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Blogs > Jacqui1000 > Life on the Rock


Jacqui1000 61F
141 posts
10/10/2012 4:12 pm
No; it's a difficult concept, even if it is logical
The 28th of this month will be eight years since I suffered a ruptured disc (L-4/L-5) in my spine, on the job. It was repaired in a surgery June 12th of this year. It took that long to find someone who both could do the surgery and that also accepted my insurance.

Prior to the injury, I was a martial artist and gym rat. I loved putting demands on my body and experiencing its responses. I've always loved a challenge.

Within a week of the surgery, I was told, walk as much as I could. Well, obviously I took advantage of being able to move without excruciating pain. On the treadmill, at the beach, and barefoot marching in place to work on my stability. In a month's time I no longer needed the cane that had been my companion for six years.

This week I began physical therapy. . .and it has unexpectedly become a universe of "NO."

I don't do "NO" very well, especially when I want so badly to try harder.

Some things -- thanks to the rods and screws in my spine -- may always be off-limits to me. (Not sex, thank God, but don't get me started. ) Repetitive bending, twisting, etc. are definitely a no-no.

I feel like I'm literally at square one, doing simple abdominal exercises that engage my core, but not my spine.

I could never have foreseen working through the pain not being a good thing. And there's no faking my way through it. My therapist, bless her heart, is terribly astute and knows from the slightest change of expression on my face that something hurts. She and I already know breaking me of my stubborn determination is going to be the hardest part of this entire process. lol

The good news, however, is that I will be able to return to the gym when I'm done with physical therapy. . .with a few restrictions and work-arounds. This simple promise lightens my step, puts a grin on my face, and has me praising God. . .even when my therapist, for the tenth time, tells me, "no."

"If the doctor told me I had six minutes to live, I'd type a little faster." — Isaac Asimov