My wife had an L4, L5, S1 discectomy awhile ago. She's had a hard time getting back into any impact sports like running or even cycling but that's mostly due to her degenerative disc disease and us having another child after her surgery. Not recommended by the way if you're female. Pregnancy was not good for her back after the surgery.

Most important thing she can offer is get a really good physical therapist to help with the recovery. Originally she was seeing the military PT and it was sadly generic and unfocused. Once she got referred to a quality PT center with specialists who truly cared, it was a dramatic difference. Good luck.

* raises hand*

Feb 2011 woke up with full paralysis in left side below belly button, partial right side feeling. Disc ruptured in my sleep damaging cord and fluid impinged all nerves in spinal cavity. Don't know the ultimate cause, a MRI result that i never received in time showed a bulged L5S1 disc, which likely gave out.

they went in and put humpty dumpty back together. fixed the damaged cord, cleared out all the fluid, stitched interior disc wall, replaced fluid so it could regenerate, and then stitched me up.
Spent 5 weeks in the hospital before i was released, lots of rehab when i left. Basically had to relearn to walk as muscle and nerve memory was gone.
Was a dark time, but family and friends got me through it.

Got back on the bike 10 months later....haven't looked back.

At 30 now I can honestly say i'm in the best shape i've been in since 19. Can bike and run without issue, golf and play hockey no problem. Weight lift and cross train without worry, squat 345#, DL 405#. I stretch 3 times a day, only downside is i can feel it when its cold.

I never knew what a pain free life felt like in my 20's. I battled back pain for as long as i could remember. As bad as it was, i would do it all over again if it got to that point.

If you're debating it go see a good neuro surgeon. They'll tell you right away whether you are a good candidate or not. I was young so i had time on my side.
If you have questions or want to chat about stuff you can ask me here or PM me. It's sadly more common than you would think.

Very good. It's interesting to ask as everyone I've ever spoken with about having the operation basically says it's the best thing they've ever done.

I had an L4/5 fusion 4 years ago. Dr V in Boulder is the guy to go to. I was walking less than an hour after surgery. Within 10 days walking 3 miles no pain. Fast forward 4 years im pain free and do everything I did before.

BT - if I were zeroing in on the potential of having my back operated on, two of the more important things I'd be thinking about was the accuracy of the diagnosis and the experience of the surgeon. I don't know that there's a minimum I'd expect him/her to have done but it might be at least 500 cases. (Understand that this is personal to me as I think I learned more from the second hundred ACL's I did more than the first 100.) Additionally, if you do spine MRI's on 100 asymptomatic people, no pain no weakness no nothing, you'll find MRI irregularities on upwards of a third of them! So if this meant getting your scan on a disc and heading to a different medical center to ask an unrelated spine guy if having an L5/S1 disc procedure is the right thing, it might be the best money you've spent.

But, back to your original question, assuming the above two criteria are met, and you get through this without major complication as most do, you should do well.

Best of luck from the ST community.

John

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John H. Post, III, MD
Orthopedic Surgeon
Charlottesville, VA

Thanks Doc!

Other piece of advice i'll share; don't push your recovery too hard! can't say this enough.
When you get it done and you're finally up and moving again there is a natural desire to want to conquer the world with your new-found pain-free lifestyle. problem is you just went through some pretty serious surgery and it takes time to heal.
getting up and getting moving is important, but you dont want to do too much too quickly. and you certainly learn to LISTEN TO YOUR BODY. i only wish i had done a better job of that in my early 20's so i didn't miss out on a few years in my prime

WHAT RONDIAL says above.

DO NOT push the recovery. Mine was 10 weeks post of nothing but walking (UGH, yes it sucked and I got fat). I started the elliptical at 8 weeks going very easy. Started light weights at 12 weeks. Made IMAZ podium 2 years later. There is no reason you cannot be back to 100% of normal.