Spinal Surgery Recovery~Lessons in Patience & Gratitude

January, 2016

I was only a few days post spinal surgery and the winter temps of the Central Highlands had me chilled to the bones and wobbly on the tile floors of our San Miguel de Allende home.

Tender on my feet and using all of my might to put one in front of the other, I hobbled into my son’s room with socks in my hands and tears in my eyes. “Liam, buddy”, I called to him, “Can you please help me put these on?”. My husband Frank was out running errands and I needed to learn to rely on the support of others. Life Lesson #1.

Before I could get the words out, Liam caught me mid-sentence, “Oh Mama, do you need my help?”

The tears fell without restraint, “Yes, son, like a little baby, could you please help me?”

Down on his knees, my 11-year-old boy–without hesitation and with great patience, love, and care–put each of my socks on my half-frozen feet. I could not have done it myself had my life depended on it. The pride and gratitude I felt for my kind-hearted son far outweighed my overwhelming sense of helplessness.

Lessons in Patience & Gratitude

I will never take bending over, crouching down or putting my clothes on by myself for granted. Nor will I ever again be able to look at barbecue tongs in the same way after having used them to help me put my underwear on–true story. Necessity is indeed the mother of invention!

These have been a very trying past two and a half months, but things are getting better and I am getting stronger every day. Our recent three-week trip to the States proved to be something of a reset for me and a necessary distancing from the home that has been the container of my pain and my struggles of recovery from two life-altering events.

Sometimes propelling ourselves into an unknown and new environment helps to create a better, renewed and stronger frame of mind. Without a doubt, our time spent in snowy Colorado re-booted me into another realm of recovery. Navigating myself like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Woman in multiple layers of clothing and shin-high snow boots was no small feat. But it engaged both my mind and body, and slow and steady with great patience and grace for self, I made my way from point A to B stronger and more confident in my newfound skills and life outlook. 

I give thanks every single day that the gift of walking has been slowly returned to me, literally inch by inch, and that I was one of the lucky ones not sentenced to a life in a wheelchair. I am forever grateful that destiny and fate allowed my path to cross with doctors that have literally saved and given me my life back. Thank you, thank you, mil gracias mi Querido México.

With great gratitude for this one precious life,

Katie O’Grady

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