Herniated Disc Surgery Recovery: Desk Job Pain to Pain-Free Work

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What did you think when you heard surgery?
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Like, great, let's do it, or were you always Oh man, horrified.
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Absolutely horrified.
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I had never had any surgery whatsoever before in my life.
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And I was just thinking my first surgery is going to be spine surgery.
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Yeah.
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That was that was hard.
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That was a hard photo to follow.
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Welcome to Bed Back and Beyond, sharing positive stories of recovery from serious back or neck injury.
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Your host is CK, a fellow champion who draws on her own experience with perniated disc surgery.
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Join her as she talks with others who have overcome the physical and emotional trauma of a painful injury.
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And discover for yourself how you can find hope and encouragement in recovery.
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Before we start today's episode, I would just like to give two shout-outs.
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First to Madeline, thank you so much for reaching out to me through the website Bed Back and Beyond.
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I'm so thankful the podcast has been helpful to you during your neck fusion journey.
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And also a thank you to WinPAL for donating$15 on Buy Me a Coffee.
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Both of you, I thank you so much.
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I love to hear your success stories, and thank you for being a help to support this podcast.
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Hi, and welcome to this episode of Bed Back and Beyond.
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On today's episode, I am joined by Rod.
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He is a fellow Redditor who has been very active in sharing his positive story for us.
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So I wanted to invite him on the podcast.
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Rod, thank you so much for agreeing to do the show.
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Absolutely.
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Happy to be on here.
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Awesome.
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So before we dive into your injury, do you want to share a little bit about yourself?
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Pretty, pretty boring guy.
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Well, uh, I am 32-year-old dad of two girls living in uh the Madison, Wisconsin area.
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Originally from Venezuela, actually.
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My wife is Russian and uh both of her kids are very beautiful, which is awesome.
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So I I bet they are.
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Now your your Reddit username is not pretty boring.
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Yeah, I I got I think I may might have had uh close to 300 hours in Skyrim um just over the years, all the mods, all the updates.
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Yeah, I'm pretty sure I own it for three three different consoles.
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I bought the game over three different times.
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Wow.
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Are you still playing it at this point or no?
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At this point, um, no, it I fell off from it uh pretty hard once some of the other bigger hitting titles started coming out.
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Uh, I am I am also very much a video game enthusiast.
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Uh so yeah, no, there's been um and amazing titles that I've claimed hundreds of hours of my life uh past Skyrim, but that was definitely one of the greats.
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And my username is uh a relic from the time that I was really into it.
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My husband was wishing I could make my background one of the towns with the dragon coming flying through and attacking.
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White run, yeah.
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That'd be great.
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Yep.
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He's the player, not me.
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Oh, amazing.
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Yeah.
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So you herniated a disc.
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Before that happened, did you always have back issues or were you a pretty healthy guy before it happened?
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I was a pretty healthy guy.
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I was uh I was a big weightlifter.
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Granted, not always with the best form, which I think really did uh, you know, set me up for the injury later on in life.
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If you're squatting heavy or doing heavy deadlift, kids, make sure that you have good posture and uh you know you're not gonna be made of rubber and magic forever.
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So yeah, um definitely keep that in mind.
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But yeah, no, I was I was fairly active, really a big hiker.
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I'm a weightlifter.
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Didn't didn't didn't do too much competitive sports, but uh enjoyed staying fit.
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I used to deadlift.
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I think my my highest was 195, I think.
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Okay, but I haven't I haven't touched it in years.
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I don't think I'll ever go back to deadlifting.
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Oh yeah, yeah, I think that's the that love affair is over for me, but uh, but it it's all right, you know.
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There's a lot of different ways you can also like build your body back up and you know right.
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If the muscle has been there, to my understanding, you getting back to that point is uh easier than not than getting up there to begin with.
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So I think in the in the Reddit post you mentioned a new job may have also kind of led to your injury.
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Can you explain what that was?
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Yeah, so I was switching careers, I did a career switch at uh 26.
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I went from uh fairly active standing sales role to uh a software development job.
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So I was essentially sitting a lot sitting all the time.
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Yeah, we do see that a lot.
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People, especially people who've had surgery, they get worried about going back to their job where they have to sit a lot.
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Yeah, put so much stress on your spine.
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Yeah, no kidding.
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Yeah, it's uh yeah, those but out of surgery, I had a I had a timer set for 30 minutes, and every 30 minutes I was up doing something.
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But yeah, it's uh it's it's very rough.
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So you you have a new job, you're sitting at it a lot, and just suddenly start feeling some aches and pains in your back.
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Yep, suddenly one day sitting down just hurt.
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It almost happened overnight.
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Um, and I was just coming, I thought it was just, oh, I'm um, because I had gained a lot, I had gained a ton of weight.
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I mean, I think I had gained like 50, 60 pounds, um, just uh being sedentary and just being at my desk all the time.
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And of course, I was still actually kind of weightlifting with bad form then as well.
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So I think it was just a perfect storm.
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Yeah, the two combined.
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Yeah, but uh yeah, it's just one day uh it hurt to sit and then uh I started standing more and it started hurting to stand.
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And I just thought it was the fact that I just needed to stretch more or be more active, so I started aggressively stretching and I started uh trying to go out on runs, and it was just a downhill spiral from there.
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At that point, where was your pain localized?
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My pain was localized on the right side of my lower back, and it wasn't full on sciatica yet.
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Okay.
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It was pain when I like bent even just slightly forward.
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It felt like there was like a knife sticking into my back into my like lower right hand side.
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When I was sitting, it there was a like a twang of pain that radiated um you know down through my through my legs just a bit as well.
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I guess that was sciatica.
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Um, but yeah, it's just continued to get worse as I tried to, you know, get active and see through it.
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Uh, of course, you know, before an MRI nowadays, doctors want you to go through a plethora of PT, which I think is just I mean completely moronic.
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If you have the symptoms, do the MRI if you can, you know, pay for it or have insurance, I guess.
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You know, even if you don't, I mean, people should have access to that, but that's a different subject.
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Uh, you went through the PT uh and then finally was able to get the MRI and uh actually, and I also did go through a bit of chiropractic treatments.
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Okay.
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Um, that's actually make things worse.
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Well, to be honest, I saw a chiropractor, he was a knowledgeable guy, seemed like it.
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Uh, she's never gave me a straight answer, you know, kept you coming back in the door, but he did adjust me really well one time, which helped the pain for about two weeks, but I kept on coming back.
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And it's when I saw his partner, who was like a a younger guy who was starting out.
