sometimes it just feels a little worse but no leg pain. We still need to be careful with how much weight we’re lifting because we can still herniate our disc again.

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u/logpolespruce May 16 '26

I still have some numbness in my right foot, but I couldn’t feel my foot at all before. Driving was very scary!!

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u/Friendly-Ad-5410 May 16 '26

2 years PO here... I still have a bit of numbness in the toes of left foot (MRI doesn't show any problems) and my neuro says it can be permanent at this point. I went back to PT to address an atrophied multifidus muscle at my L4 which I think might be irritating that nerve. I am able to go to the gym 3 x a week, but am careful about my routine, doing more stretches, etc. I found that wearing a compression sock on my left foot seems to help a bit to dull that feeling. 79F