IAmA guy who broke his spine and walks again

Are you Batman?

http://chasingbeatitude.files.wordpress.com/2012/08/cat-batman.jpg

shit, you're a cat too?

Bat, cat, ratatat!

Hello. My very close friend was in this accident with you. I believe you and her were the only two passengers suffering major injuries. I had heard that you may never walk again. That accident caused a lot of damage to my friend and people in her life. I am so damn happy to know that you are walking again. You are proof that bad things happen to good people, but that great things happen as well. Best wishes to you, and never stop staying strong!

We were the only two and, yeah, I hear tidbits about her life. Let her know I say to stay strong as well! And wow, I didn't think I'd run into anyone who knew of me in here.

So what happened to the other girl?

Everyone but the I and another girl (who also got hit by the flying girl) are fine. The other girl broke her femur and is almost recovered now. Sheer willpower is what we've got!

Don't have a question for you, but congrats man. Keep it up.

Thanks! Soon enough I'll be done with this limp and you won't be able to tell the difference.

Have you considered buying a sword-cane?

There's tons of them on Amazon! I browsed them a bit, but didn't find any that I really liked. If you find any awesome ones, let me know!

The ones that are swords disguised to look like canes are pretty awesome.

I like the canes that look like swords better.

Careful with where you live. Sword canes can be illegal to carry around if they're classified as concealed weapons. Though there are many places where a cane itself is considered a weapon so the concealed sword factor is void. Good luck on the rehab, I too had a traumatic burst fracture / shatter to the spine. Unfortunately my surgeon screwed a screw straight into my spinal column so I lost a shit load of function in my legs. Walk with a cane too, but am pretty much lacking function below the knees, that and the neuropathy ain't fun.

Yikes, that sounds awful!

We tried to convince him to buy pretty much any cane besides the one he's using because the one he uses is way too lame. I am his friend btw.

Are you saying he doesnt have a basass cane? He just ruined the only positive side of hardly walking.

His cane looks like it came from a drug store. It even has a foam grip...

Jesus christ man, knock some sense into him

Hey now! I don't expect to use this thing for long! That being said, I have an amazon wishlist that said "friends" can look at. The dracane looks pretty awesome.

Why'd you leave the island?

Didn't you hear? I'm in nonsense purgatory with all my buddies.

which vertebrae did you have fused? had my C2 fused with my C3 this summer, not at all a fun surgery. can't imagine yours was any better. e-fistbump for fused spines!

saw the answer to my question after I posted it. damn dude, 5 vertebrae... that's intense. glad you're not paralyzed

bump

Yeah, not fun. Kind of shocked I can walk. When I look back, I realize how far I really have come. Quite amazing.

How many hours of rehab did they have you doing at first?

What was your baseline capability after surgery?

I lived in the rehab clinic for about two months. I had at least 3 hours scheduled daily. Most of the time, a lot more miscellaneous things as well. And of course there was all the medicine and tubes making it all way harder than it could have been. After the surgery, my right leg BARELY moved. As in, it twitched. Mostly when I didn't want it to. I just had to wait till the nerves came back which isn't something I can actively make better.

Sounds like a long and arduous process. Good on you for hanging in there.

I imagine your priorities shifted quite a bit after that experience. I'd also imagine that after conquering a broken back, a lot of things in life look less daunting. Has that been your experience?

...kind of.

On one hand, I had no choice but to recover. Giving up is not an option (well, there's suicide, but that's an option I'm not even close to considering). As far as I'm concerned, I took what I feel is the easier (and right) option: get through this as vigorously as possible. When it comes to washing the dishes or responding to my coworkers vague emails, I still have the motivation of any other lazy guy you know.

On the other hand, yeah, most of my friends' problems seem minuscule in comparison. Shitty relationship? Fix it, dump them, or, if those aren't options, find someone who can help you solve your issues. Bad grades? Work your ass off or quit. Terrible roommate? Deal with it or leave! I had no friends nearby so I was always Skyping with them, listening to problems I wished I had instead. Still, a person's problems is gauged on a scale from the best to the worst thing that's happened to them. I can't really blame them.

This all happened to me on my way out of college, so all the tasks that were daunting all got a LOT more daunting. Moving, working, cooking (how do I do this?), surviving on my own, all while still trying to get out of a stupid wheelchair. It's gotten a lot easier though... I'm not sure if any of this answers your question at all. :)

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...nope

Do like to watch movies about gladiators?

