Well, it’s 4 weeks since surgey… only 2 more weeks with these bloody DVT socks on!

I had to drive to my 4 week follow up appointment across town and I’m in slightly more discomfort that I normally am.  I’m going to take a walk and see how I feel afterward.  The seated position for driving seems to be the hardest thing for me to do right now.

My back is progressing as it should be and the spinal doctor loved to see the xrays and information that Mr. Boeree had provided.  6 weeks are important, but 12 weeks is the magic date for bone growth.  He also told me not to attempt sports for at least 6 months and I told him I was going to wait the full year before I try to sneak back onto the ice (if everything goes well).  Some guy in Calgary decided it would be alright to go bull riding at 6 months – needless to say, I don’t think that’s a good idea.  The doc re-iterated that I had done the right thing and that he would have done the same thing my shoes.

Mr. Boeree ok’d my joint supplement as well, so I’ll start taking it today.  Sorry, no photos. 🙁 Boring Update.

I’ve cancelled my return to work next Monday in favour of going back on August 29th.  I need to do some more healing.

-Brett

I went though my camera today and picked out a few shots that I didn’t ever upload previously… here they are:

Top Gear

Trafalgar Square in London

Local Pints

My room in hospital

They marked me down as needle phobic!

I am VERY needle phobic.  🙂

I ended up walking 8km yesterday across 4 outings and helped my wife grocery shop.  I felt fine yesterday and have no discomfort so far this morning.  So far so good.

-Brett

Our Sunday morning walk was great today and I had no ill effect from pushing the distance a little. I did 4.5 km just this morning, so I’ll go over my 6km mark today and my back feels nice and strong. My pain level is still very low and spikes only when I sit/stand for too long. By spike, maybe a 2 out of 10. After 20-40 minutes lying down, I’m good to go again.

The pain when it spikes is not around L4/5 either, I will note. It happens in the muscles/ligaments slightly lower and to the sides of my spine… as well as around the sacro joint. I’m guessing these “distraction” pains will subside with time.

I’ve driven a few times now without any issue too. I’m going to limit the drives to short distances so I’m not sitting for too long just to be safe, but the act of driving is not strenuous at all.

I’m also feeling stronger and more confident as the abdominal pain/swelling from the OP dissipates. It’s almost completely gone now and I’m able to flex more core muscles properly for stabilization exercise. The months of core work pre-op are paying off now and I can’t wait to start some gentle yoga again when the bone is fully integrated with the M6.

-Brett

I took a short drive today and it wasn’t too bad at all.

-Brett

It’s great to see that Tim’s surgery went well and I wish him all the best in his recovery.  Those photos are pretty cool!

I had an appointment with my GP today and had a good chat about my recovery and pursuing reimbursement from our provincial healthcare system.  He put me in touch with someone that had success in the fight previously and we’ll see where that takes me.  He ok’d the reqs for my xrays at 3 months, 6 months and 12 months as requested by Mr. Boeree, and a six weeker that I wanted for myself.

I’m also trying to sort out my expenses from my London work trip for the week pre-surgery.  Expense reports suck at the best of times, and are even more of a chore after spinal surgery!  So many little receipts, so limited my time in the sitting position!  Back to the real world, eh?

Netflix has been a god send.  It works on my macbook, iphone and tv.  No matter where I’m at, I can always watch a movie.  I’m also finally reading Shantaram – 900 pages should keep me wrapped up for a little while at least.

I’m going back into my physio on Monday and have been doing some of the very gentle core exercises as well as my walking.  I haven’t altered my speed or time on the walks yet and probably won’t until week 4 or 5.  My discomfort is getting  a little better each day and I’ve tried a couple little, gentle bends… NO PAIN LIKE BEFORE.  It is quite remarkable.  I still get the tightness and discomfort if I’ve been standing or sitting too long, but the sharp pains I’d get from a slight bend or getting up out of a chair are completely gone.  I will not try extension or twisting until well after 6 weeks.

I’d like to get back into my glucosamine/chondroitin supplementation, but I’m worried about the ginger and tumeric that is included in Animal Flex.  They are both natural anti inflammatories and are cox-2 inhibitors… just like NSAIDs.  I’m guessing they could serve as bone growth inhibitors.  I’ll post on ADRSupport to see what they say.  I really want the gluco/chond to help protect the rest of my cartilage and prevent any future surgies if possible!

I’ve officially worn out my first pair of Birkenstocks! I bought them to help my back last fall and have worn right through the cork with all of my pre-post surgery walking.

These flight socks are getting more annoying each day.  It’s almost like wearing a toque for too long.  Only 3 more weeks!

Lastly, I still feel weird about having a piece of metal and polymer in my back.  I don’t really know how to describe it, but I’ve had to augment myself because my own biology has failed me.  The M6-L is better than what I had, but will never be as good as the real thing.  I still have a number of reservations about how well this device will last and whether or not it will cause complications for me down the road.  Only time will tell.  From a more philosophic side of things, I watched a great documentary on Netflix called Transcendent Man.  It talks at great length about the pace of technology growth in our society and the idea of augmenting ourselves.  It’s worth a watch, especially for us cyborgs.

-Brett