Skirt | Shirt (similar) | Shoes
Usually – if I’ve eaten too much, I wanna hide my food belly. However, this isn’t a food belly and I don’t wanna hide it! That bump in my lower abdomen is swelling from a 3 inch horizontal incision where my brand new ActivL artificial disc was inserted.
Scars tell a story and I’m looking forward to sharing my story with anyone who wants to listen!
My experience with chronic pain has been debilitating, by sharing this journey I hope to help and spread awareness to people who also suffer from chronic pain.
Earrings | Hoops | Stacking rings | Watch
I want to emphasize how adamantly opposed to surgery I was. This was my second back surgery and not only did I not want to have a second, I didn’t want to have the first!
I did everything possible to avoid my first surgery. In my post-op meeting with my first surgeon, he hinted at a possible second surgery. That hint was a clue to take especially good care of my back to prevent any future surgeries because I did NOT want to go through it EVER again. To say I was careful, is an understatement! I was so aware of every activity I did and how my back felt afterward. Usually to the grand annoyance of my (ever-loving) family. If I ran, I waited to see how I’d feel and if I felt additional pain I would stretch, do yoga, ice, everything “they” say you should do to recover. I strengthened my core, I lifted lighter to no weights, switched to low impact cardio. After all the precautions, I still felt pain. In my gut, I knew there was something wrong, even if I didn’t want to admit it.
You know in those medical tv dramas when the Dr goes to greet the family after they’ve just finished the surgery? Imagine my cute parents chatting with my first surgeon. He told them the regular things surgeons say after a successful surgery, except ONE thing. The surgeon said my entire disc was removed and now my bones (vertabra) were right on top of each other, with no cushion. The procedure is called a microdiscectomy, which translates to – removal of a disc. Why was this one thing abnormal?
It didn’t sound right to not have cushion/shocks between my vertebra and I thought about it during every run or workout. I wondered what kind of damage I was doing to my bone on bone situation, especially since I was experiencing tremendous pain. Without truly knowing the impact – I was hesitant, cautious, and I always wondered if my workouts were doing more damage than good.
One post cannot fully share the entirety of my five year journey. If you’d like to continue reading, I’ve linked each post here:
Next Posts: Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12
Thank you, as always, for reading and sharing! Happy Friday and Weekend to all! If you have any questions please feel free to contact me and I would be more than happy to share or help in any way I can!
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*Surgeon – Dr. Scott Blumenthal of the Texas Back Institute – Center for Disc Replacement
Hospital – Texas Health Center for Diagnostics & Surgery
