Looking forward

I apparently brought a few tears to eyes with my previous post about my back. (Which is sweet, btw.) I feel like I owe a follow up report on my progress.

I'm not pain free, and my chiropractor said it could be a year before I am. So, with that out of the way, I can say that I go most days without pain medication and function just fine. My back and sometimes thigh are still sore and my motion is limited (or it instantly shoots way beyond sore), but I can walk, drive, work and take care of my son - activities that were exceedingly painful a short 3 months ago. The last couple weeks I have tested myself with more rigorous activities, like a little kickball with Zachary, and taking a self-defense class with my girls where I had to kick a bag (to pretend to break a knee). It was uncomfortable, but it felt so good to use my body for a change that it was worth it. I even took an hour long walk and I'm embarassed to admit I was sore for 3 days. Never more than now has my body resembled a wet noodle - I'm so out of shape!

A couple weeks ago my chiro and I took new x-rays to measure progress. My compressed disc was visibly wider, and the forward-slant in my neck was pulled back. I knew this without seeing x-rays because I can feel myself standing taller. Results have been slow, and expensive, but I'm grateful to have them.

I'm grateful for the doctors, grateful for my parents, and for the friends who have supported me - from carrying my bags up and down stairwells and through airports, to taking Zachary downs hills at the snow park when I couldn't. And I'm grateful for my son, who coninues to demonstrate his loving heart when he asks me how my back is out of the blue.

It continues to be a journey of learning about who I am, who I want to be, and what's really important in this life...