Is this a real question? What other movies are there?

What was the hardest part of rehab/ did you ever want to give up?

I feel like most people would find the ridiculously slow progress of it all the worst, but for me it was the catheters. At first I had the kind of catheter that just stays in, but then I had the kind you had to put in/take out every time you had to go. Which is much, much worse. Especially when they had me start doing it myself. I think the most uplifting part of the whole process was when I peed on my own one day. They told me to keep using the catheters for a month but I never did.

I kind of gave up once. My friend (through texting, I didn't know anyone who lived near me) then reminded me I thought suicide was dumb. I didn't want to commit suicide... I just didn't want to do this crap anymore. It's not like a video game or school in that you can walk away from the situation. Not like I could... you know, walk again because I quit. So giving up didn't actually have any meaning at all. Since then I haven't though about it again.

what's the point of a catheter if you have to take it out and then put it in every time you have to go? :(

If you can't pee, you need it. Also, if you keep it in, it trains your muscles to just leak, not pee.

A story I rarely tell.. I was talking to my girlfriend at the time on the telephone. My friend zips by on a mountain bike, attempts to brake, skids and loses control and ride over a twenty foot embankment. I immediately hang up the phone. I over over the edge, he's crumpled. I scramble down the cliffs edge to find him there motionless. We look at each other with the most sincere look. "I can't feel my legs" he says. My heart sinks, I feel lost and uncertain. Alone, away from any help I begin to yell, asking for anything, while attempting to remain strong, a futile effort. No one responds. "Help!" Nothing. He looks at me, and says, "I am never going to walk again." I deny what I know is true. "You will.." I reply half knowing that he is right. Tears begin to cloud my vision, a moment of chaos and also peace. I held my friends head and neck still until the helicopter arrives. I see him loaded onto the helicopter and a never see him again. He is on my mind often and I will always carry the pain of the experience with me. The last I heard is that he is walking again. Not sure.

Dude, talk to him. So many of my friends didn't talk to me because they isn't know what to say. The guy who was driving, I hold him above those guys. He came to me after I was awake and was there, not knowing what to say. Didn't matter. We killed any bad feelings before they could form.

so how's it going?

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Congrats dude that's awesome. Welcome to Cascadia!

It's a good thing you have skills you can use even while injured. If you were a construction worker you'd be fucked.

One guy has like a family of 8 and is in that exact situation. He got paid out but still. I felt really bad walking around him, but he was always happy for me. Nice guy.

When people say break a leg, do you reply "No thanks, I already broke my back"?

I will now!

Where are your fusions? Lumbar, Thoracic, Cervical...How many?

My T12 vertebrae went KABOOM so they had to fuse from T10 down to L2. I've got this crazy metal fence looking thing in my back. Surprisingly, it doesn't seem to restrict my range of motion much. Of course, I haven't tried anything crazy yet.

Hey, we're twins! I lost T12 (burst fracture) and am fused T10-L2. It sounds like you had more damage to your spinal cord than me—I was able to "walk" (held up by nurses) the day after my operation, but it took months to progress from walker to cane to walking free. Now I'm easing back into running, cycling, climbing, hiking, and otherwise normal life.

Like you, I'm surprised at my range of motion. Really it only changed my, uh, thrusting action until I figured out the new hardware.

I'm glad to hear that you're doing well. We are soft things in such a hard world. We are lucky to be here.

Dude. What. This is awesome. Well, not awesome, but you know... awesome. Now I know for a fact that someone out there knows exactly what I've gone through.

I also had almost the exact same injury from 60 mph tree. That makes three of us!

Man. Those damn trees. I'm sick of them. Protest?

I don't mind them.. but they really should slow it down.

Probably on their smartphones facebooking their instagrams to all their tweeter friends. Trees these days.

Keep in mind that massage therapy is very useful in helping maintain ROM and reduce scar tissue and soft tissue adhesions.

• Will you set off the metal detector @ airports?

I've gone through a few metal detectors with no incidents so far. None of them were the airport, so we'll see what happens then. I doubt it though, I think they use a special kind of metal for these sorts of surgeries.

Can this special kind of metal be sharpened?

I have no idea. I was thinking if people could make guns out of it too. I'm guessing its no good for that kind of stuff. Otherwise, you think someone would've by now.

