Living with Surgical Procedures

Ten years ago I had a caudal block which resulted in permanent damage to the L5 nerve. This resulted in considerable numbness in my right leg and foot. I was told this would come right by itself. It never has! A couple of weeks after the caudal block, I had a discectomy, followed 2 years later by fusion of S1/L5&L4. For the past 6 years I suffered from on-going back pain. All the time I had partial numbness and sensation in the leg and foot, but managed to live with the problem. At the beginning of this year I had a further fusion, this time of L4/L3 and a decompression. Since the operation my back has responded well but I have had an inordinate amount of burning, tingling, numbness and sensation passing through my right leg and foot. I have been advised that I could take medication for this condition, but the thought horrifies me. I do not want to be on medication, which has many undesirable side effects and is very costly, for the rest of my life. It is 9 weeks since my operation and I am still hoping that this condition will settle down to what it was like before my last operation.

I am deeply distressed and would really like to know if anyone has got or has had this problem and what they have done to cope with it. Thank you.