Good everything (I love that introduction)
It sounds like your symptoms are substantially increased since surgery. Are these symptoms worse than before surgery? The oral steroid was a good idea but with no substantial relief, a new MRI with gadolinium should be considered. PT can be started within 2 weeks but your symptoms seem to be intolerable. You could have something like a seroma that can be aspirated but you might have a recurrent disc herniation. Time for a new MRI.
Dr. Corenman