Week 5 post op - Go Big or Go Home!

Marlene (my disc) and I marked week number 5 with a hike in the Santa Monica mountains with one of my oldest friends, and all around awesome individual, Julia, and her ageless pup Trudie. This was to be my first nature hike in a while, so I chose Murphy Ranch in Rustic Canyon above West Sunset Blvd. It's got some history, along with a wide network of trails to select from.

The Pacific!

We started out up a fire road that looked out over the Pacific Ocean. It's normally a fairly popular hike, but today we got lucky and didn't come across the crowds I'd read about. Once we'd ascended for a while we came across a narrow trail connector that lead down into a small valley.

Onward!

From here the trail splits, then splits again, and again. There seems to be an endless web of trails in this valley. I'm definitely coming back to explore again in the future when I'm strong enough to go all day. We continued down until we stumbled upon some dilapidated structures. This area served as an encampment for nazi sympathizers in the 30's. Then turned into an artist colony in the 60s and 70s, later a graffiti art hang out, and finally a place for inquisitive hikers to poke around.

Tag! You're it!

From here we simply backtracked and returned the way we came. But I always prefer the climb out.

Step it up!

As far as my back is concerned, it held up for the most part. Walking downhill definitely puts more pressure on my spine. Climbing is much easier. According to my pedometer we walked about 9k steps, so about 4+ miles, which seemed a little optimistic. But that was about my limit today, and I was pretty tight and sore by the time we got back to the car, but after stretching a little and resting I was feeling better than expected. My pain tolerance is pretty high, so sometimes it's difficult to objectively assess how I'm feeling, but the ride home in the car was relatively comfortable.

I stepped up my activity level this week and added some new exercises to help strengthen the area around my SI joints. I'm going for my first swim tomorrow. I might just dip my toes and run for the locker room like a child afraid of the deep end.

I've definitely made some improvements over this past week. My neck and upper back have been complaining, but my chiropractor reminded me of the connectedness of everything, so it's not surprising considering the alteration to my body mechanics. I'm moving much more naturally, and even found myself shuffling my feet in what can reasonably be referred to as dancing while listening to Kool Moe Dee on my iPhone..."I go to work!"

I still can't stand in place long and need to constantly shift my weight when talking with people, otherwise pressure builds up and things get uncomfortable. Sitting is still rough past 20 minutes, but I just get up and move around if dining out to keep loose. I've heard of some people who can stand and sit for hours right after surgery. I wish that were true in my case. I've got other issues going on besides my disc, and Dr. Bierstedt told me he felt most of my pain post surgery will be joint related, and I have a feeling he's right. But now that the disc is addressed I can begin working on strengthening the muscles and tissue around my joints and hopefully reverse this constant ache. 

Otherwise, I'm still moving forward and in the right direction!