Grand Canyon

Hey everyone!

I have 4 days until my one year post-op anniversary. I can't believe it. I'm vacationing in Arizona right now and 2 days ago I hiked 1 1/2 miles down into the Grand Canyon and 1 1/2 miles back up and my back felt GREAT! Ok, my legs hurt, but whose wouldn't. Here's a picture!

Airport

My back set off the metal detector in the airport! I brought my x-rays, but the rude TSA lady said, "Those will do you no good." Anyway, the lady wanded me up and down my back and said, "You have metal up and down her back." I laughed and said, "That is what I've been trying to tell you and show you - I have 2 18-inch metal rods holding my spine together!" LOL - she finally let me go. :)

I'm flying again tomorrow, so we'll see what that holds for me. :) I'm almost one year post-op. Believe me - I'll write again then, if not before.

It has been forever, I know

Hi everyone,
Yes, I'm still alive! A dear, supportive, scoli friend reminded me that I should not let this blog die. I haven't been purposefully neglecting it - my life has just been crazy busy. I passed all of my doctoral exams last week and now am ABD (All But Dissertation), which is really exciting. It has been very stressful with TONS of studying, plus all my other work and teaching to say the least, which is mostly why I haven't written. When I'm done studying, grading, etc. I usually just end up falling asleep. It has been a big year - between surgery and finishing my doctoral work in musicology. I'm glad I did it though. In a few days I will be 11 months post-op! Woo hoo. My tailbone is still giving me lots of problems, although I am doing quite a bit of physical therapy for it. They found a tumor (benign) in my left femur, which they are watching, and last week I ended up in the ER (2 days before my exams) with a nasty virus that mimicked the symptoms of appendicitis. Life is never boring, that is for sure.
School ends in two weeks, and my husband and I are celebrating my 1 year post-op anniversary as well as our wedding anniversary by going to the Grand Canyon and Yosemite. I'm very excited and can't wait for some respite.
I will try to be better about updating the blog.
Best wishes to all (if I have any readers left :)

It has been way too long . . .

since I last posted a blog. Bad me. I've been travelling around seeing family for the holidays and in the meantime am now 7 months post-op. :) Yes, me, travelling on planes and in cars, and walking a couple miles a day! :) I actually haven't taken any pain meds in quite a few days, maybe even a week. Granted. I still have to lay down a couple times a day and still have pain, but not enough currently to warrant pain pills. I was a little disappointed that my family (in-law side) didn't really comment on how well I was doing post-op, but then again, they never knew just how bad I was! I'll have to wait to see my mom to get the "Congratulations - you look like a human being again!"

Hope everyone is having a wonderful start to the New Year. Blessings to those who will go through surgery this year and all those still recovering.

6 months post-op, oh yeah!

I made it to 6 months post-op today. Wooooo hoooooo. Half a year and counting. Wow. Well, it is really winter here in Wisconsin and it is very kind of everyone to be so concerned about me walking outside with the snow and ice. It is treacherous, but friends, colleagues, and professors have volunteered to help me out whenever possible and I am being very very cautious. We got another 6 inches of snow last night, which is fine, but it is on top of layers of ice from the ice storm over the weekend. That is NOT fine. Knock on wood that I'll make it through this winter without falling! It took me over an hour to get home last night (it usually takes 15 minutes) and as I was driving down the highway the ice started collecting on my wipers making it difficult to see. Well there was a tiny clear spot in the left hand corner of the window, but there was one problem - I can't bend down. So I alternated looking through the ice and doing my best to look through the clear corner, but my neck hurts a bit this morning because of it.

We got out X-Mas tree last weekend as the storm started coming in. As some of you (dear readers) will remember, last year we got a tree with a sever lumbar curve! I thought it was very appropriate since it would be the last Christmas I would spend with a big curvature. This year, our tree's trunk is nice and straight, just like my back. I was so excited to decorate this year because for the first time we have our own home and I could hang our stockings over the fireplace. :) We have a lot to be thankful for this year - My surgery was successful, my father beat cancer and survived a 99% blockage in his heart, we bought a home before the market got horrible, we adopted a dog, my husband passed his doctoral prelim exams and is now a dissertator, and he got promoted in his job.

2007 was very very difficult, but we have also been extremely blessed. I'm looking forward to 2008 though. One final thing - last week I was diagnosed with vertigo and hopefully it has nothing to do with my operation. It is probably an inner ear virus, but man, is it annoying. No more health problems please!

Don't Judge a Book by its Cover

Sorry for the cliche, but it is appropriate. Today I pulled up into a handicapped spot, as I do everyday on campus. One of the profs came up to me and said, "Hey, do you know that you parked in a handicapped spot and could get a fine." I looked at him and said, "Yes, I do know I parked in a handicapped spot and if you look at my car you will see the handicapped placards hanging from the mirror. I had a spinal fusion and am recovering." Well, he felt REALLY bad and just tried to keep digging himself out of his very deep hole. He said, "Oh, let me hold the door for you. It is the least I can do." I rejected his "kind" offer. Oy - people are weird. Yes, I'm not in a wheelchair and I am not going to pull up my shirt so everyone can see my scar. Why do people make stupid judgments like that without any information. He didn't even bother to look if I had a handicapped placard. He just made a split second judgment by looking at me. I feel kind of bad for him because he is utterly embarrassed, but hopefully it taught him a good lesson.

So, three days ago I woke up with a sudden onset of vertigo. It turns out that I most likely have an inner ear virus that should go away in 6-8 weeks. Guess I just always draw the "lucky" health card. I don't ask for much, but I hope 2008 will be much calmer with lots of good health.

5 months post-op

Tomorrow I am 5 months post-op. Wow. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to believe I've already made it this far. In many ways I am doing better than I expected, and in others I get quite frustrated. I still have pain, which is to be expected after such a large and grueling surgery. I got pretty down the other week because my lower back pain that I had before surgery returned and I thought, "What did I do all this for?" I think (I hope) it was just a phase, or I may have over-extended myself . . . or something. I can't freak out at every pain I get. I started pool therapy and that is going well and hopefully helping. It is too soon to tell, but I enjoy being in the water, even if I can't actually swim yet.

I'm working quite hard now and my husband is in the midst of taking his doctoral preliminary exams. NO fun! He has 10 days at home to complete the written portion before his oral exams, which means I'm trying to stay out of the way as much as possible. I also feel bad asking for his help when he is so busy, but I'm sure he understands.

My father is coming here for Thanksgiving in a few weeks and I am excited for him to see how well I'm doing now. The last time I saw him was 1 month post-op! Wow, how things have changed. I'm looking forward to the rest and the cooking.