September 12, 2024 • 41 mins
What happens when an athlete renowned for her energy and passion is suddenly sidelined by a crippling back injury? Join us on this episode of "Bed, Back and Beyond" as we explore the journey of Brittany, an avid volleyball player living in Philadelphia, whose life took an unexpected turn due to a severe back injury. Through her compelling story, we uncover the physical and emotional hurdles she faced, from the initial back pain in high school to the life-altering microdiscectomy surgery. Brittany's narrative sheds light on how she maintained her vibrant spirit and fought her way back to an active lifestyle.
Ever wondered what it feels like to go from the thrill of a volleyball game to the agony of a herniated disc? Hear about her personal battle with this excruciating condition and the tumultuous path through pain, medical consultations, and the eventual decision to undergo surgery. We delve into the complex emotions and the painstaking decisions involved, highlighting the critical role of health insurance and the small yet significant moments of humor during recovery, like savoring a dim sum meal post-surgery. This episode offers a raw and honest glimpse into the reality of dealing with severe back pain and the arduous journey towards healing.
Recovery doesn't end in the operating room; it's just the beginning. We dive deep into the post-surgery phase, emphasizing the importance of physical therapy and the struggle of overcoming obstacles like drop foot. Sharing my experiences and Brittany's, we discuss the mental and physical resilience required to navigate setbacks and the invaluable support from loved ones and sports communities. From setting realistic goals to relishing small victories, this episode provides a treasure trove of practical tips and heartfelt encouragement for anyone on the road to recovery.
Was this episode helpful to you? If you would like to support my work on the show, you can buy me a coffee at https://buymeacoffee.com/bedbackandbeyond
Have a positive story of recovery to tell? Head over to https://bedbackbeyond.com/share-your-story/ to apply.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
I was playing a libero position, which means I'm
flipping and sliding aroundtown.
That's just a part of the gameand I was like, oh, my back kind
of hurts, nothing too serious,go home.
For the next two nights I had apulsing leg, could not sleep,
would not sleep more than 40minutes.
And then two nights later Iwoke up at, like you know, 3 am
(00:23):
to go pee, got out of bed,immediately, fell down, my ankle
gave out and I felt nothingfrom knee downwards.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
On this episode of Bed Back and Beyond, we are
joined by Brittany.
Brittany is a fellow member ofthe Microdissectomy subreddit
and she is here to share hervery positive recovery from her
microdissectomy.
That was just five months ago.
Before we get into the show, Ijust want to give a big thank
you to my listeners who reachout to say that they are so
(00:56):
encouraged by the show, and tomy listener in Clarksville,
tennessee.
I'm so glad that Loretta'smarathon running episode was
encouraging to you.
That is my hope for this show.
If you haven't yet hit,subscribe and share the podcast
with friends.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Welcome to Bed Back and Beyond, sharing positive
stories of recovery from seriousback or neck injury.
Your host is CK, a fellowchampion who draws on her own
experience with herniated discsurgery.
Join her as she talks withothers who have overcome the
physical and emotional trauma ofa painful injury and discover
(01:38):
for yourself how you can findhope and encouragement in
recovery.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Hi Brittany, thank you so much for joining me on
this episode of Bed, back andBeyond.
Before we dive into your injury, how about you tell us a little
bit about yourself, sure, so?
Speaker 1 (01:55):
my name is Brittany and I'm actually from New York,
but I went to school in theNortheast and then I came down
to Philly, where I am now.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Philadelphia.
Yeah, we should have done thisin person.
Are you in Philly?
I'm above Philly, I'm in, I'mnear Pottstown, oh my God, my
boyfriend is actually from mediawhich is Delco, yeah, delco,
all the way I love.
Delco, yeah, delco, all the wayLove.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Delco so expensive.
No, worries, that's so cool tosee.
I was a science major incollege and you know I was
always.
You know, like I was always anactive person and I still am.
I was playing volleyball fourtimes a week.
I was going on super long walkslike I would bring my parents
(02:49):
for a walk and they'd be likegive me a second.
And also just because, like,walking around the cobblestones
of Philly can get very rough inlike the old city area which is
like that's such a beautifulpart of the area, like it's
gorgeous, but I'm pretty likeactive.
I never had an inkling toreally stay down.
(03:10):
I love to travel.
I was like you know, I've goneto Asia, I've gone to Europe,
I've done Australia I.
The only place I haven't hitright now is Africa, south
America and Antarctica.
Oh, wow, yeah, that that'straveling that I'm jealous of
it's also easy, because I havetwo cats and it's not like a dog
(03:31):
way to take them out twice aday, so they're chilled.
They got a little robot.
They got automatic food,automatic water, automatic
toilet.
I don't know what else theyneed.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
My dogs are the reason for my surgery.
They pulled me backwards on awalk.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Is that really what caused yours?
It's the smallest things, yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
So when did you start having some back problems?
Speaker 1 (03:59):
I've had back issues since high school.
But in high school you know,like you're a kid, so you're
down for a week and you're backand added and you move on.
But as a kid they also dismissyou a little bit more.
You know.
They say like oh, you probablyplayed a little bit too hard at
gym class, take it easy.
They don't prescribe you asteroid pack as a kid, so you're
(04:22):
just off doing it on your ownand I never really paid any
attention to it.
You know my parents justthought you know she's a kid,
let it go.
When I got to college therewould be times where I would
need to put an ice pack on myleg all night to even get sleep.
I couldn't sit in class, whichyou know as a college student
pre-COVID, that was a problem.
You know you have to be able tosit.
You know, as a college studentpre COVID, that was a problem.
(04:45):
You know you have to be able tosit.
You know in lectures and allthat.
And then when I got to, youknow like I'm in my mid twenties
, I was just playing volleyballleft and right.
You know I was doingintermediate and recreational
with my friends and I took onenasty fall and that was it.
Oh, and when was that?
(05:05):
Yeah, and that was actually inFebruary, late February, and
I've had on and off theherniated disc where you feel
like you have to go to the side,you can't sleep correctly.
But that would go away in likea week or so.
But this one it was lateFebruary played a game, fell
down.
I was playing a libero position, which means I'm flipping, I'm
(05:27):
slipping and sliding around town.
That's just the part of thegame and I was like, oh, my back
kind of hurts, nothing tooserious.
Go home.
For the next two nights I had apulsing leg, could not sleep,
would not sleep more than 40minutes.
And then, two nights later, Iwoke up at, like you know, 3am
(05:47):
to go pee, got out of bed,immediately, fell down, my ankle
gave out and I felt nothingfrom me downwards.
So you know you're panicking.
Of course I lived in a threestory row home in Philly.
My roommates were all gone forthe weekend.
Of course I lived in athree-story row home in Philly.
My roommates were all gone forthe weekend.
(06:08):
My boyfriend, who lived inDelco God bless him was sleeping
and I called him and I was likeI can't feel from knee down
Like I don't know what to do andhe's like we've got to bring
you to the ER.
There's nothing you can do.
So he's driving all the wayfrom Denver, which isn't far.
It's like a 30 minute drive,but it's 3am by the way, so less
(06:31):
traffic getting into Philly,less traffic.
So he gets there, he gets to myapartment.
Luckily he has a key to go upand we were able to hobble down
and then get in the car to go tothe ER.
And the first year also.
Philly is very understaffed inthe medical world.
So the first one, the firstyear we went to, the wait time
(06:51):
was 10 hours, and that wasalready me telling them.
I think this is nerve damage,this could be neuro, and usually
when you see that they tend toyou know they tend to let you in
a little bit quicker.
And they said it's still goingto be 10 hours and I was like we
can't do this.
So we went to another ER andimmediately they were like this
is a concern.
We got to get you in and thatstarted the whole process.
(07:14):
That is now my life.
But you know I was 25 when thishappened.
It was a week and a half beforemy birthday, oh geez.
And then I did my first everMRI.
Uh-huh, not fun.
You know it's not like adoctor's office where they give
you music.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
no, you're just in a metal tube.
Yeah, I panicked.
They had to.
They had to pull me out andgive me a second.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Yeah, they gave me Ativan and were like this girl
cannot do it.
So we're in the ER for 12 hoursand we're doing MRIs and then
we have multiple disciplines ofdoctors coming in.
I think I had ortho neuro, wehad a neuro orthopedic.
We had pretty much everythingunder the sun.
(08:02):
They asked you, have you?
Have you traveledinternationally?
Because they didn't know ifthere was some type of bacteria.
They ask about your familyhistory.
They do all these blood testsand you're getting pricked left
and right.
I'm anemic, by the way, whichmeans I'm a very hard prick.
So you're getting multipletimes for this poor woman to try
(08:22):
to get my vein.
And we're sitting in a hospitalroom and we're watching the
Price is Right on TV and, funnyenough, I was telling my
boyfriend.
I was like flick my foot, Ican't feel it.
Trying to make a joke about thesituation.
But then one of the emergencymedicine doctors came in and
(08:45):
said I had drop foot and that Iwas getting referred to ortho
surgery to see if I would do anemergency MD right then and
there.
