Looking for people who have returned to athletic activities post-op

[thatrobyno]

I've really enjoyed reading everyone's inspiring responses. I'm athletic and love the outdoors. It's nice to know if I go the surgical route that I can still climb up rocks.

We just returned from London and my husband and I climbed to the top of St. Paul's Cathedral -- 528 very steep narrow steps, 85 meters straight up! On the climb up, I couldn't stop wondering if I could do it post-surgery. I think one of the only problems would be some of the very low ceilings where I had to duck and squeeze through a small space at the same time.

Does anyone ride a bike? (Conventional, not recumbent). I commute via bicycle in the city and would love to continue.

Thanks!

[golfnut]

I am riding my bike again, but I am a little more cautious with speed than I was before surgery. I tried at about 6 months and a squirrel ran right in front of my bike and it scared me, so I decided to wait until I was a year post-op.

[susancook]

Steamboat! Been there.....Champagne powder, Aspen trees, and the St Patty’s day bash...(A thing of the past, the town couldn’t handle it anymore.......he he)

The stunt he pulled is called a “ruptured duck”. It happens to the best of us, I did one that was 75 feet once at A-Basin, and I’m still here! When you are there, you do come to the conclusion that you are completely out of control.....its a reality check, and the brain kicks in with thoughts of how to deal with the embarrassment of the situation. (smiley face) For Jacob, this was the main thought, not the back.

I’m sure he loved going skiing, a needed break from all he went through with the surgery and all.

How is he doing with the back anyway? I could imagine he is doing quite well.....

Ed

Whatever you have in your back, I want some. I asked Dr. HART about backpacking postop and he said "probably not". Maybe I should not have asked. Susan

[thatrobyno]

I am riding my bike again, but I am a little more cautious with speed than I was before surgery. I tried at about 6 months and a squirrel ran right in front of my bike and it scared me, so I decided to wait until I was a year post-op.

Ah! Good news! (And I hope from now on, your rides are in squirrel-free zones)

[titaniumed]

Whatever you have in your back, I want some. I asked Dr. HART about backpacking postop and he said "probably not". Maybe I should not have asked. Susan

Susan

Its not what’s in the back, its what’s in the mind.....

Having a strong determination to heal and succeed is what its all about. If one of my legs didn’t work, I would climb on crutches.

Major surgery is the acid test in goal setting....we all reach our goals at some point, no matter what mountains we have to climb.

I had no promises before my surgeries....and no pretty picture was painted.....maybe that was done to keep expectations lower.

I must say, it worked like a charm.....

Ed

[JenniferG]

Susan, your back will be stronger than ever before.

My partner, 70 in September, gave notice of his retirement today. He was late for work this morning, for the first time in the 21 years we've been together and he said he'd been looking for a sign and decided that was it. He finishes February 1st. So we have loads of time ahead to enjoy doing anything we want with my new back and his new ankle and foot (yes, we are both full of titanium.) More kayaking, more hiking, more swimming and snorkeling. Thank goodness for amazing surgeons! And being fortunate enough to be born in a part of the world where these surgeries are possible.

[golfnut]

Hoola Hoops

Much to my surprise, I was able to hoola hoop today in exercise class. It was the first time the instructor has used them and I had not tried it since my surgery.
I realize this isn't an "athletic activity" as I put in the thread title, but thought I'd mention it anyway.

[golfnut]

I know it has been a while since this thread surfaced so I thought I'd "bump" it, for the benefit of new forum members. I remember months before my surgery and during the early recovery period that I wondered if I would EVER return to a normal, active life. Fortunately, I've returned to all of my pre-surgery activities as did so many others who posted previously on this thread. I hope this is helpful.

[the_baroness]

10 months post-op, and not too athletic yet

Unless you count walking up the hill in Park Slope, Brooklyn to get to my physical therapist's office. Well, I am a combination inspired and dismayed to hear of everyone's athletic accomplishments. As of this week, I am 10 months post op, and I don't feel as if I've come as far as some of you. I had a real set-back in December and January, and spent those months doing a lot of pain relief activities and stretching in PT, instead of strengthening. It's been slow-going. I had no idea it would take this long to recover. Dr. Errico made it sound like I would bounce back by 6 months, but I think I'm more than a few months behind schedule.

In the last month I have started to increase my ab-strengthening, and I started swimming. Ok, I tried it once. Swimming so far hasn't been very successful. I found it very painful to kick, and to turn my body to come out of the water when taking a breath. My endurance and stamina are really low as well. After 10 minutes, I was so exhausted I got out and went home, and fell into such a deep sleep I felt like someone had clonked me over the head! I've had better luck water-walking in the pool, but my PT really wants me to step it up and start swimming.

I spent so many months just dealing with the pain and stiffness (my legs and arms were sort of "locked-in" for a while), that it's only recently we've been able to focus on strengthening. But you've gotta start somewhere, I guess. I have also reinstated my gym membership. I was going to PT 3x a week, and working full time, but from Nov (when I went back to work) through Feb/Mar, it was all I could do to make it to and from work and PT. On the weekends I would do some light chores in the mornings, then collapse into bed for the afternoon and evening. At night after work I would just come home and collapse into bed. But I had a deal with my PT that when I was strong enough to make it to the gym on a Saturday in order to talk to the front office about reinstating my membership, that's when she would give me the go-ahead to drop down to PT only 2x a week. And as much as I love my PT, that was incentive because I feel like I spend more time with my PT than I do with my husband! So I finally mustered up myself and reinstated my membership, and now I go and ride the recumbent bike for 10-20 min, do some weights on the very lightest settings, and water-walk/swim. I also do some walking, because it's NYC and you have to walk, and plus I don't have a car. But in the process of recovering, I somehow managed to shift my weight to the balls of my feet, and developed terrible bunions. My PT is helping me revamp my walking style, so I am walking a little more normal now, but these bunions are a killer so I don't walk as much as I did before.

