The Difference a Year Makes

Last January I took an Amtrak train ride with my grandson from Austin to Taylor.  I could walk and get where I wanted, but walking and standing were endurance tests.  If I walked longer distances, I had to "pause" regularly.  If I really wanted to get somewhere, I got there, but sometimes it was just plain hard.This photo shows what I looked like then.

During the February Laredo Bird Festival, a common comment to me was: "Knee?  It will be so much better when you replace it."  So, I decided it was finally time.  Surgery was scheduled at the end of April.  At a visit to my sleep doctor, I commented that I usually followed doctor's instructions . . . but weight was the exception.  He said, "I have a solution for that."  With some skepticism I started his diet program about a month before the surgery. I felt like I would recover from the surgery much faster if I got some of the weight off.  I started losing immediately.

Surgery day came.  Recovery included using a walker to get where I wanted to go. But . . . I got out and started doing short walks on smooth pavement with the walker.  I still had to pause.  After graduating from the walker, I walked the road by my house. The first time, I just went down to one end and back, pausing a few times there and back.  A little while later, I managed to walk to the main road and back, still with those little strategic pauses.

As the months passed, my walks got longer and stronger.  By Thanksgiving, my grandson and I took the long loops at the Heard Natural Science Museum and Wildlife Sanctuary. It was a 4 mile day!



Yesterday I took one of the longer loops at Berry Springs Park Preserve with my grandson.  He says I walk faster now.  Today I walked the road in front of my house.  I started at my house, went up the driveway, up to the main road, down to the end of the road, back to my driveway. No pauses.  What a victory I felt!  Then I went down to the pond and retrieved my game camera card.  It is so nice to be able to get around the property easily again.

I lost weight in 2005, 2006. I am now 30 pounds lighter than I was then.


This photo was taken by my grandson at a nearby park in the fall.  I am still working on better fitness and more weight loss. I am so grateful to be where I am.

Recovery

My back surgery occurred on April 20, 2011.  I went in to it with an optimistic attitude.  I was blessed that I had a number of friends who had been successful with back surgery to encourage me.  While I knew that things don't always go to plan, I believed that this was something I need to do for my quality of life. If it needed to be done, then God would be with me, guiding the surgeon's hand and strengthening me during recovery.  I was mentally at peace about doing this procedure and was disappointed when I had to wait until April 20th - almost three weeks or so at the time.

Awakening from surgery in the recovery room, there was the immediate initial pain from surgery which was quickly dealt with by the medical staff. Pain medication is a GOOD thing. I was pleasantly surprised that yes, indeed, I would be able to lie on my back even with the incision there.  They kept me two nights in the hospital, but I started walking the hallway the first day after surgery. Getting out of bed the first morning had a different pain than before, but it was EASIER!

I went home on Friday.  My first walk at home was up to my mailbox - about one tenth of a mile.  I regularly extended my walking paths until I had made a mile by my two week visit.  My six week visit was this week and I have walked 1 3/4 mile as my greatest distance so far.  Granted I'm not walking that far without my "pauses" or enjoying park benches along the way.  But I am gradually increasing my stamina and aerobic capacity.

I had some momentary discouragements as I felt like that my stamina was so slow to return.  Back pain and knee issues weren't slowing me down, but I was getting winded (still am). But this past week, I've noticed a positive change.  When I walk somewhere I haven't walked in the last week or so, I'm walking it BETTER!  I walked at the Georgetown Rec Center on Tuesday. I hadn't walked there since before my surgery - what a difference!  Before the surgery (but during physical therapy) I had to pause on the first lap and then pause more frequently as I tried to continue with more laps.  On Tuesday, I made three laps before the pause and two more laps.  I had limited walking time because my daughter and I wanted to swim as well.  But I walked almost half a mile and then swam laps.

When I went in to the doctor for the 6 week checkup, I left euphoric.  Music to my ears: "You are ahead of the curve!"  Since I had already been to physical therapy, he told me to get started back on the exercises I had been given without overdoing at first.  And . . . he sent me to a knee doctor so I can get off naproxen!  I've had my first knee injection and will get the gel injections in about three weeks.

I visited a friend in the hospital yesterday. She was in the far building and I made the entire long walk to and from her room at a brisk pace and no pain!  And then, yesterday, for the first time I walked all the way around Hutto Lake Park. I had been having Henry drop me off at the dam and doing a partial walk. While I still had to pause and catch my breath, and yes cool off as well - I walked earlier in the evening when it was hotter,  each time I walk a longer stretch in an area is a victory!

Getting back my stamina to do the bird walks and photography hikes will still require a lot of endurance training and consistent exercise, but now many things seem SO possible that were not before!

God is good . . . all the time!