I feel for you. I'm at about 6 weeks post op. Same surgery. I felt great at 2 weeks and then had a major setback simply getting in the car and adjusting my pants (of all things). After the setback I could barely walk. The doc shot me up and gave me oral steroids and was confident I did not re-herniate. Fortunately he was right. Now at about 6 weeks my back feels pretty good and I'm back to riding outside (as of today). The setback did effect my left leg but the that continues to improve daily.

My recommendation would be to take it very easy for the first month. Although the setback I had was silly, I did do an indoor cycling session (light) two days before and had a deep tissue massage at PT the day before. I think that weakened my back muscles and they simply couldn't engage correctly when I moved.

Always remember that you had major surgery. It may have been minimally invasive but it was still on your spine.

Good luck!

I've unfortunately gone through a similar surgery. My recovery was fairly smooth, although I don't run at all (too dangerous for me with my back situation), just swim and bike. I blogged about it a bit in 2013 when it happened. Personally I was back on my indoor trainer spinning very lightly at three days post op, but was consulting with my Dr the whole time about the appropriate level of activity, so don't take my example as ideal for your case.

http://josephabank.blogspot.com/2013/01/bump-in-road-there-goes-l4l5.html
http://josephabank.blogspot.com/2013/05/columbia-triathlon-2013-1st-overall.html

Same story, had a complete laminectomy/discectomy 8 weeks ago - no fusion . Was training for my 7th trip to Madison and 10th Ironman overall. There are differences in surgeries and differences in recovery. Not sure if you had a minimally invasive surgery or, like mine, a 5 inch incision in order to complete the operation.

I have moved from walking 1 mile at week 2 of recovery to now walking 4.25 miles (still have my Fenix 3 measuring my walks) with 5 x 1 minute jogs within the walk every day. I swim 1000 yards (slowly, with no flip turns) and water jog with a floatation belt for 10-20 minutes every other day. My only guide has been pain, and I don't have any "pain". I have a numb right foot, which travels up my shin as I fatigue, and a pinching feeling in my right glute - nothing compared to when I massively ruptured my disc and laid on my garage floor with a paralyzed right leg and major concern of cauda equina.

The only limit my surgeon has put on me at this point is no heavy weight lifting. My plan is to be back at Ironman WI in 2017 - long recovery, but I will be there.

Also currently recovering, from similar lumbar (first) and cervical surgery (second). 6+ weeks from the first all numbness and pain in my leg is gone (walking close to 100%), though lower back still fairly weak. 1+ weeks from neck surgery, too early to tell success but am slowly getting better. Best advice here is to take it slow and very easy. As you get better and don't have the immediate pain responses in the first few weeks following surgery, it's very easy to overdo things (I did, though don't think it caused any significant problems) . . . so take it very easy and give time for all of the traumatized area (spine, nerves, bones, muscle, ligament, etc.) time to recover. Good luck with the recovery!

Sorry to hear and as others have said recovery is so individual.

I had L5 S1 done in 2006 (I'm 37 now). I have plugged along with plenty of issues since, but have kept going. I still have nerve issues in my leg. Right now I'm in the 12-14 hour range with heavy bike focus. I plan to sign up for my first IM (MOO) here next week or so.

Am I a bit scared my back won't hold up? Absolutely. Do I think I should be able to do it? Yes. I've spent a few years slowly ramping up and seeing what reaction I have to higher volume. What I haven't yet done is ramp up the run volume. That's the kicker as obviously I'll have to run a lot to do an IM well. The good news is for me is I have lots of good run background.

I didn't want to "complete" an IM. I wanted to prepare to have a KQ type effort and I think I can definitely be in that sort of shape.

---

24 Hour World TT Champs-American record holder
Fat Bike Worlds - Race Director
Insta: chris.s.apex

What type of heavy lifting has your doc told you to avoid? And of how long?

Had two of these surgeries in 2008 on bottom three disc. Back training 2 months after, mostly swimming, eased into running and riding at about month 3. I did NOLA and Augusta 70.3 in 2009 with no issues. Good luck, don't rush it!

He wasn't specific - I have an appointment next Monday (my first with the surgeon) and should get more information.

I just finished reading a book titled "The Rise Of Superman" which discusses flow psychology and how extreme sport athletes have pushed the limits in their sports. Obviously, some of the push is what is possible after injury. Seems like the old story - believe something is possible and IT IS. My recovery will be much more patient, but I do know I will recover.

I had mine done in 2001, L4 Hemilaminectomy. Recovery time was about 6 weeks to full gas.

The surgery is what prompted me to start doing Tri's - specifically to prove that I wasn't relegated to invalid status. 10+ marathons and 20+ tris later, still good-to-go.

