4 years.
I am always this melancholic when it is 24th August. It is like my second birthday when I was given another chance to live, another chance to cherish. How are you doing, Darla? A lot of things happened in 4 years. I always update my life annually for many post-op situation. Can you imagine if one day when I am old, I will read the compilation of my pre & post-op stories. It will be amazing to look back at the journey.
My physical condition is so far so good, like how I described it in my 3 years post-op entry. I still do my back exercise regularly. One thing I currently can’t do is only swimming, due to the Covid-19……….. *crying inside* I miss swimming so muchh…. Talking about Covid-19, I had WFH (Working From Home) for several months. During the first three months of WFH, it was challenging because I sat in front of the laptop for more than 17 hours. I experienced shoulder pain several times because of passivity. It was hard to set boundaries for the working hours during WFH. Now that I’m working from office, everything is normal. My working hours and workload are normal again and I have no physical issue. Ah ya, for long sitting hours at home, I always have a waist support at my chair. I have had it since I had the surgery. It is useful to support my waist and back so that I rarely have lower back pain if I have to sit for long. Either you have back issue or not, I’m pretty sure it is useful for anyone who sits most of the day. It is easily purchased from the e-commerce or any houseware store.
Recently, I have email correspondence with a scoliosis patient’s parent. I’m always glad if my blog can be fruitful to anyone who is looking for information about scoliosis. Thanks to the internet, information is now more accessible. Before I had my surgery, I gained a lot of information from the other patients’ blogs and correspondence. I join several scoliosis community on social media. One of the most active community is Indonesia Scoliosis Community. The members are not only patients but also the parents. They actively share information about scoliosis, the treatment or any doctor recommendation. I am forever grateful to those who helped me during my hard times. Having adequate information helps patients and guardians a lot in preparing their mental before the surgery. The storm in the mind can’t be avoided. Our mind goes wild when the word “surgery” comes. Social support really matters. I feel so honoured when I have a chance to be part of a patient’s social support.
Next year is supposed to be my another follow up appointment with Prof. Kwan but I think it will be postponed due to the Covid-19. It does not really matter since it is not an urgent appointment and I am still doing well. In every follow up, I will have an X-Ray and Prof. Kwan will examine my back. I did well on my last follow up and Prof. Kwan gave me a statement letter of which sections of my spine can receive anesthesia if I give birth. Prof. Kwan said, “Just in case, in the next three years, you might have come with your baby, I provide this letter.” I could not stop laughing. Here I come, still keeping the statement letter well. Lol.
Well, those paragraphs sum up my mind for this 4 years post-op celebration. Happy anniversary, my dear titaniums! I’m glad that you exist and help me to stop my curve from progressing. I’m glad that God let me met Prof. Kwan and his team four years ago. I’m grateful to meet a lot of kind people in my life.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart.
