Drove myself to the fracture clinic today to have my 30 staples removed which I am happy to say was nowhere near as painful as having them removed after my back surgery. Mind you these looked more like regular paper staples where the back ones looked like industrial fasteners. I am walking around the house without my cane, I can walk upstairs and down like a normal person so after all my success the real test comes today when I am back to coaching. I am not sure I will be able to stand all night in fact I am sure I won’t however getting through the next 4 hours will be the biggest test since I first had to sit on the loo.
There really are only big milestones now, I have to get back to coaching and then the last significant thing is to get back to LA Fitness and start properly rehabbing my hip and legs. Once that happens and I can get rid of the cane I can consider myself back to normal for the most part. I guess that will mean I have to cut the grass…
It has been officially two weeks since the surgery and the last couple of days I have been going to EGA to walk and se if I could drive. The car part was easy, no issues getting in and out of the car which is good. I managed 2 laps of the gym yesterday which was a great day and figured out that the toilets at the gym are not too low to sit on which will also help. However, this comes with peril. I am at the leaps and bounds part of recovery which is probably the most dangerous part. Every day you get better, stronger but also more ambitious and less careful. This is the window during which I have previously fallen down the stairs, reinjured my back doing a toilet repair and fallen off a ladder.
So patience first, I will try for 5 laps today (maybe 4 since I already went to shoppers and had to walk the entire store to get to the pharmacy). That said, after what is essentially very little exercise yesterday I was exhausted this morning, and also hungry which is very unusual for me which I think says that my body was in need of more rest and fuel to recover. I have to admit that it is great to be able to get around in the car, my sense of freedom has been restored and the frustration that comes with being locked indoors is gone. I have not started on a plan to get back to LAF yet to start to recondition my body and I think that will have to wait until I have my staples removed on monday. While I am very far from being able to “return to my normal life” I am making a reasonable facsimile of it. That said, I am currently able to walk down stairs with both legs like a normal person. Up is not quite there yet but it is all good signs.
I have not participated in TEAM camp this week, I figure being around people is not the best move at this point just to be safe. People are careless and inattentive and children are walking accidents so I think I will wait to make my return to the gym floor.
Pretty gross to be honest but it was actually worse than that a couple of days ago. The incision covering is peeling a bit because of showering but so far I think it is all ok.
Day 4 Up at six, slept on the couch, took meds at 7 AM getting slightly easier to get off the couch, but body still reacting very strongly to getting up with swelling and being out of breath. Cleaned the ice machine which made me very sweaty and tired but at least I feel like I accomplished something. Noticed that besides the big bruise on my side above my incision there is a lot of bruising everywhere on my lower abdomen, inside of my thighs, outside of my quads and up along my hip. However, I did manage to brush my teeth, which I did not yesterday and that was disgusting. I have spent quite a bit of time on my feet today which is good. Hopefully I haven’t overdone it. It’s now halfway through the day and the pain is significant but manageable and my mobility is definitely increasing. I can lift my hip up to the third hole on my crutches, which is a lot further than I could do yesterday. I had a shower and was able to put my underwear on without the grabby tool so that was pretty impressive. I guess the bruising makes sense because the amount of muscle that they would have to move to get to your spine is actually quite minimal and the amount of muscle they have to move out of the way to get to your hip joint is enormous. That pretty much explains why I have bruising everywhere from my knee to my groin and up towards the back of my ribs. Bowels moving along just fine but I had a headache again today which is really just a minor irritation.