You'll get there. Patience.

---

------------------

- I do all my own stunts

Great to hear about a successful recovery. Thanks also to OP for starting this off.

I'm not sure our stories could be much more similar. Btw, have you seen the forcast for MOO this Sunday? It's killing me. Perfect weather for an IM. This would have been my 4th time and I was feeling really, really good about the race. Whatever, you do what you have to do. I am also targeting 2017 as a hopeful return to IM if possible. I walked three blocks today and it was pretty dicey by the time I got back. I am at day 9 so maybe by two weeks I can hit a mile. Thanks for your info and I would love to keep up with your progress.

I had the same surgery in the same spot last summer. After six weeks, I was back to normal activity. Played some high level rugby this past spring, and I'm just now starting to refocus on distance training efforts.

I will say that finding my previous level of fitness has been a challenge, but fourteen months after surgery, I'm finally getting somewhat close to my expectations.

---

http://Everydadironman.blogspot.com

Yes, the weather looks great. I have a lot of friends doing the race and it will be really nice for them. I will come back with updates as things progress. Biggest thing on the horizon is returning to work (besides work from home) next week. I am a swim coach and have not been allowed on deck since surgery - can't wait!!

It's good to hear all the positive reports coming back. Of course I may be talking to a group more prone to successful recovery. Feel free to keep up with the updates and I'll promise to give updates as I move along.

For those interested in recovery time.
I'm at two weeks post op today. Things are improving pretty well. Went out for a 1.2 mike walk and felt ok. I still have a lot of numbness from my knee down to my ankle but the pain is mostly gone. Just really achey. Mentally today sucks. Was supposed to be racing at IMWI today. Absolutely perfect weather for a race. Had my first check in with Dr. 4 days ago and was disappointed to hear I can't even start PT for another 4 weeks. I'm only allowed to walk. Not what I was expecting to hear.

I have registered just to share my story. I remember my fears before and after the surgery so decided to drop some lines to cheer you up.
Back in 2013 I started to have some lowe back problems and that continued in 2014 and finished with grand finale at familly X-Mas party where I dropped to the floor unable to move or even roll to my side. Couple days later I lost abi/lity to move my left foot.
I had L4-L5 discetomy, laminectony and fenestration (sp?) on January 25th 2015.
I took up sport as a part of PT recpvery program. Before i was rather an overweight couch sloth, only riding my mtb occasionaly.
A month after the surgery I started swimming on regular basis - first 2 weeks only backstroke. Next two weeks backstroke mixed with front crawl. Later on 90% front crawl. I was able to do breaststroke after 3 months or so. I am not going to try butterfly anytime soon:).
After a swim session it was really painful to get out of the pool. After a while I figured that doing some core exercises before going out of the water helped with that.
Two months after a surgery I started nordic walking. Its amazing how much it helped me, both physically and mentally.
3 months after a surgery I went biking on my MTB a couple times. I was stubborn trying to make it work. It was a bad idea. Somebody advised me to try roadbike instead (which I never really liked). Roadbike worked like a charm. The longer the trip the better my back felt next days (up to like 120km, past that point it hurt anyway).
In a fit of stubbornes I signed up for a sprint tri. I dared to only try 3 run trainings before it (up till now running feels...uhm uneasy unless I run with intentionally tensed core muscles). On Augst 8th I have finished my first sprint tri 750/20/5 in 1:28. Right now I am in the mountains preparing for mountain 1/4 (800m climb on bike route, 250m on run). Saturday is the raceday. Oh, and I have already signed up 70.3 next year ;).

As for my back - I still feel uneasy when I run sometimes. It gets painful when I sit for longer than 45 minutes straight. I sometimes get tingling sensation in my foot (I regained the control, though I think not 100% of strenght of foot flexor). I do not feel the pain I have felt for 2 years straight preceeding the surgery.
All in all - It is not the scary as it seems at first. Do not expect miracles though. If I would drop run trainings (I keep them pretty minipmal anyway) I could probably eliminate the rest of symptoms. Both biking and swimming actually help with recovery. If only there were any bike-swim competitions around :).
Oh and do core exercises as soon as you can (use pain as the guide) and daily.

1.2 mile walk 2 weeks out is good progress. So feel good about getting out there, the time out there and the distance. You'll be amazed how quickly you'll cover that distance and more at a much faster pace as each week goes by. Took me 4+ weeks for all of the numbness to go away. Pain was faster, but occasional flare-ups just from over doing it.

I'm nearly 8 miles post lumbar surgery and 2+ cervical surgery and was able to walk at my regular speed without any pain after 4-5 weeks. Just got cleared to remove the cone of shame from latest surgery, so excited about every little improvement. I think starting PT after 6 weeks is pretty normal - just about to start it myself.

