One Month Reevaluation with Physiotherapist

Today I had my one month reevaluation with the physiotherapist and I've had some improvement with my range of motion and strength in my lower extremities. On flexion I went from a 36° to 40°, extension is the same at 10°, and both side bends remain the same at 15°. The strength level has increased in both my legs, but the left side is slightly weaker (there is still inflammation from where the incision was made); my core has gotten stronger as well. Since my goal is to regain the flexibility I had prior to the surgery the physiotherapist recommended at least one more month of therapy sessions.

Aside from that I am driving on a more regular basis. I do use a back brace to maintain a proper posture. The pain increases (in my glutes or calves) when I'm driving for more than 30 minutes. I will admit I have slacked on my home routine as far as going on a daily walk. It's been about a week since I last went for my usual 3 mile walk. Hopefully, I'll get back into that soon. I continue to take my daily supplements to support my bone health and joints (Vitamin D, Vitamin D3, Calcium, Vitamin C, Fish Oil, and Glucosamine) along with drinking lots of water. The pain in my facet joints has been sporadic so I can only assume it's the result of the Fish Oil and Glucosamine intake. Overall, I'm happy with how things are progressing in terms of my physiotherapy treatment and my level of pain which is at a 3 on my worst days. In a few weeks, I will take another photo of my abdomen so you can see how the scar looks. Right now I think it looks the same even though I've been religiously applying Mederma on it to minimize the appearance of the scar. Hopefully, it'll start to look better.

7 Weeks Post Surgery

It's been almost 7 weeks since I had the ADR surgery. I've been going to physiotherapy 3 days a week for the past 5 weeks now. I'm slowly regaining my strength and flexibility in my legs. When I originally started physio here in the states my physiotherapist checked the level of flexibility in my hamstrings. The left side was at a 36° angle and now it is at 78°; the right side was at a 40° and now it is at 81°.  I'm definitely making progress. Naturally, I'm still experiencing pain in different areas of the right leg from the glutes to the hamstrings to the calves. From what I've been told the pain is expected to last at least a year. Also, the past few weeks everyone has been commenting on how I appear to be taller than before so I finally had my height measured. I now stand at 5'3 1/2" (161.29cm) which means I actually got taller by an inch and a half. :)

About 3 weeks ago I had a follow-up with my orthopedic surgeon. He didn't have much to say because he's not familiar with this procedure in the lumbar spine nor has he had any experience using the M6-L. During the appointment I pretty much brought him up to speed on what took place in Barcelona. My next appointment with him is not until the end of November. At that point, I will be hitting the 3 month mark so I will be getting another X-Ray done (to see how the implants are settling in with the vertebrae).