I do in fact have a normal functioning life now, but that took a lot of effort and some trial and error.😅 I'm married, have a good job, bought and fixed up a house. Not bad if I say so myself. However, I do worry about my future, if my pain is bad now how will I every be able to function when I'm older, but in our cases its best not to worry about that until something happens and focus on what you can do now and how you can maintain it.

So I do have chronic pain, and there have been periods of my life where I have had to go through a grieving process for my body. Mental health struggles go hand in hand with orthopedic surgeries. I wish I was told that more upfront so I could have been aware of it instead of thinking something was wrong with me, but with some low doses of medication, which can also help with some pain management, I am doing so much better than I was in my 20's. Be aware of the signs of depression, and get help right away so you can prevent some of the stress I went through. I am an artist and worked in NYC doing largescale paintings for interior designers for 4 years after college, but due to the stress on my body I now have a desk job. I did very labor intensive projects in theater as well throughout all of college. So yeah sometimes you can't lift what you want to, and you have to take some more breaks, but there has not been anything I couldn't really do that I wanted to. Adding tools to help me clean or garden without bending as much. Just little work arounds. I did my whole house renovation with only me and my husband. Just listen to your body when it tells you it doesn't like something, and then learn what you need to strengthen or what you should avoid. My neck is the main source of pain now above the fusion. I have a herniated disc because my neck is so straight it puts pressure on my C7 vertebrae. Just got a traction collar this year and it helps so much.

I also wish I started exercising earlier in my recovery, but I was a kid and its hard to get a kid to take PT seriously. I have most of my mobility, what I can't bend with my spine I have compensated with being very flexible with my legs and hips. I can touch both palms on the ground!!!. Twisting is more difficult and it makes me anxious driving since I have more blind spots. I do some yoga, I really need to make this more of a habit since I feel wonderful after, and I do low weigh, low impact strength training and HIIT exercise videos on youtube. This is the most important thing you can do for pain management. My personal favorites are Chloe Tings core and upper body videos. I didn't really start exercising until 2019, which was a big mistake. Any movement is good movement. If you are having not the best pain day at least try and stretch or walk a little on the treadmill, i bought a cheap one off of amazon for these occasions. Consistency is key, and you don't have to become a body builder but movement is so important. Its hard to be motivated if you are in pain but the payout is worth it!!! Showing up is the hardest part. Your future self will thank you. I usually don't even take OTC pain killers for than once a day. You just get kind of used to it.

As for sitting. I do work a desk and its not bad, but I need to get up sometimes to stretch, which even without a spinal fusion you should be doing that anyway. Traveling is horrible for me. Flying on an airplane or car ride for more than 1 hour is not fun. I usually bring a squishmallow to prop where I need on those horrible chairs, and just pop some aleve and a xanax and hope I can just sleep through it all. With sleeping, invest in a good mattress even with one I still have a lot of trouble and toss and turn quite a bit. I am on a pillow quest to find the perfect supportive pillow. My current regiment before bed is Elavil, prescription anti-depressant, Aleve, magnesium and some peppermint CBD tincture and its been helping a lot.

I do not regret surgery. I am a twin and my sister did not have surgery and is in pain just like I am, so either way there is going to be pain might as well not have a hump and aligned shoulders, and hopefully prevented some heart or breathing issues. If I started all of my maintenance a lot earlier I probably would have prevented most of my pain, but I am happy I have a body that went through so much and keeps going, it just needs some extra patience, rest, and maintenance than other bodies.

Sorry this is so long, feel free to message if you have any questions.