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Okay, uh, he did a final adjustment on me, and I walked out of his office with a weakness in my right hand, in my right hand leg, and just full sciatica symptoms.
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Wow.
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And uh he he had the nerve to look at me and say, Oh, it gets worse before it gets better.
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And I was like, I'm never seeing you again.
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Oh my goodness.
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Not a fan of chiropractors at all at this point.
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Um, but again, different subject.
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Yeah.
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I almost went to see a chiropractor because my pain was when it was getting really bad, was just like a stabbing in my butt when I would stand up from sitting down.
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So I was driving home from work one day, like this is terrible.
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And I went to one chiropractor, they were closed, pulled into another one, they couldn't see me.
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And then there was a third that was on the other side of the highway, and I was like, just forget it.
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And uh got home.
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And then the next morning is when I had my big event.
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Oh, it turned out my my disc was stuck to my nerves.
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Oh, so I think, well, thank goodness I didn't get in to see the chiropractor because who knows what would have happened if if uh if I hadn't gotten an adjustment.
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Just like a total rupture, maybe?
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I don't know.
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Yeah, I don't know.
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Good Lord.
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Okay.
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So you leave the chiropractor, you're in worse pain.
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What was your next step from there?
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My next step from there was talking to my doctor and telling him, hey, a chiropractor really screwed me up.
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And after that, he's like, All right, what forget PT.
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I am putting in a prior auth request for MRI right away.
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Okay.
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And that's what uh the after that, you know, was diagnosed with the uh with the with the disc that was, you know, touching a nerve.
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And yeah, the it was it was off to, you know, it was off to surgery from there.
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Really?
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Um well I I did uh work through through a PA um who was all about the conservative treatment, but given as though I was having weakness in my leg uh and really bad pain, they don't really want you to sit on weakness for too long because that's uh that's a that's a very serious symptom.
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But she uh she was she was very adamant on me trying conservative uh methods first to treat it.
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But uh the doctor she actually reported to who I went to go see, uh, had seconds of second opinions about that.
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I think there was a bit of uh animosity between there, but uh PA was telling me, hey, continue to continue with BT, see if it gets better within a year.
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Uh and the surgeon, but the the actual doctor was like, uh no, we we can cut you open and fix this right now.
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Yeah.
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So now I did happen to find a picture of your MRI from one of your posts.
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Do you mind if I share it?
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No, not at all, please.
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Yeah.
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Now it looks so tiny.
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It yeah.
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And then when I posted that, I was going through the the subreddits just seeing just absolute blowouts, people whose whose discs were just all the way out.
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And I I'm just like, uh you know, I'm I'm I'm having pain from this, and I'm not having a quality of life from it.
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Uh, but you know, I cannot even imagine how the rest of you feel.
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Yeah, my when I saw my MRI, it was it looked like just a little bit of a thumb sticking out, and I was thinking, that's it, like that's my herniated disc.
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But mine was so painful, it dropped me to the floor.
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I couldn't even get up and walk around.
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Those nerves, if you just hit the right spot, you know, it's just it's yeah, uh, it's yeah, it's insane.
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So did your um when you got the MRI, did your doctor send you to a neurosurgeon or an orthopedic?
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Um, uh when I got the MRI, uh, I was sent to a uh what we have we have a we have a sport back and spine specific clinic here in in uh for in the UW system here in Madison.
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So uh I was sent there.
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So I was pretty much working with the back specialist right away, uh back in sports specialists.
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And then uh I was just essentially it's just referred uh from from PT to them.
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And I was I was talking to a surgeon specializing in in back surgery right away and back issues right away.
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And they didn't try to make you do a cortisone injection first?
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They mentioned that was a option, but uh weirdly enough, I had a friend actually going through the same thing at the same time.
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Same time.
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Him him was his was due to uh him just uh being a mountain biking, motorbiking crazy guy and hurting himself several times.
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Fun fact about him, he actually broke three ribs and got COVID in the same week.
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Oh, geez.
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Wasn't a great recovery for him.
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He was just yeah.
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So um, so he was doing the cortisol shots and he explained what how what they were and how they worked, and I was like, I want nothing to do with that.
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I would, I would, I would rather just get the problem fixed instead of like suffering, and maybe that helps, maybe it doesn't, you know.
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I got sent, I was in Delaware at the time of my injury, so I I went to the emergency room, like I said, it it was like an event the morning of and fell to the floor, went to the the ER, they just gave me an opioid shot, didn't even do do the MRI.
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Sent me to um a back pain specialist, so that was like a two-week wait before I can even get into there.
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Yeah, he makes me do all these tests, like I'm in pain.
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He's making me stand on my toes and all this stuff.
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So then he says, You need to see my partner another two-week wait.
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He tells me, We want to avoid surgery, we're gonna do the cortisone injection.
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So I had to wait a week for the cortisone.
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And meantime, I'm like Well, you want to gabapentin or anything of the sort?
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Oh my goodness.
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The um spine, the ER did give me three days of a steroid pill, and then the back pain specialist said that's not enough.
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Let's do uh a dose pack of steroids.
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So that did help a bit.
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Okay.
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I was able to use a walker to get to the other doctors, but it felt like such a long, drawn-out process.
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Oh, yeah, that's horrible.
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And and for you, you said that the event was just like you just woke up and it was and painful or anything.
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So I was having that glute pain and getting out of the pain of out of bed in the morning was getting harder and harder.
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And then the morning of I rolled over to get out of bed and was hit with such extreme pain.
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I was like writhing in agony, and my husband tried to help me out of bed.
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It took it was two hours for me to get from my bedroom to my living room, which was on the same floor.
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Oh, good lord.
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Yeah, never experienced pain like that.
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Oh, yeah.
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But uh, yeah, I kind of wish I had never gotten the cortisone injection.
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It was a waste of time and money.
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Yeah, it's it's all the conservative treatment the insurance wants you to go through, I think.
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As far as I understand it, before they actually shut out the money for the big surgery, but yeah, I wasn't playing that game.
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So what did you think when you heard surgery?
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Like, great, let's do it, or were you always Oh man, horrified, absolutely horrified.
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I had never had any surgery whatsoever before in my life.
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And I was just thinking my first surgery is going to be spine surgery.
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Yeah, that was that was hard.
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That was a hard pill to swallow.
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Luckily, uh, my wife is from a medical family.
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Oh, and um, everyone in in her family is they're they're they're they're all very smart people that look at life really rationally.
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And uh, they were all saying that um, yeah, you you need surgery.
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Surgery's that it'll fix it, it'll be the way to go.
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Um, don't suffer.
