Last January (2014) you could say I was a gym new years resolutioner. I had not set foot in a gym for just over 6 years. Aaron had challenged me to a little contest and we made a ridiculous bet to see who could get the most ab veins in 12 weeks (its a body builder thing). Unfortunately, my return to the gym was very short lived because I developed the most excruciating nerve pain running from the back of my head, through my shoulder and down my right arm. In high school I had been in a car accident and had my head go through a windshield. At the time, the doctors said there was no evidence of damage but I could have problems later in life. Apparently, at the age of 41, I had now reached later in life. Over the years I always had minor reoccurring problems in my neck and would see a chiropractor occasionally and after a couple of days, I would be back to normal. This time it started out as a similar pain, but quickly got worse and after two weeks of thinking it would just go away, I decided to see a neurologist. The following week resulted in an MRI, which in turn resulted in immediately being scheduled with a surgeon because the disc between my C4 &C5 was basically gone, I had bone rubbing on bone, and was pushing inward on my spinal cord. This is not what I had in my plans. I was excited and motivated to be back in the gym. I also had a ski trip planned a couple weeks later with my sister, who had just finished up chemo and radiation for breast cancer, Aaron & I had a trip to Cabo planned for April, and I was really looking forward to showing Aaron just exactly how much he would regret making this 12-week bet with me. Instead, I was told Id be out of the gym for months, the ski trip was cancelled, I wouldnt be able to zip-line or parasail in Cabo and of course there would be no kicking Aarons butt ( for now ;-) ). Apparently, there are a great number of people who have this type of surgery as my surgeons first available date would be mid-March. I wont say what my initial reaction was. I was then begging for the surgery as I knew it would be more likely I would perform a self amputation of my right arm before I waited over a month. Luckily, that was when a lot of snow & ice storms were occurring, and there was a cancellation with the surgeon that allowed me to get in the day before I was supposed to have left for the ski trip. Ive had various procedures and surgeries before and had always been told the standard 3 to 10 days recovery time. This time, it was 2-4 weeks minimum, which of course I took to mean this was the time frame for ordinary people, which of course in my mind, I was not. In fact even after the surgeon explained the whole procedure of cleaning (scraping) out any remains of the existing disc, prying the vertebra apart, inserting the artificial disc, and having a plate attached to my spine with 4 screws, my first question was, So, will I be able to go back to the gym in a couple weeks? My guess is he doesnt get that question often because he nervously laughed and answered with a firm, NO!. There was to be no lifting of anything over 5 lbs for at least 12 weeks, which made me laugh nervously. So still under the delusional thoughts of my super power abilities, my plan was to go in for surgery at 5am and be home by 4pm since staying overnight was optional. That did not happen! The surgery was done without any complications, but the pain afterwards was much more than I anticipated. The only good thing was the excruciating nerve pain I had been experiencing was completely gone, but now replaced by pain of having my neck cut open, drilled on, pounded on and screwed back together. The first week was horrible. I never knew my head could weigh so much. Just trying to sit upright, stand and take steps without causing any unnecessary movement was painful. Slowly each day got better and after 2 weeks I was back at work but still very uncomfortable. I had heard enough stories about people who had over done it after this type of surgery causing it to not heal properly and having to return to the knife. This was not something I wanted to repeat, so for once I listened and did no lifting for 12 weeks. After getting the all clear to lift light weights but still nothing that would put weight or strain on my neck or back, I went back to the gym and focused on legs with a little arms and shoulders. The healing continued to slowly progress but I always made sure to stop if anything felt even the slightest bit off. Aaron & I still went to Cabo, but it was the most non-active vacation Ive ever been on in my life and it was great! Luckily he gave me a free pass on our bet and instead of calling it a forfeit and deeming himself as the winner we agreed to postpone it for a while. As for my neck, I still had to be very careful as any bumping or sudden movements would still cause some amount of pain. Finally in August I had my 6 month followup and cat-scan showing the fusion had taken and I was finally good to go as far as lifting as long I was still careful to listen to my body. Aaron & I did resume our bet and completed our 12 week challenge in Oct. Both of us made more progress than either anticipated given the circumstances. On Feb 21 well be starting another 12 week challenge as part of ATs FitClub and everyone is welcome to join in. Check ATsFitClub to find out more. Since the surgery, I have not done squats or any movements requiring weight directly placed on my upper back/neck area. I occasionally use the leg press that puts weight on my shoulders, but only light weight. Only seated calf raises, no standing weighted calf raises. I regularly do lat pulls, rowing, shoulder presses and shrugs and have not had any issues. However, I did start with very light weight and increased slowly. Prior to surgery and during my competition days, I would say if I had to pick a weak body part, it would be my lower back. Even with some lingering lower back issues that I think is linked to all the posing for competition, I will say the more back extensions I do and as that area is strengthened, the less pain and irritation I notice. I know several people have had this surgery and asked questions. My best advice is this: 1. Do not use this as an excuse not to exercise. The surgery was to improve your life, not take from it or make you stationary. 2. While its VERY important to take time to let your body heal and recover, dont let yourself become inactive because it will only make things worse. It will result in becoming weak, losing flexibility, and causing atrophy over your whole body. You may be a little sore when starting to exercise, but the more active you are, the better you will become. 3. Dont be afraid of lifting weights. You need to gain strength again, especially in the area where the surgery was performed. 4. When you are lifting and putting strain on any area of your neck or back, do not twist or turn your neck. This is a bigger temptation when at the gym and you want to see yourself in the mirror, but dont do it! This actually goes for anyone, not just someone whos had surgery. 5. Of course follow your doctors recommendations for when and what type of activities are acceptable. Once the recommended amount of time has passed, then do the activities! Its been almost one year since my surgery and I still have moments of stiffness or just an uncomfortable feeling. I cant lay for long periods of time if my head is not straight. My neck is not quite as flexible as before but it isnt causing any problems. If I had to put a number on it, Id say Im 90% good as new, but I know thats because I didnt let the surgery restrict my activity or my goals. Ill be writing about my other health issue, rheumatoid arthritis, soon.
Posted on: Tue, 27 Jan 2015 01:18:00 +0000
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