I didn't take it as a serious question at first, more of a "can you possibly be Wolverine one day" type of question. lol

One day? I don't understand... do you mean a year ago? And yes. Yes I am.

Titanium, perhaps? I hear it’s in fashion at the moment.

Probably, a girl broke her femur in the accident and they stuck a titanium rod right in there.

But scars are badass!

Warning: Terrible grammar and overall sentence formatting, I'm tired as hell.

About 11 years ago, my father worked on service towers, and was fixing something on a ~30ft tower on top of a private building. When he got to the top, the safety cables that apparently weren't A. Installed correctly or B. Weren't doing their damn job, snapped and he fell with the tower. He landed on his back and shattered C2-C5 and was told that he would never be able to walk again. Within a couple years, my old man was able to walk and even work again. About 6 years ago, he was riding his motorcycle with a passenger who had been drinking. It was during the fall and it was raining so the roads were covered with wet leaves, and when he was taking her home, she dozed off when they were going around a corner and hit a patch of wet leaves and started to fall, he then throttled up and tried to stand the bike back up but the passenger did what any normal drunk person that abruptly woken up and jumped, which caused them to fall. My dad, being the quick thinking, protect everyone else, kind of guy that he is held on to the bike so it wouldn't end up hurting the lady. The bike ended up landing on top of him and he shattered T6-T11 and ended up getting 2 18" rods in his back for about 4 or 5 years. He's still walking and working like a fuckin' boss.

EDIT: I forgot to ask a question and it sounded like I was trying to one up OP. Didn't mean for that. Question: How did your recovery effect not only yourself but the people around you?

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Aye, my father was able to get a $20,000 settlement from the company that the tower was on. After he got that though, my mother started cheating on him and eventually left him. She bullshitted a lot of stuff and was able to win the kids, most of the money from the settlement, and the house. He was already an alcoholic before he broke his back the first time but it got increasingly worse. He's now 4 years sober and still the toughest living man that I'm aware of.

Hell yeah. 4 years sober through that shit? I'd be a drunken fool if, after all that, my family disintegrated from my life. Good for him.

Not only is he sober, but he's running marathons. Which absolutely amazes me.

Here's a story of another badass at rehab: this lady was pregnant, driving. Some dude cut her off and ran her off the road, drives off, no one found him ever. She's dying with a baby. Someone calls the cops, but no one pulled over. Eventually she gets to the hospital and fixed up. She'll never walk again as far as the doctors know. She can't really talk either, she whispers. She can barely move. She had the baby anyways, and was taking care of it at rehab. Beast mode.

Is there a chance you will fully recover, or will you always have some pain in your foot or other physical "constant reminder"?

I told my doctor that my left foot hurts and they think its nerve pain. They have no idea how long till that will recover, if ever. Also my right ankle doesn't have a good range of motion and, again, they can't really tell me anything substantial on whether its permanent or not. But who knows? I'm waiting until I'm at a point where I'm as recovered as I'm going to be to worry about my situation.

Nerve pain is rough. I have the same in my leg and ankle after a car accident. It takes forever to heal. But the good part is, although it takes a long time, and it drives you crazy, they DO heal, no matter what anyone says. My doctors said it was permanent, and I shouldnt be too positive with athletics, but 5 years later I play pickup basketball at the gym, run 10k's, do weight training, and although it's frustrating, it WILL get better. I'm starting to be able to play soccer again, and it's incredible. I really believe it's a mental thing. The more you train your body to realize "hey, this isn't normal, I need this movement" the faster the nerves adapt and regenerate. Do not give up hope! My best advice is to keep challenging your body and mind (without causing damage of course) to get used to movement and balance. Hiking is incredible. You'll hate it and love it at the same time, but every time it gets easier, and taking a break to sit down and enjoy nature really increased my positivity. I hope the best for you! Just remember, it's frustrating, it hurts, but pain and stiffness is just your body realizing it needs to focus on fixing itself. I'm not saying its definite, but it may work for you. Just keep on keepin on, bud. You'll be running and dancing in no time!

Thanks! I tried P90X for a while, but decided that's for the near future. I still can't handle most of it. Still, a nice gauge for where I'm at. And yeah, I walk as much as possible. I take breaks, but as little as possible.

That's great! But don't you miss me?

I miss you like my long lost love, i.e. who are you?