But due to my age since I was25, they wanted to wait a little
bit because you're so young.
They didn't want to go intoyour spine at that age.
They don't want to go intoanyone's spine if it's not
(09:07):
necessary.
And the ortho whoever is likethe tie things, like the fellow
or something, or the chiefresident said no to the surgery
and to referred me to aorthopedic practice in philly
and we went from there.
But they said that you, youknow, you're so young, let's try
(09:27):
to give yourself a couple weeksjust for the fragment to
reabsorb.
My MRI report said it was 1.1centimeters, which is already
pretty freaking big, yeah.
So after that I started goingto this orthopedic surgeon who's
fantastic.
He's one of the top in thenation for the surgery, he does
(09:49):
a million of these and he's justso great.
And he was telling me you're soyoung, we didn't want to go in
so early, let's give it fourweeks.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Didn't they make you do physical therapy for four
weeks?
Speaker 1 (10:01):
No, they said do rest .
Here's the prednisone pack.
Rest and see if your body willreabsorb it, because they didn't
want PT to somehow inflame iteven more.
So stayed down for four weeks,did two weekly checkups, kept
going every two weeks, just likewe keep going, and it just
never got better.
The prednisone helped a littlebit, but the foot was coming up
(10:26):
at an angle.
It wasn't coming up straight up, it was like this, which isn't
good.
It's showing that yourinversion and your eversion is
bad.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Was there ever any pain or was it all just?
I only had pain for the twonights before that.
It was completely numb,completely.
That's the.
This is the first I've heardsomeone say they had complete
numbness from a hernia.
So that's why, with the withthe drop foot.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
It.
It's not a common thing, it'snot in itself an issue, it's a
symptom and the primary issue isa herniated disc.
Yeah, so you have the back pain, but then I went numb.
That's why, when people are inthe sub are saying, oh, like, if
(11:11):
you reherniate, it's you'regonna feel the pain.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
I was like I never really had pain.
I'm like am I reherniating?
Yeah, holy cow, you're pretty.
I mean that's lucky in a way,because I the pain.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Well, you had it the two nights before I've had it
I've had, yeah, I've haddefinitely this pain before,
where I couldn't stand upstraight or I would have to
stand at an angle.
But for this specific instanceI only had pain for two days
before and then I went numb.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
So I don't know which is worse.
You said you've had theherniated disc in the past.
Did you have an MRI in the pastto say I was so?
Speaker 1 (11:41):
young that they were like just just sleep it off.
Give it a couple of weeks butbut when I would go to the
doctor they would say like, oh,it's probably a herniated disc,
Just chill out.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Okay, so the doctor told you to wait four weeks.
Yep.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
And then we it never got better.
The numbness went away a littlebit, like at one point the
whole.
It was just completely numbfrom knee downwards.
After the 10 days of prednisoneI was able to feel the pinky
toe and the fourth toe Likethere was more sensation, but at
the end of the day there was nofunction coming back.
And the longer you wait withnerve damage, the higher risk it
(12:22):
doesn't come back.
So got to the point where, allright, let's go in for the
surgery.
Also, being on the younger side, I knew nothing about health
insurance.
You know I lucked out where myemployer had very good insurance
so I truly did not have to payout my butt.
But I know other people don'thave that luxury that I do.
(12:44):
And we had a surgery on AprilFool's.
It was so funny but it went sowell.
I went in.
My surgery was slated for eighto'clock.
I was out by 10, 30, 11.
Yeah, you know you had to go inearly at 3 am to do the
check-in, but the actual surgerywas so quick and easy.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Wow, and so somebody just drove your boyfriend.
Drive you home to Philly, ordid you yeah?
Speaker 1 (13:09):
And actually very funny story.
After the surgery I was sohungry.
I was like, can we go somewhereto eat?
And because I was feeling good,we went to a restaurant and we
had what I was so hungry wait.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Which really restaurant did you go?
Speaker 1 (13:25):
to.
We went to Ocean Harbor, whichis a dim sum place, I believe on
Ray Street, and I'm so hungryyou don't understand.
I'm starving.
I couldn't eat for 12 hoursbefore this.
That's hilarious.
Dim sum is so delicious I don'teat for 12 hours before this.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
That's hilarious.
Dim sum is so delicious I don'tblame you, and it was just such
.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
you know, like my dad came down to visit me, so he's
sitting there too.
It was like having a familymeal, but no one would have
noticed that this girl just hadspine surgery.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Oh, my goodness, you're making it sound like it's
the easiest thing in the world.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
I truly lucked out with mine.
I know many people havecomplications and even though it
is one of the supposedly easiersurgeries that a nerve is just
so out of the world thatanything can happen.
I've heard of people that theywake up and they still have the
pain.
So before my surgery I had thesciatica pain, you know, when
(14:18):
you pushed on your toes and youfeel the tingles and the pricks
and needles.
I had that before, butpost-surgery it was completely
gone.
So I was like I'm ready to godo?
I'm ready to go get some food?
Speaker 2 (14:33):
So I threw up like crazy when I woke up from the
surgery.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Oh, are you, do you not react to all the anesthesia?
I guess not.
That woke up from the surgery.
Oh, are you, do you not react?
I guess not.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
That's my first major surgery, so I threw up like
crazy.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
I had like a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy
when I was like in my liketeenage years.
Yeah, I remember saying I waslike anesthesia is the best
sleep I've ever had in my lifewhen I had my wisdom teeth out.
They asked you, do you wantlocal or general?
I was like general.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Knock me out.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Don't want to be a lie for that.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Oh, too funny.
I had to stay in the hospitalfor three nights flat on my back
.
Oh, did you?
No, I didn't get to go home.
I wasn't eating dim sum.
The only thing I was allowed toeat was bone broth for the
first like 24 hours.
It was so gross.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Yeah, I was they.
Just they discharged me.
They're like go home, go, gohome and rest.
So that's exactly what we did.
We got food, went home and Ipretty much was down for like a
couple weeks.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Okay, and how was your incisional pain?
Do you remember?
Speaker 1 (15:36):
So I you know as a woman I was like, is my scar
going to be very big?
The doctor was like itshouldn't be.
But we don't know until we getin.
So you're supposed to do thepartial laminectomy.
Mine was a full laminectomybecause, although my MRI reports
(15:57):
at 1.1 centimeters, it was 2.4centimeters, which is, according
to my doctor.
It was huge, especially at myage.
That was just the crazy part.
It didn't hurt.
It was sore.
To be honest, it should be soreif you just got stabbed.
To be honest, it should be soif you just got stabbed.
But the itchiness is what gotme, and the not being able to
(16:20):
shower is also an issue For me.
They put the bandage over andthey say wait 72 hours.
I don't know about you, but mystitches were not dissolvable.
No, I had to get my stitches outtoo.
Right.
So I had to go back in afterthree-ish weeks to get mine out,
but it was so itchy and I nowhave.
(16:40):
It looks like a littlecaterpillar, like right above
that, like on that area.
It looks like a littlecaterpillar that's lined and has
all the dots around it.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Yeah, If you, if you go onto my Reddit profile and
you search my comment history, Ijust recently posted a picture
of my scar.
Oh, did you?
I didn't see that.
My scar is five years old now.
It's all it's white, but it'sgot like the ladder looking to
it.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
I made my boyfriend from starting from day one.
For the first two weeks we tookpictures of it every day just
to see.
I was like you know what, mightas well look back on it in a
year and see how it is.
And then we just took a pictureyesterday and it's still, you
know, the purpley red, butthere's no itchiness.
(17:26):
I don't have that.
Back then, the, the where thiscut was it was raised because
you know they're stitching thatpart together.
That's not there anymore.
So yeah, just time helps it,yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
so I'm thinking, I'm trying to think 20 millimeters,
you might be the, you might bethe biggest tourney at DISC
person I've interviewed.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
then Even he was like this is just.
I think he as a person, he'salso a professor.
He was saying like wow, can Ishow my students this?
Can I show the residents?
I'm like sure, go for it, whynot?
It doesn't matter to me.
Did he show you it?
Did he show you a picture ofthe?
(18:05):
He sent a picture of it to meand I was like that is actually
disgusting.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
My doctor didn't do that and I'm I'm quite jealous
of so mine was like the l4 l butit was going down, touching the
L5 S1 area which is what iscausing this drop foot?
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
That was.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
L5 S1.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Yeah, I also have a small one on the L5 S1, but it's
so small that it's not reallytouching anything and my surgeon
basically said I'm not going totouch that area If there's no
need to let it reabsorb on itsown.
I also really love my surgeonbecause he's not very, you know,
ready to go in, Like I.
(18:48):
You know I was young, I wasscared.
I didn't want someone to belike going right away and, like
you know, snip, snip.
So I really appreciated that.
Yeah, and what were yourrestrictions immediately after
surgery?
Oh, the, you know, the no BLTfor minimum, I believe it was
four to six weeks, but to thisday I still log, roll into bed.
