Written 2 months ago by Angel Croitor

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When you think of someone in their 20s you don’t immediately assume that they’d be bed bound and suffering on a day to day basis from a herniated disc. Leanne Stewart, a native from Mountmellick, spoke to Midlands Today about her daily struggles and the gut wrenching disappointment of having your life-changing surgery delayed for the fourth time in three years.

Leanne originally hurt her back in 2011 while working at a dog groomer’s and ended up twisting her back as the dog resisted washing. She says she knew instantly that something was wrong but she left it up to a “pulled muscle”. The injury turned out to be a herniated disc in her spine.

“I was able to do a bit more in the beginning but now I’ve trouble with driving with everyday tasks – I could walk but I’ll pay for it later with pain.”

After going through 12 weeks of physiotherapy to see if it would help but the pain didn’t seem to subside. A neurosurgeon recommended a lumbar discectomy, shaving off a part of the disc sitting on the nerve, and the first surgery took place in April 2014. It proved successful up until six weeks post surgery when Leanne had to go to A&E in Portlaoise and was sent to have an MRI. They discovered that a disc below the previously affected disc had herniated as well.

“It was already bulging, so it was a bulging disc, but the surgeon felt that it wasn’t causing me any trouble so he didnt touch it when he went to fix the original disc – so six weeks later it decided to herniate.”

Leanne believes that the surgeon thought it was likely to herniate but not as quickly as it did. The surgeon, upon finding out that the first operation had alleviated her pain, believed that another operation would sort out any pain issues whatsoever by going with the same procedure.

Once she was put back onto the list for a lumbar discectomy she was told that it could be a year as the waiting list could be quite long. Since July of 2014 Leanne has been delayed four times to date because of the lack of beds available at Beaumont Hospital. There isn’t any notice about surgical cancellations, Leanne informs us, as you have to ring up on the day and inquire if there is a bed available.

“It’s getting worse and with each MRI I have it’s shown that what began with one disc is now three discs.” 

Leanne says that, outside of the pain, the worst parts of her life after the herniated disc has been missing out on events and plans with her friends and losing her opportunities at a career in dog grooming.

But she hasn’t given up on life whatsoever – even though she believes she’ll never be able to have another physically demanding job ever again she is considering taking up an office job. She has applied for a variety of courses but with the pain she experiences she cannot attend courses in person. Even online courses aren’t much of an option when the pain takes over and stands in the way of deadlines.

After receiving correspondence from Sean Fleming of copies of letters that he has sent to the hospital groups Leanne has been given a glimmer of hope as “they anticipate the surgery will be done by October 2017”.

Despite it being so soon – it will be three years of Leanne’s life that she won’t get back and the delays are to blame.

We’re here to tell your story – has something similar happened to you or someone you know? Tells us at midlandstoday@midlandsradio.fm 

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