[Hernia Experience Log 10] "No pain!" The moment I woke up, I was so happy I could cry

I even searched for another general hospital that performs endoscopic surgery,

"If I'm going to have surgery, I'll choose the endoscopic one."

I had made up my mind to that extent.

I had the images returned from the first general hospital, and all that was left was to go and hear what another doctor had to say.

Surgery was no longer a distant prospect.

However, before I went to that hospital...

Changes began to appear in my symptoms.

About two months after my last nerve block injection🌿

I felt the change about two months after receiving my last nerve block injection at the pain clinic.

It was just around the time my daughter's entrance exams had finished safely and she was approaching her graduation ceremony.

Until then, if I were to rate the severity of the neuralgia on a scale of 1 to 10, it was about a 7 or 8.

That started to drop to days where it was about a 5 or 6, and on good days, I began to feel it was about a 3 or 4.

It wasn't that the pain disappeared suddenly one day.

It wasn't that it was so painful until yesterday, only to be back to normal the next morning.

It wasn't that kind of miraculous recovery either.

In my case,

slowly and gradually.

Before I knew it,

"Huh? Is it easier than before?"

I felt like the days I could think that were increasing.

The pain that had been continuing from my buttocks to my thighs, calves, and ankles also began to ease overall.

Especially since my condition in the morning started to change,

"Maybe, just maybe, I might keep getting better from here."

I was able to think that for the first time.

Ever since the onset, I had been reviewing everything I could one by one.

It wasn't that I suddenly changed my lifestyle around this time.

Right after I got the hernia, I had been thinking constantly,

"What can I do to reduce the burden even a little?"

that was what I was thinking about all the time.

The first thing I reviewed was my sleeping environment 🛏️

Pillow height. (Replacing my pillow)

Mattress. (I bought a mattress for the first time)

A cushion to place between my legs when sleeping on my side. (I started using a U-shaped Yogibo cushion.)

Since I was waking up many times in the middle of the night,

"I want to at least make the time I'm sleeping more comfortable"

was my thought process.

I also changed my environment for using the computer 💻

Since I sit for long periods, I also prepared a special cushion to reduce the burden on my buttocks and lower back.

And, to avoid sitting for too long,

If I've been in the same position for about 30 minutes, I move around once.

I have also become very conscious of this.

Never lift heavy objects!!

When I absolutely have to lift something, I am mindful of how I move so that the burden is not placed solely on my lower back.

On days when I feel a little discomfort, I stop right there.

In the past,

"This much is fine"

was how I would move, but now,

"I'll skip it for today"

is how I am able to think.

For me,

"I will never push myself too hard again"

that was the extent of my resolve.

Since my symptoms eased after a while of continuing these adjustments,

"I wonder if what I've been doing has helped at least a little bit"

is something I did think.

However, I don't know what had an effect or to what extent.

I believe it was a combination of many things, such as injections, medication, the passage of time, and how I spent my days.

The morning I didn't wake up in pain

And there is a morning I still cannot forget.

When it was at its worst, I would wake up about every hour during the night.

I'd wake up in pain.

I'd change my position.

Then I'd fall back asleep.

It was just a cycle of that.

But little by little, I started being able to sleep for two hours, then three hours at a time.

And then one morning, when I woke up,

I thought,

"Huh?"

I didn't wake up because of pain.

I just woke up normally.

"I'm not in pain..."

The moment I realized that, tears came to my eyes.

Just sleeping, morning coming, and waking up naturally.

Before, this was something I wouldn't have thought twice about.

But for me, having experienced days where I couldn't sleep properly through the night, that alone was enough to make me cry with joy.

"Ah, I was able to sleep until morning."

I still remember that feeling of being moved.

When I was able to sleep on my back, I thought, "Maybe I don't need surgery after all."

As more time passed, I became able to sleep on my back as well🌙

Since I had only been able to sleep on my side for a long time, this was a pretty big change for me.

For the first time in a while, I lay on my back, and

"Huh? I'm okay in this position too"

when I thought that,

"If I've come this far, maybe I don't need to have surgery right away?"

I started to feel that way.

I had even prepared to go to another general hospital that could perform endoscopic surgery, but I decided to put those plans on hold for now.

It wasn't that I forced myself to think that way because I wanted to avoid surgery.

It was because, within myself,

"It's clearly different from before"

I had reached a point where I could feel that.