(19:10):
I'm just used to it I do fiveyears later, yeah, Like I'm just
like I'm not risking it, butpretty much like no bending, All
that pretty much standardthings I don't like.
I know for a lot of people theythink it's to not re-herniate
but it's more for your incisionso that it doesn't pop open or
stuff like that.
And I had the pretty muchstandard thing that everyone
(19:33):
else did.
You know, with the painmedicine that they prescribed me
, I actually didn't feel theneed to take them.
I only took it for the firstday when I woke up and I was
like, all right, this does kindof hurt, but after that there
was no pain, I didn't reallyhave any.
So I lucked out in that fieldthat is yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
And how about physical therapy?
Did they prescribe that for you?
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Oh, yeah, we went in hard with PT.
I started at six weeks.
I was prescribed at four weeksto go to PT, but I was like we
went to a beach vacation torelax.
I was like I'll start thisafter.
I don't want to be stuckPriorities.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Which beach?
That's the question.
Cape May, cape May.
Hey, that's right, you gotta godown the shore.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
it's beautiful and that's such a philly thing to
say.
It's like it's so philly.
I was like I'll come back.
And so I came back to pt and inthe beginning I would do one
session.
I would have to go home andpass out.
I was like I'm so tired of thisand you know I have to go home
and pass out.
I was like I'm so tired of thisand you know I have to do a lot
of balancing and strengtheningbecause I went numb.
(20:42):
So with Dropfoot, if you lookon the subreddit, half of the
people they wake up and theirfoot is completely back.
It's great, things arefantastic.
I was not one of that.
I still had it, but it wasstronger.
I can already tell that therewas strength back, but I wasn't
able to have function back.
(21:04):
So back then I had so much painthe moment I woke up and
stepped on my foot I know that'slike plantar fasciitis, but it
was just such a weak musclebecause it wasn't really used
and then I I couldn't stand onmy tippy toes with the left leg.
It would hurt so much.
(21:25):
But the moment I came out ofsurgery my boyfriend said you
were drugged up but the firstthing you tried was to stand on
your tippy toes and I was likemy subconscious knew.
But you know, I tried it and itworked.
So I was already happy withwhat came out and I to myself, I
was telling myself you know, itcan only go up, it can go down,
(21:47):
don't get me wrong.
But if you follow instructions,it can.
It should go up, which it isslowly, but surely?
Speaker 2 (21:57):
And so how has your recovery been?
Pretty smooth, or would you saythere's been some ups and downs
?
Speaker 1 (22:02):
I think everyone is going to have some up and down.
The most common thing you seein the sub is did I re-herniate?
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Oh, I know.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Re-herniation versus flare-up.
I know, I know In the firstcouple weeks you're getting up
as much as possible to walk.
So I would walk every couple,like every hour.
So try to walk around theapartment complex.
Yes, stuff like that, and youknow it.
Sometimes if I walked a littletoo fast, you know you're,
(22:33):
you're tired, you startbreathing heavily.
Yeah, I noticed day by day thatI could walk more and more.
I did have a couple of setbacks.
So the first one was, you know,when you're on the table at the
doctor's office and you get off, I incorrectly landed on my
foot.
So my, I pushed too hard on itand my foot stopped going up
(22:57):
like this.
It would start going like thisagain.
So you know, immediate fear.
You're like did I re-hernia,did I mess something up?
I remember sobbing to myboyfriend and you know you gave
it a couple days, almost a week,and it came back.
And then you know, you go backto your normal healing.
I would get in the beginning Iwould always feel on my foot the
(23:19):
tingles, the hot tingle thatalmost felt like the nerves were
moving on your foot.
I found that very cool.
Um, my foot would also, thetoes would be twitching.
Um, yeah, and I think that'ssomething we see a lot with drop
foot, because many people can'tfeel anything at all.
(23:40):
So the surgery should help youregain feeling and function.
I wasn't able to sit for morethan 30 minutes, not even
couldn't sit more than 20minutes, but you know, as the
weeks go on, it gets strongerand stronger.
You know you have to work onyour core and so, relatively, I
had a good recovery.
I just came down from aflare-up that lasted two weeks
(24:05):
and that's.
You know, everyone's going tohave a flare-up, but it's so
easy to catastrophize.
Oh, 100%, yeah, and that's whatyou're going to see in a sub.
It's like I feel this pain, butsometimes it's like what
everyone says the nerves are soinflamed, they're just, they're
just mean, they're mean, yeah,so I remember I was crying to my
(24:28):
boyfriend.
I was like, can you watch me andsee me do my PT exercise and
does it look like the same formStuff like that?
And it went down.
I didn't need a steroid packbut I just, you know, chilled
out.
You didn't really like do toomuch extenuating exercise and,
yeah, we're good to go.
So I've only really had twobumps in the road and I'm five
(24:53):
months post-op, so not too bad.
I know some people have reallybad flare-ups.
I actually met someone throughthe sub who got the surgery on
the same day as me and also haddrop foot.
Her drop foot immediately wentaway the moment she woke up, but
then she started going numb onthe good side and got the saddle
(25:15):
region numbness which I luckilynever had?
Speaker 2 (25:18):
Yeah, but just part of her healing.
Right, it wasn't a re-hearning,it was just part of her healing
.
Yeah, it was just the scartissue.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, it's so strange thethings that we feel as our nerve
is healing.
It causes like spider feelingsor the opposite leg starts to
hurt, the last thing we needwhen we're already mentally
(25:38):
scared of everything.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
It's so easy to scare yourself, especially when
you're in this Reddit.
I think this Reddit, our sub,is so good, but you know a lot
of people in there are peoplewho are in the acute stages
right, they have just gone tosurgery or they're about to get
surgery, and a lot of people whohave had the surgery, like you,
who are five years out.
(26:02):
You know you're they're not themoderator, so they're not in
here.
You know, constantly looking.
A lot of them are living theirown life.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Yeah, they forget about us and they move on.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Yeah, exactly, so that's why, like when, like you
know me, I'm only five monthspost-op but I try to come back
just because and I do I'm alwaysinto stuff.
Yeah, I see you coming in.
I understand what it's like tobe so afraid.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Yeah, yeah, 100%.
So what was I going to ask you?
Your five months post?
Did you have to miss much workbecause of it?
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Okay, I lucked out where I had a really great
manager.
She's had my surgery, she's hadthe microdyscectomy twice and
her partner has actually gonethrough a spinal fusion.
I also work from home, whichmakes things slightly different,
but I realistically only tookthree days off and my manager
(26:58):
was like, just stay off but saveyour sick days for whatever
happens in the future.
So I lucked out where I was, soI I such a good manager, yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Jeez the rest of us can only dream of.
I know.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
I heard people like I went back after two weeks to a
physical job.
I'm like also ask your managersif they'd like to share their
story on my podcast.
Yeah, I will actually.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
So I'm just so glad to hear you.
You're doing amazing.
Anything you would like to sayto people who are currently in
that just herniated their disczone?
Speaker 1 (27:36):
It's a bumpy and nerve-wracking and frankly it's
an awful time.
It's not a fun time.
A herniated disc is painful,the loss of function is scary,
the loss of feeling isterrifying.
I think the best thing to do isto get a double opinion always
(27:59):
look into, always researchthings.
I know some people with theiranxiety they cannot research
things or it makes them morebuilt up with it.
But for me, I'm the type ofperson where I will research
something to the end of the day,just so.
I rather go in prepared.
It's not easy, but it's sodoable.
(28:20):
I, you know I have a partner,so it made things a little bit
different, but it is.
You can do it.
Just give yourself so muchgrace, I think.
I think this type of injury isso.
It's such a blaming injury, youknow, for you.
You know you did it whilewalking your dog.
(28:40):
I'm sure you probably hadmoments where you said, oh, I
shouldn't have done that, Ishould have went a little bit
later to do it.
I should have waited for thedog to calm down.
For me it was a volleyball day.
I've told myself, oh, Ishouldn't have played that day,
I should have taken it a littlebit easy.
It's such a blaming injuryincident that it shouldn't be.
(29:05):
It really shouldn't be.
It can happen to anyone.
It can happen to someone wellin their 60s.
It can happen to someone intheir 20s.
It's happened to people intheir teens.
My surgeon told me that he hadto perform the surgery on a
17-year-old and there's just noother way.
It's just it was too big foryour body to reabsorb there's
(29:27):
just no other way.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
It's just it was too big for your body to reabsorb.
I was 41, I think I was 40 or41.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
And I kept saying 20 year olds get this surgery, so
it's not just me for being old,exactly.
And another good thing aboutthe surgery is that it does so
much, but it's such an easysurgery.
My surgeon calls it ice fishingIce fishing, yeah.
So he makes like the hole inthe ice and he yanks it out.
Uh-huh, that's like hearingthat made me feel really good,
yeah, um, another thing I wouldsay is don't be afraid to ask
(30:00):
for guidance.
I, you know my surgeon's office, had a direct line where we can
leave voicemails to talk, youknow, in case anything happened
and I something felt funny, ring, ring.
