I'm back

Had back surgery on Tuesday, and things went well. The doc put in two screws, two rods, a piece of bone from another part of my spine and some bone protein at the L5 level. Got out of the hospital Thursday afternoon, to the shock of B. and my family. I was not in good shape at all Thursday, but personally felt my best chance for recovery was to be at home. Since when is being in a hospital a comfortable, relaxing, quiet place to be?

On Thursday/Friday I was shocked by how much worse this surgery was in terms of pain. When I got home it took me several minutes to get up the two steps in our garage; the last time I was pacing the living room (slowly, yet without assistance) for over an hour once I arrived home from the hospital. I swore up and down that I could not go through this again - this surgery had to work!

Yesterday and today have been breakthrough days, though. Every day I find a whole new range of stuff I can do. Though I started out in a much worse condition, I am recovering at a rapid pace. I'm of course still limited, but I am very pleased at my progress. If things continue to move forward I will definitely be back working from home PT by March 5. In other words, I better try and enjoy my week off as much as possible!

I am truly grateful to B., my family, friends and co-workers, all whom have gone out of their way to make sure I know I am loved and supported. That helps a lot, and I keep it in mind every day. I am upbeat about this surgery doing the trick - and allowing me to have a "normal" life again. Time will tell!