Wednesday, November 13, 2019

Broken Back Recovery: 23 Months Later

What's new since my last entry? What has changed? The aches and pains seem to be gone. The morning stiffness is much less. Many mornings its not there at all. Several months ago I woke up and realized that nothing hurt. Its been a very long time since I could say that. I can move without painful reminders that I haven't "warmed up" yet. During this time I have continued to focus on my stretching. Every muscle group atrophied to some extent during my recovery but I am glad to say I am probably more flexible now than at any other point in my adult life. I still plan to do the splits, but that may take another year or so.

I have returned to school to finish a degree I started 16 years ago. One of the classes I'm taking is gymnastics, if you can believe it. I still can't jump/run but I'm doing cartwheels, forward rolls and head stands. I never thought that would be possible.

What's still broken? My feet still tingle/burn. My calf muscles still don't respond properly and so I am unable to walk or run normally. I still can't stand on my toes. I don't think I've seen much improvement in that area since my last entry.