I was calling.
Don't be afraid, because it'ssuch a finicky recovery process.
(30:20):
There are going to be dayswhere I can walk five miles
around the city and then thereare days where you don't want to
leave your apartment or home.
That's okay.
It's such an up and downrecovery and it takes time.
I know for me, especially withnerve damage, it can take up to
a year to see how you are.
Another thing I would say isfind a good PT and keep up with
(30:44):
your PT.
I know it's so easy to just goto that one session on you know
on a Monday and forget about ituntil the next Monday, but the
more you do it, the better it is.
Another thing that I wouldrecommend is to keep a diary.
I kept a diary.
I was writing my symptoms everyday.
So part of my PT is to dosingle leg heel raises on my
(31:09):
back foot.
When I first got out of surgeryI was able to do four.
I'm at 20 now, so it's so niceto see the change.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Mm, hmm.
Well, and that's one of thethings that I like to recommend
when people are saying like themental aspect is so hard, is to
focus on the daily improvements.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
It is, and sometimes it's so hard to see, but if you
ask me, the difference betweenmy five months versus four
months, versus three, it's anextreme change.
So at my I want to say my twomonths.
So my foot, when I had dropfoot, I was not able to lift up
any toe, and the weirdest thingis when you try and you don't
(31:56):
see anything.
That's the weirdest feeling andit's so demoralizing.
But I what I noticed at aboutthree months is the second toe,
the pointer toe, was starting tolift up.
So what I started doing was Istarted filming it and I would
film it in the same positionwhere I was sitting and then I
(32:18):
would see how much more isstarting to lift.
And now, at my five month, I amstarting to lift my third toe,
my middle one.
So, and that wasn't happeningbefore.
So it's like it, it's slow andit's like it's so crazy that a
herniated disc can do this muchdamage.
(32:38):
That's just so messed up in myyeah and for such a short time
too.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
You weren't exactly fully herniated very long
Februarybruary to.
Uh, what did you say?
Speaker 1 (32:48):
march I february to in late february, yeah, yeah.
And then I got my surgery april1st april 1st, yeah.
And before that in aboutnovember, about like the
thanksgiving time, you know.
I got like the herniated discwhere I was like, oh, walking on
my side, but that went away ina week yeah so it don't blame
(33:09):
yourself because at the end ofthe day it's happened.
There's nothing you can do aboutit.
Sadly, your body has to do itand sometimes if your body needs
a little help with a surgeon,go for it.
There's a reason why they're sotheir education one costs a
million bucks and two, whythey're in training for so long
(33:32):
and I think the sub is such agood community.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
Thank you for saying it.
It's Reddit microdiscectomy.
Just in case somebody'slistening R slash
microdiscectomy.
Do you have plans to get backinto volleyball discrepancy?
Do you have plans?
Speaker 1 (33:48):
to get back into volleyball?
I do.
I spoke about it with my PT andyou know before a couple I
started PT in May when I triedto run in the beginning and I
(34:10):
shouldn't have but I was runninglate for a train.
It almost felt like it was likea step like this.
That was how I was running.
Now I'm actually able to jog inlike a very good form.
My left foot still drops alittle bit more because you know
drop foot, but it's actuallynot bad and you will only really
realize it.
One if you are the person andtwo, if you are a clinician
watching for this.
So I was jogging slowly infront of my boyfriend and he was
(34:31):
saying you look like anyoneelse running and he ran track.
So I'll take that as acompliment.
So I do see myself going back,not yet, because, one, I just
had a flare up, so not doingthat, and two, I really want to
build up my core strength beforeI go in.
So I'm doing a lot of PT.
(34:52):
I know with a lot of peoplethey use a TENS machine for the
pain.
If your clinician recommends it, I very much recommend the NMES
machine, which is theneuromuscular electrostimulation
.
It's very similar to a TENSmachine.
But instead of providing painrelief, it's supposed to
(35:14):
stimulate your muscle, to helpit start acting the way it
should be, and I see such a bigdifference with mine.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
Oh, that's great.
Was that something that youjust bought off Amazon or that
your doctor gave you?
Speaker 1 (35:28):
Yeah, so my PT was having me use it from the start
of my sessions, at the end ofevery session for 10 minutes.
We would do 10 minutes ofhaving this NMSE ES machine on
me.
You know you stick the pads onto where, to the muscle that you
want it to function and youmove the muscle in the way that
you want it to.
So for me I have an issue withmy eversion, which means moving
(35:51):
my foot left to right mostlyleft.
So I would put it on the sideof my calf and as the waves are
moving, I move my foot to theleft, I move it against, just
like a chair or something likethat.
And you can actually buy thismachine off of Amazon.
I bought mine for $40.
(36:11):
There are more expensive typesout there, but I think as long
as it gets to the rightwavelength and you will find
that out at PT you know you wantto go as high as much.
You want your muscle to be astimulated to the point where
you are slightly uncomfortable.
But when you're slightlyuncomfortable I mean just
working.
(36:31):
So especially, you know, whenyou went numb.
So any feeling I'll take it.
But yeah, you can buy it off ofAmazon.
I'm sure you can get itprescribed to you from your
medical team.
It's up to you, but you justhave to use it the correct way,
which is why I would have aclinician show you first.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
That's smart.
Now, did you have anypost-surgery tools that you used
in your recovery that you thinkare essential?
Speaker 1 (36:59):
So I at the time I was living with my boyfriend in
a different apartment and thisapartment was actually it used
to be an old folks home, whichmeans the toilet is very low,
which means with someone for abath problem.
That's not very fun.
So I had a grabber tool that Iwould use to bring up the toilet
lid and I had no shame using acane no shame.
(37:24):
I was like I need the stability.
That was probably one of thebest tools, especially, you know
, my boyfriend went to work.
I was working from home.
We have two cats so you have tobe very careful of not tripping
over.
And stability, the biggest tipsI would give to people I don't
think you really need.
I know a lot of people have the.
(37:44):
They get the recliner chair.
I personally didn't need that.
I used a lumbar pillow to putin the back, sleeping with a
pillow between your legsfantastic, that's the best hack
out there.
I had an ice pack machine likea band around your waist and
that felt so good.
But I think the best thing to dois just to prepare before your
(38:08):
surgery.
So what we did?
We meal prepped, so everythingwas easily accessible and I had
them placed high enough where Iwouldn't have to bend down.
Keep up with the fiber.
Anesthesia meds are going tomake you constipated.
It is what it is.
I just got my wisdom teeth outYep, not fun.
It is what it is Like.
I just got my wisdom tooth outYep, not fun.
Speaker 2 (38:28):
I created on YouTube.
I created a how to prepare foryour micro disectomy video and I
did like a walk through thehouse, yep, and I suggested the
meal prepping and keeping themat arm's length level in the
fridge and I said to eat yourfiber because and the pain meds
and the anesthesia will clog youright up.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
Clean your house before you don't want to go home
to a dirty house I know that'snot the case for people who have
an emergency, yeah, and butyeah, cleaning house just
because I'm the type of personwhere my physical living space
is very tied to my mental livingspace and also take care of
your mental health.
I know this is a physical issue, but your mental health?
I know this is a physical issue, but your mental health is just
(39:10):
as important as your physicalhealth.
Yeah, you know, if you, if youneed to get the takeout because
you don't want to cook that day,or you don't like the meals
that you prep, do it.
Do it Treat yourself.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
Oh, Brittany, I I'm just.
It sounds like you're doingvery well and I appreciate you.
I appreciate you so much beingwilling to come on and share
your story.
I can't wait till you're backin volleyball, me too.
Speaker 1 (39:37):
I, you know, my friends and I will go to like
the parks in Philly.
We'll just play like outdoorand you know, I'm just sitting
down on my picnic blanket withmy drink, with my food, just
watching.
But you want, but also watchingthem play, it's like, oh, I
wish I could be there.
And that deep, deep inside ofme it's like I can do it and I'm
like you will.
(39:58):
And you know, right now it'snot my time, but it will be.
And also another thing is likemany people have this surgery,
many athletes have this surgeryRight.
So, being from Philly, theEagles, I think, I think many of
our members have gotten thissurgery.
Oh and the Flyers do.
Oh, yeah and yeah.
(40:20):
And the Flyers especially ifyou can do that, I can do that,
I just have to.
Speaker 2 (40:26):
I have to catch the attention of some of these
athletes that will be willing tobe on my podcast.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
I think it's like and they and they go back quick,
right they?
Speaker 3 (40:36):
also have a lot of money, yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
Someone on the Eagles went back after nine months and
I was like, hey, if it works,it works.
Speaker 2 (40:43):
Yeah, yeah, oh well, brittany, I just want to say
thank you for coming on the show.
If you are a listener and youhave a positive story of
recovery from a serious neck orback injury, head to
bedbackbeyondcom and click,share your story.
I would love to include yourvoice on the show.
Once again, brittany, best ofluck in your recovery and thank
(41:04):
you for coming on.
Thank you for having me.