It was a reference to the Tv show Lost. John Locke, had his kidney stolen from his dad. So one day, he goes to his fathers apartment complex>I miss you like my long lost love, but is pushed six stories. He broke his back then 4 years later can walk again on the island.
But hey man, truly congrats. You're an inspiration to everyone. As for your limp, if you got this far, then you will be able to overcome that is well. The best of luck in life goes out to you!

Wow, I didn't even look at your username. click By the way, cool show except how it ended. And thanks! I'm working at it everyday.

I don't even have a question for you. Just an upvote.

One for you too, good sir.

Locke?

Yes, Jacob, it's John.

What did it feel like breaking your spine?

So I woke up about a second before we hit the tree. Then, after we hit the tree, I felt like I had the wind knocked out of me. I didn't really feel too much pain yet. After realizing my legs did nothing, then trying to crawl out (I thought the car was going to explode... or something), then being stopped by an emergency responder (grand canyon parks), then it kicked in. I don't remember the intensity of the pain. The girl who broke her femur doesn't remember it, but she was screaming as if she was trying to suffocate. I'm guessing my pain was worse. I just remember having no other thoughts except ending the pain. Apparently I LOOKED pretty composed, but I felt like she looked/sounded.

Tldr Not that bad until the adrenaline was going down, then pain so hard you can't think of any other thought.

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Thanks! It wasn't a walk in the park but I think anyone who put their mind to it (and had to) could do it.

wasn't a walk in the park

I feel bad for laughing at that, but my first thought was honestly "Well no shit. You couldn't even walk to the bathroom, let alone the park..."

Terrible jokes aside, I'm glad you can walk in the park unassisted now (or will be able to soon, if you count using your cane as assistance.)

Thanks! I can walk unassisted, including without the cane. Just not for too long. Soon though, soon...

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It's rough to say, but he'll dwell on it forever, get over it and live, or a mixture of the two. I wish the best for him and you.

Are you happy?

Less happy than I was before. But I'm still alive, so I'm happy enough. It's been getting significantly better as I make progress.

Again, no question but bravo. They told my old scoutmaster the same thing, he was camping with us just over a year later.

Thanks! They told me most of the recovery happens in the first year, the next year also has noticeable results, and then after that I shouldn't expect much more. I went from no real movement to walking with a cane and random spasms in one year, hopefully normal in another!

Did you need any spirituality at any point in your ordeal ?

Nope... not really. :) My mom got lots of people to pray for me though, if that makes a difference. For me, it meant a lot of people dedicated some time to think of me and that's nice.

Ever think about a shillelagh? Good, sturdy stick that can still crack a skull when needed. Your badassery level will also raise by three points. Maybe more.

Edit: example.

Oh. My. God.

I need one.

Does fracturing and displacing my C2 vertebrae count as breaking my spine? I have the C2 fused to the C3, and maybe the C4, I don't know. I just saw that I have a big ass screw holding C2 together and to the one below it. I just want to know if I can tell people I broke my spine too I guess.

I don't know! On my X-rays, there's all kinds of screws in there! I don't see why yours is any different! Spine buddies!

YAY! Though I think it sounds more impressive to tell people I broke my neck, cause that's technically what happened. I think you've got it worse than me though. It just hurts me to turn my head too far or to look up too much. I lucked out big time and it sounds like you did too :D

Yeah seriously! We're still mostly functional and, oh yeah, alive! So wins for us.

Do the screws you have set off metal detectors? I haven't had to go through one yet, but I'm a little worried about havin to explain that with no documentation. I'm a white guy though, so it probably won't be a big deal.

Mine haven't set off any yet. I'm an unidentifiable brown guy (Persian/Japanese) so I'm sure they wouldn't like my description with no documentation. I've gone through a metal detector with nothing happening though. I think it's a special kind of metal.

At any point did you ever lose feeling in your legs? Or was it just the damage to your vertebrae that made them think you wouldn't walk again?

I never lost feeling. Actually, they became hypersensitive. That was really frustrating. Putting on socks was really painful.

The vertebrae were damage and made the nerves swell up. They couldn't tell if the nerves were damaged so, as far as they knew, it had. They just had me continually try until they hopefully moved again. My right ankle still doesn't have full range of motion but I'm confident it will.

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All day, everyday. And with tons of recovering people thinking the same thing, who wouldn't. Still, I had to push through it. Can't stop, won't stop.

