Today was a much anticipated day for me; I was so excited to return to my doc for the second ex-ray after my neck surgery, thinking two months had passed---OOPS!!! big goof on my part, it's only been six weeks since surgery-----hmmmm, it really feels like it's been much longer :)
To make a long story short, the ex-rays didn't look any different than they did six weeks ago in terms of growth of the transplanted bone cells. Yes, a bit of a disappointment for me, but as my surgeon reminded, it's only been six weeks! We'll give it another month and see how things look then. He's trying so hard to be encouraging and yet cautiously optimistic.
He did increase my weight limit to ten pounds and is allowing me to get back to the gym for some lower body work; treadmill, light weights for the legs, and possibly some kick boarding in the pool. This is all good and will hopefully help pull off some of the excess weight I've accumulated over the past twenty months of inactivity. Yippee, now that's good news for a gym rat like me :) I love the gym!!!
One area of immediate concern is the lose of range of motion and strength in my right shoulder. I had a major shoulder reconstruction the end of November and found out that I would have to have another neck surgery just two days before the shoulder surgery. Because of the complications involving the neck I couldn't go through the full range of physical therapy for my shoulder, then had no PT for three weeks after the neck surgery----yep, you guessed it, now there are a lot of adhesion's that need to be encouraged to let go and all of this work has to been done very carefully so not to disturb the healing process of the neck. SIGH............ nothing has been uncomplicated yet so I guess I shouldn't be surprised by this development either. It just keeps me humble, slow, and learning more about patience and appreciating all the body parts that work so well.
I'm truly learning to be thankful in all circumstances, even for a difficult shoulder because I have been blessed by such wonderful therapists that I would not have known otherwise---so see, there are good things in everything and I'm thankful that God placed these wonderful people in my life! I am truly thankful for all they do to help me heal and grow strong. So if you think of it, please send up a prayer of thankfulness for all those who are part of my healing team----they are not only making me stronger physically, but emotionally and spiritually as well; God knew I would need each and everyone of them and I am filled with gratitude for His provision. I am a blessed woman!
So with all of that said, tomorrow begins a new physical therapy regime and I'll continue trusting the Lord in this healing process, knowing that His plan for this process is the perfect plan and the bone cell healing is in His control.
Thanks so much for all of your prayers and love; they are so appreciated.
God is our/my refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore, I will not fear......The Lord Almighty is with us/me.
Psalms 46: 1-2 & 7
Monday, March 22, 2010
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Collar Therapy
It's been about three weeks since my last post and in those three weeks I've been doing a lot of resting, healing, visiting doc's and having lots of physical therapy. It seems like all I do is things for myself; very weird but necessary at this point.
I had mentioned seeing my surgeon and how wonderful the ex-rays looked in my last post; what a praise to be able to have this type of surgery----truly amazing work that only a few years ago was unheard of. Wow! I have had an overwhelming sense of gratitude lately; how blessed I am to have the luxury of such wonderful medical care when so many have nothing. It just makes me more determined to take good care of myself to show my thankfulness.
A couple more praises to offer; at the last post I was having a great deal of nerve pain in my right arm and hand, so much so I finally had to succumb to taking Neurontin, a serious nerve inhibiting drug. I had not wanted to be on any other drugs, but ended up taking it for about three weeks. It immediately stopped the intense pain but after three weeks the rest of my body just couldn't tolerate it any longer. Now that I've been off of it for six days, I feel much better and the nerve pain has gone down to a point that I can tolerate---big praise no drugs in my system.
Another praise is the fitting for an Electric Bone Cell Stimulating collar yesterday. Yep, this is cutting edge stuff that's being used on high risk patients to help stimulate bone cell transplant growth. I have to wear it for four hours each day for six months and I have to say I do look rather "Star Trekish" when I wear it :) It's not terribly uncomfortable and not painful at the time of use; I found the surgical site to be sore and inflamed today, but I'm just sure that's because all of those lovely transplant cells were just so stimulated they were dancing around and are a bit sore today. Can't you just envision the cells being zapped into growth compliance? Too funny!