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Don't, don't, don't, you mean you're having weakness and numbness, don't sit on that, right?
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Right.
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So um, that's just kind of, you know, uh start going on Reddit, starting uh on the community, and just uh yeah, it took it took uh it took a uh you know a a couple weeks to you know come to terms with the fact that you know I needed this, it was gonna happen.
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So just get through it.
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Okay.
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And at that time your wife was pregnant, right?
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So you were expecting your fur.
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Was that your first child?
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That was your second.
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So did that have a factor in the decision to get surgery?
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Absolutely.
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There was no way I was gonna be taking care of a newborn, just like completely incapacitated.
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Yeah.
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Um, my wife was let's see, I I had I had surgery June of that year, and then my little girl was born in January.
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So um, like read the next year.
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So I I was like, hey, I have like six, seven months probably just to get better.
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Yeah, that's around the time frame where I'll probably, you know, be fine.
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So yeah, it was it was also about, you know, do this now before the kid comes.
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So what was the year, by the way, that you had surgery?
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2024.
00:15:36.639 --> 00:15:36.960
Okay.
00:15:37.200 --> 00:15:40.480
So how long did you have to wait to get the surgery?
00:15:40.799 --> 00:15:45.279
That was the uh crazy part that took a lot of mental fortitude.
00:15:45.440 --> 00:15:49.919
Um, they fit me in like two weeks after my initial consult.
00:15:50.159 --> 00:15:50.480
Wow.
00:15:50.720 --> 00:16:00.399
Uh yeah, they were just uh the UW system here does a I mean, I've always had a fantastic experience with them, especially like they prioritize things really well.
00:16:00.639 --> 00:16:00.960
Okay.
00:16:01.120 --> 00:16:06.720
And they had a good opening at a really good time, and they were like, Do you want to do it?
00:16:06.879 --> 00:16:10.320
And I just get them, I gritted my teeth, and I'm like, Yeah, let's do it.
00:16:10.399 --> 00:16:15.120
Like, I'm I'm like a week and a half off my consult when I told the surgeon that I wanted to do it.
00:16:15.200 --> 00:16:18.000
Yeah, and I'm like, Oh, it's gonna be like a month, it's gonna be two months.
00:16:18.159 --> 00:16:21.519
It's like no right, less less than three weeks, and you're in there.
00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:27.679
Yeah, so most specialists, especially in in the Philadelphia area, it's like three months to get in and see them.
00:16:27.919 --> 00:16:29.039
Yeah, so yeah.
00:16:29.360 --> 00:16:32.240
I chose my surgeon based on who could see me soonest.
00:16:32.480 --> 00:16:33.840
Yeah, yep, yeah, yep, yeah.
00:16:34.240 --> 00:16:38.080
Not probably not a great way to choose a doctor, but I was in so much pain.
00:16:38.320 --> 00:16:40.240
Sometimes that's a call you gotta make, you know.
00:16:40.399 --> 00:16:41.279
Yeah, absolutely.
00:16:41.440 --> 00:16:48.080
Yeah, it just sucks that uh that it was so I mean, I mean, I guess it gives you more time to like feel the pain and really want the surgery, right?
00:16:48.159 --> 00:16:53.919
But it's uh yeah, waiting that long, even just for your appointments, just seems like absolute torture.
00:16:54.000 --> 00:16:58.879
I mean, you're just you're not even living at that point, you're just kind of waiting for time to go by in misery.
00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:01.759
So, how did you feel the morning of?
00:17:02.080 --> 00:17:03.360
Could you sleep the night before?
00:17:03.600 --> 00:17:05.039
No, no, not a wink.
00:17:05.200 --> 00:17:14.400
Uh, you know, because they they gave you this special shampoo that you're supposed to wash yourself with, and then in the morning they say take another shower and wash yourself again.
00:17:14.640 --> 00:17:20.079
And from the point where I was doing that, I kind of felt like I was heading for a science experiment, you know.
00:17:20.400 --> 00:17:24.160
And uh, you know, and you have to fast the day before.
00:17:24.400 --> 00:17:34.319
I um I love to eat, I eat all the time, and the fact that I had to fast just made it seem like that much more of like a like a science project that I was gonna go through, right?
00:17:34.880 --> 00:17:44.799
Um, you know, and we woke up the morning of my my wife drove me, and as I'm sitting in the car, no sleep, all adrenaline, all of a sudden my pain goes away.
00:17:44.880 --> 00:17:48.480
So we're driving to surgery, and I'm just like, maybe I don't need this.
00:17:48.640 --> 00:17:49.440
What's going on?
00:17:49.599 --> 00:17:50.160
Right, yeah.
00:17:50.400 --> 00:17:55.839
And then um, you know, uh that's of course, you know, we were going there, but it was super early in the morning.
00:17:55.920 --> 00:17:58.000
I think we woke up at like 3 a.m.
00:17:58.400 --> 00:18:00.079
It got there at like 4 30.
00:18:00.400 --> 00:18:07.599
The walk from the car to the hospital was just like the longest, most ominous thing.
00:18:07.839 --> 00:18:09.119
Like it was crazy.
00:18:09.279 --> 00:18:13.359
And then we get in there and they slap a QR code wristband on me.
00:18:13.519 --> 00:18:17.519
They tell my wife, hey, this is the screen you're looking at that'll let you know when he's in recovery.
00:18:17.759 --> 00:18:19.839
And I'm just like, I'm just a piece of meat now.
00:18:19.920 --> 00:18:21.920
They're gonna like I'm I'm scared.
00:18:22.000 --> 00:18:23.200
Uh, this is gonna hurt.
00:18:23.440 --> 00:18:25.440
This hospital's eerily clean.
00:18:25.599 --> 00:18:31.279
I can like there's there's like there's like a slight ringing in my ear from just like like this is real life, you know.
00:18:31.440 --> 00:18:36.160
So I was just super worried, nerves, just like I was really trying to keep it together.
00:18:36.960 --> 00:18:39.119
Um relied on humor quite a bit too.
00:18:39.279 --> 00:18:44.480
I think uh on on the way there, I I played the the song that uh that cut my life into pieces.
00:18:44.720 --> 00:18:55.119
Yeah, you know, that's all I was I was trying to get so yeah, I was just trying to, you know, like you know, uh find the humor in it in a way.
00:18:55.359 --> 00:19:08.160
Um but yeah, um I got there and uh very very nervous, but um luckily you have to go through being rolled into the OR or did you go to sleep before they even rolled you in?
00:19:08.400 --> 00:19:09.599
So that's the thing.
00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:14.160
So we got to the room where the nurse is gonna take my vitals.
