Don’t I get a whole new body?

You have pain and restriction now, and you’re going to have it after the surgery too. But it’s going to be improving (unlike the degenerative arc we’ve been on) as LONG as we are committing and investing in positive outcomes.

My biggest fear going into this was that the surgery was not going to solve all the physical issues I have been experiencing for some years now. Soreness and pain… odd compensatory tensions and pain all over my body, stem to stern. A lack of stability. Feeling like a poorly constructed house in an earthquake. Any exertion seemed to knock my spine out of alignment and leave me counting the days til my next chiro or bodywork appointment.

And the reality is that we don’t get a whole new body. And for a short while, we have a whole new set of bodily challenges. Swapping out the dysfunctional joint(s) is traumatic. Some muscles have been overworking, and others have become ennervated and need to be strengthened and retrained to fire in concert with your other muscles. We have massive inflammation and stiffness (for me it was concentrated below the incisions).

But here’s the good news. While you’re doing your prehab and rehab, assuming you have a good trainer, you’ll be able to address other underlying issues at the same time as resetting your gait. And that’s been my experience. The chronic pains in my sacrum, neck and jaw have settled down and continue to diminish (my surgery was 3 months ago).