I am learning to be a very quiet person---unbelievable I know, but true and so necessary for this type of healing. I'm enjoying new activities, lots of reading, Bible studies, music, and just being still. I'm really learning to listen to God more and more and I have to admit it's been pretty nice just spending lots of time with Him and learning that this new season in my life has great merit and I need to embrace it fully to receive the full measure of understanding. It's not easy every day, but it's becoming more and more of a place I'm delighting in instead of struggling in. Hmmmm, do ya think there might be a lesson in here somewhere??? :)
Next Tuesday will be the two month mark since surgery and I'll be having another ex-ray to see if there's any new growth. I'm excited to see the ex-ray, but also trying not to expect too much; I'm at that stage where I'm feeling pretty good and ready to be normal---the dangerous place when re-injury occurs-----I just need to remember that I don't heal normally in this area so I need to be patient and know that this could take up to a year to be stable enough to begin living a normal life-style. I will be happy with what we see and move forward accordingly---after all, it's not my timing, it's God's and I'm finding that His plans seem to be much better than mine in the long run :)
Our inner happiness depends not on what we experience but on the degree of our gratitude to God, whatever the experience. Albert Schweitzer
I had mentioned seeing my surgeon and how wonderful the ex-rays looked in my last post; what a praise to be able to have this type of surgery----truly amazing work that only a few years ago was unheard of. Wow! I have had an overwhelming sense of gratitude lately; how blessed I am to have the luxury of such wonderful medical care when so many have nothing. It just makes me more determined to take good care of myself to show my thankfulness.
A couple more praises to offer; at the last post I was having a great deal of nerve pain in my right arm and hand, so much so I finally had to succumb to taking Neurontin, a serious nerve inhibiting drug. I had not wanted to be on any other drugs, but ended up taking it for about three weeks. It immediately stopped the intense pain but after three weeks the rest of my body just couldn't tolerate it any longer. Now that I've been off of it for six days, I feel much better and the nerve pain has gone down to a point that I can tolerate---big praise no drugs in my system.
Another praise is the fitting for an Electric Bone Cell Stimulating collar yesterday. Yep, this is cutting edge stuff that's being used on high risk patients to help stimulate bone cell transplant growth. I have to wear it for four hours each day for six months and I have to say I do look rather "Star Trekish" when I wear it :) It's not terribly uncomfortable and not painful at the time of use; I found the surgical site to be sore and inflamed today, but I'm just sure that's because all of those lovely transplant cells were just so stimulated they were dancing around and are a bit sore today. Can't you just envision the cells being zapped into growth compliance? Too funny!
I am learning to be a very quiet person---unbelievable I know, but true and so necessary for this type of healing. I'm enjoying new activities, lots of reading, Bible studies, music, and just being still. I'm really learning to listen to God more and more and I have to admit it's been pretty nice just spending lots of time with Him and learning that this new season in my life has great merit and I need to embrace it fully to receive the full measure of understanding. It's not easy every day, but it's becoming more and more of a place I'm delighting in instead of struggling in. Hmmmm, do ya think there might be a lesson in here somewhere??? :)
Next Tuesday will be the two month mark since surgery and I'll be having another ex-ray to see if there's any new growth. I'm excited to see the ex-ray, but also trying not to expect too much; I'm at that stage where I'm feeling pretty good and ready to be normal---the dangerous place when re-injury occurs-----I just need to remember that I don't heal normally in this area so I need to be patient and know that this could take up to a year to be stable enough to begin living a normal life-style. I will be happy with what we see and move forward accordingly---after all, it's not my timing, it's God's and I'm finding that His plans seem to be much better than mine in the long run :)
Our inner happiness depends not on what we experience but on the degree of our gratitude to God, whatever the experience. Albert Schweitzer
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