Day 5 Monday I slept on the couch again last night. I might try getting into bed today to see if it’s any easier now. Was up at six took my medications at seven. The morning is the hardest part because I don’t have any painkillers in my system and everything is cold from sleeping, so that’s difficult but once the painkillers kick in and my body is a bit warmer it seems to be OK. Still lots and lots of swelling. Still icing my quad but it doesn’t really seem to make much of a difference to be honest. Was going to try and walk a little more today, but frankly, I just don’t think it’s gonna be possible. Moving to a cane from crutches still a number of days away at a minimum. Showered again however now it seems that the bandage covering my incision is peeling away a little bit not sure how I’m supposed to remedy that I know she said quick showers, but I am being as quick as I possibly can. We found the cane in the front hall closet, so that’s great but I am having a very hard time working with it. I am now able to lift my foot up to a stair but only just which means the strength is slowly returning. Baby steps…
Tuesday Day six. Took medication at 6 AM, and shortly after I was able to get in and out of bed without as much pain as before. My weight is 244 on the dot it was 246 the other day so I think at least some of that is swelling. Today was the first day skipping pain medication, I didn’t take my morphine at 10 or two it’s 3 PM now and I might take some now and then at seven because there is still dull aching through the hip joint. Less painkillers means I actually felt pretty normal today in my head so I guess that’s a good thing getting back to feeling normal but it does mean I’m probably gonna get back to being frustrated and bored not being able to do stuff.
Wednesday day seven June 26 Woke up early again took my meds at 6 AM was able to go to the garage twice once for decaf pods, once for cream. Not without it’s pain but mobility is certainly improving. Pain is maybe a two or three at this point and mobility around a 3. It is actually quite nice to be off painkillers because my head clears quite significantly. Once I take my two painkillers in the morning I can tell what a drastic effect it has on my brain fog. Today things are going OK it’s been a week so I am trying to think of ways to start quantifying my improvements. I’m doing exercises, but I think I need to start getting outside and walking if only for a few minutes at a time. To that end, I managed to get dressed and make it across the street to the other sidewalk and back, but it is a very different feeling walking to go somewhere rather than just walking around the house. I guess we’ll find out how much that’s gonna hurt later.
Day 8. Updates now are repetitive and boring, so this will be the last daily entry.
Over the course of the next few days I managed to get off the painkillers completely, now I only take one if the pain is too much to sleep comfortably. The biggest issue I am having now is sleeping and having restless leg syndrome. I find that regardless of how much I do during the day my legs are a constant issue preventing me from sleeping. Medication doesn’t help, so I end up walking around the house trying to get them to stop twitching. Very frustrating. By day 9 the exercises are now too easy. I can lift my leg almost 2 stairs now which is a great improvement. Day 10 I stopped using the crutches completely, using my cane instead and it seems to be just fine. I haven’t yet tried getting into the car but that is something on the list for next week.
So I am a week away from another surgery, this time it is my left hip that has been bothering me for a couple of years now. I am at the point where I am constantly limping and the pain is extreme at times. I wasn’t so great at my recovery recording so this time I will try to do better. I cannot wait to have the surgery, it is odd being limited with what I can do going in, with my back surgeries it was usually that I was reacting to an episode and by the time the surgery came around I was pretty normal. My shoulder was not the same, I was limited in what I could do, there was some pain but I was still in the gym regularly. I went in expecting a flawless recovery as with my back but the whole process was very slow and very painful. That said, I was back coaching after 6 days and I don’t recall being away from the gym for long. It was 2 years before my ROM was back to normal with my strength but I was pretty good with my physio exercises and was determined to be better than I was before. At this point, my shoulder is much stronger than my other one and has complete mobility that I had before.
I guess the overriding factor here is the pain, I am so tired of being in pain all the time and having to take painkillers every time I coach. Fortunate I suppose that my level 10 girl is also hurt so I don’t have to do any major spotting at the moment, we will find out the extent of her thumb injury some time in the coming month and it honestly could go either way.. retirement or recovery then competition.
On an unrelated note I have been wearing a heart monitor for 2 weeks, of course my heart has been on it’s best behaviour so nothing to report. Back in May I had an AFIB episode that lasted 86 hours. Right up until within 2 minutes of the nurse giving me a shot to slow my heart at which time it stopped (I was on the gurney in the hospital at the time). Talk about weird timing. So anyway I stopped drinking coffee and my apple watch has reminded me that my resting heart rate and my walking heart rate are both significantly down since I quit. I may resume after my surgery but in the end I don’t really need such a tax on my system .
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.
