One Year Anniversary

Wow, time fly's. Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of my spinal fusion surgery to correct scoliosis. This significant milestone has been a long time coming; however, the journey has been filled with many lessons and rewards. I am pleased to say I am now living an "almost" pain free life. I have dived into an active fitness routine, a yoga lifestyle, and a healthy organic eating plan. All of these items coupled with the love and support of my family and friends have made the recovery process significantly easier. 

My family still reminds me of how I was up and out of bed within 2 weeks of being home and that I insisted to drive myself to work within a month. Now I am unsure if this was a wise idea; however, the rate in which I recovered was truly amazing. Throughout the last year there has been numerous occasions where I managed to do something "stupid" which rendered me immobile for upwards of a week. For example, pushing myself too hard in my workouts, insisting I could lift heavy objects, general clumsiness, or stress induced pain. Nonetheless, I always bounced back and continued onwards towards the next obstacle. 

The only concern I still have is the upper bolt securing the rods. When I am stressed or tired it seems to jut out of my back under my left shoulder blade causing a very uncomfortable amount of pain. Dr. Mahood should be calling me to book a one year check up any day now and hopefully he has some recommendations on how to realign the bolts positioning. As of my most recent x-rays my spine is still at 35 degree curve. This is 1/2 of what it was prior to surgery (70 degrees). I believe very scoliosis patient wishes the results would have been just a little better then. However, I am grateful that my body was able to endure the process to gain the 50% correction. 

The major point I feel the need to express is the benefits of eating healthy and taking care of ones body. I hear so many stores of people with severe back pain that instead of getting up and moving decide that the best remedy is to stay in bed all day. Now I am not saying this as a blanket statement, I am fully aware that there are cases out there where exercise is not the best solution. However, I can say for myself that when I begin the experience the most pain is when I have forgotten to stretch and practice yoga for a few days. On the topic of yoga.... 

I saw this picture the other day and couldn't refrain from laughing. This is exactly how I feel. When the instructor simply requests that everyone do a forward bend and I am not quite at a 90 degree angle I need to remember to laugh at myself and not get frustrated. There will always be moves and poses that I will never conquer simply because metal does not bend. And... it should NOT BEND.  However, the stretches I can achieve do wonders for relieving stress on my spine and muscles.  

 

Cheers to one year Post Spinal Fusion Surgery and

Cheers to many more years standing taller!