317752's blog: "BackLog"

First, let me say once again how utterly amazed I am by all the love and concern my family and friends have shown me throughout this ordeal.  I am completely overwhelmed and wish to express my heartfelt and sincere gratitude to each and every one of you.  You have all played a role in my recovery process and from the bottom of my heart I thank you.

Now, I have been home for 5 days, so I thought maybe it would be a good time for a little update on my progress.  It is mind-boggling that so many other "ailments" can be fixed by getting your back, back, so to speak.  Things that would mean very little to you in your normal day-to-day life have literally astounded me over these past few days.  For instance, I can now cross my legs.  I haven't been able to do that for years.  I could always reach down and grab my ankle and pull it up over my knee, but now I can just cross my legs... sure makes changing socks easier.

I can pick a dime up off the floor now, without having to squat or bend my knees, and one of the strangest things occured just the other day.  My left pinky finger has been numb and useless for years now, and as I sat upstairs watching TV I began to get a burning sensation that ran from my left elbow right through the end of that pinky.  Back and forth, up and down my arm it went and about two hours later, I had complete feeling in and full use of that pinky again.  Who would have thought that nerve regeneration in the lumbar spine could affect numbness in a finger??

My mobility and flexibility continue to improve though I must admit the rehab walks are truly a pain.  And while we are on the subject of pain, lemme tell ya... the morphine/dilaudid/percodan/dyazapam cocktails the bartender here serves are better than Wild Turkey... and I never in my life would have believed ANYTHING was better than good bourbon for what ails ya...  The pain is still intense at times, especially when I awaken after a good night's sleep, but is under control now and with each passing day I feel stronger and more "able".

Still can't sit here too long but I am doing the best I can to keep up with the love.  Please keep it coming as you keep me in your thoughts and bear with me if I am slow to respond as it is likely bCoz I am not here.  And please excuse the typos if you shout me.  I cant see the keyboard right now, much less the letters on the keys... the cocktails in this bar will blow your mind... and speaking of which, here comes the bartender even as I type, so I will close for now, but express emphatically to all of you who were gracious enough to read this, that if you are having back problems, don't be a fool like I was and wait two pain filled years to have them checked out.  They are only going to get worse as time passes and I "stand", pun intended, as living proof that you can be healed, that your quality of life can be improved through the marvels of modern medical surgical techniques.... and good pain killers of course...lol