Hola

Quickie update... back has been behaving these past couple of weeks. Doing lots of walking with the dog which is good but haven't been doing too much pool or pilates activity I'm afraid. Becoming a Canuck couch potato!!!! Off this week on holiday - looking forward to 20 days of Mexican / Floridian sun and loads of time in the pool. Love love love heat on my back... Hope everyone out there is doing OK, relatively pain-free, mobile and enjoying the lovely weather we're getting both sides of the pond.

Loving my FitFlops which are working wonders on my butt and feel great on my back too (superb shock-absorbers)!

A blow...

Whoa, where does the time go? Sorry for the radio-silence but I have been so bogged down getting settled in this new country that 'working' on the laptop has taken a back seat - besides the network in this rented place is down so often, it kind of de-incentivises you (if there's such a word)!!! You know what I mean.

Well, Dr Vic and I are missing the UK pretty bad - no more so than my weekly Pilates class with the lovely Bearsted laydees ;) and David Lloyd's beautiful pool... Where we're living currently they don't seem to go in for private gym clubs much - not wanting to sound snobbish (well I suppose I am) but swimming with the masses just doesn't do it for me. I'm used to my own lane then a private sauna or steam followed by a wonderful lunch and a large glass of vino! Doesn't seem to be a Caledon thing. The good news though, is that we've found a private club up where our house is being built, so I hold out hope for when we finally get up there, which is looking increasingly like 1st week July.

Back remains crappy still - so I've made a concerted effort these last weeks to get a lot of walking in AND on the incline. That and delivery (finally) of our container, our own bed and the 'Borg Barrier' seems to be helping. Mind you, been popping the Tramadol intermittently to get through the worst. Got a wedding on Saturday, so am hoping to kick up my heels to some live Flamenco music (the groom's family own a dance school that specialises in Flamenco, Tango, Cuban etal), you should have seen the women dance at the bridal shower - ab-fab. Gawd, I just know the day is going to be so much fun and that I won't be able to resist AND... you guessed it, I'll suffer real bad for it over the coming days.

What the hell. You only live once, right!!!!

Last week though, I suffered an emotional setback. Those of you that have been reading this blog from the start will remember Angela. Angela was my 2nd and most avid follower (after Dr Vic) and she underwent her Dynesys surgery about 3 months after me. We set email and Facebook lines alight before and after our surgeries asking each other all sorts of questions and offering support. Her surgery early 2009 went fantastically well and she was up and about well before me and returned to work to boot! Throughout these past 2 years we have remained in touch through the Facebook group and she has been, without doubt, one of my staunchest supporters through good times and bad. So when I heard last week that Angela is now experiencing quite bad pain again and was due back to see her surgeon, it was a real blow. For her, for me and all the spineys that have had this relatively new surgery. She is now scheduled for CT and MRI scans to determine what the problem is. I worry for her and I pray that she is OK and that her current pain is 'just' an episode - a blip - and not something more sinister. If you read this Angela, I'm thinking of you hun.

It's certainly made me think though... nothing is certain for anyone, we all know that - but when you have an afflication, disability or disease it puts everything into sharp focus when "one of your own" takes a backward step...

:(

A blip...

Still in shocking pain each morning following a night in the bed from hell! Hopefully, our container (all 40 foot of it) will be arriving any day now - can't bloody wait, don't think my back can stand too many more nights of this. Even the dog won't lay on it and that's saying something!!! LOL.

Had a go at 5 pin bowling (small bowls) the other night. Not a good move... right butt-cheek pain and numbness of inner thigh followed for 2 days. Got a bit of a panic on as I really thought I'd undone my back. Silly moo, serves me right. But you know what, you have to keep challenging yourself in order to find out what your limitations are. Otherwise you'd stand still, and for me that was not the point of having Dynesys in the first place.

The Dynesys group on Facebook continues to grow (now standing at 87 members)... with many of our members recovering, undergoing or waiting for their ops. The group has a life of it's own now, which is great - I just dip in from time to time to make sure that it's running OK. I don't know what it is about spineys - they're generally a great bunch of people. I've made many friends through the group (and my clinical pilates group) for which I'm thankful. If you haven't already, check it out!

Canada OUCH !!!

Well folks, settled in Canada and in lots of pain... Wouldn't you know it. Done way way too much of all the wrong things which has resulted in me writing this while laid up in bed following a 'Linda Blair' projectile vom. moment after taking Tramadol for a couple of days to settle my pain!!! Sleeping in a strange bed without the 'Borg Barrier' isn't helping nor is all the running around trying to sort out all the things we naturally take for granted in our lives like cars, mobiles, etc.

Mustn't grumble... it was bound to happen. Off for a drug induced sleep now ;)

Au-revoir England, helloooo Canada

A last blog from Blighty as the next one I write will be from Canada, our new home.

To say the past few weeks have been stressful (and pretty 'back' painful) would be an understatement. BUT to be expected given the amount of packing and organising that has had to be done in such a short space of time. Looking forward to doing not too much at all when we arrive - just settling in and finding our feet. And learning to drive on the other side of the road!

Big HUGE thank you to all our wonderful family and friends who have given us a magnificent send-off. TTFN (tata for now) x

Onwards & upwards on the downhill !!!

Just back from Quebec City and I can report that I finally returned to the hills after 6 pre-op years of sitting on-my-lonesome glugging gluhwein and jagermeister! Yah!!!!

For those of you that have followed this blog you will know that skiing was a passion and one of the things that was a HUGE miss during those horrendous pre-op years. When I decided to go forward with the op I made Dr Vic (hubs) promise that he would get me back on skis the following season, no matter what! Many people thought I was mad to take the risk and told me so, but you know what, I had the op to get my life back and skiing is part of the life I want back!

As always, the gorgeous Dr Vic kept his promise! I purchased some Forcefield Body Armour (women's lumbar support)... it's v. comfortable, non-restrictive and offered unbelievable support. I believe it's being worn by Team GB at the Winter Olympics, Whistler - check it out http://www.forcefieldbodyarmour.com/product_selector.asp. Now I must clarify... I wasn't doing double-blacks, off-piste or moguls but as a once fast and confident skiier I wore the support whilst doing what I would consider some 'decent' runs on the downhill no less (can't believe it myself, thought I'd just about manage x-country)! It may well be psychological, but the 'armour' gave me the confidence boost and support I needed.

I skiied maximum 2 hours x 3 non-consecutive days - it was my threshold without going into Tramadol-popping pain. Back at the ranch I 'jumped' straight in the hot tub and sauna and then spent an hour or so resting. Good enough for me folks. RESULT!

So for those of you out there in pain, please please don't give up hope that your quality of life can improve. It's entirely possible, believe me.

PRICELESS...

... not long back from annual rendez-vous with my surgeon. Couple of x-rays showed that 15 months on, my Dynesys remains stable and doing what it says on the tin! On a long-term monitoring programme so thankfully it's carry on as before for another 12 months! Just cannot put a price on the change in my life since the op.

ps. Ruth from Stroud - just read your comment on my previous post. Unfortunately I am unable to reply via the Blog but if you become a member of the Facebook Group called Dynesis: stabilising back surgery - a support community (Dynesys) you can talk to me and another 70+ spineys who have undergone Dynesys surgery. Facebook is free, as is the group. I look forward to catching up with you.