I was playing a libero position, which means I'm
flipping and sliding aroundtown.
That's just a part of the gameand I was like, oh, my back kind
of hurts, nothing too serious,go home.
For the next two nights I had apulsing leg, could not sleep,
would not sleep more than 40minutes.
And then two nights later Iwoke up at, like you know, 3 am
(00:23):
to go pee, got out of bed,immediately, fell down, my ankle
gave out and I felt nothingfrom knee downwards.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
On this episode of Bed Back and Beyond, we are
joined by Brittany.
Brittany is a fellow member ofthe Microdissectomy subreddit
and she is here to share hervery positive recovery from her
microdissectomy.
That was just five months ago.
Before we get into the show, Ijust want to give a big thank
you to my listeners who reachout to say that they are so
(00:56):
encouraged by the show, and tomy listener in Clarksville,
tennessee.
I'm so glad that Loretta'smarathon running episode was
encouraging to you.
That is my hope for this show.
If you haven't yet hit,subscribe and share the podcast
with friends.
Speaker 3 (01:16):
Welcome to Bed Back and Beyond, sharing positive
stories of recovery from seriousback or neck injury.
Your host is CK, a fellowchampion who draws on her own
experience with herniated discsurgery.
Join her as she talks withothers who have overcome the
physical and emotional trauma ofa painful injury and discover
(01:38):
for yourself how you can findhope and encouragement in
recovery.
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Hi Brittany, thank you so much for joining me on
this episode of Bed, back andBeyond.
Before we dive into your injury, how about you tell us a little
bit about yourself, sure, so?
Speaker 1 (01:55):
my name is Brittany and I'm actually from New York,
but I went to school in theNortheast and then I came down
to Philly, where I am now.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
Philadelphia.
Yeah, we should have done thisin person.
Are you in Philly?
I'm above Philly, I'm in, I'mnear Pottstown, oh my God, my
boyfriend is actually from mediawhich is Delco, yeah, delco,
all the way I love.
Delco, yeah, delco, all the wayLove.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
Delco so expensive.
No, worries, that's so cool tosee.
I was a science major incollege and you know I was
always.
You know, like I was always anactive person and I still am.
I was playing volleyball fourtimes a week.
I was going on super long walkslike I would bring my parents
(02:49):
for a walk and they'd be likegive me a second.
And also just because, like,walking around the cobblestones
of Philly can get very rough inlike the old city area which is
like that's such a beautifulpart of the area, like it's
gorgeous, but I'm pretty likeactive.
I never had an inkling toreally stay down.
(03:10):
I love to travel.
I was like you know, I've goneto Asia, I've gone to Europe,
I've done Australia I.
The only place I haven't hitright now is Africa, south
America and Antarctica.
Oh, wow, yeah, that that'straveling that I'm jealous of
it's also easy, because I havetwo cats and it's not like a dog
(03:31):
way to take them out twice aday, so they're chilled.
They got a little robot.
They got automatic food,automatic water, automatic
toilet.
I don't know what else theyneed.
Speaker 2 (03:43):
My dogs are the reason for my surgery.
They pulled me backwards on awalk.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
Is that really what caused yours?
It's the smallest things, yeah.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
So when did you start having some back problems?
Speaker 1 (03:59):
I've had back issues since high school.
But in high school you know,like you're a kid, so you're
down for a week and you're backand added and you move on.
But as a kid they also dismissyou a little bit more.
You know.
They say like oh, you probablyplayed a little bit too hard at
gym class, take it easy.
They don't prescribe you asteroid pack as a kid, so you're
(04:22):
just off doing it on your ownand I never really paid any
attention to it.
You know my parents justthought you know she's a kid,
let it go.
When I got to college therewould be times where I would
need to put an ice pack on myleg all night to even get sleep.
I couldn't sit in class, whichyou know as a college student
pre-COVID, that was a problem.
You know you have to be able tosit.
You know, as a college studentpre COVID, that was a problem.
(04:45):
You know you have to be able tosit.
You know in lectures and allthat.
And then when I got to, youknow like I'm in my mid twenties
, I was just playing volleyballleft and right.
You know I was doingintermediate and recreational
with my friends and I took onenasty fall and that was it.
Oh, and when was that?
(05:05):
Yeah, and that was actually inFebruary, late February, and
I've had on and off theherniated disc where you feel
like you have to go to the side,you can't sleep correctly.
But that would go away in likea week or so.
But this one it was lateFebruary played a game, fell
down.
I was playing a libero position, which means I'm flipping, I'm
(05:27):
slipping and sliding around town.
That's just the part of thegame and I was like, oh, my back
kind of hurts, nothing tooserious.
Go home.
For the next two nights I had apulsing leg, could not sleep,
would not sleep more than 40minutes.
And then, two nights later, Iwoke up at, like you know, 3am
(05:47):
to go pee, got out of bed,immediately, fell down, my ankle
gave out and I felt nothingfrom me downwards.
So you know you're panicking.
Of course I lived in a threestory row home in Philly.
My roommates were all gone forthe weekend.
Of course I lived in athree-story row home in Philly.
My roommates were all gone forthe weekend.
(06:08):
My boyfriend, who lived inDelco God bless him was sleeping
and I called him and I was likeI can't feel from knee down
Like I don't know what to do andhe's like we've got to bring
you to the ER.
There's nothing you can do.
So he's driving all the wayfrom Denver, which isn't far.
It's like a 30 minute drive,but it's 3am by the way, so less
(06:31):
traffic getting into Philly,less traffic.
So he gets there, he gets to myapartment.
Luckily he has a key to go upand we were able to hobble down
and then get in the car to go tothe ER.
And the first year also.
Philly is very understaffed inthe medical world.
So the first one, the firstyear we went to, the wait time
(06:51):
was 10 hours, and that wasalready me telling them.
I think this is nerve damage,this could be neuro, and usually
when you see that they tend toyou know they tend to let you in
a little bit quicker.
And they said it's still goingto be 10 hours and I was like we
can't do this.
So we went to another ER andimmediately they were like this
is a concern.
We got to get you in and thatstarted the whole process.
(07:14):
That is now my life.
But you know I was 25 when thishappened.
It was a week and a half beforemy birthday, oh geez.
And then I did my first everMRI.
Uh-huh, not fun.
You know it's not like adoctor's office where they give
you music.
Speaker 2 (07:33):
no, you're just in a metal tube.
Yeah, I panicked.
They had to.
They had to pull me out andgive me a second.
Speaker 1 (07:40):
Yeah, they gave me Ativan and were like this girl
cannot do it.
So we're in the ER for 12 hoursand we're doing MRIs and then
we have multiple disciplines ofdoctors coming in.
I think I had ortho neuro, wehad a neuro orthopedic.
We had pretty much everythingunder the sun.
(08:02):
They asked you, have you?
Have you traveledinternationally?
Because they didn't know ifthere was some type of bacteria.
They ask about your familyhistory.
They do all these blood testsand you're getting pricked left
and right.
I'm anemic, by the way, whichmeans I'm a very hard prick.
So you're getting multipletimes for this poor woman to try
(08:22):
to get my vein.
And we're sitting in a hospitalroom and we're watching the
Price is Right on TV and, funnyenough, I was telling my
boyfriend.
I was like flick my foot, Ican't feel it.
Trying to make a joke about thesituation.
But then one of the emergencymedicine doctors came in and
(08:45):
said I had drop foot and that Iwas getting referred to ortho
surgery to see if I would do anemergency MD right then and
there.
But due to my age since I was25, they wanted to wait a little
bit because you're so young.
They didn't want to go intoyour spine at that age.
They don't want to go intoanyone's spine if it's not
(09:07):
necessary.
And the ortho whoever is likethe tie things, like the fellow
or something, or the chiefresident said no to the surgery
and to referred me to aorthopedic practice in philly
and we went from there.
But they said that you, youknow, you're so young, let's try
(09:27):
to give yourself a couple weeksjust for the fragment to
reabsorb.
My MRI report said it was 1.1centimeters, which is already
pretty freaking big, yeah.
So after that I started goingto this orthopedic surgeon who's
fantastic.
He's one of the top in thenation for the surgery, he does
(09:49):
a million of these and he's justso great.
And he was telling me you're soyoung, we didn't want to go in
so early, let's give it fourweeks.
Speaker 2 (09:59):
Didn't they make you do physical therapy for four
weeks?
Speaker 1 (10:01):
No, they said do rest .
Here's the prednisone pack.
Rest and see if your body willreabsorb it, because they didn't
want PT to somehow inflame iteven more.
So stayed down for four weeks,did two weekly checkups, kept
going every two weeks, just likewe keep going, and it just
never got better.
The prednisone helped a littlebit, but the foot was coming up
(10:26):
at an angle.
It wasn't coming up straight up, it was like this, which isn't
good.
It's showing that yourinversion and your eversion is
bad.
Speaker 2 (10:34):
Was there ever any pain or was it all just?
I only had pain for the twonights before that.
It was completely numb,completely.
That's the.
