Part 4
The following morning I decided that I would walk to the toilet again. On the ward there were wheeled frames available which looked a little like a zimmer frame but which had four wheels and a cushioned top on which you rested your elbows while gripping some vertical handles at the front of the frame. I used this to walk the approximately 10 metres to the toilet under the close watch of one of the ward nurses. I was very nervous as I felt very weak and unsteady on my feet and was sweating profusely and feeling very dizzy! I managed to make it to the toilet and sit down, when I had finished I shouted for the nurse to help me up from the toilet and this is where things went a bit wrong! As I stood up I fainted, fortunately the nurse caught me before I fell over and I came to having convulsions while he desperately tried to stop me falling into the toilet! He sat me down until I regained my composure and was wheeled back to my bed. This really knocked my confidence and put me off trying to walk for the whole of the rest of the day. The physiotherapist visited me that afternoon and tried to persuade me to get out of bed and do some more walking but I was not feeling brave and persuaded her that I couldn't! She then said she would let me off but would not take no for an answer tomorrow! She reassured me that it was common for this to happen soon after the operation as my blood pressure would be very low due to the anaesthetic and having been in bed for a long while. She said that I had probably been a bit too optimistic trying to walk that far (10 metres!) so quickly.
The following day I was determined to try to walk more, so when I had finished my breakfast I decided to do some walking with the help of the frame and my wife. I intended walking to the hospital shop, however I never made it that far, again I was being a little too optimistic. I did manage to walk about 50 metres in total but it really made me very tired and by the time the physiotherapist arrived mid afternoon I really did not feel like walking any more. But the physiotherapist was very insistent and got me walking with the frame up and down the ward. She said that tomorrow she would get me walking without the frame.
I spoke to my insurance company on this day to arrange my repatriation, they intended flying me back in the next couple of days and asked if I would be OK taking a normal scheduled flight. I laughed at this point and told them that there was no way I would be able to take a scheduled flight as I could barely walk with a frame and couldn't sit comfortably for more than about 10 minutes. They said that they would arrange an air ambulance to fetch me back.
The next day, Wednesday, I felt pretty good and could now manage to walk fairly well without the frame. I spent most of the morning walking up and down the hospital corridors with my wife. By the time the physiotherapist arrived in the afternoon I was walking very easily without the frame and I think she was secretly quite impressed! I should note here that when I say I was walking 'fairly well' this means that I could shuffle for a hundred metres which would take about 10 minutes! For me this was good though, given that 3 days before I couldn't walk at all! My insurance company also rang again to tell me that they had arranged to fly me back home on Thursday and that I would be picked up sometime after midday.
I asked my Doctors what my prospects were for recovery and they told me that I should make a full recovery. I would lose some flexibility in my spine due to having two fused together, but this shouldn't restrict me too much. When I asked about snowboarding again they said that it would take between 6 and 12 months before I was back to normal and that I should be very patient during my recovery and not to try to rush into anything. They also said that I should not bend or twist my back for the next few months or lift any heavy objects. They said that it would probably be 3 months before I could go back to work, but that I may be able to start some physiotherapy in 6 weeks.
On Thursday my walking had improved again and as I was strolling (shuffling) along the hospital corridor a physiotherapist saw me and said that I could try to tackle some stairs. In the corridor of the orthopaedic ward there were some stairs with about 3 steps up one side and 3 down the other side, I had already tried these so I thought I could impress him with my skills. As I walked towards them he shouted me back and pointed me at the main staircase between the hospitals floors which looked very steep and daunting. One of the things I found about my recovery was that a large part of it was about confidence. I tended to be very cautious about what I would do on my own, however when the physiotherapist asked me to do something it gave me the confidence to try it and I always found that I could manage it. Left to my own devices I would not have tried going down and up the stairs as I never would have thought I would have been capable of it. Anyway I managed to do the stairs and was very pleased at the achievement! I would never have guessed that I would have got this far in such a short time. In fact I expected to be in bed for a week or two following the operation.