I can touch the floor. Now when I drop something I am able for the most part to pick it up… Slowly and carefully but all the same I can do it…
Yesterday I did the 5th of my 5 day gym rotation finally sealing my first set of workouts since the surgery. It took more than 5 days and there was some mixing of body parts but I think I did OK. I have been testing my leg strength every day and before I went into surgery I had 10% of my leg strength, that is to say I could do 120lbs on the leg extension with my left leg and only 10 with my right. Also, I was only able to do about 3 reps and that was all. I am happy to say that the strength is coming back slowly even if the stamina is still extremely poor. I was able to get up to 25lbs for at least 3 reps the day I was supposed to do legs, and then spent the rest of the time trying to crank out as many 10lb reps as I could but my max was about 3 or 4 in a row until I couldn’t straighten my leg any more. I tested again yesterday and although I didn’t do much I was able to get above 30lbs for a couple of attempts. The rest of my workouts are basically just trying to reactivate the muscle and get my active tissue back so I can burn more calories. The long term plan is to try to reduce my weight to around 220lbs from my current 235 where I have been for the last 10 years. I think if I can get down to 220 for a year or two then I can try to push lower as time passes. You don’t see many 275lb 70 year olds around but you do see some that are pushing 230 so I feel like I am not on the endangered species list any more.
As for details I was able to bench 185 without any pressure on my back but I had to do all my back workouts standing using cables rather than on the lat machine sitting down. Shoulders were done not sitting but standing and laying on an incline and traps also done with cables standing. These are not ideal but are getting me back to where I need to be which is active in every area of my body. I think I am going to have to add a day of yoga into my schedule also this year. I recall doing the Tony Horton Fountain of Youth yoga was something that I really enjoyed and had significant benefits for me. I wasn’t enamored with it at first but once I had it as part of my schedule and got 10 sessions or so under my belt I really started to enjoy it. Of course Tony describing the benefits and advantages to you while you work also seeps into your brain after a while and that’s not a bad thing. So I think with my leg workouts sadly lacking that maybe leg day will turn into leg and yoga days for the time being. Of course there is extreme stretching for the lower back involved with which I will have to be microscopically attentive.
Pain 4 Mobility 7
Pain is up due to staple removal, mobility is up because I can sit!
Today I got my staples removed at the walk in clinic. The doctor was surprised at the number and the size of the incision until I explained to hm that I had 2 discs taken care of this time. The removal was not enjoyable in the least. Each staple sounded like it was cut for some reason and then removed however now I have had a chance to look at a couple of videos I can see that the noise isn’t the staple being cut just the sound of the staple being folded back against itself so that the ends come out. That said, each video I watched claimed that the staple removal was painless which is typical medical bullshit. The procedure feels like someone digging the staples out with a knife. It’s not painless at least not in your spine and it’s not something I would suggest you look forward to. However, the upside is that I can now use my electric blanket to help with the intense soreness in my lower back and after last night using it I feel a lot better this morning.
It has been snowing for 2 days here so walking has been out. I have been walking at the gym and standing a lot but it is just not the same as a long purposeful walk and I think part of the soreness is due to that lack of lengthy mobility. I will be going to costco this morning in the hopes that a walk around the giant store will serve as some good walking practice. So I am 2 weeks from surgery, I am now officially allowed to sit again and take a bath but their suggestion was that I don’t drive until my first follow up with the doc. That is because of the issues with my leg but since the issues (except the mass) are no longer chronic I think I am good to get out and drive about a bit. Lets hope the snow stops before the weekend and I have to drive to Orangeville …
I can’t actually justify going any higher with the mobility than 6 until I can sit and do something related to the gym. Woke up this morning on my side and really didn’t feel any worse for wear. This is great news knowing that I can actually sleep on my side not my back and have no ill effects. Other than that it has been 2 days of quite a lot of exercise (relatively speaking) and I don’t feel anything except a bit of lethargy. Yesterday’s treadmill walk was a chore, I had heavy legs and each step was harder and harder as the time passed. I also took the chance to go sit in the car and see if the seat was able to recline enough for my comfort and be safe enough to drive. The jury is out on that for now but it’s already been 8 days, my 2 week ban on sitting upright is looming and my sense of freedom beckons.