My pre-surgery sport used to be jiujitsu (Japanese-influenced style, not Brazilian), which is a dangerous, full contact martial art. But I had to give it up about 3 years before my surgery because my back hurt so much and because I was afraid that the vertebrae around my lateral listhesis would snap some day after a heavy impact. Jiujitsu was the love of my life, and I was so sad to give it up. I was sort of harboring a hope that I could someday return to it now that my spine is fixed, or possibly take up some other form of martial art that didn't involve so much throwing and falling. But I have finally accepted that that's probably not in the cards. It's too dangerous, and I've invested too much in my new spine. I studied tai chi for a few years after I gave up jiujitsu, and recently I have started doing the first 2 minutes of my form a couple days a week, and I'm tolerating that well, and I think it's helping with my hip flexibility. I love yoga, but had to give that up before the surgery as well because it was too painful, but my PT is also a yoga instructor, and has been incorporating yoga poses and breathing into my PT, and she thinks I should be able to begin attending one of those special therapeutic yoga classes in the next few months.

In short, at 10 months post-op, I'm still nowhere near being able to return to athletics at the level I would like, and I feel I'm recovering much slower than some of you did/are, but I am so very grateful just for the improvements I've managed to make. I do see changes, however slow, in my strength and flexibility and stamina, so I am hoping that I will continue to improve. Because it's finally spring! And I do not want to lay in bed any more!

[golfnut]

Please do not be "dismayed". It is way too early in your recovery to judge where you will be eventually. I did very little at 10 months post-op other than walking. I was allowed to walk in the pool and use light weights while laying on my back on the bed, but that was about it. At the time, I read on the forum about people who had surgery the same time I did and who seemed do me doing much more. I thought I was "behind". My surgeon didn't want me to even work with a physical therapist until I was a year post-op, other than a few specific exercises. I waited over a year before playing golf and 1 1/2 before riding my bike in the neighborhood with no hills. It was over two years before I returned to Zumba and I must modify some moves. The purpose of starting this thread was to give people hope that eventually they might be able to return to activities they love, even if it takes a long time and with modifications.
Hang in there. It takes a lot of patience to get through the recovery.

[titaniumed]

Baroness

My surgeon also didn’t want me doing physical therapy other than walking outdoors. If it wasn’t for my broken shoulder being repaired at 10 months, I wouldn’t have discovered the benefits of mild physical therapy that’s used for shoulder repair operations. The arm bike was the most beneficial at that stage.

Fatigue continued for 2 years......and boy do I miss those daily naps! My second year was my fine tuning year, and getting back on skis was a bunch of work.....I almost quit. The rebuilding of the soft tissues required in skiing were quite stubborn and I proved that the legs are connected to the back! You really feel this as a skier.

After they go in and slice and dice and move everything, it takes a long long time to get back to normal as an older adult. The body just doesn’t repair itself as fast as when we are kids....
Too bad we couldn’t get stem cell injections for our recoveries to speed things up.

Hang in there, things will improve...

Ed

[the_baroness]

Karen, Ed - I can't tell you how much better it made me feel to read your messages. I get discouraged sometimes. Thanks for the pep talk

[Irina]

Hi Baroness,

Have you tried swimming using breast stroke? I also can not kick and twist and I don't even try because I don't think it's a good idea. But breast stroke works well for me. You'll find your way, just take it easy.

[susancook]

Hey Baroness, so you are working full time? That is tiring! When you go to your gym, mix it up!
Walking in the water is great exercise. If swimming is too tiring, get a kick board and let your arms rest and just kick down a lap. If 2 laps make you tired, do one for a couple of weeks, then 2 laps. The point is keep doing it and gradually increase.

I find swimming a challenge also. I am now doing the breast stroke with a mask and snorkel as it hurts my neck too much to go up and take a breath with each stroke. Also, the frog kick with the back stroke might be ok.

Don't be discouraged....just keep doing something and do it a little bit more every week or two.

Susan

[aileens]

Hi Baroness,

Your recovery sounds exactly like mine - I had a big pain setback at the ~7 month point and was really discouraged for a few months. For me it was about the 10.5 month point where I felt like I was turning the corner and that I was going to make it. I was doing about the same level of activity as you up until 11 months, when I was able to return to the barre classes that I loved before the surgery and my pain med use went down. I'm a couple of years younger than you and had 2 days of surgery, but maybe that's more normal for someone in our age bracket? In any case, it does get better but I can't figure out if there's any rhyme or reason as to the timing. I'm 14 months now and went to my first hard-core spin class last night that was half cycling and half plyometrics (body weight exercises like squats, planks, etc) - even though I was having some back pain yesterday (again, not sure why other than it's super cold here in the Boston area), I was more than ok and feel really good this morning, even though my legs are a sore mess. So hang in there and hopefully you'll start to feel better whenever it starts to warm up.

aileen