Answering Your Questions! Everything From Food to Supplements to Shoes!

Naturally with the current COVID-19 pandemic, I've been a bit absent from posting and from my social medias due to my university closing and my classes and finals exams being moved around. It has been extremely stressful to say the least; however, I recognize that I'm still incredibly blessed to have my health and I am wishing anyone who's affected by this virus (whether it's family members, friends, or even yourselves) great strength during this time. It's in moments like these where we realize the true power of communities, love and support, as well as the selfless sacrifices that health care professionals make on a daily basis (increased with pandemics) for everyone.

That being said, over the past few weeks I have been asking you guys to send me any questions that you may have about any aspect of my experience! I received a lot of great questions so I've decided to make this blog post and will be making a future post about more post-spinal fusion surgery 'life-hacks' that I've come across.

Question #1: What have you been eating to ensure a quick spinal fusion?

Firstly, I'd like to say I am not a dietician, and certain foods may or may not work for everyone; however, I believe that my nutritional diet did help somewhat with healing quickly. The usual daily recommended diet has three macro-groups which are: proteins, fats, and carbohydrates. While all of these are important to provide fuel to your body to recover, there are certain foods that my surgeon told me would be beneficial to the overall healing process - especially in terms of healing the bone and surrounding tissues (muscles primarily). Even though at the beginning of my recovery I was never hungry (I blame the morphine), I would try to nibble on anything that was rich in proteins. These tiny snacks would include cheese, turkey, chicken, Greek yogurt (it has more protein than regular yogurt), and peanut butter. In order for muscles to recover and repair, they need amino acids, which are supplied during the break down of protein that enters your body. Once I began being able to eat more, I'd commonly make vegetable-filled smoothies and add protein powder and collagen to ensure I was getting sufficient nutrients and fuel into my body. If I did not have a smoothie, I'd typically add the collagen (unflavoured) to my morning coffee or tea. Collagen is not only beneficial for joints, skin, and hair, but also for muscle recovery. The simplest way I can put it is that muscles are made of tons of muscle fibres, and these fibres are surrounded by tissue that are typically rich in collagen, so adding collagen to your 'recovery diet' could potentially help provide greater protection, strength and support to the fibres that were disturbed during surgery. Even before my operation, I had a very nutrient-filled diet that was geared towards overall bodily health, so eating a lot of vegetables, fruits, and proteins was not a huge challenge for me.

Question #2: Was your back perfectly symmetrical after your surgery?

I'm not perfectly symmetrical now, but I cannot tell a difference just looking at myself in the mirror. What I was told is that surgeons typically "over-correct" when they fuse the spine, because the spine is actually INCREDIBLY strong, so it will move back slightly towards its pre-surgery spinal curves due to resistance (which will then balance out the slight over-correction). A couple weeks after my surgery I was actually a bit upset, as I thought I was unsymmetrical but just on the opposite sides that I had before surgery; however, after a few months of my body adjusting, it evened out completely. Now my shoulders are the same height and so are my hips, and the 'natural curves' above my hips are also equal.

Question #3: How long did it actually take for you to move freely, and before you could start exercising?

I still have restrictions on my exercising in terms of movements that I can or cannot do. I'd say that around six weeks post operation I was moving pretty freely, I felt comfortable enough to be going out with friends, and I didn't feel awkward at all with my movements!

Question #4: Did your doctor suggest any medications to take before your operation, such as multivitamins, or supplements?

My surgeon just recommended being healthy, as he'd always say, "the healthier you are going into surgery, the better and quicker the recovery will be." I took daily probiotics and a multivitamin but that was already something I was doing for a while before I had surgery!

Question #5: Did you suffer from bloating after surgery? If so, how did you treat it?

I did suffer from bloating after surgery, but I believe the pain medications that I was on played a HUGE role in that issue (especially the opioids). In the hospital the nursing staff started giving me stool softeners to help with the bloating and the side-effects of the opioids, and I continued to take these for about a week at home. I think the biggest influence on getting rid of bloating was simply getting off of my morphine. My stomach pains became SO BAD that I would swear my stomach hurt more than my back. To my surprise, I learned after that around 50% of individuals who have spinal fusion surgery experience severe gastrointestinal pain! So, I ended up preferring to endure a bit more back pain due to a decrease in pain medication, as once the bloating was gone my abdominal muscles were also more relaxed and I could get more rest and feel urges to eat.

Question #6: In the first weeks post-surgery is it better to rest or is it possible to do light exercises?

I was told to get up every hour and walk around my house. Exercise forces your body to adjust and get used to the spinal fusion. Exercise also encourages more blood circulation, which will bring more nutrients to the incision and the spine! Rest is important too, so my main advice would be to push yourself to see results but listen to your body and respect it. If you're too tired where your quality of movement will be poor or you might have an increased risk of injury, it's better to rest. But if you have a bit of energy or you're not in too much pain - light exercise sounds like a good idea to me!

Question #7: What kind of activity limitations do you have after the surgery?

I'm not able to bend my spine where it is fused, but I have been gradually adjusting and learning to bend at my hips instead! I still find tying my shoelaces to be one of the biggest challenges, but I'm slowly getting better and quicker! I also find it a bit frustrating to not be able to have impact right now (run, jump, skip, etc...) but I know it's better to have a properly healed spine than it is to risk it for short-term exercise or fun.

Question #8: Do you have any pain?

I'm completely pain free for 99% of the time! Sometimes I'll have my nerves "wake up" which are sharp little pains in my back or other areas that were numb after surgery. The odd time I also may get a back-muscle spasm if I overworked myself that day. For example, a few weeks ago, I had lower back muscle pain because I walked a ton for a few days with a heavier backpack. Definitely listen to the advice of your physicians to avoid these scenarios, and if any pain is prolonged or continuing contact them and let them know!

Question #9: Can you still dance?

Simple answer: yes! I haven't been able to fully test out every movement I did before surgery due to restrictions, but I can still dance, and it does not look awkward at all! No one has been able to tell that I've had surgery or that my spine is fused when it comes to dancing!

Question #10: When are you going to have your weight limit increased, and less restrictions?

I have my one-year post operation appointment in the beginning of May! I hope my weight limit will increase, or that I'll be at least cleared to run or have some sort of increase in exercise intensity in my workout routines! There will for-sure be a blog post uploaded about my one-year post operation results (x-rays, pictures, scar, etc...) so stay tuned!

This blog is my own personal experience and journey with Scoliosis. It is not a medical blog, and if anyone has concerns about their own health, they should see a physician.