00:19:14.400 --> 00:19:17.119
I and I hate needles with a passion, right?
00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:22.640
So they uh my biggest worry at that point was oh my god, this IV is gonna suck.
00:19:22.720 --> 00:19:24.079
I've never had an IV in.
00:19:24.160 --> 00:19:25.839
Uh, what's it gonna be like, right?
00:19:26.079 --> 00:19:29.359
So, but luckily the nurse that I got was just such a professional.
00:19:29.519 --> 00:19:32.000
Like, I felt nothing when she put my IV in.
00:19:32.240 --> 00:19:34.880
And she's like, Wow, your your veins are like highways.
00:19:34.960 --> 00:19:36.799
And I was like, All right, that's good, I think, right?
00:19:36.880 --> 00:19:43.519
So then she got that set up, and I'm just still a bucket of nerves in this room as I'm getting ready and putting on the gown.
00:19:43.759 --> 00:19:59.680
And um like I don't do drugs, but when they gave me like this like little bit that they gave me this collection of pills to take before surgery, like uh some tyranno, ibuprofen, just some preemptive anti inflammatories, anti nausea, too, anti nausea.
00:20:00.000 --> 00:20:00.480
Yep, yep.
00:20:00.640 --> 00:20:07.039
And uh, but one of them was uh I come to find out later, just like the fattest Sanax I've ever had in my life.
00:20:07.680 --> 00:20:13.519
So like as I'm sitting there and you know, I took I took the pills and we're waiting for something, right?
00:20:13.680 --> 00:20:17.519
And then all of a sudden, like, you know, I start chilling out.
00:20:17.920 --> 00:20:25.440
You know, I I'm I'm going through my phone, I'm laughing at my buddy's Discord channel, all the memes there, and I look at my wife and I'm like, I think I'm high.
00:20:25.680 --> 00:20:28.880
And she's like, Oh yeah, they probably gave you something.
00:20:29.039 --> 00:20:35.279
And like as I'm sitting there, you know, like just this warmness came over me, and all of a sudden I'm looking around, like, you know what?
00:20:35.519 --> 00:20:38.799
I'm I'm I'm getting ready to kiss my pain goodbye.
00:20:38.960 --> 00:20:40.880
This is gonna be all right, you know.
00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:46.480
That's great, and then yeah, and then you know, like then the nurses came in and they're like, Hey, are you ready?
00:20:46.559 --> 00:20:47.680
And I'm like, Yeah, I think I'm good.
00:20:47.759 --> 00:20:49.839
And like they hook my IV up to something else.
00:20:49.920 --> 00:20:51.119
Then I felt really good.
00:20:51.279 --> 00:20:58.640
Yeah, and as they're rolling me out to the OR, I'm like making jokes, and uh, you know, they'd roll me into the OR.
00:20:58.720 --> 00:21:04.240
I remember them rolling me in there, and I'm looking at all the equipment, and I'm like, Wow, this is really cool.
00:21:04.559 --> 00:21:06.000
And like, I'm like, what does that do?
00:21:06.079 --> 00:21:06.960
What does that do?
00:21:07.200 --> 00:21:15.599
And then they put the they put the mask on me, and then it felt like I was dreaming for like a good 45 seconds already.
00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:18.079
It didn't feel like real life, and then I was out.
00:21:18.400 --> 00:21:18.720
Wow.
00:21:18.960 --> 00:21:24.480
See, when my uh my anesthesiologist came, I was still in like the pre-op room.
00:21:24.799 --> 00:21:27.839
He was a young, handsome doctor.
00:21:28.319 --> 00:21:36.240
So I just remember getting embarrassed because I knew when they do the surgery, we're butt make it with our butts up in the air.
00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:39.920
I'm thinking he's gonna be in the surgery room with me.
00:21:40.319 --> 00:21:47.839
But then I went to sleep right there in the pre-op room, so I didn't even see the OR or or any of the equipment.
00:21:48.160 --> 00:21:51.279
And then I woke up back in the the pre-op room.
00:21:51.519 --> 00:21:52.480
They knocked you out early.
00:21:52.559 --> 00:21:54.400
They're like, Oh my god, our blood pressure's spiking.
00:21:54.480 --> 00:21:55.680
No, no, no, no.
00:21:56.000 --> 00:21:57.200
Off button now.
00:21:58.960 --> 00:22:01.359
Did you uh handle the anesthesia well?
00:22:01.920 --> 00:22:02.960
I did, I did.
00:22:03.119 --> 00:22:06.319
Um, the anesthesia, yeah, there was no issues with that.
00:22:06.480 --> 00:22:08.880
My anesthesiologist, um, he reminded me.
00:22:08.960 --> 00:22:10.240
I talked to him before I went in there.
00:22:10.400 --> 00:22:12.559
He reminded me of um, what's his name?
00:22:12.720 --> 00:22:16.640
Bill Stein, I think, the guy that did the the clear eye commercials back in the day.
00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:21.039
You know, he was just very matter-of-the-fact, like very serious, you know.
00:22:21.119 --> 00:22:24.160
And I'm like, hey, this is this is the guy that I that I want.
00:22:24.240 --> 00:22:31.279
And funny enough, he's looking through the the roster of people who are gonna be with him, and then he's going through, he's like, let me just check who will be with me here in the surgery.
00:22:31.359 --> 00:22:36.480
And he's looking through, he's like, he's like, Annie Anderson, I don't know what that is.
00:22:36.799 --> 00:22:37.759
And I'm just like, what?
00:22:38.640 --> 00:22:43.599
And then he thought for a while, I was like, Oh, she got married, and then like, you know, I'm like, oh my god, dude.
00:22:43.680 --> 00:22:45.920
Like, I hope everyone had their coffee.
00:22:46.000 --> 00:22:47.039
It is like 5 a.m.
00:22:47.279 --> 00:22:50.960
right now, like, but but yeah, no, he was all business.
00:22:51.039 --> 00:22:53.920
He was like just so like monotone and zoned in.
00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:57.680
I just I felt like this is this is the guy I want, this is the dude who's not gonna mess it up.
00:22:57.839 --> 00:22:58.319
That's great.
00:22:58.960 --> 00:23:03.359
Yeah, but the the and yeah, I I'd reacted really well to all that, thankfully.
00:23:03.519 --> 00:23:07.359
No, no, nothing crazy or scary happened throughout the surgery.
00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:11.440
Um, and yeah, it's just uh was very happy how they handled it.
00:23:11.599 --> 00:23:13.200
Yeah, turns out I'm a crier.
00:23:13.920 --> 00:23:15.519
This was my first surgery too.