I can wash my face. I can put on my socks. It's so wonderful that I can do that.

The things I could do also increased.

I can bend forward to wash my face.

I can put on my own socks.

Even if I bend my body to pick something up off the floor, I am not struck by the intense pain I used to feel.

Each one is really a trivial movement.

But for me,

"I did it again!"

they were all things that made me think that.

When my hernia was at its worst, every time I moved, I would think,

"Will this cause pain?"

That is what I thought.

That changed, and I gradually became able to move without thinking about it.

This change was huge.

I also continued my morning and evening care.

I kept up with the care I could do myself.

Using resources like YouTube, I did stretches and incorporated exercises focused on breathing.

There were days when I spent 30 to 40 minutes on this in the morning and evening.

However, I had previously experienced my symptoms worsening due to stretching.

Therefore,

"The more I do, the better"

was not how I thought about it.

If I felt any discomfort, I would stop.

I didn't force myself to stretch.

I adjusted to how I felt that day.

I was very cautious about that.

"I recovered thanks to this exercise"

I don't intend to claim that definitively.

Because even I don't know what was most effective.

However, instead of overworking my body like I used to,

I started making time every day to check on how my body was feeling.

That was a big difference from before I had the hernia.

Not needing painkillers anymore was also a major change💊

By this time, I had stopped taking painkillers like Loxonin and Voltaren.

Before, I had

"If the medicine wears off, it will hurt again"

anxiety.

So, on days when I could go the whole day without taking anything,

"I'm really getting better"

I felt happy.

I am still taking Tarlige, a medication for nerve pain.

However, the dosage has been reduced to about half of what it used to be.

Thinking back to when my medication was constantly increasing, being able to reduce it made me feel like I was recovering.

I gained about 4 kilograms while I couldn't move

Since getting the hernia, my weight has increased by about 4 kilograms.

I can't do the training I loved so much.

I go out less.

I can't move the way I want to.

Every time I look in the mirror,

"I've gained weight..."

I would sometimes feel down about that.

But now,

"I've managed to get back to this point from that state, so that's enough for now."

That is what I think.

There is no point in rushing to lose weight only to hurt my back again.

From now on, I want to gradually return to my original figure within a reasonable range.

Only being able to sleep on my side was also stressful in terms of beauty.

This is a bit different from the hernia itself, but it was quite a big deal for me.

Because I spent a long time sleeping on my side,

"I feel like the left and right sides of my face have changed."

"I feel like I have more wrinkles."

I started to feel this way.

When my symptoms were severe, I didn't have the luxury of thinking about beauty.

But as I started to feel better, I began to pay attention to those things as well.

"I want to go back to who I was before I had a hernia."

I had those feelings too.

Now, I'm taking care of that little by little while incorporating facial exercises and such 😊

Being able to think about beauty might be proof that I've recovered that much.

My "normal" has returned 🌿

I can wash my face.

I can put on my socks.

I can sleep looking up.

I don't have to wake up many times in the middle of the night.

I can go through the day without taking painkillers.

Before, all of these were taken for granted.

But precisely because everything became difficult once,

I understood from the bottom of my heart how grateful it is to be able to live normally.

I understood from the bottom of my heart.

Waking up in the morning,

"No pain!"

I still cannot forget the joy of the day I thought that.

And,

"You've done well to make it this far"

I thought to my own body.

I feel like before I had a hernia, I only thought about pushing my body too hard.

But now it is the opposite.

If I feel even the slightest discomfort, I rest.

I don't do anything reckless.

I don't let my guard down even on days when I feel good.

Because I never want to go back to the pain I felt back then.

I am still visiting the general hospital where I first consulted about surgery, receiving medication for nerve pain and monitoring my progress.

It has been about eight months since then.

How much pain or numbness remains now?

And what am I doing to prevent a recurrence?

Next time, I would like to write about my current condition and the things I continue to do to take care of my body🌿

*This article is a record of my own experience regarding my symptoms, treatment, and the adjustments I made in my daily life. I cannot personally determine the cause of my symptom improvement. Furthermore, bedding, cushions, stretches, and exercises that work for one person may not work for another. Please consult a professional, such as a doctor, rather than relying on your own judgment regarding the treatment of lumbar disc herniation, exercise, or the reduction or discontinuation of medication.