The 90/10 rule applies
This is purely a health update, feel free to ignore if that’s not of interest.
A few people have asked how my recovery from last fall’s fall is going. The short answer is: “very well, thank you!”
The longer answer is, of course, that it’s a little more nuanced than that.
The shorthand way I’ve described it all of late is that above the waist things are going really well.
While I still feel numbness/tingling in my hands, it’s migrated to just being the fingers most of the time. Of greater note is simply that I see progress of this symptom slowly getting better over time, albeit a time measured in months.
I had a check-in with the surgeon earlier this week — on the six month anniversary of the operation, at that — and all looks well from his point. X-rays of my neck show that things are stable, and that the fusion appears to be progressing well. I’ll see him again in six months.
Below the waist, things are … not as I expected.
Over the past two months my legs have decided it’s their turn to get some attention. They’ve become somewhat weaker and more painful. I experience major stiffness when I stand up, likely exacerbated by traditional arthritis. And my left hip has decided to join the party and act up as well. The net result of it all is that walking can be slow and painful, as can finding just the right position to sleep in.
The theory is that post-surgery inactivity has lead to deconditioning of the related muscles. What I’m learning is that as we age deconditioning can happen scary-fast, and reconditioning is frustratingly slow.
So, I’m in PT, doing exercises and stretches to rebuild muscle strength & balance, and using my elliptical 3 times a week to build up the stamina once again as well. I also discovered that my health plan includes a gym membership, so I might start taking advantage of that as well.
Advil is my friend (as are assorted other medications).
The other shorthand I’ve come up with is that 90% of my recovery took 10% of the time. The remaining 10% will take 90% of the time. Sigh.
I remain super grateful for the 90% of the recovery that’s happened to date. It certainly could have gone quite differently.
As for the remaining 10%, aka my legs, it’s a slow upward climb, but climb we shall.