00:23:15.599 --> 00:23:19.599
And when I woke up from the surgery, I just started bawling my eyes out.
00:23:19.920 --> 00:23:20.960
Oh, nice, yeah.
00:23:21.119 --> 00:23:22.880
And then I can't swallow pills.
00:23:22.960 --> 00:23:28.480
I'm an adult who can't swallow pills, so I couldn't take the anti-nausea pill that they tried to give me.
00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:30.880
Oh no, well, they have liquid stuff, right?
00:23:30.960 --> 00:23:31.839
They have like the liquid.
00:23:32.079 --> 00:23:32.640
Yeah, I don't know.
00:23:32.720 --> 00:23:34.559
They just had me deal with it.
00:23:34.640 --> 00:23:38.160
So woke up, cried, and then started throwing up immediately.
00:23:38.480 --> 00:23:39.759
Oh, yeah.
00:23:40.559 --> 00:23:40.880
Man.
00:23:41.279 --> 00:23:44.640
Now was yours an in and out, or did you have to stay the night at the hospital?
00:23:44.880 --> 00:23:48.960
In and out, American healthcare system, outpatient, you know.
00:23:49.119 --> 00:23:49.440
Uh-huh.
00:23:49.599 --> 00:23:51.599
But I I had everything set up at home, you know.
00:23:51.680 --> 00:23:54.160
I had a like I had I had my entire bed set up.
00:23:54.240 --> 00:24:03.200
I got a giant monitor arm that we hooked up behind the TV, so behind the the headboard, so I get out my computer right here, and like I had my I had a had a pretty good setup, you know.
00:24:03.359 --> 00:24:06.319
Like I like your incisional pain.
00:24:06.640 --> 00:24:14.079
Incisional pain um was a kinder pain than than um than the nerve pain.
00:24:14.240 --> 00:24:14.480
Right.
00:24:14.640 --> 00:24:22.400
Uh, I the incision pain, I remember that's the first thing I remember feeling when I woke up in recovery, then they gave me a nice little pill and I knocked out again.
00:24:22.640 --> 00:24:29.759
Um but uh the incisional pain was was very extremely manageable, even more so with the meds they give you.
00:24:30.240 --> 00:24:35.920
How much pain I would be in was like a big thing that I was worried about uh after surgery.
00:24:36.240 --> 00:24:42.480
But it's uh it's if you stick to your if you if you stick to your meds, you will be it's it's so manageable.
00:24:42.640 --> 00:24:46.160
And I don't even consider myself someone that has a high pain tolerance at all.
00:24:46.640 --> 00:24:54.640
Uh but for me it was it was uh you know, it was just I don't know, I got into this mindset, it's like this is what you're feeling, you know, deal with it now, and the meds help.
00:24:54.799 --> 00:24:57.680
And it was it was it was better.
00:24:58.799 --> 00:25:05.759
All the pain of recovery that I felt was 100% better than all of the stuff I had been feeling up to that point.
00:25:06.079 --> 00:25:07.839
And I it was almost welcomed.
00:25:08.079 --> 00:25:10.480
I was like, this is a great trade-off.
00:25:11.279 --> 00:25:15.279
Did you have a nerve pain still or did you wake up with the nerve pain gone?
00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:17.440
Woke up with the nerve pain completely gone.
00:25:17.519 --> 00:25:19.359
Um, I actually stood up right away.
00:25:19.519 --> 00:25:23.680
Uh and I I I was walking myself to get dressed and like, no, no, we'll help you.
00:25:23.759 --> 00:25:29.519
And then like they put me in like a in like a in like a wheelchair and you know, drove me back, they pushed me back to my car.
00:25:29.680 --> 00:25:35.759
But um, no, I was essentially I was I was standing up unassisted, um, uh pretty much from the get-go.
00:25:36.400 --> 00:25:50.640
Um, I don't know if because I still had like a lot of leg muscle that was, you know, helping me out, but um I the nerve, but I did have uh different nerve pain to begin with, because everything in there is just decompressing and they should they were just in there touching stuff, right?
00:25:50.799 --> 00:25:51.359
Right, right.
00:25:51.599 --> 00:26:11.519
So it was uh it was painful to walk, uh, you know, and I I did have nerve pain walking, uh, you know, as as like right after surgery, but it decreased increasingly uh through like that decrease increasingly, that's a fun word for you to say it, but uh it got better every time I went to sleep.
00:26:12.160 --> 00:26:18.079
So every single time that I caught a nap, every single time that I went to sleep, I woke up feeling way better.
00:26:18.319 --> 00:26:21.200
And again, the meds help incredibly.
00:26:21.519 --> 00:26:23.039
So that's amazing.
00:26:23.279 --> 00:26:30.559
Yeah, it was I was it was uh it was all just so just more manageable than I would have ever thought it would have been.
00:26:30.640 --> 00:26:32.880
So now how did you find recovery?
00:26:32.960 --> 00:26:38.240
Were were there aspects of it that you weren't expecting, or was yours just smooth from the get-go?
00:26:38.480 --> 00:26:45.359
It wasn't super smooth from the get-go, um, because as I was getting better, I started feeling symptoms on my other side.
00:26:45.599 --> 00:26:46.720
Yes, it's so common.
00:26:46.880 --> 00:26:47.759
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
00:26:48.160 --> 00:26:50.559
And I'm just like, what the hell is this?
00:26:50.799 --> 00:26:51.119
Right?
00:26:51.920 --> 00:26:58.640
And you know, some tingling in my in my good leg, in my good foot, you know, and I was uh just I was concerned about that.
00:26:58.799 --> 00:27:21.839
Um, but uh, you know, I just kind of went through it, talked to my doctor, reached out to the to the Reddit community, and the the medical advice I got from my doctor was just that, hey, your nerve has been compressed, nerves take a while to heal, weird things happen, you will feel weird things, just keep on going with it, and you know, it'll it'll it'll even out essentially.
00:27:22.000 --> 00:27:24.559
And that turned out to be true for in my case.
00:27:25.119 --> 00:27:27.599
So I was I was very uh happy about that.
00:27:27.839 --> 00:27:32.240
But the mind game of reherniation was something I wasn't expecting.
00:27:32.400 --> 00:27:33.039
Right, right.
00:27:33.279 --> 00:27:44.720
Because you just feel so fragile, you feel like you're you're you're you know, you uh for a while you feel like you were a bit of a of a broken individual in a way that's trying to get better.
00:27:45.279 --> 00:27:53.440
Um, and it's just uh you know, I I I had a reherniation, I had like a reherniation scare about six weeks out.