My dad did that too, got hit by a firetruck, constant pain though.

That sounds rough...

Yeah, he's okay,on a lot of meds but very thankful he isn't paralyzed. He even ran in a half-marathon after he got hit and came in like 40^th ish.

Nice!

How much shorter did you get thanks to the fusion. And is your favorite movie: Broken back mountain?

None. And wow. Now I have to be gay so this works both ways.

Rock on, fella.

You too!

Barbra Gordon, Yay or Nay?

Eh, no real opinion.

D: I've fractured my L1 twice, once when I was 7, once when I was 17 (21 now). Luckily it wasn't so bad that fusion was needed.

If you're wondering, sore backs and the terrible fear of cracking your back like you do your knuckles never quite goes away. But the terrible pain does. Even if you don't notice that the pain is that bad, you'll notice one day when it's a lot better just how good it feels to be rid of it.

No question. Just saying wassup.

Yeah, I know what you're talking about. The back pain being gone is SUCH a relief. And I always feel scared I'm going to snap myself. Hopefully that feeling DOES go away, I used to love hopping and running over/through everything. I'm going to get back to that, somehow, through willpower, science, or technology.

Please don't let this be viral marketing for DDP Yoga

Haha no way...

Do DDP yoga! (Whatever that is)

Sorry way late but if you'd answer this that'd be great! First off, congrats on such an amazing recovery! Also, were the doctors and such just amazed at how well you've recovered or is this not as big as I think it may be??

Everyone's been amazed. They thought there'd be recovery but not this fast or this much. They attribute it to my attitude, I tend to agree. <<<sounded cocky there

Hey! My sister had a strikingly similar accident - she was working in Indonesia, and was sitting in the front of a bus when the brakes gave out and it hit a tree. The doctors also thought she might be mostly wheelchair bound, however with a ton of effort she is now very mobile.

Here's a very poorly done translation of an article about her; she mostly spends her time doing public/motivational speaking, creative project management and is active in the Norwegian debate concerning health care and how the system treats people with chronic pain.

Either way, she's had a tough life and I'm sure you have too, way to go getting back on your feet and being awesome ;)

Wow, good for her! My friends told me to write a book/be in a movie/make money off this shitty experience. I decided to hop onto Reddit and tell you guys. Works out for me :)

How was the experience with the EMS/Ambulance workers? Did you realize rather suddenly that your spine was broken, or did you slowly come to the realization? I don't mean to call up any bad or hazy memories, so feel free to just ignore this if you wish.

As I lied there, they asked me if I could move my legs and I said no. They decided I had a C-spine fracture. I didn't know what they meant, but they were wrong (it was T-spine). But I knew it was broken. Still, I wasn't really focused on them or that. Just pain. Lots of pain. And no problem. Kind of shocked no ones asked me for the story, actually.

About ten years ago I was struck by a car while on my bicycle. Three vertebrae shattered and two more fractured, so I can empathize with your experience.

I remember one day in the hospital vividly: they brought me into a room and stuck metal probes up and down my legs, administering mild shocks to measure the electrical response. The response was weak but detectable, and I was told afterwards that I would walk again and people probably wouldn't be able to tell at a glance that I'd been in any sort of accident, but that I would never have the muscle endurance to play competitive sports again.

I was between middle school and high school at the time and a die hard athlete, so even that news hit me hard. It was the only time through the whole ordeal that I cried.

So I wonder, how did it affect you when you were told you might not walk again? What emotions played across your mind? Did you believe it and succumb to a moment of despair; were you just in shock at the news; or did you resolve right off to prove them wrong and walk again?

I went from complete hopelessness to complete determination through ten minutes of crying. I couldn't help feeling the WTF!?!? moment but I decided that was crap.

I got a few random questions if you dont mind :)

• what do you do for a living now?
• if your not happy doing this particular job do you think you will still be able to peruse a dream job?
• Has this impacted your relationships with both people around you or the partner(s) in your life
• I know the above questions are already psychological but have you experienced any psychological changes within yourself... depression/religion/or you know any growth or even resentment?

sorry if any of those are a bit too personal to ask, I just had a good friend who has a sever back condition and ill just say that my questions come from my experience with her(not positive at all).