This is the first I've heardsomeone say they had complete
numbness from a hernia.
So that's why, with the withthe drop foot.
Speaker 1 (10:49):
It.
It's not a common thing, it'snot in itself an issue, it's a
symptom and the primary issue isa herniated disc.
Yeah, so you have the back pain, but then I went numb.
That's why, when people are inthe sub are saying, oh, like, if
(11:11):
you reherniate, it's you'regonna feel the pain.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
I was like I never really had pain.
I'm like am I reherniating?
Yeah, holy cow, you're pretty.
I mean that's lucky in a way,because I the pain.
Speaker 1 (11:18):
Well, you had it the two nights before I've had it
I've had, yeah, I've haddefinitely this pain before,
where I couldn't stand upstraight or I would have to
stand at an angle.
But for this specific instanceI only had pain for two days
before and then I went numb.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
So I don't know which is worse.
You said you've had theherniated disc in the past.
Did you have an MRI in the pastto say I was so?
Speaker 1 (11:41):
young that they were like just just sleep it off.
Give it a couple of weeks butbut when I would go to the
doctor they would say like, oh,it's probably a herniated disc,
Just chill out.
Speaker 2 (11:51):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (11:52):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (11:54):
Okay, so the doctor told you to wait four weeks.
Yep.
Speaker 1 (11:58):
And then we it never got better.
The numbness went away a littlebit, like at one point the
whole.
It was just completely numbfrom knee downwards.
After the 10 days of prednisoneI was able to feel the pinky
toe and the fourth toe Likethere was more sensation, but at
the end of the day there was nofunction coming back.
And the longer you wait withnerve damage, the higher risk it
(12:22):
doesn't come back.
So got to the point where, allright, let's go in for the
surgery.
Also, being on the younger side, I knew nothing about health
insurance.
You know I lucked out where myemployer had very good insurance
so I truly did not have to payout my butt.
But I know other people don'thave that luxury that I do.
(12:44):
And we had a surgery on AprilFool's.
It was so funny but it went sowell.
I went in.
My surgery was slated for eighto'clock.
I was out by 10, 30, 11.
Yeah, you know you had to go inearly at 3 am to do the
check-in, but the actual surgerywas so quick and easy.
Speaker 2 (13:05):
Wow, and so somebody just drove your boyfriend.
Drive you home to Philly, ordid you yeah?
Speaker 1 (13:09):
And actually very funny story.
After the surgery I was sohungry.
I was like, can we go somewhereto eat?
And because I was feeling good,we went to a restaurant and we
had what I was so hungry wait.
Speaker 2 (13:23):
Which really restaurant did you go?
Speaker 1 (13:25):
to.
We went to Ocean Harbor, whichis a dim sum place, I believe on
Ray Street, and I'm so hungryyou don't understand.
I'm starving.
I couldn't eat for 12 hoursbefore this.
That's hilarious.
Dim sum is so delicious I don'teat for 12 hours before this.
Speaker 2 (13:37):
That's hilarious.
Dim sum is so delicious I don'tblame you, and it was just such
.
Speaker 1 (13:41):
you know, like my dad came down to visit me, so he's
sitting there too.
It was like having a familymeal, but no one would have
noticed that this girl just hadspine surgery.
Speaker 2 (13:50):
Oh, my goodness, you're making it sound like it's
the easiest thing in the world.
Speaker 1 (13:55):
I truly lucked out with mine.
I know many people havecomplications and even though it
is one of the supposedly easiersurgeries that a nerve is just
so out of the world thatanything can happen.
I've heard of people that theywake up and they still have the
pain.
So before my surgery I had thesciatica pain, you know, when
(14:18):
you pushed on your toes and youfeel the tingles and the pricks
and needles.
I had that before, butpost-surgery it was completely
gone.
So I was like I'm ready to godo?
I'm ready to go get some food?
Speaker 2 (14:33):
So I threw up like crazy when I woke up from the
surgery.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Oh, are you, do you not react to all the anesthesia?
I guess not.
That woke up from the surgery.
Oh, are you, do you not react?
I guess not.
Speaker 2 (14:40):
That's my first major surgery, so I threw up like
crazy.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
I had like a tonsillectomy and adenoidectomy
when I was like in my liketeenage years.
Yeah, I remember saying I waslike anesthesia is the best
sleep I've ever had in my lifewhen I had my wisdom teeth out.
They asked you, do you wantlocal or general?
I was like general.
Speaker 3 (15:00):
Knock me out.
Speaker 1 (15:02):
Don't want to be a lie for that.
Speaker 2 (15:04):
Oh, too funny.
I had to stay in the hospitalfor three nights flat on my back
.
Oh, did you?
No, I didn't get to go home.
I wasn't eating dim sum.
The only thing I was allowed toeat was bone broth for the
first like 24 hours.
It was so gross.
Speaker 1 (15:21):
Yeah, I was they.
Just they discharged me.
They're like go home, go, gohome and rest.
So that's exactly what we did.
We got food, went home and Ipretty much was down for like a
couple weeks.
Speaker 2 (15:33):
Okay, and how was your incisional pain?
Do you remember?
Speaker 1 (15:36):
So I you know as a woman I was like, is my scar
going to be very big?
The doctor was like itshouldn't be.
But we don't know until we getin.
So you're supposed to do thepartial laminectomy.
Mine was a full laminectomybecause, although my MRI reports
(15:57):
at 1.1 centimeters, it was 2.4centimeters, which is, according
to my doctor.
It was huge, especially at myage.
That was just the crazy part.
It didn't hurt.
It was sore.
To be honest, it should be soreif you just got stabbed.
To be honest, it should be soif you just got stabbed.
But the itchiness is what gotme, and the not being able to
(16:20):
shower is also an issue For me.
They put the bandage over andthey say wait 72 hours.
I don't know about you, but mystitches were not dissolvable.
No, I had to get my stitches outtoo.
Right.
So I had to go back in afterthree-ish weeks to get mine out,
but it was so itchy and I nowhave.
(16:40):
It looks like a littlecaterpillar, like right above
that, like on that area.
It looks like a littlecaterpillar that's lined and has
all the dots around it.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Yeah, If you, if you go onto my Reddit profile and
you search my comment history, Ijust recently posted a picture
of my scar.
Oh, did you?
I didn't see that.
My scar is five years old now.
It's all it's white, but it'sgot like the ladder looking to
it.
Speaker 1 (17:06):
I made my boyfriend from starting from day one.
For the first two weeks we tookpictures of it every day just
to see.
I was like you know what, mightas well look back on it in a
year and see how it is.
And then we just took a pictureyesterday and it's still, you
know, the purpley red, butthere's no itchiness.
(17:26):
I don't have that.
Back then, the, the where thiscut was it was raised because
you know they're stitching thatpart together.
That's not there anymore.
So yeah, just time helps it,yeah.
Speaker 2 (17:38):
so I'm thinking, I'm trying to think 20 millimeters,
you might be the, you might bethe biggest tourney at DISC
person I've interviewed.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
then Even he was like this is just.
I think he as a person, he'salso a professor.
He was saying like wow, can Ishow my students this?
Can I show the residents?
I'm like sure, go for it, whynot?
It doesn't matter to me.
Did he show you it?
Did he show you a picture ofthe?
(18:05):
He sent a picture of it to meand I was like that is actually
disgusting.
Speaker 2 (18:10):
My doctor didn't do that and I'm I'm quite jealous
of so mine was like the l4 l butit was going down, touching the
L5 S1 area which is what iscausing this drop foot?
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (18:26):
That was.
Speaker 2 (18:26):
L5 S1.
Speaker 1 (18:28):
Yeah, I also have a small one on the L5 S1, but it's
so small that it's not reallytouching anything and my surgeon
basically said I'm not going totouch that area If there's no
need to let it reabsorb on itsown.
I also really love my surgeonbecause he's not very, you know,
ready to go in, Like I.
(18:48):
You know I was young, I wasscared.
I didn't want someone to belike going right away and, like
you know, snip, snip.
So I really appreciated that.
Yeah, and what were yourrestrictions immediately after
surgery?
Oh, the, you know, the no BLTfor minimum, I believe it was
four to six weeks, but to thisday I still log, roll into bed.
(19:10):
I'm just used to it I do fiveyears later, yeah, Like I'm just
like I'm not risking it, butpretty much like no bending, All
that pretty much standardthings I don't like.
I know for a lot of people theythink it's to not re-herniate
but it's more for your incisionso that it doesn't pop open or
stuff like that.
And I had the pretty muchstandard thing that everyone
(19:33):
else did.
You know, with the painmedicine that they prescribed me
, I actually didn't feel theneed to take them.
I only took it for the firstday when I woke up and I was
like, all right, this does kindof hurt, but after that there
was no pain, I didn't reallyhave any.
So I lucked out in that fieldthat is yeah.
Speaker 2 (19:54):
And how about physical therapy?
Did they prescribe that for you?
Speaker 1 (19:57):
Oh, yeah, we went in hard with PT.
