13 days...leg pain??

Really not too much has changed in the last two days. I am at that interesting spot where I am beginning to feel more and more "normal" which is great but can also give you a sense of false security. I have only been healing for 13 days but because of the lack of pain I have almost done some things I should not.

When getting into bed I am supposed to do the "log roll". That involves laying on your side...pulling your knees and legs onto the bed and THEN rolling over (like a log). Instead I want to get into bed like I used to (lift the legs up and lay back...like a sit up in reverse). BAD BAD BAD idea...my lower back is not nearly well enough healed to handle that kind of stress. Repeat to self...log roll...log roll....log roll.

I have been trying to get a lot of walking in. Seems great but I seemed to have a bit of leg pain when I did. I asked my surgeon about it and his advice was this. Within 5 minutes of starting to walk take a baseline assessment of how I feel...what hurts and where. If at any time during the walk the pain gets worse...stop.

The leg pain is due to the healing of the ruptured disk that my surgeon repaired between L4 & L5. It is still healing and will eventually scar over...but until then...any undue stress can cause it to re-rupture. NO I do not want a do-over. So I have been paying extra close attention to my pain level when I walk. I found that if I walk slower it seems to respond better. So that turtle walking on the bike path would be me. Used to be when I was young I would fight through injuries...ignore the pain...those days are long gone...I have turned listening to my body's signals into an art form. Call me Leonardo of the lumbar.

Not much else to report....except more of the same. Still cannot believe I am so pain free at about two weeks out. This is truly remarkable...in my way of seeing things. So here's to more pain free walking and continued healing....and oh yea....log roll...log roll....log roll.