One year postop

[titaniumed]

So I'm guessing that when I find myself in my new, fused to the sacrum body, the old muscle memory will know what to do, if not right away then pretty quickly. In fact, I have a feeling that during the last 36 flexible years I've enjoyed, I still use a lot of the body mechanics that I developed while braced. I think the braced years probably helped my hips stay very loose, to the point that I can do just a couple of inches short of a full split. Maybe the balance won't be that strange.

Balance immediately after surgery can feel strange...especially after having everything altered....I don’t think that old muscle memory plays a major part in the beginning, its mainly dealing with the pain and soreness of having soft tissues injured from surgery.

The slow process of recovery has many stages. In the beginning, your standing after a major trauma, all the nerves, muscles, tendons, etc have to heal and function under certain amounts of loads. As time goes by, healing happens and you realize that pains change, hopefully reduce, and these soft tissues can handle just a tad more load. The adjustments happen at different rates, and in different areas. Muscle length changes can also have quite an effect. I learn this from Kevin.

Recovery for me took 2 years. At 1 year, I was still improving and testing new areas. One of the things that is delicate is coming home from the hospital. This is due to this movement. At 1 year out, I had a friend who wanted me to go for a ride in his jeep off road. After 30 minutes of rocking back and forth, testing and using these new soft tissues, I was sore for days. About 2 months later, I could handle 2 hours in his jeep and so on. I went extreme rock crawling for 9 hours yesterday and have no issues whatsoever.

Balance does improve at a slow rate. I have no balance issues at all and can walk on a tightrope.

These pics will show exactly how extreme the motions can be, a true test for the post scoli spine. The Fordyce trail is the roughest rock crawling trail in California.
Ed

[mabeckoff]

Talk to your surgeon about weaning off. Yes, you are early but its ok to keep it a goal.

I had such a hard time with my meds with constipation and immunity that it really wasn’t working for me. The pain after 6 weeks was not being controlled taking huge amounts, and hot 107 degree tubs were the only way for me to deal with the bone and nerve pain from my partial corpectomies. The water therapy for you will be highly beneficial. It’s a great method of relaxation.
Ed

The water therapy will be great while I am doing it. What I am afraid of is afterwards , when I am out of the water. That is why I do not want to start weaning
from my meds until I see how this water therapy goes

[JenniferG]

Good thinking Melissa, especially since you're already in a lot of pain.