To the person searching this site for “laminectomy survival stories”?
My dad has one.
I guess it ends well, since, the other day when my daughter and I were talking to him (he’s 74) in his kitchen, without warning, he hopped up, jumped up on the tiny metal bistro chair at his breakfast table, and, proceeded to change the overhead lightbulb.

It’s taken my father and me this long to get to some semblance of a normal routine since my mother’s death in July, and, his subsequent back problems, surgery and recovery.
For him, it’s really the first time in quite a long time that he can go out and do whatever he wants, whenever he wants, as toward the end, my mother couldn’t be left alone. Due to my duties as the Sandwich Generation Poster Child, I couldn’t always be there to give him a break in caregiving duties, so that meant that sometimes there were days he couldn’t leave the …read more

So, my dad is going back to work today.
Seventy-four years old, less than 3 weeks out from a lumbar laminectomy and returning to work teaching high school. I’d say that’s pretty good.
The dog? Dunno. No worse, I suppose, but, when you’re 119 years old, it’s hard to tell.