It's been brought to my attention that I've been a little solitary in my recovery as of late. In part due to a disappointing post-op appointment, and in part due to feeling a bit solitary with the wife traveling, no ability to leave the house other than to go for walks around the neighborhood (still not cleared to drive), and friends busy with work and personal responsibilities.
To be clear, my post-op appointment was fine in terms of my ongoing recovery. My surgeon made it a point to let me know that my recovery has been ridiculously fast due in no small part to my level of fitness and strength going into the surgery, but my impatience makes me want to recover even
faster. But, despite my body recovering pretty quickly, the trauma in my throat and spine still needs time to heal. I went in to my post-op hoping to get clearance to drive, to start to incorporate more strength training back into my recovery (body weight stuff like push-ups, pull-ups, bodyweight squats, etc), but I'm
still not cleared to drive, and I can't do any more than continue with daily walks around the neighborhood.
He did have a point though when he said it's only been three weeks since surgery.
I also have started to suffer from numbness and tingling in my shoulder, bicep, anterior forearm, and hand, all associated with the disc
above the one I had replaced. Right now we're waiting to see if the symptoms persist. The C5-6 disc could just be a little beat up from surgery and inflammation could be causing a minor impingement, but if symptoms continue I may need a new MRI and potential treatment in the future. For now it's "wait and see."
I got a few cool photos of my x-rays though:
Front view
Side view
My gaming has been rather productive though. Since surgery I've finished Transformers: War for Cybertron, Assassin's Creed: Revelations, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Batman: Arkham City, and Gears of War 3. I finished more games in a little over a week than I have in the past three years.
For now I can only continue with walks around the neighborhood, and he said I can try out push-ups in small doses, no more than 10 at a time only a few times a day. I may
feel like I can do more, but I'm not cleared to, and absolutely no movements that could even remotely tweak my neck. I'd be less concerned if pharmacy school didn't start on the 13th. Day to day is the best I can do for now.
