9 Month Post-op Update

     Hello...I know it's been a while, and this update is a little over due, but I'm still here. I took a little break to spend time with my kiddo's during their summer break. They only get three weeks, (no thanks to year round school) so I have to make the most of it.

     Since my last update I've had one unexpected and not so fun flare, a slight set back with pain, and (I have good news too) more milestones to share. So as you can see a lot of ups, and some downs as well the last few weeks.

     I'm starting with the milestones, exciting and good news is always fun to share. I sat through not one..., but two movies this last month. I could hardly believe it, I made it through the entire show! Both times!! My last attempt at going to the movie theater was last fourth of July, and after 20 minutes I ended up standing in the back for the rest of the movie. Fast forward one year later, and the impossible is finally possible. I definitely felt some discomfort, but it was manageable. The feeling of one foot inside the door of "normal" feels so amazing. For the last two and half years I could have never imagined enjoying something as simple as going to the movies, yet this simple pleasure has been given back to me and I'm feeling very blessed.

     Next milestone, one more successful and fun filled road trip. For the fourth of July we headed 4 1/2 hours down south to hot, hot St. George, UT.  Temperatures hovered around 110-114 most days, but despite the heat we had a blast. My 4th grader was assigned Washington County for his county fair project this year, St. George is a city in Washington county. With our summer break finally starting just before the 4th of July, we were brainstorming on something fun to do. We/he thought it would be fun to go to the county he had just studied in school. He also knew we had some good friends that lived outside of St. George in Cedar City and he had been begging to go see them for month's. He had the perfect trip planned out in his little head, so we went with it. We had an amazing time visiting with friends, a lot of swimming, a little bit of hiking, watching one of the best firework shows ever, and kayaking in the lake. Outside of the long drive there and back, I did all of this without experiencing an increase in pain. My friend even commented about everything that I was doing and seemed very surprised and so happy for me. I'm really happy about the direction I'm going...I think I can get use to this!

     Wait...hold that thought...I may have spoken to soon. That pudendal nerve of mine has a funny way of reminding me that it has a mean bite if I try to forget about it. I had a couple of really good month's and then out of no where my pain shot up. I mean this is bound to happen, but usually it's for a couple of hours or a day at most, not for 8 days in a row... at least not anymore, I thought I was past all of that. I'm not exactly sure what happened, but clearly I was dealing with a flare.

     Oh the dreaded flare, it's my bodies way of screaming at me that I'm having too much fun and it's a harsh reminder that I can't always do everything that I'd like to do. Nerves are funny like that, completely unpredictable and unforgiving. Then just as my flare is calming down my feet start acting up, keeping me up at night, throbbing , burning, aching, just trying to stand up is painful...how am I suppose to walk? Then a week later my lower back starts in on all the fun, it's so odd! My feet and back hurt so bad I forgot about the pain in my in-betweens, ya, it was that bad!

     I told my PT last week I think I'm having a set back, she reassured me and said "I wouldn't call it a set back, just a little bump in the road." I left for home and later that night my back seemed to get all bunched up and it felt like it was catching on something deep inside...ouch! So this week in PT we focused only on my back, it seems the catching and twinging and twitching is finally gone, but now I'm left with a very sore feeling. I hope I'm over this bump in the road...it's been a long couple of weeks...I'm tired!

      Even with this "bump" in the road, overall I've made progress along this road of recovery. I'm really enjoying the feeling of  life's simple pleasures seeping back in and giving me a second chance at "normal" again.