I felt very elderly at the age 33

I felt very elderly at age 33. I ruined my spine being on bed rest throughout two of my pregnancies. My muscles deteriorated. When the babies were born I felt so good, I went right back to doing everything I used to do such as lifting children and taking care of my Mom when she had cancer. With very little muscle in my back, my bones compensated for what my muscles should have been doing. This caused all kinds of damage. I had 3 bulging herniated discs, a broken bone, degenerative disc disease, and narrowing of the bones in the spine. I eventually was in so much pain that some days I could not sit or stand, and just had to lay in bed. I was afraid to sit on the floor to play with my children for fear of not being able to get back up. I could only drive for 20 minutes at a time. Then I would have to pull over and walk around before I could drive again. I was on such heavy pain medications and muscle relaxers for a year and a half that I was knocked out and sound asleep much of the time. After many tests and seeing a few different doctors it was determined that just one of the discs was causing all the pain. Physical therapy didn't work. A back brace didn't work. Eventually the pain medications and muscle relaxers quit working. The doctors agreed that if I put off surgery much longer I would become an invalid for the rest of my life. As a last resort, I had the one disc that was causing all the pain completely removed. It was replaced with a donated bone. The only thing they needed to fix was the one disc causing all the pain. All the rest was left alone and will remain that way as long as I stay pain free. For 24 hours after the surgery I couldn't even roll over in bed without calling a nurse to help me. I also had my first experience using a bed pan during the first 24 hours. Then a physical therapist came to teach me how to get out of bed and walk with a walker. They told me to keep walking. A body builder who ruined his spine lifting weights had the same surgery the same day I did. The two of us had to keep making laps around the nurse's station with our walkers together. They would say "keep going, 27 laps equals a mile." I would do one or two laps and have to rest for a while, do another one or two laps, and so on. It took all day, but by bed time I had finally walked a mile! After 4 days, I no longer needed the walker, but still needed help getting up if I sat down for another week and a half. Now I am happy to say that I am pain free and can do most things I used to do as long as I am careful and don't lift over 30 pounds. After just 12 weeks I could walk a mile in 15 minutes. I now have insomnia instead. I can no longer sleep without all the heavy pain medications and muscle relaxers to knock me out at night, but that's so much easier to deal with.

~~"Bless the LORD, O my soul, And all that is within me, bless His holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, And forget none of His benefits; Who pardons all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with loving kindness and compassion; Who satisfies your years with good things, So that your youth is renewed like the eagle." Psalm 103:1-5