I started at six weeks.
I was prescribed at four weeksto go to PT, but I was like we
went to a beach vacation torelax.
I was like I'll start thisafter.
I don't want to be stuckPriorities.
Speaker 2 (20:16):
Which beach?
That's the question.
Cape May, cape May.
Hey, that's right, you gotta godown the shore.
Speaker 1 (20:20):
it's beautiful and that's such a philly thing to
say.
It's like it's so philly.
I was like I'll come back.
And so I came back to pt and inthe beginning I would do one
session.
I would have to go home andpass out.
I was like I'm so tired of thisand you know I have to go home
and pass out.
I was like I'm so tired of thisand you know I have to do a lot
of balancing and strengtheningbecause I went numb.
(20:42):
So with Dropfoot, if you lookon the subreddit, half of the
people they wake up and theirfoot is completely back.
It's great, things arefantastic.
I was not one of that.
I still had it, but it wasstronger.
I can already tell that therewas strength back, but I wasn't
able to have function back.
(21:04):
So back then I had so much painthe moment I woke up and
stepped on my foot I know that'slike plantar fasciitis, but it
was just such a weak musclebecause it wasn't really used
and then I I couldn't stand onmy tippy toes with the left leg.
It would hurt so much.
(21:25):
But the moment I came out ofsurgery my boyfriend said you
were drugged up but the firstthing you tried was to stand on
your tippy toes and I was likemy subconscious knew.
But you know, I tried it and itworked.
So I was already happy withwhat came out and I to myself, I
was telling myself you know, itcan only go up, it can go down,
(21:47):
don't get me wrong.
But if you follow instructions,it can.
It should go up, which it isslowly, but surely?
Speaker 2 (21:57):
And so how has your recovery been?
Pretty smooth, or would you saythere's been some ups and downs
?
Speaker 1 (22:02):
I think everyone is going to have some up and down.
The most common thing you seein the sub is did I re-herniate?
Speaker 2 (22:10):
Oh, I know.
Speaker 1 (22:11):
Re-herniation versus flare-up.
I know, I know In the firstcouple weeks you're getting up
as much as possible to walk.
So I would walk every couple,like every hour.
So try to walk around theapartment complex.
Yes, stuff like that, and youknow it.
Sometimes if I walked a littletoo fast, you know you're,
(22:33):
you're tired, you startbreathing heavily.
Yeah, I noticed day by day thatI could walk more and more.
I did have a couple of setbacks.
So the first one was, you know,when you're on the table at the
doctor's office and you get off, I incorrectly landed on my
foot.
So my, I pushed too hard on itand my foot stopped going up
(22:57):
like this.
It would start going like thisagain.
So you know, immediate fear.
You're like did I re-hernia,did I mess something up?
I remember sobbing to myboyfriend and you know you gave
it a couple days, almost a week,and it came back.
And then you know, you go backto your normal healing.
I would get in the beginning Iwould always feel on my foot the
(23:19):
tingles, the hot tingle thatalmost felt like the nerves were
moving on your foot.
I found that very cool.
Um, my foot would also, thetoes would be twitching.
Um, yeah, and I think that'ssomething we see a lot with drop
foot, because many people can'tfeel anything at all.
(23:40):
So the surgery should help youregain feeling and function.
I wasn't able to sit for morethan 30 minutes, not even
couldn't sit more than 20minutes, but you know, as the
weeks go on, it gets strongerand stronger.
You know you have to work onyour core and so, relatively, I
had a good recovery.
I just came down from aflare-up that lasted two weeks
(24:05):
and that's.
You know, everyone's going tohave a flare-up, but it's so
easy to catastrophize.
Oh, 100%, yeah, and that's whatyou're going to see in a sub.
It's like I feel this pain, butsometimes it's like what
everyone says the nerves are soinflamed, they're just, they're
just mean, they're mean, yeah,so I remember I was crying to my
(24:28):
boyfriend.
I was like, can you watch me andsee me do my PT exercise and
does it look like the same formStuff like that?
And it went down.
I didn't need a steroid packbut I just, you know, chilled
out.
You didn't really like do toomuch extenuating exercise and,
yeah, we're good to go.
So I've only really had twobumps in the road and I'm five
(24:53):
months post-op, so not too bad.
I know some people have reallybad flare-ups.
I actually met someone throughthe sub who got the surgery on
the same day as me and also haddrop foot.
Her drop foot immediately wentaway the moment she woke up, but
then she started going numb onthe good side and got the saddle
(25:15):
region numbness which I luckilynever had?
Speaker 2 (25:18):
Yeah, but just part of her healing.
Right, it wasn't a re-hearning,it was just part of her healing
.
Yeah, it was just the scartissue.
Mm-hmm.
Yeah, it's so strange thethings that we feel as our nerve
is healing.
It causes like spider feelingsor the opposite leg starts to
hurt, the last thing we needwhen we're already mentally
(25:38):
scared of everything.
Speaker 1 (25:42):
It's so easy to scare yourself, especially when
you're in this Reddit.
I think this Reddit, our sub,is so good, but you know a lot
of people in there are peoplewho are in the acute stages
right, they have just gone tosurgery or they're about to get
surgery, and a lot of people whohave had the surgery, like you,
who are five years out.
(26:02):
You know you're they're not themoderator, so they're not in
here.
You know, constantly looking.
A lot of them are living theirown life.
Speaker 2 (26:09):
Yeah, they forget about us and they move on.
Speaker 1 (26:11):
Yeah, exactly, so that's why, like when, like you
know me, I'm only five monthspost-op but I try to come back
just because and I do I'm alwaysinto stuff.
Yeah, I see you coming in.
I understand what it's like tobe so afraid.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Yeah, yeah, 100%.
So what was I going to ask you?
Your five months post?
Did you have to miss much workbecause of it?
Speaker 1 (26:36):
Okay, I lucked out where I had a really great
manager.
She's had my surgery, she's hadthe microdyscectomy twice and
her partner has actually gonethrough a spinal fusion.
I also work from home, whichmakes things slightly different,
but I realistically only tookthree days off and my manager
(26:58):
was like, just stay off but saveyour sick days for whatever
happens in the future.
So I lucked out where I was, soI I such a good manager, yeah.
Speaker 2 (27:08):
Jeez the rest of us can only dream of.
I know.
Speaker 1 (27:12):
I heard people like I went back after two weeks to a
physical job.
I'm like also ask your managersif they'd like to share their
story on my podcast.
Yeah, I will actually.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
So I'm just so glad to hear you.
You're doing amazing.
Anything you would like to sayto people who are currently in
that just herniated their disczone?
Speaker 1 (27:36):
It's a bumpy and nerve-wracking and frankly it's
an awful time.
It's not a fun time.
A herniated disc is painful,the loss of function is scary,
the loss of feeling isterrifying.
I think the best thing to do isto get a double opinion always
(27:59):
look into, always researchthings.
I know some people with theiranxiety they cannot research
things or it makes them morebuilt up with it.
But for me, I'm the type ofperson where I will research
something to the end of the day,just so.
I rather go in prepared.
It's not easy, but it's sodoable.
(28:20):
I, you know I have a partner,so it made things a little bit
different, but it is.
You can do it.
Just give yourself so muchgrace, I think.
I think this type of injury isso.
It's such a blaming injury, youknow, for you.
You know you did it whilewalking your dog.
(28:40):
I'm sure you probably hadmoments where you said, oh, I
shouldn't have done that, Ishould have went a little bit
later to do it.
I should have waited for thedog to calm down.
For me it was a volleyball day.
I've told myself, oh, Ishouldn't have played that day,
I should have taken it a littlebit easy.
It's such a blaming injuryincident that it shouldn't be.
(29:05):
It really shouldn't be.
It can happen to anyone.
It can happen to someone wellin their 60s.
It can happen to someone intheir 20s.
It's happened to people intheir teens.
My surgeon told me that he hadto perform the surgery on a
17-year-old and there's just noother way.
It's just it was too big foryour body to reabsorb there's
(29:27):
just no other way.
Speaker 2 (29:28):
It's just it was too big for your body to reabsorb.
I was 41, I think I was 40 or41.
Speaker 1 (29:35):
And I kept saying 20 year olds get this surgery, so
it's not just me for being old,exactly.
And another good thing aboutthe surgery is that it does so
much, but it's such an easysurgery.
My surgeon calls it ice fishingIce fishing, yeah.
So he makes like the hole inthe ice and he yanks it out.
Uh-huh, that's like hearingthat made me feel really good,
yeah, um, another thing I wouldsay is don't be afraid to ask
(30:00):
for guidance.
I, you know my surgeon's office, had a direct line where we can
leave voicemails to talk, youknow, in case anything happened
and I something felt funny, ring, ring.
I was calling.
Don't be afraid, because it'ssuch a finicky recovery process.
(30:20):
There are going to be dayswhere I can walk five miles
around the city and then thereare days where you don't want to
leave your apartment or home.
That's okay.
It's such an up and downrecovery and it takes time.
