Therapy and recovery from post surgery deficits

[Joel]

Went:
You really are a great guy; you climb that mountain every day. It is such an inspiration to me. Sometimes I get down on myself, my situation, and then I think about you working out so hard, and it gives me a second wind. Your intelligence, style, and wit though, are still as good as ever and I hope you continue to use words to take you places where your feet can no longer go. Keep punching baby!
Joel

[Joel]

John:
I wish I could get everyone on the site to try adaptive skiing. It was the most fun I've had in years! WRT your question about my two surgeries and recoveries, there was a huge difference. I think the second one was a bit more drastic than the first, because Jallo got the whole thing out, and then I had a nasty staph infection which caused a third surgery to open me up and clean out the wound, and as a result, my recovery has been far more difficult, with fewer gains. But I keep plugging away.

[ScrapHeap]

First thing I was told by doctors before surgery was "Strength comes first. Then comes balance. Work hard on gaining your strength and if you are to have any balance, it will come after." I took those words to heart. They were repeated a few times during rehab too. Served as reinforcement. In reflection, my strength isn't nearly what it use to be and my balance is often horrible. Does that mean that all the work in rehab and at home served little to no purpose? Not at all. I can only imagine my present state had I refused to bust my hump trying to get better.

Heavy rehab isn't going to make all of us walk, run marathons, or play sports again. But without putting in the work, atrophy will take even more of an enormous toll on our bodies. The sooner we can get into rehab routines, the sooner we're going to get back whatever it is we're capable of achieving.

Rehab worked extremely well for me. And I was late getting started due to complications post-op. I was suppose to be in the hospital for 3 days, then off to in-patient rehab. I spent 12 days post-op in the hospital, able to do nothing but lay there. Once admitted into in-patient rehab I was told I'd be there for a minimum of 6, maybe as long as 9 weeks, based upon my condition. I was so happy to be out of the hospital and into rehab that I was fired up about getting started - Motivated. I busted my butt every day, 4 hours a day. They kicked me out in 2.5 weeks... return home and 6 more months of out-patient rehab... 3 days a week for 1 hour per visit. I also worked on things everyday at home.

So +1 for rehab. The sooner and the more often the better I'd say.

[went]

Another thing that keeps me going when I want to slack is this:

There are people who are in worse conditions than I am in, and they would kill to be me. They would love just the chance to get better. I'm not happy with how I am, but I am grateful that I can do the things I can do, and that there's a glimmer of hope, no matter how small it may be.

I feel as though I owe it to the people who won't get any better. I can't waste the chance. Even if it doesn't happen, I have to try. Not just for me, but for everyone.

Plus, if I can get better, they hopefully can somehow learn something from me that they can use to help others.

[Joel]

Wenty:
You're slackin'. You just wrote 8 sentences in this last post and there was nary a yuk-yuk. I may actually have to start taking you seriously.

[Oscar Medina]

Hi John: It´s been three years since my surgery and am doing well. Walking, running, riding, driving, sex. I can do it all, but i´m now dealing with a herniated disc that i´m sure is a result of doing to llittle core exercises after my surgery. I concentrated on other exercises and my doctor never really explained the importance. I´m glad you´re doing well and seeking for the right information to deal with your situation. This is extremely important. Stay close to your physiotehrapist and make sure that he and your therapist work well together. Watch out for the therapist assistants. Some of them, not all, know nothing at all. Make sure they´ve read your file before they give you any advice at all or tell you to do any exercises. Do everything they tell you to do, only as your therapist prescribes it. Oh yeah! it´s really important that your therapist actually be a doctor. I must say that many physiotherapists and therapists understand very little about spinal cord tumor resection and the danger is that they could prescribe the same amount of exercise they prescribe other people with lesser risks. Therefore, you must become very educated about what happenned to you and your spinal cord so that you have absolute control and say so on what needs to be done. I personally think you´re doing way too much exercise too early in the game. Read more about what happenned to you and you´ll understand better. Think in terms of one hour of gym three days a week and let it rest for two days for the first two months. Core exercises are extremely important. Then, after two months talk to your physiotherapist and tell him you want to add more exercise and figure out together what other exercises would be appropriate. What exercises they assign should be based on the amount of damage to your spinal cord and what hardware was left inside. The more the damage, the more careful and extended your recovery should be. I love your determination, but keep it under ckeck! Best of luck!

[john8888]

Oscar

That is wise advice, thank you.

I have been using all of the advice I received in this post to drive my motivation. Yesterday’s mantra was “Strength comes first. Then comes balance”

My therapist has also advised focussing on my core. I must follow both of you. The core exercises are nasty and humbling when you are wobbly.

Thanks
John