• I work at amazon as a software engineer.
• I am more than happy. Though, one day, I will be designing video games.
• No partner and kind of. Everyone who was close to me feels the same. Everyone else kind of fell to the wayside. No love from them, none back. Not that they're not friends, just not as good as I thought.
• Eh, not really. I really do feel like the same guy, just feel "older." Like, more experienced.

Tell your friend to keep trying to be positive! Not necessarily miss sunshine or anything, but no point on dwelling on the shit when you can still progress.

Dad, is that you? He crashed his motorcycle, broke his spine, and now walks without any help from a cane.

Nice! Sorry Luke, I am not your father.

Which part of the spine broke? (Lumbar region, cervical, thoracic)

T12 so thoracic. But they had to fuse from T10 to L2, so some lumbar snuck its way into there.

Regular or Curly Fries?

Curly, no question. What's really the best are yam/sweet potato fries. Especially since they ALWAYS come with the best sauces.

How's your back?

Got a badass scar and, as I hear, bitches love scars.

It doesn't hurt anymore. Not as often/much, anyways.

When the doctors told you you might not walk again, what were the first thoughts that you had? How did your parents react when they first heard about this?

As for my parents, my mom just freaked out at first. Then she was there for me pretty much the rest of the way. My dad's pretty awesome too.

You know that thought you have when something so outrageous happens that you can't even process it? That thought of "No. Fucking. Way." It kind of felt like it wasn't happening, like I was watching this happen to a friend.

How old are you?

I am 22, was 21 at the time of the accident.

Can you run? If so, how far and fast? If not, what all can you do?

I can somewhat power walk with great fear and quick exhaustion. What can I do... walk, jump (like 2in), walk a little quicker, and that's about it.

At what level of your spine was the injury? Congrats on proving the doctors wrong.

T12. The fusion was from T10-L2.

Spine or spinal cord. One matters, one doesn't.

The spine. The nerves MAY have been damaged, maybe not. Time will tell with my right ankle.

That's awesome!

1. It may be too intrusive to ask, but what is it like hearing a doctor say that to you? I can't imagine what I would feel.

2. How fucking awesome was it to walk back to the doctor? What did they say? How did you feel?

1. No intrusion! As I said, ask me anything! I was on morphine for pain so who knows what a stable minded reaction would of been. But within ten minutes I went from hopeless anger to full determination all while bawling like an angered baby. I decided the only real attitude to take was to assume I am going to fully recover and see where it ends up. Shoot for the stars, kind of.

That's incredibly admirable. Not gonna walk again? FUCK THAT, BRO! I'M WALKING! :D

Excuse me? I may or may not walk again? I'll take the WALKING AGAIN, THANK YOU!

1. Well, this happened in Phoenix AZ and my rehab was in Santa Clara CA. The surgeon also happened to be passing through and was the best equipped to handle my situation. In other words, I have no idea who my doctor was or where he is. It's likely there's records on it, but its not a big deal to me. I had no emotions for/against the doctor. It wasn't really about anyone but me. The doctor was laying it all out as he saw it, regardless of if he was right or wrong. I'd thank him for that, if anything.

I broke my spine 2 years ago in a motorcycle accident. Shattered 2 vertebrae. Wasn't supposed to walk for a long time (but was told I eventually would). I know the trouble it can cause and also how much it can put your life on hold so congrats on your progress man but let me tell you now, get off pain pills and muscle relaxers as soon as you can. I now have a seizure disorder from taking them for so long(only 6-8 months periodically) and ended up just making the pain go away through positive outlook/thinking and swimming for strengthening my back. Best of luck man and congrats on your progress.

No more pain pills for me, thank you. Good to hear some one else who's doing well!

Is your spine going to remain weaker because of the operation or will you/can you lift things without worrying about it breaking again? Like if you had to lift one side of a couch to move it could you?

I have no idea... this scares me often. I lift things and hope not to snap like a twig. No one can really tell me, which is frustrating.

You ever dance with the devil in the pale moonlight?

Only on Sundays.

I don't know if this is a weird question, but how did you handle dealing with the pain? Were you on heavy painkillers? I ask because my cousin broke her neck in a car accident, and was put on heavy duty pain killers afterwards. Now, she has a major addiction to them. Just wanted to hear your experience with pain management. And of course, congratulations on your great recovery!

To start with, lots of pain medication. Now, haven't touched it in months. It's too addicting/constipating. You start hating then once you poop so hard you cry. Literally.