Friday
Pain 1 Mobility 6
My pain is fine, I have some tightness across the lower back from standing. I know this familiar feeling and unfortunately the stretches that help are not something I can really entertain at this point. However I have spent more time on my feet and plenty of walking so although I am not pushing too hard I am definitely past my comfort zone. It is supposed to be nicer today and since it was -20 yesterday that’s not hard but it does mean that tomorrow I should be able to make my long awaited trip to Tim’s. Medically my situation is still improving day on day but it is getting harder to tell since my mobility is OK and to the untrained eye I probably just seem sore from an overexertion rather than someone who still has enough metal in my spine to set off an airport detector. I am very stable on my feet although my leg still has little feeling, and it is my understanding that it can be up to 9 months for the feelings to return. My pain even when moving around is minimal, I haven’t had any additional painkillers since day 8 which was a week ago tomorrow with makes me very happy. Now the biggest thing I have to deal with is the small matter of the relapse. It happened after each prior surgery and I am going to do whatever I can to make sure it doesn’t happen this time. The problem with that is that the first time it took 40 days to happen and after surgery 2 it took 63 days. I remember a fall down the stairs at some point but I can’t seem to find any indication of when that happened although I am sure I once did. That said I am now aware of the fact that my relapses weren’t at the early stages at all but once I had been lulled back into a false sense of invincibility. I did discover that I had been doing very light workout tests at this point last time which I am already partly way through again. I was able to bench without pain yesterday if only to prove the mechanics not the tolerance for any weight. I was able to do some band work at the gym yesterday again only to prove my mobility not my capacity and it was just fine. Last time around it took me around 2 weeks to venture back to the gym and as much as I feel like going today I won’t, it’s just not a smart choice.
It’s been one week since you looked at me
Threw your arms in the air and said you’re crazy
– Barenaked Ladies, One Week.
Pain 2 Mobility 6
Weight 226
Some people may have looked at me last Monday and thought I was crazy to be going in to surgery but if there is one thing I have learned over my lifetime of back issues it’s that knowing when to wait and knowing when to act are absolutely critical to prevent permanent damage. I learned the hard way that poor judgment both pre-op and post-op are truly a recipe for disaster. My quality of life since my first operation was severely compromised and the long term effects of waiting too long for surgery and then being far too timid in my recovery are things I am still dealing with to this day. But enough counting regrets I was convinced in my decision this time around that without surgery I would be one more impingement away from potentially permanent inability to feel almost my whole right leg. Although not having any feeling below my knee has been barely noticeable at times, not being able to feel my whole leg would be unacceptable. Not only that, I was concerned that the next time any involvement of my bowel and urinary system would potentially mean a lifetime of adult diapers and as much as having drop foot was frightening I am not willing to accept the potential of this particular side effect. The simple fact is that this particular nerve root was more central, much closer to the “saddle” nerve bundle and a much higher likelihood of affecting that particular system.
Anyway, today I woke up fine. Getting out of bed has been a deliberate and methodical process since the surgery but today I felt more fluid and flexible in my ability to go from laying to standing. Since those are the only 2 things I am permitted to do at this time the transition between the two is a major concern. Two days ago I attempted to sit on the Lazy boy and was greeted with what can only be described as a major breakthrough although getting in was fine, getting out was to be a painful and excruciatingly slow process. Fast forward to today and I am able to get in and out of the recliner with relative ease and getting in and out of bed is more of a formality than a challenge. Daily activities are becoming more mundane which is a great thing but the pain is a constant reminder of just how careful I need to continue to be. I was concerned that last night at the gym would have been a bad decision but this morning I don’t feel any worse than I have done any other day and although that is a good sign, I think I was pretty close to my limits.
Today is Tuesday and I got weighed this morning. I am down about 10lbs from before surgery and am looking both small, frail and old. Of course my relationship with the mirror is as distorted as what I see so I am sure other than looking a bit smaller I look the same. I will continue to monitor my weight and body fat so I can track my progress. This will be especially critical once I start going back to the gym to work out (and no I don’t mean slinging hundreds of pounds around). I do need to reactivate my body in the way to which it is accustomed, which means specific work for specific muscular systems in order to maintain the support my spine needs. Truth is that any weakness of the body transfers a majority of the load directly onto the spine. Having weak arms or shoulders will directly affect the load on your spine and that is exactly what I need to avoid.
