Well, it has been a very interesting couple of days. As you may recall I injured my back doing behind the neck Snatch grip Push Press this past Saturday. I had an MRI Tuesday evening. Based on this image I was referred to Dr. Rick McKenzie, a local neurosurgeon at DCH. I met with him yesterday afternoon. He showed me the images of my back. I have an ENORMOUS herniation in the L5/S1 disc. My L5 is also cracked. It is not simply pressing on my nerve bundle, it actually has them trapped and violently pinned on my spinal column. Based on the severity of the herniation, the possibility of permanent nerve damage, and my desire to return to an active lifestyle we decided that surgery was the best option. He will be performing what is known as an L5/S1 Discectomy on me. This surgery is scheduled for June 7. I am unable to work before my surgery due to the fact that I have lost nearly all strength in my left leg and the fact that I must stay under the influence of fairly heavy medication in order to remain in a seated position for any length of time. Since my job requires me to drive around, handle firearms, and make split second decisions that carry the weight of life and death I can not work with a system full of narcotics. After the surgery I will be unable to return to my full police duties for approximately 8 weeks. He stated I might be able to perform some type of light duty job within a month or so post surgery, but that remains to be seen. This means that all in all I'm basically out of work for the next 10 weeks. The worst news of all is as follows: several of the Crossfit movements, including heavy squats, deadlifts, snatches, cleans, etc. are no longer possible for me. I will never again be able to do Crossfit as it is intended. I will have to do a sort of modified version of everything. This means no more competitions for me. I'm very bummed out about this. I obviously can't work out at all for the next 10 to 12 weeks. I'm hoping that after that I will be able to at least do more traditional movements, or Olympic movements with lower weight. This will not produce the muscle gains I desire, but it is what it is. Just when I got motivated to make a drastic change in my health, appearance, strength, and life in general this happens. Sometimes life simply isn't fair. Of course, I never expected it to be. In any case, I will continue to update this blog throughout this process. Maybe someone in my position, that has to have this surgery sometime in the future, will benefit from it. Once I am fully healed I intend to complete what I set out to do, even if I have to take a slightly different approach. Thank you all for reading my entries, and I ask that you not give up on me. This is just an obstacle in my path that I have to deal with. It is not the end of my fitness journey.
Jeez! talk about a shitty hand. i just wanted to say don't get too down on yourself, and i'll continue to read to hear how the recovery is doing. i think it's a great plan to turn this into a space for you to share your thoughts on recovery and the adaptations you'll be making to your lifestyle. i'm sure everyone you know that has had a back injury (or knows someone with a back injury) has told you their story... well i'm going to tell you one more! my brother in law has had terrible, limiting back pain for years due to a fragmented disc (2 actually) and spent the better part of a year on his back and all doped up. after his surgery he has felt relief like no other, and has gotten back into an active lifestyle - something he once thought was out of his reach.
ReplyDeletestay strong! feel better!