Cloud 9

I know its been a few days, but progress is continuing so smoothly that I don't want to bore you with uneventful updates.  Today, however, I had two doctors appointments I can report on.  Early this morning I had an appointment to get my brace re-fitted because as you may recall I was having major pain every time I attempted to wear it.  Turns out, the brace was not fitting correctly and was not touching and therefore not supporting the correct parts of my back.  So I stripped down and put on a tube sock looking thing that covered my whole torso and I was casted.  They wrapped me in this sticky bandage material and within minutes it had completely hardened, it was then cut off of me right where my incision runs.  That was anything but comfortable.  Immediately after that appointment I had my first follow up appointment with Dr. Marco.  They performed an x-ray and I was called back to the room.  Dr. Marco was so thrilled with how well I was doing and my ability to get around that he actually video taped me.  I had mentioned that I have been using my feet to pick things up off the floor, well I can essentially bring my foot to my chest on both side and I can sit on the floor and stand back up without bending my back at all.  This apparently stirred a response from Dr. Marco that went something like this.... You're crazy, that's unbelievable, I've never seen someone be able to do that so soon after surgery.  He also told me my incision is looking great, and I don't need to see him until December.  Oh, and the best thing..... I don't need to wear a brace!!!!! The new x-rays showed my top curve measuring 23 degrees and my bottom curve measuring at 21 degrees.  The doctor told me that he could have gotten a 100% correction on my upper curve, but that that may have caused the bottom curve to over correct, and as a result throw me off balance.  Amazingly, my bottom curve which remained untouched spontaneously corrected itself from 35 degrees to 21 degrees.  That is truly amazing, and speaks volumes about Dr. Marco's knowledge.  I think had I not been under the care of such an amazing surgeon I would have had unnecessary vertebrae fused, and limited flexibility as a result.  Dr. Marco also told me that he read my blog.  I feel honored!  So, Dr. Marco, if you read this, just know how truly happy I am with the work you have done.  You have changed my life, and I am eternally grateful to you.  I feel so blessed to have found you.

Last thing. The hospital bed was picked up on Tuesday.  I am officially sleeping in a regular bed again, and quite comfortably at that.  Still can't sleep on my side, but hoping that I can soon.