Life is a marathon, not a sprint. It took something as severe as an injury and 100 days of pain for me to fully get that. The monetary, physical, emotional, and mental price of not taking care of ourselves is much steeper over the long-haul than any perceived immediate downside.

Pretty much the whole running shoe industry is one big (and hugely successful!) marketing spin machine. Pretty incredible. I think they’re playing to an inner voice in folks (me included, until I read Born to Run) that thinks, as humans, we are not adequate. Yet when you stop and think about it, man’s interference with [...]

Through experiencing a 100 days of pain I have grown to realize that sometimes you have to go backwards before you can move forwards. While I do feel sad, frustrated, and remorseful, I also feel a renewed sense of hope. You see, I have rediscovered the life within me. It’s the last thing I thought I’d get from pain and tragedy, but I welcome it with open arms.

There was an inner drive pushing me to get out of bed and use my legs. I think it was the realization that I was finally on the other side of the surgery and for the first time in over four months, I was in a position to start healing! It had been the vision of this moment, after my surgery, that had kept me going all that time. All I had to go on was the promise that I would have my back fixed one day and would be able to start recovering. Now, that moment had arrived. Warning: graphic image of back at end.

I am now into day four post back surgery. The surgery sure took a lot out of me. I literally had disc sucked out and also feel as though they took with it a whole lot of energy. While I had little energy in the weeks before the surgery, the surgery left me completely depleted. [...]

I find myself caught in the middle of a showdown between East and West. Eastern medicine versus Western Medicine. Acupuncture against the upstart microsurgery. Both are claiming that they can cure me of all the problems caused by a herniated disc. I don't want to be in this battle. I didn't ask for it. Or did I?

When I got up this morning my seven-year-old daughter showed me a drawing she had just completed. It was a sketch of me with a big smile on my face. Above it were the words, “A Better Daddy.” She explained to me that I was smiling in the drawing because my back was all better. [...]

Half of my battle is mental. While I have nearly constant physical pain, I have to also battle with my mind. Some days I wake up filled with hope and thoughts of running freely through the mountains. Others, like today, it’s hard to feel motivated to do anything, even dream. But I do. I figure [...]

I called the UCSF Spine Center scheduling department today because I hadn’t received a call from them (doctors are always much more optimistic on how soon appointments can be set up). No one picked up so I left a message for Collette (her voicemail message said she made call-backs between 9 – 10am and 1 [...]

I was surprised to learn that when a disc ruptures and disc matter comes out, there is a chemical component to the event as well. Dr. Tay said the chemicals add to the pain at the on start. begin with. During the surgery to get the disc matter out, they also suck out any of the chemicals they can in addition to blood that came as a result of the original rupture. I have to admit that my legs got a little queasy at the mention of blood. That was the first time I had heard anything about blood being involved. Suddenly my back felt worse. The blood seemed to make it all that much worse.