The move to my home was successful. It’s only 20 minutes away but it seems a world away. From the country to the beach. I feel at home by the water and I hope that will help my recovery.

12 weeks flew by and then I moved 2 days later so I didn’t have a chance to write. Overall I’m getting better week by week. Still have some sort of pain daily. I knew that the nerve damage in my left leg was probably permanent, but had hopes that the surgery would resolve that. When I woke up from surgery, and until about 4 weeks ago, I didn’t have any nerve pain. The pain is back, like it was before surgery. But it’s never been the intensity of when the nerve was initially compressed. Pretty much any activity aggravates that nerve pain and it’s always worse in the afternoon and evening. And usually bad when I’m trying to sleep. But that pain is okay as long as I don’t have the back pain that I had before surgery. My pain management provider encouraged me to look into a medical cannabis.  Florida has medical cannabis but not recreational. I have a consult with a medical marijuana physician and I’ll see what he recommends. And of course I will post here and let you know.

My flexibility and mobility is coming along. I’m able to bend over enough to swipe something off the floor that is maybe four or five inches high. I can’t actually pick anything up from the floor, but if it’s something quick then I can do it. Shoes are getting easier to put on and I’m learning how to tie my laces from afar. I can figure four with my left leg but not my right leg. But that’s okay if I can’t tie laces, I live in Florida at the beach. Some type of sandal is mandatory. Dressing is also very easy now. Except this morning when I tried to put on a romper and I couldn’t step into it correctly. A romper is a whole situation. It’s a bend over to step into it and bend over to pull it up. Probably not the best choice of clothing.

Driving is getting easier. I’m learning the limitations of my body and my eyes. I’ve been having trouble with my neck and can’t rotate it very far. I have stenosis and compressed nerves in my cervical spine as well. Getting in and out of the car is a lot easier too.

I’ve seen improvement week by week since about 8 weeks. And I think 10 weeks was the turning point for pain. While I have pain now, I know how to lessen the intensity and the things that can trigger the worst kinds of pain. I’m still doing physical therapy 3 days a week and naps whenever I need to. I’m slowly getting back to my previous life and I’m happy about that. Still no regrets about surgery. I would do it all over again if I needed to.