Pain 2-4
Mobility 6-7
Weight 232
I just realized that it’s been over a calendar month since the surgery, also that it’s been over 30 days and my 6 week checkup is on the horizon. I feel pretty good all told, I am fairly mobile, I am in the gym as often as I was before albeit with extremely modified workouts. My pain comes and goes, not really enough for daily painkillers but there are days when it’s hard to say no when I fell like my legs are burning with nerve pain and my back feels weak and fragile. I am of the opinion that at this point any day when I am out of a wheelchair or off my cane are good days, I know that’s a low bar to hit but then again I don’t know of many people in my situation who have had 3 spinal surgeries and lived to tell the tale.
My daily routine seems to consist mostly of trekking between gyms checking on the kids and working out. My home life is a lot of chicken soup making since that’s my new favorite thing but I really need to focus and get a list together so I can start to tackle all the things I wished I had time to do when I was working. Once my back is better I think I may tackle the hardwood upstairs since the dog seems to have pooped or peed on almost every square inch of carpet we have upstairs. I was able to do the entire lower floor in 2009 by myself at a cost of about $3000 as compared to the $7500 that the installers were asking. I may have to acquiesce and have someone do the stairs, that seems a bridge too far for me. I am concerned that the flooring will be too cold, especially since two of the front bedrooms are over the garages and are already somewhat chilly. Maybe there is an underlay for that, I am not sure. I have been very happy with the downstairs hardwood, it’s been almost 10 years and it looks pretty new still. It was from Home Depot I think, I wonder if they still carry the same stuff. Anyway that would be a great project to do in the spring or over the summer when coaching is less demanding.
But back to my physical state, I am back up to my pre-surgery weight, mostly because I have run through my workout schedule several times now and my glycogen stores are once again as active as ever. My weights are very low, I am only able to do 40lbs on the leg extension still, and although I remember only being able to do 25 the progress is painfully slow. I am not lifting heavy at all at this point, it’s just not smart or safe so instead I find myself seeing if I can hit 350-500 reps per workout. That kind of volume comes with it’s own mental challenges no matter how light the weight and of course as of yet I have not done any yoga, I am still waiting until my back feels more secure before attempting that. I really should be swimming but I remember the torsion created in the pool was incredibly disquieting last time, something which was very disappointing to me.
So not much of an update, no disasters to report, no medical mistake that has made me superhuman and best of all no relapse so far. Fingers crossed those mistakes are behind me.