So I was living my life normally and started doing some functional training in the month of December (hard-core workouts targeting the core muscles that include crazy-ass cardio, step-ups, weigh-training and kettle-bell lifting along with a lot of burpees and hopping and stuff like that.) So even though I was doing it under the guidance and supervision of a personal trainer, it backfired. My back started hurting followed by a weird pain in my knee, thigh and then feet. I consulted with a spine surgeon and when I got the MRI done (which is an entire horror-story in itself), we came to know that I had spinal disc bulge (a kind of degeneration of the spine.) Now it was multi-factorial so the doctor doesn’t particularly blame my rigorous training though we all knew why it happened so suddenly. Anyway, I learnt my first lesson about being patient and not rushing into things without first considering them and thinking them through.

As the pain started migrating to my leg and my entire left leg started paining, it kind of got unbearable as I wasn’t able to either sit not lie down for any longer than 15-20 minutes and bending was entirely out of question. So it’s not far-fetched to say that my entire life turned upside down when I came across the fact that I could be labelled disabled for life.

Upon consulting another 3 doctors, we decided to go through an entire month of physiotherapy. For that, Vishal took me to a very big Spine Clinic (QI Spine Clinic, KP) but sadly, in spite of my super amazing spine-specialist, it gave me very less relief. The pain subsided sometimes only to return with a vengeance. So, having no other option, we had to go for the other option we had – laser-assisted annuloplasty. The problem was, this procedure was so new in India that rarely any of the doctors I had consulted knew about it (not even the best ones!) So I had to trust my doctor, who is one of the best spine surgeons in our city and went ahead with it. All my other doctors were against it, even my spine expert at the spine clinic, but what option did I have? The problem was, Vishal and I had, kind of stupidly, booked tickets for Egypt for late February and if we didn’t do anything, that trip would either have to be cancelled (in which case we’d lose a lot of money as all the bookings had already been paid for) or we’ll have to just go there and sit in the hotel room taking painkillers. So ultimately, we went ahead with the surgery as our doctor assured us that I can travel after 15 days of the surgery. I was operated on 12th February so 27th seemed okay enough for travelling and sitting in a 6 hr flight.

I was very scared, obviously, as this was my first surgery and my first hospitalisation ever! And I am so phobic to the hospital environment and everything related to it that I cried for an hour before the surgery. I have no idea why doctors say once the anaesthesia is given you can’t feel a thing. I felt quite a lot of things when I had got my root canal done last year and then I felt quite a lot of poking and prodding while getting this surgery done. Though there was no incision, there were a lot of big needles involved along with a laser beam and an HD camera. And I felt them all touching my L4 and L5 spine sections through my lower waist, so it wasn’t pleasant and nor was it entirely painless. But maybe that’s how surgeries are, who knows. Anyway, it’s all in the past now, and, for what it’s worth, I did not keep quiet about the pain, I hollered and cursed at the doctor while he was doing the surgery. *Smirking* That’s about all I remember.

Anyway, it’s been 5 days since the surgery and I can feel very little pain in the nerves and muscles surrounding the area where the needles were inserted, but apart from that, there is no pain that I can feel. Though I am still on painkillers and will be visiting the doctor day after tomorrow to consult and for further course of action (he’s asked me to do some more physiotherapy in order to regain full movement of my back and leg.) Though he had already told me that it will be 6 weeks before I could start walking more than 0.5 km or bending so I’m still going to be on restrictions while I’ll be exploring Egypt. Isn’t that just lovely? But at least I’ll be able to walk and roam around seeing all the beautiful places and pieces.

I’ve had a harrowing month and especially since I’ve been working with an amazing psychiatrist on my mental health as well, I’ve learned a lot in the last two months. I just hope that this year, will be the end of all my health problems and that I can get back to losing weight (which is why I started functional training in the first place.)

While I’m at it, I’d like to share this beautiful quote before ending the post:

The time you feel lonely is the time you most need to be by yourself.

– Douglas Coupland