Which brings me to my next thought. What to do about my workouts now after my surgery. I would be reckless to imagine that my workouts have had no effect on me. It’s stupid to assume that shrugging 500lbs or shoulder pressing 250lbs isn’t going to affect my spinal load. Those days are officially over. I am going to have to limit myself to bodyweight movements only and by that I don’t mean no weight, I mean limiting my weight to my bodyweight. Only benching 230 rather than my PR of 415 won’t be a big deal but not deadlifting at all, no squatting heavy and shrugging with tiny barbells will most certainly eat at my ego. But it really depends on if I want to struggle with my ego or my ability to walk. I think it’s time for a change.
Today’s facts. Feeling in the leg is the same, no strength changes that I can notice. Incision pain is about the same, a little itchy but no redness or swelling. My mobility is better in the house, and despite buying a nice new pair of winter boots I think today will be a treadmill day rather than venturing out into the -4 weather and freezing my ass off.
I managed my first outing yesterday by car, Nicole drove me to the gym so I could spend a few minutes with my girls and all in all it went pretty well. I am stable on my feet mostly due to the fact that my leg was already improving before I went under the knife. That said, my stamina is in the toilet and I am not sure I could spend more than an hour on my feet at this point. Other things to note, the pain is very localized to the incision but can still hit the pain meter at a respectable 5 or 6 when I move awkwardly. However, when I am standing still like I do to write these posts there is barely a perception of pain other than a dull ache across my low back and my leg. I still don’t have any feeling in the medial side of my leg from mid thigh down to the ankle. The strength is coming back very slowly but it’s hard to push it at all when I have to be so cautious. These are the dangerous days though, the times when every day brings big improvements and my confidence in my ability starts to build again. These are the days for supreme caution.
On the technical side of things these posts aren’t making it to facebook and I am not sure why. Twitter is getting them no problem but for some reason the connection to facebook isn’t working. I managed to fix the issues with the gym facebook link, maybe I just need to update the plugin here too… After some digging around I find that Facebook has disabled direct posting from wordpress. Thanks jerks.
It’s still early, 1045am and I am thinking of trying to reach Tim’s today. It is about 2.2km away and after yesterday doing almost 1.5K I don’t think it’s out of the realm of possibility. It is day 6 and after surgery 2 I made that trip (albeit in the sunshine and warmth) on day 5 while still dealing with the remnants of drop foot which is probably the most scary thing I have ever encountered from these issues. Not being able to control my foot was terrifying to be honest and something I would never wish on anyone.
It is now 220pm, I went for a walk in the +4 balmy afternoon sun and although the terrain was a little iffy at times I managed a healthy 1.8km. I opted not to go to Tims although I walked very close by so I am firm in my conviction now that getting there tomorrow should be a piece of cake. The snow is melting which makes for a treacherous outing in places but once I can get out to Walmart to buy a new pair of winter boots then I will be all set. I know I should have probably done that before the surgery but it was the one thing left on my list. I will be visiting the gym again tonight, something that as a habit I need to reinforce even if I can’t actually work yet. There is nothing worse then allowing yourself to plateau or become complacent in your recovery and although I don’t mean to overdo things I also want to keep my foot planted gently on the gas pedal and ensure that my recovery and my stamina are increasing on the daily. My walk today was as fast as usual which is to say requires a calendar more than a stopwatch however I was not as fatigued. In the evening I decided to venture out to the gym to see my girls and see how my body would stand up to, well, standing up. I spent a couple of hours on my feet ambling around the gym talking and observing and at the time it felt OK. It was tiring I must say that, but it wasn’t too painful and moving around even across the uneven surfaces was just fine. My leg although weak in comparison to my other is still just fine for walking on and with the exception of sharp hip flexor pain occasionally when I stand, it seems to be working. Tomorrow morning will be the judge of whether or not this was a good idea. I am going on what happened last time and if I am right then tomorrow morning I should feel a little sore but just fine. Time will tell.