00:27:54.319 --> 00:28:02.000
Uh I I did a quick jerky movement and all of a sudden like I felt some like pain there, uh, like as I was standing and even sitting.
00:28:02.079 --> 00:28:02.160
Right.
00:28:02.319 --> 00:28:03.920
And I'm like, oh my God, is it back?
00:28:04.079 --> 00:28:04.319
Right.
00:28:04.960 --> 00:28:16.160
But you know, I reached out to my doctor, and the advice he gave uh was that hey man, if you reherniated, like you would like know for sure for sure there wouldn't be a question of like, oh, did I reherniate?
00:28:16.240 --> 00:28:21.359
I'm feeling some type of symptoms come back, but like I would have full-on pre-op symptoms.
00:28:21.440 --> 00:28:26.720
I would have like I would be in in pre in pre-op pain, if not worse.
00:28:27.039 --> 00:28:39.440
So uh I just kept that in mind, and he's like, it's just you know, uh, you know, just uh stay active and just give it give it some weeks and gritted my tree my teeth through that.
00:28:39.519 --> 00:28:48.799
And yeah, I had to do that for I think I had about four reherniation scares that was just flare-ups uh within within the first year.
00:28:50.240 --> 00:28:54.640
So that mind game is something that I don't think anyone really sees coming.
00:28:54.960 --> 00:28:55.680
Right, right.
00:28:56.079 --> 00:29:05.599
I got after my surgery, I got two more MRIs within the six month uh six month period because I was convinced I had reherniated.
00:29:05.759 --> 00:29:08.319
My pain had come back so so intense.
00:29:08.640 --> 00:29:09.200
Oh no.
00:29:09.359 --> 00:29:11.039
And it turned out to be okay.
00:29:11.359 --> 00:29:12.640
Fine, just fine.
00:29:12.880 --> 00:29:15.839
Yeah, just nerves, yeah, crazy.
00:29:16.160 --> 00:29:17.680
Oh man, yeah.
00:29:17.839 --> 00:29:24.079
I um I you know, and I actually I uh up when up when I had my first reherniation scare, I did push for a second MRI.
00:29:24.400 --> 00:29:26.799
My doctor's like, hey, I mean, it's fine if you want to get one.
00:29:26.880 --> 00:29:30.400
There's a lot of fluid there, so I don't know how good of a picture we'll get.
00:29:30.559 --> 00:29:30.880
Right.
00:29:31.039 --> 00:29:39.039
But I was like, all right, you know, um, but uh, you know, I was gonna do it, but you know, I I did end up feeling gradually better as the days went on.
00:29:39.279 --> 00:29:47.519
Uh, you know, but I got to to the to this day, I I do sleep with like a pillow in between my legs just to make sure the spine stays neutral when I'm side sleeping.
00:29:48.240 --> 00:29:55.839
But um, yeah, no, I just gave it time, gave it motion, and then it's just it ended up resolving itself time after time again.
00:29:56.000 --> 00:30:00.079
So what was the most helpful thing you had for recovery, do you think?
00:30:00.240 --> 00:30:01.119
Besides the grabber.
00:30:01.200 --> 00:30:02.160
Everyone mentions the grabber.
00:30:02.400 --> 00:30:03.440
The grabber is amazing.
00:30:03.599 --> 00:30:04.480
Oh my god.
00:30:04.960 --> 00:30:09.039
Most helpful thing for recovery that I had was just uh help.
00:30:09.279 --> 00:30:15.440
Um, you know, my my uh wife and mother took care of my of my child while I was there.
00:30:15.599 --> 00:30:22.799
Uh I I was working at a place where they were extremely uh you know lenient and understanding that I needed time off.
00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:30.640
Although, I mean, I'm a remote software developer, I could still kind of log in if I wanted to, but they told me, hey, you do not even touch your work computer.
00:30:32.079 --> 00:30:34.240
You just do what you do and get better.
00:30:34.480 --> 00:30:44.720
Um, but yeah, uh that and uh yeah, I guess in recovery, just having people to help, you know, having people to come help and cook and just hanging out.
00:30:44.960 --> 00:30:53.920
And uh, you know, and and having someone, uh a buddy of mine actually took the time to to visit me fairly often and say, Hey, let's go on a walk.
00:30:54.160 --> 00:30:54.720
That's great.
00:30:55.039 --> 00:31:00.720
I I had that support with me, just talking to him as I walked around the neighborhood and you know got better and better.
00:31:00.880 --> 00:31:03.920
So it's just the people, the people and the help was better.
00:31:04.000 --> 00:31:07.039
The grabber also shouts out to the grabber, yeah.
00:31:07.119 --> 00:31:12.240
Uh that quickly became my uh my then two-year-old's favorite toy.
00:31:12.400 --> 00:31:18.240
Um so that we had to actually get two, uh, because you know, and ended up getting broken.
00:31:18.400 --> 00:31:21.039
But um, but yeah, uh that was good.
00:31:21.119 --> 00:31:24.000
Also, the the raised toilet seat was was pretty all right.
00:31:24.079 --> 00:31:29.039
I used that once or twice, but then uh oh bidets, yeah, bidet.
00:31:29.359 --> 00:31:31.839
That is a non-negotiable of the surgery.
00:31:32.000 --> 00:31:37.680
Absolutely bidet bidet and laxatives absolutely essential.
00:31:37.920 --> 00:31:43.759
Yes, well, it's it's funny how nerve-wracking it is to go to the bathroom the first time after surgery.
00:31:44.079 --> 00:31:47.200
Oh my god, yeah, it was it's insane.
00:31:47.359 --> 00:31:51.920
Um but uh, you know, like you you you you get through it, you do all right.
00:31:52.079 --> 00:32:00.400
Um I I was a bit freaked out about the the incision because once I was could finally take a shower, I'm like, oh my god, there's gonna be water running over this incision.
00:32:00.559 --> 00:32:10.559
And like I just did not understand or could you know, like conceptualize how how tissue would heal, but it was just very for me, it was just like a sensory thing, you know.
00:32:10.720 --> 00:32:16.640
It's like oh my god, like I hope like you know, nothing bad happens down there, but right, but yeah.
00:32:16.960 --> 00:32:22.160
Now I have talked to a few moms that have suffered with mom guilt during their recovery.
00:32:22.400 --> 00:32:25.920
Did you have dad guilt when you can't pick up the kids?
00:32:27.359 --> 00:32:28.240
Yeah, I'm horrible.
00:32:28.319 --> 00:32:32.160
No, I mean like just because I knew that my horrible, yeah.
