YEAR #2 -- REBUILDING

I am still working on getting back to normal. Silly me thought the magic of one year post op would have me just like new. Not So!

Yes, I am all new but I didn't realize that my muscles and joints would need renovation as much as my spine! I asked questions to everyone from doctors, physical therapists, trainers who might know something about what my body had experienced and why, why, why was I so inflexible, my muscles so nonexistent, my joints horribly stiff. Much of the first year was spent in my spine fusing and stabilizing. I was limited in my movements in order to protect this new back. Once that was complete the next step would have to be in rebuilding my muscles and becoming more flexible.

I spoke to Jean Youngblood, my surgeon's clinical nurse, about my confusion with what I should be doing and how much. She worked with Dr. Horton for nearly 20 years and KNOWS it all. She has become a wonderful friend and our lives have grown together in areas having nothing to do with my surgery. She is one incredible woman! I had lunch with her a month ago and she said, "Cheryl, you're fused! You can do whatever your body will let you do. You must now get body strong." That was what I needed to hear. The strength to gain was for me to make happen. It would not happen on it's own. In addition to my need to rebuilt muscle, I had issues with instability when walking. This would take as long as 5 years to improve. Jean told me the reason being that my body had functioned one way for 64 years and it wouldn't change overnight. So, this is the year of working on my body. It's to the gym daily, exercises at home, walking, swimming etc. These bodies of ours and don't run without our investing time in them.