More than a year ago my husband, R, blew out a disc in his spine. For a long time we didn’t know why he was in pain, because every time he went to the doctor they told him it was a sprain and gave him painkillers. Finally, I paid for him to have his diagnostics done privately and we almost immediately found out that he needed surgery to fix it.
After a few months of waiting, during which time I also seriously considered paying for the surgery as well, he finally got a date. And on Monday just gone, we went up to Newcastle and he went in to have the disc removed. The surgery itself took twice as long as we expected, due to some slight complication, but I am so happy to be able to say that he came through it like a champ and is now back at home, recovering well and already starting to feel better. The pain in his legs is all but gone and the pain in his back, from the surgery, is normal and not bothering him too much.
I cannot even describe what a relief this is. Both R and I were worrying about the possible side-effects of such a serious surgery but everything seems fine. He has physio to do and has to wear compression stockings, and take painkillers for a bit, but I really don’t think things could have gone any better.
It’s even better that this was done now because I’m in the middle of arranging something very important, which will contribute significantly to our overall happiness. And what with being busy at work and everything else, it’s nice to have one less thing to worry about. And in a weird way it was nice to be in Newcastle again. Despite R being in hospital, once I knew he was safely out of surgery and comfortable in his private room it was great to be able to go out to a quiz night with our friends J and S, who I have missed quite a bit since we moved away, to let off some steam and relax a bit before getting on with the million other things I have to do.