Life begins - Microdiscectomy +30

The hardcore recovery stuff. 

4 weeks and a day have passed since my operation. In myself I generally feel well. At times I could forget I've even had the operation, which as I mentioned very early in these blogs is a dangerous thing. It tempts me to overdo things. Odd as it may sound to consider being sedentary as overdoing it, too little movement can cause as much pain as too much. At other times simple actions can cause me a twinge or some soreness and I can't see a reason for it other than a fundamental weakness around my spine.

On Thursday I went to see the Doctor, and in his opinion I was still not ready to return to work. So I was signed off for a further 2 weeks. That will make 6 weeks in total. It's not that I'm not recovering well, but the Doc reckoned that my back needed strengthening a bit more. I'm not up to prolongued periods of sitting working at a pc and in particular I'm not ready for the weekday commute and the potential to be squashed and bashed by fellow commuters.

In the interim I will be starting physio tomorrow and will also start swimming. Hopefully after the next two weeks are up I will be in a position to have a phased return to work. That would mean a combination of home working (on reduced hours) and off peak travel to London one or two times a week. With the balance  shifting in favour of more office work/travel and less home work until I am back to normal.

Before I can do any work in the office I also need to have a work station assessment done, and in particular I will need a more supportive chair. My work is mostly desk based and so I will need a chair that supports my lumbar region as much as possible.

On Saturday it was my 40th birthday (more on that below) and I ventured into London on the train to meet some friends. Without doubt this was the toughest test for my back yet. First, a walk to the station of 3/4 mile. Then 50 minutes on a train where the seats were uncomfortable (as always). By the time I got to London I was feeling some lower back pain and so I took a tramadol to take the edge off the pain. A short tube ride and then a walk from Covent Garden to Shaftsbury Avenue and then back to the pub where I was meeting my friends. An hour of walking took a toll on my back and I was grateful to be able to sit down. By the end of the night my back was causing significant discomfort. The lesson learned was that the travel was manageable but coupled with the walking etc my back was still not strong enough to cope. The Doc was right.

However the pain did not put a damper on my birthday celebrations.


Life Begins At 40 
Yeah yeah, that's something only people over 40 say. You don't get 20somethings or 30somethings saying "I'm just treading water until I hit the big 4 0. Everything up to then is a mere rehearsal and quite frankly just the warm up to the main event."

Truth be told I have not been looking forward to turning 40. It's one of those landmarks. All of a sudden you fall into a different age range on surveys. When you are 39 you can still kid yourself that you are young. You share a first digit with a 30 year old after all. At 40 all such self delusions disappear. 40 is middle aged in anyone's book. Yes, turning 40 was not something I was looking forward to. But as George Burns said about getting older "It's better than the alternative."

Present-wise I did rather well and I won't embarrass people by mentioning who gave me what, but I am uber grateful for my new laptop, dvd box sets, books, vouchers, florentines (the biscuits not the people) etc etc. Thank you one and all.

Nom nom florentines

So faced with the inevitability of the calendar ticking round I planned to make the best of it. And then my operation was postponed from February to March and everything was thrown up in the air. Not knowing how my recovery would go I wasn't able to plan anything for my birthday until pretty late. But come the day, an intrepid group of friends gathered at Philomena's Irish pub on Great Queen St.

For a group comprised of Uni friends, former colleagues from different work places, someone I met whilst filming a tv quiz show, and the new girlfriend of one of my mates* it was remarkable how well everyone got on. Time flew in the pub and then we made our way to Suda Thai restaurant nearby. Again, time flew and having arrived at 8.30pm we left at 11.30pm. One more drink at Philomena's and then off home.

It was a night of many highlights. Having been sequestered for 4 weeks it was wonderful to have my friends around me. I received some wonderful gifts from those in attendence, although in truth the greatest gift was my friends' company. Jo made me a wonderful handmade card that appealed to my inner geek.

Jo also made a cake for me, which rather took me by surprise. My head was in a whirl as my friends and many others in the restaurant sang happy birthday and I blew out the candles. I've often been on the other side, but not since a child have I had that experience and it was brilliant.

I expected my beard to come in for a lot of piss taking but actually it was rather well received. Perhaps people were just being nice, but I didn't get that sense. The net result of a great evening was this pic of me beaming like a loon at the camera with my cake.

So curiously, after wishing quite a few times** in the lead up that I hadn't bothered organising something for my birthday I am really glad that I did. I am grateful to my friends for coming out and for making it a special night, and I feel blessed to have such fabulous people in my life. Gush complete ;)

One final thought. In the age of social networking, even when people can't make your birthday in person they can still help make it a great day. I lost count at around 80 sets of good wishes. Each and every one made me happy and added to the feelgood birthday vibe. Just 7 years ago I would have received a half dozen cards and a few emails and phone calls. That was the norm. This time people from all over the world: from Texas in the USA to Tampere in Finland; and from Peterborough in the UK to Pietermaritzburg in South Africa got in touch. I love the internet age! Gush really complete this time :)



*a special mention for Michelle who was wonderful company.
**many many times in fact