00:32:32.319 --> 00:32:38.720
My my my daughter had my mom and my wife 24-7 at every whim.
00:32:38.960 --> 00:32:47.200
And you know, when she felt like seeing dad, she would like barrel in the room and jump on the bed and be like, look at this painting, and I'd be like, All right, cool.
00:32:47.359 --> 00:32:55.920
But like, no, um, I I I didn't have too much of the of of a of a parent guilt of not being able to be there with her.
00:32:56.079 --> 00:32:57.440
I saw her all the time.
00:32:57.519 --> 00:33:08.240
I was at home all the time, but yeah, I could see how someone definitely, someone with with a more maternal uh side of you, uh point of view would definitely feel that way.
00:33:08.720 --> 00:33:13.759
I feel as though I'm like my if my wife was in that situation, she would probably be feeling that very much so.
00:33:13.920 --> 00:33:26.319
But yeah, I had spouse guilt because I felt so guilty about how much my husband had to do just to take care of me, and uh because he had a very he has a very busy job and I wasn't cooking like I usually do.
00:33:26.559 --> 00:33:30.400
So yeah, we can be hard on ourselves sometimes.
00:33:30.640 --> 00:33:31.200
Yeah, yeah.
00:33:31.279 --> 00:33:33.359
And I'm I mean, I'm I'm the cook in my house.
00:33:33.440 --> 00:33:37.519
Um, and my my my wife does have uh, you know, she's got the crazier job.
00:33:37.680 --> 00:33:47.680
Um, but you know, she was she was making it work, and you know, my mom was there to help full time, which was amazing, like absolutely just priceless.
00:33:47.920 --> 00:33:54.319
But uh, no, I mean, my luckily, you know, my wife took everything on uh, you know, very well.
00:33:54.480 --> 00:33:56.880
And I like I mentioned she's from a medical family.
00:33:57.440 --> 00:34:11.840
And her mom was was a doctor back in the country she was born in, so she was uh very, very much continue to tell my wife, yo, your husband is recovering from major surgery, like you need to like you know, be on it.
00:34:11.920 --> 00:34:20.559
And like she also understood that, so I feel as though it was a lot of like understanding there, and it was just it was just it was just a good setup from the people perspective.
00:34:20.639 --> 00:34:22.000
So I was very lucky for that.
00:34:22.320 --> 00:34:22.880
That's nice.
00:34:23.039 --> 00:34:26.000
Now, how long did you wait till you went back to work?
00:34:27.280 --> 00:34:31.280
My work gave me a solid four months off.
00:34:31.440 --> 00:34:33.599
Oh, nice, which is pretty great, yeah.
00:34:34.159 --> 00:34:41.119
So yeah, but honestly, I was I was I mean, I I work with people I work with, I consider buddies.
00:34:41.280 --> 00:34:46.880
So I was just on the work slack on my phone, uh, you know, still talking to them, letting me know how everything's going.
00:34:47.119 --> 00:35:03.280
I reviewed code as well on the side, you know, it's just you know, because people needed my opinion and uh just working was just so effortless to do because I was already like at home, like all I needed was a laptop, like my my uh my commute is going to my basement, right?
00:35:03.599 --> 00:35:11.840
Yeah, so yeah, I I I I had that much time off, but I I think I I was back in being active at work before before the that time was up.
00:35:12.400 --> 00:35:15.599
Did you make any changes to how you worked after you got back?
00:35:15.920 --> 00:35:17.199
Oh yeah, oh my god, yeah.
00:35:17.360 --> 00:35:27.519
So my my wife was uh she had the very the the good foresight to um buy me a standing desk and a desk treadmill.
00:35:28.239 --> 00:35:34.559
So I have a small little portable treadmill I put uh under my desk to help me get some steps in and walk throughout the day.
00:35:34.800 --> 00:35:41.920
Uh but as far as uh just my work setup, um yeah, she's pretty much a standing desk and the treadmill.
00:35:42.079 --> 00:35:45.039
And that was the only change, really.
00:35:45.280 --> 00:35:48.079
Uh didn't really need to change too much, thankfully.
00:35:48.400 --> 00:35:51.519
Back to hiking or any kind of weightlifting?
00:35:51.840 --> 00:35:57.920
Um yeah, so ever since yeah, so now it took me about I took it really easy for about a year.
00:35:58.079 --> 00:36:06.000
Did nothing except for walking, some swimming, but uh it about a year in then I was I was back to to weightlifting.
00:36:06.159 --> 00:36:09.599
Um, I don't do any axial loading much anymore.
00:36:10.159 --> 00:36:16.239
Uh that's so you know, no, no, no real squats, no overhead, you know, barbell stuff.
00:36:16.320 --> 00:36:21.599
But um, you know, I follow some really good uh fitness uh scientists on YouTube.
00:36:22.000 --> 00:36:22.719
Shout out Dr.
00:36:22.800 --> 00:36:24.000
Mike Isratel.
00:36:24.239 --> 00:36:26.800
I have a fantastic parasocial relationship with him.
00:36:26.960 --> 00:36:32.320
Yes, but uh, you know, I'm I'm finding different ways to achieve the same goals that I was working towards.
00:36:32.719 --> 00:36:40.079
And uh, you know, and at one point I had you know got in some of the best shape I've been in the past like four or five years.
00:36:40.239 --> 00:36:43.840
So uh I'm cooling it off now with the two kids, you know.
00:36:44.000 --> 00:36:46.000
So but uh I'm hoping to get back to it.
00:36:46.079 --> 00:36:48.079
I'm just staying baseline active now.
00:36:48.239 --> 00:36:56.800
But but yeah, um it's it's uh it's there there's there is life at the gym after the surgery.
00:36:57.360 --> 00:37:07.280
There is not there is probably not gonna be ego lifting for you, but uh it's actually encouraged that you know with this surgery, you're sort of signing a contract to keep your core strong for the rest of your life.
00:37:07.599 --> 00:37:14.079
You're signing a contract to be active and walk most days, otherwise you you will risk a flare-up.
00:37:14.639 --> 00:37:25.280
Um, and as maybe they'll probably get you know better as your fitness level increases, but uh yeah, it's it's a contract you sort of sign with yourself and it's very, very important.
00:37:25.679 --> 00:37:29.440
And you will live longer because of it, you will be healthier because of it.
00:37:29.519 --> 00:37:31.360
It's overall a net positive.
00:37:31.920 --> 00:37:34.800
It's crazy how how moving is just so important.
00:37:35.039 --> 00:37:42.079
I just had Christmas week off from work, and I spent most of the time on my couch just relaxing.
