Two years ago Bob hurt his back while getting a air compressor out of the truck. He got an MRI and it showed he had a slightly bulged disk. With time they said it should heal and he did slowly start to feel better.
Then last January it suddenly felt a lot worse. He's unable to pin point what he did to make it worse, but it started to give him sciatica (sharp pains down his leg). Thinking it was still just the bulging disk he continued his normal retinue of the chiropractor.
However it just got worse. In May he decided it was time for a another MRI. This time it showed he had a severely herniated L5 disk. He stared physical therapy in hopes to move the herniation back in. In June we finally got in to see the famous Dr. Winters. He pretty much said let's do surgery if the other options didn't work like physical therapy and a steroid shot. Since physical therapy wasn't working he tried the steroid shot. It almost felt like it was going to work for a day, but it never did.
Meanwhile...sitting was so hard for him. His job is a desk job so he was in a lot of pain at work. He asked his supervisor if he could get a standing desk. For months his supervisor denied him of this even with the doctors note that he had. Bob then resorted to kneeling all day, because he could NOT sit. Finally after much pleading, he was "allowed" to build himself a platform for his computer so that he could stand. This helped tremendously. But life was still hard. Driving was so painful. Poor Bob was unable to do the simple tasks around the house that he wanted and fun recreational activities were out.
Bob had a follow up appointment with Dr. Winters on Sept. 3. The doctor checked Bob's leg strength and nerves in his right leg. He was loosing a lot of leg strength and starting to get nerve damage. We were contemplating surgery in January, after the baby was born and she was a bit bigger. But Dr. Winters said, "No, let's get you in on Monday." ?????!!!! That soon. But what about my due date was only 5 weeks away. Dr. Winters assured us that Bob would be back on his feet by then.
So, on September 8 Bob went in for back surgery. It went well. The doctor said that the herniation had gotten bigger since the first time he saw Bob. Also, there was a hole in his disk so it was close to being a ruptured disk.
The recovery period after surgery was rough. Bob had to stay one night in the hospital before coming home. The first week was horrible. Bob was in a lot of pain and could do nothing but lay in bed or get up to use the bathroom. The doctor said he'd be able to go back to work 1/2 days in 2 weeks and full time in 4. But it took a bit longer than that before he felt up to working. Bob's healing went slower we think because he went 9 months with a severe herniation.
Tayo enjoyed having daddy home. He became quite the "bed potato" laying around all day with daddy watching movies.
As of November, Bob is making progress in his healing. He can work full days and drive himself to work. (Before the baby was born, he'd take the van to work for 1/2 days and I would pick him up.) His improvements come week by week. He can hold the baby now for longer periods of time and he can do a few things around the house. I believe that by next spring he will be doing what he wants to do again and this hard time will be only a memory.
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