It's my one year anniversary since my surgery! This is quite a big accomplishment. What a difference a year
makes. A year ago I was in the hospital sick as a dog from the morphine. About to go home and not shower for two weeks. Barely move around my house. Yikes!I am doing so much better. I still am not 100%. But I'm in the 80s or 90s I'd guess. Probably 90s. Lately having some minor aches and sciatica, but nothing bad enough to take advil for. So that's a good sign. With winter and the holidays, I've slacked off on my walking and exercising routine, which is probably why I'm having a little trouble. I always do so much better after I walk. It's when I don't exercise that I get sore -- counter-intuitive I know.
I am still slightly numb on my "bad foot," in the baby toe and in a spot on the underside of the foot. No where near like it was last year. The surgeon told me it'd take a year to clear up. I suspect it might be nerve damage. It isn't badly numb, but the numbness just never completely goes away. My limping is completely gone and has been for 9 or 10 months. I am doing pretty great overall, I gotta say.
Last year this time my new year's resolution was to just get through the healing process. I was so afraid the surgery hadn't worked since I didn't see instant improvement like so many anonymous people on the internet claim to see. That's OK, it worked. I'm glad I did it.
My resolution this year will be to strengthen my back. My physical therapist advised me to avoid high impact and weights for at least a year. It's been a year but I'm not ready to go back to that yet. I plan on doing a lot of low impact stuff like continuing to walk and swim, and to do exercises to strengthen my back muscles. I feel weak there, I probably am. I also want to take a "yoga for a healthy back" type of class this year. Where I used to do high impact aerobics and elliptical machines, I now plan to work on resistance type stuff like yoga and pilates. Perhaps a balance ball or something. Get more use out of that gym membership I won't cancel.
It's so weird to think about how upset I was a year ago. I really was not 110% sure I was making the right decision to have surgery, since my pain had leased (but my limp had worsened). I made the right decision. I am so much better than I would have been had I tried to wait for it to heal on it's own. Not to mention I'd probably always have a limp. So I am glad I did it.
What a year it's been. I've learned a lot of things about myself, about surgery, about backs, about chronic pain. I hope that by taking charge of my health and weight I can avoid future back problems. Working on it, anyway. Here's to a healthy back in 2010!
