Finally on the Road to Recovery

Great news I am now back on schedule for recovery. My appointment today with Dr Hu went extremely well and I was able to go for my first physiotherapy session with Marco. I worked out with Marco on the treadmill and bike and did some stretching exercises on the stability ball. In total I worked out for about an hour. A little sore after that but it felt great to be able to start exercising again.
It just shows that a couple of weeks down in Palm Desert can be a big help. The first day January 12th when Sandi and I got to the desert I was only able to walk for about 10 minutes however after about a week I was walking twice a day for 30 minutes. What a difference being able to get outside in the nice sunny weather where it was in the 80 degree range everyday. The only real frustrating part of being down in Palm Desert was having to sit on the deck and watch other people golf and me not being able to play. It was nice though when a number of my golf buddies would stop and see how I was doing.
Sandi and I have already booked our return flight to Palm Desert for February 16th. In the meantime I have two weeks of intense physio with Marco. During this time he will be developing a workout plan for me to take down to Palm Desert. As things progress I will be in Email contact with him to let him know how I am doing. I am hopeful that my recovery continues at the same pace as the past two weeks.
The next appointment with Dr Hu is scheduled for April 20th.

Disappointment a Slight Setback

Here we are the first week of 2009 and since my last posting I have experienced a bit of a setback. The pain in my back has escalated and I have not been as mobile and have had to go back to using my cane for support. The worst pain seemed to be when I was in bed and any slight movement sent severe pain radiating through my spine. The result was that I was unable to get much rest and when I did manage to get up in the morning my legs were numb and it took awhile until I was able to walk. I went for an Xray on January 2nd and laying on the Xray table was a painful experience.
I just got back from my appointment with Dr Hu and he reviewed my Xrays and he thinks the pain I am experiencing is from the screws in my back and that any twisting motion creates some slight movement of the screws and results in the pain in my spine. He thinks that as these continue to heal and the spinal fusion takes a firm hold the pain will go away. So for the three weeks I am not able to do much except walking. The good news is that I can travel and Sandi and I are heading to Palm Desert on January 12th for a couple of weeks. It will be wonderful to be able to outside for walks and hopefully the warm weather will help the healing.
As a result Dr Hu would not allow me to meet with the physiotherapist and start my rehab. So this is delayed until I meet with Dr Hu again on January 30th.
That's all for now, obviously I am a little disappointed but maybe the time in California will help.