[dridobits]

I'm a little over six months post op two level fusion, front and back with hardware.

I can't believe about a month ago I went to Yosemite and hiked (slowwwwly) to my favorite falls; Vernal falls. The recovery from the hike was not bad at all. To be able to do something I thought I would never do again blew my mind. A few weeks later, I did another hike and did a lot of uphill.

Two weeks ago, I got lost up on a nearby mountain but believe it or not did four hours. I have been paying for that. I never ever thought I would do anything like this again. I still have pain, but nothing like before.

Before this, I had a really rough patch and looking back on it I had a tremendous amount of stress in my life so I really get now how much this effects my pain level. I've been volunteering at a mini horse farm (hey they are smaller) which has given me back some confidence being around larger animals.

Anyway, there isn't a day I regret my fusion. That's not to say I don't have days of agony but they come and go much quicker and usually I can avoid them. I just wanted to share this. The doc said he didn't want to xray me until 9 months as this is when he'd see if I was pretty much fused. Best wishes to everyone.