It is now exactly three weeks since I had my radiofrequency ablation surgery.
On my 2nd week, we had a few days away and a car journey which should have taken a maximum of 4hrs but unfortunately took 8.5 hrs due to protestors on a motorway which was closed in both directions.
This was obviously not an ideal ride post-surgery. The hardest part was that we were directed onto different routes but these routes were full of many other people being diverted so they just got busier and busier. I was told by the physiotherapist that I should be fine with a 4hr journey just as long as I took regular breaks to move around and stretch.
However, the trouble with the diverted routes around the countryside meant that we could not find many places we could just pull over and stop for a while. Every time we thought we would have a break we seemed to end up in another queue of traffic.
By the time we reached our destination, I had only managed two stops throughout the day and I needed help to get out of the car as my back was in such a spasm. On my post-surgery paperwork, it did mention that you may get the odd spasm but I don’t think it meant after sitting in the car. I obviously needed a lot more of my medication that day but I was pleased and surprised to find that the following day and after a sleep in a strange bed I was not too uncomfortable.
I am now down to just paracetamol twice a day and I am doing my exercises regularly. My back still feels bruised and I still get pain after sitting for a while and pain and stiffness first thing in the morning but it is still really early days at the moment so I am just going to keep my fingers crossed I progress to being pain-free in the not too distant future.
Everyone is different with regards to how long they are pain-free from 6 weeks to 6 months or even years so it is just a waiting game at the moment but I have every confidence that it has been a success and I will post another update at the six-week mark which seems to be a very popular turning point for most people after this procedure.