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[sweetness514]

Suzy,

What did you mean by Brian will do sit ups in a different way? Jamie can still work her abs, but cannot do a proper sit up.

As for Jamie bending at the waist, it really hasn't been much of a change for her. We've always practiced good lifing habits--bending at the knees, keeping things close to the body when lifting, etc.--even before we knew about Jamie's back, but some of us still occasionally get lazy and pick something up without bending at the knees, whereas Jamie doesn't do that. As for touching her toes, that was never a goal for Jamie. She tends to sit on a chair and pull her foot up to the chair to tie her shoes rather than bend to the floor.

May I ask how long your fusion is and how far out from surgery you are?

Mary Lou

I'm fused fom T5 to L2 and doing sit ups is not only impossible but a big no-no according to my PT. But we're all different and some are not fused the same length, and also it's only when we try something that we can see if it works for us with or without pain.

I used to bend at the waist(hips to be technical) more before my rod broke, and now that I don't I find that I have MUCH less lower back pain and sciatica. Really it's good for anybody to lean properly with knees, wether one has a fusion or not.