Originally posted by mkatz
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Ahhh, the test of all tests.....
My surgeries were extremely painful and had a lot of bone ground out in ALIF partial corpectomy procedures on all my lumbar levels. All the end plates were shot from DDD. Anyway, after all that, I walked on eggshells for a really long time and was also worried. My surgeon told me that I was fused at 6 months but I was still worried. At 10 months in the Redwoods National Park of Northern California, I tripped over a 3 ft rock in the campground at 10PM in the dark and did a hard face plant. I thought that was it. What a slam! My shins were bleeding, but I got up and things were fine with the spine.....That’s when I knew, that’s how I found out I was good to go. The test of all tests. I have also had a few low speed ski crashes that scared the heck out of me, and now I have permission to lift 100#. I have lifted around 80#......yes, I would say I’m fused. I resumed snow skiing at 14 months....
I also had a broken shoulder at that time from a ski crash 10 days before my scoliosis surgeries, and my gall bladder was acting up so that had a tendency to slow things down. I eventually had to have it yanked since they found these 30mm golf balls in there.....It is a rare scoliosis surgery complication per Dr Moe’s handbook, I believe written by Dr Hu around 30 years ago.
Another thing to consider is that IF something were to happen, these surgeons don’t like going back in until a year is up. I thought I had an incisional hernia and was sent over to my vascular surgeon and he told me that there was no way he was going back in so soon...
My surgeon did have to order me to go skiing after a year. Doctors orders you know? LOL No velocity, of course....and well....no more jumps.
But I’m glad that I took it easy, especially for the first 6 months.....
I have to add that when I did my shoulder surgery PT at 8 months, the arm bike was very helpful in “toughening” up the paraspinal’s that run over the screw heads and rods in the thoracic spine. This 4” wide area is a delicate area in all of us that have full fusions, we get this gripping feeling which I call the “bear traps” that happens mostly upon approaching storms. I think it’s a low pressure thing, nerve cell expansion theory.....Usually during winter storms so cold affects it. The strange feelings of muscle imbalance in this area we do have to get used to and the arm bike helps.
Ed
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