Spinal Surgery Recovery
So I'm going to try to keep this story brief because I'm not generally one for asking for help, and I don't want to waste anyone's time. (if you'd like to skip the story for a brief idea of what I'm requesting, see below the photo).
About 8 weeks ago I woke up with what felt like a severe Trapezius tear on my left side. I was in significant pain, and the pain didn't subside, but more moved around my back and down my left arm on a day to day basis. Some days my left Elbow hurt, some days it was my Scapula, every day was ecruciating. After 3 visits to my GP he ordered a Cervical Spine MRI and discovered a large disc extrusion at C6/C7 - Origin unknown, to this day I have no idea how I managed to injure myself so significantly. I was immediately reffered to a Neurosurgeon, and then to another (I saw both within 4 hours of finding out about the seriousness of the problem from my GP). Because of the nature of the extrusion, which was compressing a nerve and severely compressing my spinal column (the first Neurosurgeon was suprised I could walk without pain), the only option for complete recovery was Surgery. In the course of 6 hours I went from thinking I had some sort of muscular problem, to trying to come to terms with the idea that a 26 year old physically active male would require surgery on his spine. This all happened on a Friday, the following Monday I had a follow up appointment with the Neurosurgeon to explain the procedure and to put me on the list - Category 1, surgery within 30 days)
About 2 weeks later I was made redundant at my job - I was a casual receptionist at a gym to complement my full time study load. They deleted one of my shifts completely, and then replaced my other shift with a full time employee meaning there was no longer any room for me on the roster.
About a week after that I went under the knife at The Alfred hospital (on the 6/06, a week ago tomorrow). They completed a C6/C7 Anterior Cervical Discestomy and Fusion. Basically, they removed the problem disc between C6/C7, put in a prosthetic, and then fused both verterbrae with a Titanium plate to make sure it doesn't pop out.
Estimated recovery time: 6 to 8 weeks, during which time I can't lift more than 1kg, or do any strenuous activity (I'm slowly loosing my mind on the couch).
Basically, what I'm asking for is help on my recovery journey. I only have one Spine, one that I didn't think would be operated on at 26, and I'd like to make sure it lasts me at least another 60 years.
Any money donated would go directly on my recovery costs (Physiotheraphy and Exercise Physiology), as well as helping me keep food on the table and my bills payed until I can start looking for another job (which I'm not going to be able to do for another 5 or 6 weeks). If buy some miracle I get more than I've asked for, I will either utilise it for additional recovery sessions and rehab, or simply pay it forward.
