Hard to believe that I'm already 30 days out from my surgery. All things being considered, I guess I'm surprising myself that I'm doing so well. I'm happy because with a 3 level ADR, I really expected to have muscle spasms because I had read so many posts from others that have had severe pain from their spams. I hope I'm not jinxing myself, but no spasms to date. I thought for sure that I would since L 3-4, L4-5 collapsed and I was gaining the height from having the 3 replaced. Don't get me wrong, I have had other pains to deal with during this recovery, just really glad spasms hasn't been among them.
Let's see...what have I been doing. Walking more. Trying to slowly increase my sitting time since it still is uncomfortable to sit too long. I can lift my left leg higher, but it is still painful to lift it more than about 8 inches off the floor. Still have to manually lift it into my car. I have gone out for a few short outings, but find that I can't really stay out longer than about 2-3 hours without by lower back getting sore. Pain meds, I'm down to take only prior to going to bed. Started Cymbalta this week for the neurogenic/neuropathic pain which seems to be helping some and assisting with not having to take pain meds during the day. My PCP thinks that I have fibromyalgia (diagnosed prior to leaving for Spain) so she thinks that trying this new med will help with some of the residual pain. I didn't believe that Cymbalta was used for this type of thing, I thought it was just for depression, but the pharmacist and the literature included assured me that it was. Go figure! :-)
Still trying to work everything out for PT to start, but I'm not worried. Have been doing my home exercises and am waiting to see what will happen with that. My main goal right now is to try and strengthen my legs and regain some flexibility in them. I'm so tight, it is ridiculous. I thought that getting several Thai massages the 2 weeks prior to surgery would help at least a little to keep me loose...WRONG! :-) Need to look into getting a massage next week to see if that will help.
Well folks, that is about it for this week.
Take care!
Kim, it sounds like your still progressing in your recovery, albeit slowly. Good luck with the exercises and continuing recovery! Jeff
ReplyDeleteJeff,
ReplyDeleteThanks. Slow and steady wins the race! :-) I had to slow down a little because I could see/feel that I was doing too much. I'm progressing every day and I'm making good strides. After everything I have been through over the years to get to this place, I'm going to make sure that this certainly is a good recovery! :-)
Thanks for the continued support,
Kim
Kim - Please call me!! My direct number is 770-649-8111 - Lena (Please asap!)
ReplyDelete