The reason why I need to recover

Some good news today, and something that really sharpens my mind to the recovery and rehabilitation.

He refused to take his hand away for almost the whole scan

Finally, a better shot!!

With bub due in 10 weeks, I have 10 weeks to keep focusing on my recovery.
Knowing how much I'll be lifting (capsules, prams, bub etc) and twisting and lifting into and out of cars, I'm super conscious of being able to be well enough to do this.

It means doing the rehab, doing it diligently, not doing anything stupid to risk it.

Its also puts your priorities into perspective.

8 weeks post surgery

I've just hit the 8 weeks post surgery mark and am doing awesome.  I'm doing heaps more incidental things around the house, but still not bending, twisting or lifting much.

I am really happy with how its going. i actually have moments where i think, "this might actually work, I might be pain free" after a decade in pain this is quite a strange thought.

I had an increase in pain at 6 weeks, but aside from that the recovery seems to be continually progressing well. I'm putting this increase in pain down to coming off pain killers of any kind and an increase in activity. After easing off the activity for a few days and getting back on the meds, it settled down. The other point I'd note is I've had some pain in my calves. I put this down to DVT (like what they warn you about on a long haul flight when you're still for too long!!) I have found that pair of compression socks has helped manage this. The hard part is getting my wife to put them on because i can't bend over and put socks on!!

I've started back up at work (office job)- on a graded return to work program:

2 weeks @ 3 days x 3 hours

2 weeks @ 3 days x 5 hours

2 weeks @ 3 days x 7.5 hours

2 weeks @ 4 days x 7.5 hours

2 weeks @ 5 days and review

This is designed to ease me back into work, and keep testing my tolerances for the workload and allow enough rest to recover. Again, nice and slow so as to avoid increasing the risk of jeopardising the recovery. This also means I'm getting in and out of cars more frequently and much easier. I probably could have started doing this a bit early, but I was cautious of this.

This afternoon I go for my first massage post surgery with a sports massage expert - I'll be staying away from the surgery area, but will focus on the periphery. I've found that my hip flexors cramp heaps, gluts are sore, neck is saw, and calves are hurting so I'll focus on all of these.

I see a sports Specialist doctor on 21 January and will design the rehab program there with him to cover the next 3 months (this will be at about the 10 week mark)

I'm booked in to see a physio with experience in treating patients rehab-ing out of spinal fusion on 22 January. I'll be picking her brain on everything I can to do with the rehab.

My surgeon has been encouraging me to be as active as reasonably possible, but I've resisted this for a while. I wanted to reach the 8-10 week mark before I started doing more. This was only based out of fear of jeopardising the fusion, but really it is quite strong with all the screws and rods. That and i wanted the guidance of experts experienced in the rehabilitation of spinal fusion patients. Next week I plan on kicking off pool sessions - just running along in the water using a floaty belt to keep me upright. This should promote more cardio, blood flow etc and be low impact. It should also test out range of motion for my stride length without being under pressure.

Overall, I'm really happy with it. It seems to be going smoothly, I've got a good network around me to help the recovery and it should all be ok out to March when bub is due.

A big thanks to Jonesi and Jessa for popping around yesterday and moving all my furniture (my wife and I can't lift a thing between us!!) so we can set up the nursery for the baby - thanks guys, really appreciate it.

6 weeks - hows it going?

So, its been a little while.

I saw the surgeon last week, who was pretty happy with how it was all going. That was reassuring. Its great to actually sit down for half an hour with an expert who has seen it hundreds of times and have all your questions answered. Very reassuring.

So how is it right now, at this moment? I'm hurting. Jeez it's aching. Its crazy. It's hard to tell if it is the bone, or if its muscular (and you can't even do the whole, bend, twist, stretch thing to check!!) I haven't done anything stupid, I'm not mowing the lawn, moving furniture, or re-tiling the roof. I've had 24 hours with absolutely zero pain killers of any kind. I think this may have been a bad idea. Will fix this tomorrow.

I'm not doing anything stupid, but I'm able to do vastly more incidental things now, I'm much more active overall during the day. I emailed the surgeon to ask his thoughts on this. Naturally, my thoughts go to all the bad places on this - the spacers have moved, the screws have come loose, I have to go have the surgery again to fix it, ruining my time frame for recovery.

It was again reassuring to have the surgeon give a calm, considered response on this. He said is common for a bit more pain around this time, as people generally become more active. That, coupled with the decrease in pain killers will do it. The advice, very unlikely its anything bad, most recent X-rays look good. Scale back the activity for a day or two and see how it goes. By all means, see my local doc, and get some X-rays to check, see a physio, but it should be fine. It was enough to calm me down.

That said the pain is still there. Its different from the pre-surgery pain, but it hurts like hell. I'm glad I have another 2 weeks before I go back to work part time. The last thing I would want to be doing is rushing back before its too soon and jeopardising the recovery.

I think its a good stage for reflection on this.. Its six fix since I had major surgery. I couldn't dress myself, get food, or do anything for a while there. I needed help for everything. Now I can do these things. Its important to manage my expectations and have a reality check on this. Yes, I'm in pain (for a good reason, I had surgery and they drilled 4 screws into my vertebrae!!) but I'm in different pain. Also, I find taking a macro look at things help. Don't focus or over analyse the day to day stuff. Compare today with a week ago, what about the week before, or last month? Hell, I'm heaps better, much improved, more mobile. Sure, I've had some new pain kick in, but its a reminder that I need to pay attention to my body and how it recovers. That I will always have to be conscious of this. This new pain, I'll manage that, I'll get through that too.