Missing the race really sucks though. Refund or rebate for next year?

Thanks for sharing and congrats on your first sprint tri! Curious - have you tried any strength training (free weights) to help with recovery?

I have consulted two PT trainers. One of them was all for it, the other was against. I had no weight training experience beforehand so I decided to just do exercises with my own body weight. The risk of wrong technique causing new herination seemed to great.
First exercises I started I did still chained to the bed. PT showed me some isometric exercises which I could do without moving from bed with absolutely minimal movement by contracting some muscles in controlled fashion (she taught me proper technique under USG). Later on I moved to some easy stretches and core exercies. Bird dog exercises worked great for me. It was always my second thing to do after waking up (first being isometric tensing of abs and back to be able to get up after the muscled relaxed during the sleep). Then planks, push ups, pull ups, etc.

How long after surgery did you start doing planks, push ups, etc.?

Side planks I could do painfree after about 2,5 months. Front plank took me way longer for some reason - 5 or 6 months affter surgery, same for push ups. Pull ups were ok from the day I actually mounted the bar :D so hard to gauge it in relation to surgery time -the limiting factor was ability to drill 8 holes in reinforced concrete ceiling. I also did quite a lot of different exercises with exercise ball gradualy increasing strain on the back muscles. Its really good to find some competent PT to guide you through the recovery. I consulted mine like once a month - to correct form, give new exercies etc.

No refund or rebates from WTC 3 weeks before an event. I never bought the insurance either, never thought I would need it. In my head I would like to try IM again next year but I'm not sure body will allow it. Will wait until January or so and see what Dr. And body says and then see what is still open.

You have gotten lots of good stories but keep in mind that the people for whom it didn't work out so well aren't checking out slowtwitch. They are checking out the pain-relief website forums.

In my all too much experience, if you had a certain thing that caused your issue you are pretty likely to recover well. If you had degenerative disc disease and there isn't much left, then you probably won't do so well. Myself, I had degenerated discs and my surgeon recommended fusion, I wanted to try and discectomy first. It worked, I swam the best I ever had 8 months after the surgery. But the problem returned quickly after that and I needed a fusion.

While I don't have pain like before, my prospects of being an ironman participant aren't good. My prospects of resuming my previous marathon swimming career are also not good.

I wish you the best of luck, hopefully you are like the folks saying they are back at pretty much their full potential.

i experienced a C5/C6 disc rupture in early 2009. i had just run a PR half-marathon, was a week out from a full marathon, and had just started week 5 of P90X. was on a roll and kicking ass.

well, week 5 introduced one-arm push-ups. struggled thru the first day. right arm (tricep) was really sore the next day, though i had pulled the muscle. a couple more days of that, thought the injury was more serious than that. after a week, had to seek out my orthpod. x-rays and and MRI later revealed a disc rupture. figured had to have already some some degenerative damage due to age, but thought the one-arm push-ups put me over the edge. was in ALOT of pain in my right arm; the pain moved from my tricep to lower arm to wrist. numbness in fingertips. was so bad i was taking two 750 vicodins every 4 hours.

went from kicking ass to a dead stop in activity.

seems the MRI report referenced issues both at C4/C5 and C5/C6, focusing on the former. visited a neurosurgeon who proposed, get this: going thru my throat, past all the vital stuff (like aorata, carotid, trachea, esophagus...) to remove the damaged disc, replace it with a graft from a cadaver, and fuse the C4/C5 vertebrae. needless to say, i'm dying here and hearing this ? i was crushed.

second opinion was quite different. a MUCH more thorough exam revealed that the issue was indeed at C5/C6. surgeon #1 would have not corrected my issue.

third opinion was same as the first. went with #2.

along the way in between, had a steroid epidural to take the edge off the pain. got me down to one 750 vicodin every 4 hours. much improved, but still needed surgery.

so, had a cervical laminectomy 5 weeks after the injury. entered thru my neck, removed a bit of the C6 vertebra, removed only the bulging part of the disc, leaving the rest. sewed me up, back at home drinking a latte by 4pm.

walking only for 6 weeks (walked so much even my dog got sick of it), added easy bike on the trainer after that for 6 weeks. after 12 weeks, got a full recovery bill of health. numbness in fingers gone.

did a iron-distance race that october (beach to battleship ).

i was very lucky with the outcome. had lost a fair bit of muscle mass in that right tricep due to the nerve impingement from the disc. that took quite awhile to regain strength, but finally got there.

dr. alphono aldama in houston at methodist hospital is my hero