Great report from Dr. at 10 1/2 months post-op

[loves to skate]

Hi everyone,

I saw my scoliosis Doctor yesterday and got a great report. I had x-rays first and then saw Dr. Rand. He said the fusion looks great and has lifted all restrictions. I asked him if that meant that I could go back to rollerskating and he said yes, as long as I was rollerskating on a wooden floor and not on a cement floor. I asked him if there was anything I shouldn't be doing and he said no downhill skiing, no ice-skating and definitely no sky diving, Ha Ha. He said the nerve pain that I have can take up to two years to get better. For those of you my age and older, I asked him how old was the oldest person on whom he has done this type of surgery and he said 76 years of age. I am sure she had to be in very good shape for her age, but I know that younger is always better. I hope this gives encouragement to anyone older that thinks it is too late for him or her to have surgery.

I'm going to try rollerskating next week and I will let you know how it goes.

Sally

[titaniumed]

Sally

Good news from the Doc is always very pleasant to hear.Congratulations! The rollerskating sounds scary especially with a backwards fall. A trick that ski jumpers use is to wear a soft backpack filled with foam. Some will land their high jumps on their back and the foam acts as a cusion. Its kinda like landing in bed.A helmet would be a good idea also.

safety first!

Ed

[JenniferG]

You have certainly done well for a golden oldie (excuse the expression, I'm one of them.) You give me hope.

How is your flexibility? Are you off all medication now? Do you look straight?

Jen

[Qikdraw]

Glad to hear Sally!

But no ice skating? You poor soul you.

[Susie*Bee]

Yay, Sally!

That's wonderful news! I'm so glad you can return to your passion of roller skating! It's sounds sort of scary to me too, so take it easy-- and I like Ed's suggestions. Can't wait to hear how it goes next week.

I'd love to add a pic of you skating, post-op, to my scrapbook-- so if you think of it sometime, have someone snap a pic and send it to me. Big hugs, Susie

[loves to skate]

Hi Ed, Brad, Jennifer and Susie,
I promise I will be very careful when I go rollerskating. Ed, I hope you don't think that I do jumps of any sort on roller skates. Even my coaches who were National and World champions don't do jumps anymore. My Doctor said that a sideways fall is the most dangerous, but I'm hoping not to fall in any direction. To answer your questions Jennifer, I am not as flexible as I was before the surgery but I can bend over far enough to lace up my skates. I can't bend very far sideways, but why would I need to do that. I do look straighter than before the surgery, even though at my age, my Dr. wasn't able to get my curve corrected except to give me back about 1 inch and corrected the lordosis of the lumbar spine. He said that the upper curve is much straighter than it was so that I am more centered that I was. When the hospital sends me a copy of my latest x-rays on disc, I am going to try to get them posted if someone will tell me how to do it. Susie, I will be happy to send you a photo when I begin to feel more comfortable skating. How are you feeling now that you are well into the school season. I hope not as tired as in the beginning of the school year.
Love to all you guys, Sally

[JenniferG]

Thanks Sally, that is all good to know. It must be wonderful for you to be back doing the things you love.

[loves to skate]

I did it, I went roller skating

Hi all,

I went skating this morning at my favorite rink about a 40 minute drive from home. I was a little nervous at first and just kind of rolled my way around the rink with both feet on the floor. After a little while, I got a little braver and started doing outside edges on one foot at a time. My coach came up to me and held me in dance position and we did some more outside edges. He told me to practice a few minutes and said he would come back in a few minutes. When he came back, we did some inside edges. It all felt so great as my confidence increased. I decided to leave the floor after a few more minutes as I didn't want to tire myself out too much since this was basically my first time skating in a year and four months. It was great seeing some of my old skating buddies too. Most of them are older than me, the oldest being 89 years young. You wouldn't believe how good some of these people look for their ages.
Sally

[Nancy Joy]

Hi Sally- admittedly, I have come on board recently and wveryone else probably knows but- Rolling skating? With a coach? Is this something you took up later in life for excersize or have you always done this? I can't think of too many other all around good excersizes than that! Please, fill me in. I think it is terrific.
Thanks,
Nancy

[loves to skate]

Hi Nancy Joy,
I started roller skating at age 40. I took my son skating when he was a teenager and remembering that I used to sidewalk skate all the time as a kid (the kind that clamp onto to your shoes, metal wheels, skate key,etc) I decided to rent a pair of skates and try it out. I couldn't skate very well but fell in love with the sport when I saw a lot of gray haired people skating. I didn't want to live my retirement years in a rocking chair, so I started taking skating lessons. I actually learned to skate backwards in my mid 40's and took several skating achievement tests working my way through bronze tests, then silver tests. I never took any gold tests, but did learn to do some gold dances with my coach. If I hadn't developed DDD and scoliosis, I might have been able to take some gold tests. Now, I am just happy to be able to return to skating with my Doctors blessings and will more than likely, just stay with the forward dances and school figures. Thanks for asking. I wish you a speedy recovery so you can return to what you like to do.
Sally

[titaniumed]

Sally

Congrats on going skating! I figured you were a jumper. Like in this video below, shot in the Tetons by Grand Targhee and Jackson hole,Wyoming. I beleive it was about 250 feet. With this kind of style, the helmet is important!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bXqK7-UaEoo


The lady that I first skiied with in 1962 is still skiing at 85. She has been skiing 82 years.

I skiied one time in Big Sky,Montana with Scott Schmidts coach and he had a friend who was about 85 years old. This guy absolutly smoked us. I was going flat out, straight down the side of an expert run trying to catch him and he just blew me away.
Granted he only skiied with us for 5 runs and used the old, "ive got a trout waiting for me in the Gatlin river excuse" I was amazed. He was an old ski coach from Montana.

It is just fantastic that you made it out to the rink. Just take it easy and try not to fall. I know when I go out skiing this winter, I will be taking it very slow thats for sure, and thats ok. Getting up on the hill or out to the rink or just doing what it is that you like to do is the main part.

Regards
Ed

[Ginger W.]

Sally roller skates.

Pam plays softball.

Ed will soon be taking to the slopes.

I scramble around in the mountains.

We post-surgery folks can do AMAZING THINGS!

Thanks for sharing, Sally!

[lelc2002@yahoo]

wow! I'm inspired!!!
I have been down a bit about all I CANNOT now do like golf(except miniature) & tennis, my favorite. Both were not recommended due to twisting. I was always rollerskating prior to surgery and will now attempt to try it this week after checking with Dr. Boachie's nurse. She said go for it!
I will let you know how it goes. Hardest part is getting the skates on as they are kind of heavy...Ly

[loves to skate]

Lynn,
My Doctor told me about a patient of his who he allowed to return to pairs tennis with a fusion a little higher than mine and she is in my age group. I don't know what your fusion level is so I don't want to give you false hope. Sally

[txmarinemom]

Goooooooooo SALLY! I'm so proud of and happy for you ... I knew you would get there!! ;-)

I hope your story - and Ginger's statements - give you pre-ops (and recent post-ops going through a rough time) hope that life does return to normal.

Big hugs,
Pam