00:37:42.320 --> 00:37:43.679
I don't relax too much.
00:37:43.840 --> 00:37:50.880
So by the end of the week, I was waking up in the most severe pain in my back, and I was like, what is going on?
00:37:50.960 --> 00:37:52.239
Why am I having so much pain?
00:37:52.400 --> 00:37:57.360
And then I took my parents to a local tourist thing and we walked a lot that night.
00:37:57.519 --> 00:37:59.199
I woke up pain free the next day.
00:37:59.280 --> 00:38:01.840
I was like, it's the moving, you gotta keep moving.
00:38:02.239 --> 00:38:04.159
You know what's helped me stay sort of accountable?
00:38:04.400 --> 00:38:05.519
Chat GPT.
00:38:05.679 --> 00:38:12.079
Oh um, I I threw all of my surgery notes on there.
00:38:12.239 --> 00:38:17.599
I and it it it took out all the medical jargon and translated it to something I could understand.
00:38:17.760 --> 00:38:23.840
Uh, whenever I have a flare-up, I let it know the um the the the the symptoms that I'm feeling.
00:38:24.400 --> 00:38:36.239
And it always it talks to me like like a doctor, I prompt it to, and it always you know reminds me to be like, hey, you're feeling this 100% because you have not been walking for the past like two weeks or three weeks.
00:38:36.559 --> 00:38:38.320
Like you have not been stretching, probably.
00:38:38.400 --> 00:38:38.880
Is that true?
00:38:39.039 --> 00:38:40.239
And I'm like, yeah, it is.
00:38:40.400 --> 00:38:50.320
So you know, I have my my uh my AI assistant to keep me keep me honest and to help me calm down when I'm re you know fearing a reherniation.
00:38:50.400 --> 00:38:50.719
Yeah.
00:38:50.880 --> 00:38:54.159
Um, so that's actually weirdly enough been a fantastic tool.
00:38:54.320 --> 00:39:00.239
So I've only used it a couple times, and I maybe I need to reprompt it because I feel like all it does is hype me up.
00:39:00.559 --> 00:39:02.400
Yeah, yeah, it it'll it'll do that.
00:39:03.760 --> 00:39:16.800
Yeah, and in a lot of these chat bots, uh a lot of these a lot of these you know uh large language models, they you you you should you need to prompt them in how you want them to think beforehand because they're just very good at putting one word in front of the other, right?
00:39:16.960 --> 00:39:17.199
Right.
00:39:17.360 --> 00:39:20.320
So if you give it context, it's it's better at that.
00:39:20.559 --> 00:39:36.719
So if you say, Hey, um uh you know, uh play the play the role of of a doctor or a spine surgery specialist and uh analyze the situation for me, it will be better at giving you more accurate fill-in-the-blank information.
00:39:36.960 --> 00:39:42.239
So that's actually the first time anyone's ever recommended chat as a recovery tool.
00:39:42.559 --> 00:39:47.519
Oh my god, recovery tool, note takers, uh um chef assistants.
00:39:47.599 --> 00:39:53.440
Uh it's I'm I mean, I'm I'm a tech guy, so yeah, naturally I'm finding a million ways to use this.
00:39:53.599 --> 00:39:59.679
My wife's in tech, so we're uh we're we you know, we we're a very AI heavy family.
00:40:00.719 --> 00:40:04.480
Which is a fun thing you can say now in 2025, 2026.
00:40:04.719 --> 00:40:08.320
So I will be posting this interview on Reddit and on YouTube.
00:40:08.719 --> 00:40:14.960
What would you have to say to someone who's watching this considering surgery but scared out of their mind?
00:40:15.440 --> 00:40:40.639
I would tell them that they have a right to be scared, they have a right to be concerned, but if you're suffering any sort of prolonged weakness, if you can't put your socks on in the morning, if your life is just not there anymore, if you're like if you're living to to to to an extent where you're a shell of yourself because of the pain, the with the medical advancements that we are seeing now are amazing.
00:40:41.280 --> 00:40:42.880
Modern medicine is amazing.
00:40:47.039 --> 00:41:09.679
But the they will take care of you, whether it's giving you drugs to not care that you're about to go get operated on, or whether it's making your recovery absolutely trivial with the use of you know painkillers, or and like the everything is mapped out, and it is a it is a very safe bet to get surgery.
00:41:10.239 --> 00:41:24.239
Um and I would say just just buckle down and do it, find a good doctor, and you know, it's it's uh it's okay to be scared, be scared if you if you need to, but when you go through with it, you will see it won't be nearly as bad as you think.
00:41:24.400 --> 00:41:31.199
Yeah, not a lot of great stories make it online, also, so don't don't don't focus on the bad things there.
00:41:31.760 --> 00:41:36.239
And uh yeah, you know, I I I told my wife that, you know, I'm a bit of a sci-fi guy.
00:41:36.320 --> 00:41:41.360
I told her that you know, I don't live in a time where there's commercial space travel.
00:41:41.440 --> 00:41:47.360
I don't live in a time where I can go to a mega city with a sky bridge to the stratosphere, right?
00:41:47.760 --> 00:41:51.519
But I live in a time where there's general anesthesia, man, and that's pretty cool.
00:41:51.760 --> 00:41:52.079
Yeah.
00:41:52.239 --> 00:41:55.199
Yeah, it was like time travel, just fell asleep, woke up better.
00:41:55.280 --> 00:41:57.599
It was this thing, it was amazing.
00:41:57.840 --> 00:42:01.199
Um, but yeah, I would say don't be discouraged from the surgical option.
00:42:01.360 --> 00:42:04.000
Uh, there's a fantastic quality of life ahead of you.
00:42:04.079 --> 00:42:07.440
And if you're already feeling pain, there's there's really nowhere to go but up.
00:42:08.000 --> 00:42:12.960
Rod, I really appreciate you taking the time out and sharing your story on the podcast.
00:42:13.119 --> 00:42:17.199
I'm sure you're gonna be a great encouragement for other people who watch the video.
00:42:18.239 --> 00:42:28.880
If you are someone who has recovered well from a herniated disc or some sort of back surgery, and you'd like to share your journey, head to bedbackbeyond.com and click share your story.
00:42:29.039 --> 00:42:31.119
I would love to include your voice on the show.
00:42:31.280 --> 00:42:33.679
Once again, Rod, thank you so much.
00:42:34.000 --> 00:42:34.400
Awesome.
00:42:34.559 --> 00:42:35.760
Well, thanks for having me on.
00:42:36.079 --> 00:42:36.880
Stay welcome.