Six Months (and a week) Post-Op Update

Six months (and a week). Hard to believe it's been that long since my surgery, and yet, it feels like just yesterday.  A lot has happened in six months. On the health perspective, I am finally healed - no more wounds - I have one more visit at the clinic this Friday and if they clear me, I am done with medical treatment. I'll still have follow up appointments with the surgeon in November/December and again at one year.

Since the last update, at three months post-op, much has happened. I have relocated to Northern Virginia for a new job, made some new friends, lost some others, ended a relationship and through it all, admittedly, have lost focus on my health goals. I am here to change that now. After all, it is never too late to start (again).

I have been a little depressed over my inability to do many exercises - things using my core are still very hard for me - planks are okay, but any kind of sit-up or crunch motion feels as though my back incisions are pulling. While I know it is a mental challenge and one I need to overcome (the back incisions have been healed since July, so they aren't reopening), I have found it hard to get my mojo back.

I felt like I lost part of me. And, that's not okay.

You see, I enjoyed being part of something - the group of girls I worked out with at the gym, the workout classes I took, the personal training I did - all of it. It became my life. I will find this again, here, and it will take time. Most of you know I am not a patient person. When the doctor told me six to eight weeks healing time, I was willing to give him twelve. Then it turned into 4, 5 and 6 months. And now, here we are.

Setting new goals and preparing for the future. I can't look back and change what I did or did not do, or what I should have done. I can only look forward to tomorrow - to the next bite of my pre-planned meals and the next "no" to temptation. I can only put one foot in front of the other. Just like you.

A champion is not someone who gets it the first time. A champion is someone who never quits, even when they've momentarily failed. A champion is someone who never gives up, works hard and pursues a dream worth having.

I want to be a champion. 

Do you?