I know for me, especially withnerve damage, it can take up to
a year to see how you are.
Another thing I would say isfind a good PT and keep up with
(30:44):
your PT.
I know it's so easy to just goto that one session on you know
on a Monday and forget about ituntil the next Monday, but the
more you do it, the better it is.
Another thing that I wouldrecommend is to keep a diary.
I kept a diary.
I was writing my symptoms everyday.
So part of my PT is to dosingle leg heel raises on my
(31:09):
back foot.
When I first got out of surgeryI was able to do four.
I'm at 20 now, so it's so niceto see the change.
Speaker 2 (31:21):
Mm, hmm.
Well, and that's one of thethings that I like to recommend
when people are saying like themental aspect is so hard, is to
focus on the daily improvements.
Speaker 1 (31:34):
It is, and sometimes it's so hard to see, but if you
ask me, the difference betweenmy five months versus four
months, versus three, it's anextreme change.
So at my I want to say my twomonths.
So my foot, when I had dropfoot, I was not able to lift up
any toe, and the weirdest thingis when you try and you don't
(31:56):
see anything.
That's the weirdest feeling andit's so demoralizing.
But I what I noticed at aboutthree months is the second toe,
the pointer toe, was starting tolift up.
So what I started doing was Istarted filming it and I would
film it in the same positionwhere I was sitting and then I
(32:18):
would see how much more isstarting to lift.
And now, at my five month, I amstarting to lift my third toe,
my middle one.
So, and that wasn't happeningbefore.
So it's like it, it's slow andit's like it's so crazy that a
herniated disc can do this muchdamage.
(32:38):
That's just so messed up in myyeah and for such a short time
too.
Speaker 2 (32:43):
You weren't exactly fully herniated very long
Februarybruary to.
Uh, what did you say?
Speaker 1 (32:48):
march I february to in late february, yeah, yeah.
And then I got my surgery april1st april 1st, yeah.
And before that in aboutnovember, about like the
thanksgiving time, you know.
I got like the herniated discwhere I was like, oh, walking on
my side, but that went away ina week yeah so it don't blame
(33:09):
yourself because at the end ofthe day it's happened.
There's nothing you can do aboutit.
Sadly, your body has to do itand sometimes if your body needs
a little help with a surgeon,go for it.
There's a reason why they're sotheir education one costs a
million bucks and two, whythey're in training for so long
(33:32):
and I think the sub is such agood community.
Speaker 2 (33:36):
Thank you for saying it.
It's Reddit microdiscectomy.
Just in case somebody'slistening R slash
microdiscectomy.
Do you have plans to get backinto volleyball discrepancy?
Do you have plans?
Speaker 1 (33:48):
to get back into volleyball?
I do.
I spoke about it with my PT andyou know before a couple I
started PT in May when I triedto run in the beginning and I
(34:10):
shouldn't have but I was runninglate for a train.
It almost felt like it was likea step like this.
That was how I was running.
Now I'm actually able to jog inlike a very good form.
My left foot still drops alittle bit more because you know
drop foot, but it's actuallynot bad and you will only really
realize it.
One if you are the person andtwo, if you are a clinician
watching for this.
So I was jogging slowly infront of my boyfriend and he was
(34:31):
saying you look like anyoneelse running and he ran track.
So I'll take that as acompliment.
So I do see myself going back,not yet, because, one, I just
had a flare up, so not doingthat, and two, I really want to
build up my core strength beforeI go in.
So I'm doing a lot of PT.
(34:52):
I know with a lot of peoplethey use a TENS machine for the
pain.
If your clinician recommends it, I very much recommend the NMES
machine, which is theneuromuscular electrostimulation
.
It's very similar to a TENSmachine.
But instead of providing painrelief, it's supposed to
(35:14):
stimulate your muscle, to helpit start acting the way it
should be, and I see such a bigdifference with mine.
Speaker 2 (35:23):
Oh, that's great.
Was that something that youjust bought off Amazon or that
your doctor gave you?
Speaker 1 (35:28):
Yeah, so my PT was having me use it from the start
of my sessions, at the end ofevery session for 10 minutes.
We would do 10 minutes ofhaving this NMSE ES machine on
me.
You know you stick the pads onto where, to the muscle that you
want it to function and youmove the muscle in the way that
you want it to.
So for me I have an issue withmy eversion, which means moving
(35:51):
my foot left to right mostlyleft.
So I would put it on the sideof my calf and as the waves are
moving, I move my foot to theleft, I move it against, just
like a chair or something likethat.
And you can actually buy thismachine off of Amazon.
I bought mine for $40.
(36:11):
There are more expensive typesout there, but I think as long
as it gets to the rightwavelength and you will find
that out at PT you know you wantto go as high as much.
You want your muscle to be astimulated to the point where
you are slightly uncomfortable.
But when you're slightlyuncomfortable I mean just
working.
(36:31):
So especially, you know, whenyou went numb.
So any feeling I'll take it.
But yeah, you can buy it off ofAmazon.
I'm sure you can get itprescribed to you from your
medical team.
It's up to you, but you justhave to use it the correct way,
which is why I would have aclinician show you first.
Speaker 2 (36:51):
That's smart.
Now, did you have anypost-surgery tools that you used
in your recovery that you thinkare essential?
Speaker 1 (36:59):
So I at the time I was living with my boyfriend in
a different apartment and thisapartment was actually it used
to be an old folks home, whichmeans the toilet is very low,
which means with someone for abath problem.
That's not very fun.
So I had a grabber tool that Iwould use to bring up the toilet
lid and I had no shame using acane no shame.
(37:24):
I was like I need the stability.
That was probably one of thebest tools, especially, you know
, my boyfriend went to work.
I was working from home.
We have two cats so you have tobe very careful of not tripping
over.
And stability, the biggest tipsI would give to people I don't
think you really need.
I know a lot of people have the.
(37:44):
They get the recliner chair.
I personally didn't need that.
I used a lumbar pillow to putin the back, sleeping with a
pillow between your legsfantastic, that's the best hack
out there.
I had an ice pack machine likea band around your waist and
that felt so good.
But I think the best thing to dois just to prepare before your
(38:08):
surgery.
So what we did?
We meal prepped, so everythingwas easily accessible and I had
them placed high enough where Iwouldn't have to bend down.
Keep up with the fiber.
Anesthesia meds are going tomake you constipated.
It is what it is.
I just got my wisdom teeth outYep, not fun.
It is what it is Like.
I just got my wisdom tooth outYep, not fun.
Speaker 2 (38:28):
I created on YouTube.
I created a how to prepare foryour micro disectomy video and I
did like a walk through thehouse, yep, and I suggested the
meal prepping and keeping themat arm's length level in the
fridge and I said to eat yourfiber because and the pain meds
and the anesthesia will clog youright up.
Speaker 1 (38:48):
Clean your house before you don't want to go home
to a dirty house I know that'snot the case for people who have
an emergency, yeah, and butyeah, cleaning house just
because I'm the type of personwhere my physical living space
is very tied to my mental livingspace and also take care of
your mental health.
I know this is a physical issue, but your mental health?
I know this is a physical issue, but your mental health is just
(39:10):
as important as your physicalhealth.
Yeah, you know, if you, if youneed to get the takeout because
you don't want to cook that day,or you don't like the meals
that you prep, do it.
Do it Treat yourself.
Speaker 2 (39:22):
Oh, Brittany, I I'm just.
It sounds like you're doingvery well and I appreciate you.
I appreciate you so much beingwilling to come on and share
your story.
I can't wait till you're backin volleyball, me too.
Speaker 1 (39:37):
I, you know, my friends and I will go to like
the parks in Philly.
We'll just play like outdoorand you know, I'm just sitting
down on my picnic blanket withmy drink, with my food, just
watching.
But you want, but also watchingthem play, it's like, oh, I
wish I could be there.
And that deep, deep inside ofme it's like I can do it and I'm
like you will.
(39:58):
And you know, right now it'snot my time, but it will be.
And also another thing is likemany people have this surgery,
many athletes have this surgeryRight.
So, being from Philly, theEagles, I think, I think many of
our members have gotten thissurgery.
Oh and the Flyers do.
Oh, yeah and yeah.
(40:20):
And the Flyers especially ifyou can do that, I can do that,
I just have to.
Speaker 2 (40:26):
I have to catch the attention of some of these
athletes that will be willing tobe on my podcast.
Speaker 1 (40:31):
I think it's like and they and they go back quick,
right they?
Speaker 3 (40:36):
also have a lot of money, yeah.
Speaker 1 (40:38):
Someone on the Eagles went back after nine months and
I was like, hey, if it works,it works.
Speaker 2 (40:43):
Yeah, yeah, oh well, brittany, I just want to say
thank you for coming on the show.
If you are a listener and youhave a positive story of
recovery from a serious neck orback injury, head to
bedbackbeyondcom and click,share your story.
I would love to include yourvoice on the show.
Once again, brittany, best ofluck in your recovery and thank
(41:04):
you for coming on.
Thank you for having me.
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