32 days recovery - new xrays!!

Yesterday I had some new X-rays done prior to seeing the neurosurgeon on Wednesday.

I was very keen to have a look at how its coming along, not that I'd be able to see too much!!
I had a laugh at the radiologist how noted in his report that:

"A posterior fusion has been performed at L5/S1 with malleable rods and pedicular screws.  A disc spacer has been placed at this level."

Even I can tell that's happened!!

Anyway, overlapping the scans, they don't appear to change at all, which I suppose is good? the spacers haven't moved. I suppose I'll wait until tomorrow and get the neurosurgeon's opinion.

PLIF Recovery - 4 weeks

Today is exactly four weeks since the surgery. A pretty big milestone.

How is it going? Pretty good I think.Yesterday I managed a total of 2 hours walking around, covering 7km. I'm starting to test my tolerance for sitting. This is something the doctors haven't excluded, more me being super cautious over the last few weeks. I've finished all the drugs I was prescribed too.

I'm getting a little bit of jarring type pain when I walk (only on uneven ground, or if the foot path drops out from under me unexpectedly). It's only on the right hand side, it feels a little more muscular than bone or joint. Nonetheless it is something I'm worried about - have I been doing to much, did I do something stupid to set it off, or is it just because of the drugs wearing off?

I'm very keen for the X-rays on Monday and to see the surgeon on Wednesday. I really want to see if anything has moved, how the fusion is coming along, and check in with all the medical milestones again.

The biggest thing for the moment though is managing the frustrations. I've had a few cranky moments over the last week. I've struggled with these, but am working through them ok. These are simple frustrations, like I'm sick of lying down, I'm sick of not being able to contribute, I'm sick of doing nothing. It's not like I want to going mountain climbing, kayaking, play rugby or take up MMA, its just that I'd like to be able to put my socks on myself, I wish I could take the garbage out. I wish I could reach the bottom cupboard with the dish washing liquid so I could wash up. These are the frustrations I have.

I have my computer, a playstation, TV, books, a Kindle and an iPhone, all to keep me busy, but still, I'm bored. I want the stimuli of work, of engaging conversation, new challenges. None of which I can get while being on my own.

I'm glad I knew these frustrations would be coming, the insights gained from my last surgery have been invaluable and have allowed me to develop coping mechanisms. If you had this surgery with no preparation, it would be really hard. I think you'd struggle with your own expectations on recovery time, and what you could do and what you wanted to do. For anyone about to have this surgery, please, make yourself aware of this and put plans in place.

I find if I'm frustrated for a day it helps to keep the bigger picture in mind. I think back to last week, how mobile was I then compared to now, what about the week before, and the week before? In bigger chunks the progress is noticeable, if not day by day

Day 24 of PLIF recovery

Been a few days since my last post. I've been distracted by Assassins Creed 3 and test cricket (jeez the Aussies are struggling at the moment)

The facts:
3x 30 min walks. Stride is freeing up, walking much more freely and looking less and less like a senior citizen. I'm walking between 4.5 and 5.5km a day. The pain is very manageable. Probably 2/10 if I forget to take pain killers. I'm using pain killers less and less.

My Mum went home this morning. It was awesome to have her up here for a week. Someone to take the pressure of looking after me off my 25 week pregnant wife. It was great to have someone do all those little things around the house; washing dishes, hanging out clothes, making lunch etc. All the little things that add up. Plus with baby on the way, there were plenty of stories about what my brother and I got up to as kids, some hints, tips, methods to cope etc. Also, living 3 states away, it was great just to hang out, watch a movie and have a chat. Thanks Mum.

The other point now is that I largely feel OK. I sense that this is the "danger zone" (Archer quote there - you like that Jarrod?). An example; I'm spending most of my days lying in bed. My iPhone is next to me. I get up for lunch and my phone rings. Sure, I feel fine, I'll just lean over and grab it  - NO - don't do it. I find I'm picking myself up on these types of things. Constantly reminding myself not to over do it, not to twist, bend, lean, lift, all those little everyday things. Very frustrating and a major exercise in self-control. I've got the time off work to recover, use it, don't do anything stupid to risk the recovery.

I have an X-ray this time next week, followed up with an appointment with the neurosurgeon back up in Sydney. I'm very keen to get this done, and see how its all going .

Day 16 PLIF recovery

Change is slow and steady at the moment. I'm hopeful that it continues along this road.

Speaking of roads, I'm walking more and more of the streets around my home. Today I did 1 x 17 min walk and 2 x 20 min walk. 17 min gets me about 750m and 20 min about 1km. The walks are getting faster each couple of days and my stride is getting better as well. If I'm not careful and overstride a step I can feel some tightness in my sacrum and lower back - a good sign to keep taking it easy and to listen to my body. I think this is important as it will drive the speed, and ultimately the success, of the recovery rather than any arbitrary goals if speed, distance or time.

A few frustrations are kicking in. I'm sick of lying down for most of the day. I have the tv, PS3, kindle, iPhone all set up but I'm still annoyed. Managing this and my own expectations remains a challenge.

My wife has taken the last week off, it has been so great to hang out with her and to have someone to do all the little things. I'd have been screwed without her. But she goes back to work tomorrow. So my mum arrives at lunch time tomorrow to take over caring duties! Very thankful. With me being injured and my wife being 24 weeks pregnant, it will be so nice to have an extra set of hands around the house to take the pressure off.