Surgery Progress April 5, 2013

     Hi everyone, I know it's been a while, in fact March managed to sneak right on by without one update, sooo sorry. In a way this really is a blessing of sorts, March proved to be an amazing month with lower pain days which means I'm up and more involved with my family for the first time in two years. So you see, as thrilled as I am, I just haven't had as much down time which in turn means very little screen time anymore. I'm very excited to share some highlights in March, so let's get started.

     I'm still tolerating PT fairly well, and strongly believe it is worth my time and hard work. I was able to start pool therapy and I'm loving this part of PT. It feels so good, it's like stepping into a very warm bath, and after all the manipulation from the regular session it's perfect for stretching and relaxing my muscles. We still do our regular session and then I do a 1/2 hour session in the pool after, all together it's two hours of therapy, but only once a week. I was finally given permission to start working on kegels to strengthen the pelvic floor, this is huge, as most who suffer with this condition know, this is a BIG no, no in the PNE world. Currently we're working on retraining my glutes to fire, I know kinda silly right, but it's my bodies way of protecting the nerve. My hamstrings have literally taken on the task of supporting and moving my core when I move and walk, and over the course of two years my hamstrings tire very easily and become very weak, especially on inclines and stairs. I have also started walking on the treadmill, I'm so pathetically slow, because the motion of walking tends to irritate everything in-between, but I'm hoping with time I will build up speed and distance. It just feel so good to move again, before surgery walking was very difficult, not only did it irritate my in-betweens, but also my pelvic floor muscles would become so tight that my stride would get shorter and shorter until I was stuck and couldn't move one leg in front of the other without experiencing severe pain. My pelvic muscles are much more relaxed now, and when I feel the tightness coming on I can simply lay down and do some stretches to calm everything down. Overall I'm happy that I'm able to start working on strength exercises, it's a good place to be in my recovery.

     The best thing about March was that it was a month full of more good days than bad. There were several days that I was completely shocked and pleasantly surprised by my pain levels. I've finally reached a point where I can get through my whole day (most days) without thinking to myself  "this really hurts, I just can't do this a second longer, and I really need to go lay down." Good days leave me feeling overwhelmed with a sense of joy, and relieved that things are slowly turning around for me, and during these times I feel so happy I could cry. I'm feeling very grateful, and with everyday that passes I'm gaining new ground, I just feel very content in so many ways, it's unbelievable!