Friday, March 15, 2013

Alright, c'est tout... I'm going for the surgery option!


After months of sciatic pain in my left leg (from my glutes to my hips and down to the pins and needles on the sole of my left feet), I decided to go for the surgery option at Khoo Teck Phuat Hospital next month on the 12th of April.

What makes me decide on this is because of the following factors:


  1. I've gone for physiotherapy treatments at Core Concepts since October last year after the first occurrence of the sciatic pain on my leg. There were some days where I don't encounter pain in my left leg during that early period. It got worst in November after I went for a Legoland trip with my family. I've also visited the subsidised specialist doctors in KTPH and received some painkillers. Dem painkillers do not work...
  2. It got to a point where I'm feeling miserable from the afternoon onwards as it affects my mobility for my work, my time with my family over the weekend. I have to lie on the bed to relief that pain. 
  3. I can't walk for more than 5 minutes unless I stop and rest for a while and wait for the pain to disappear. 
  4. My M.R.I report are as follow: 
  • L4/5: posterocentral annular tear and focal disc protrusion mildly indenting thecal sac. mild disc dessiccation
  • L5/S1: Large left paracentral focal disc extrusion causing severe left lateral recess narrowing, impinging the left descending S1 nerve root. Moderate central canal stenosis. 
After much thought and normal conservative treatments does not work for me, I decide to go for the surgery option called Minimally Invasive Discectomy. Hopefully after this surgery, it can ease my misery and regain my mobility. Your thoughts and prayers are welcome..

Attaching a video below from You Tube about this Minimally Invasive Discectomy procedure by a doctor in John Hopkins