Is it normal?

[Nadia Smith]

I am now approx 10 weeks post-op, and although physically I am improving daily (danced salsa last Tuesday!!) and despite practising Qi Gong and strength/stretch exercises, I really seem to lack motivation!  I intend to re-start work in September and need all the energy possible.  Has anyone else felt this way.  I am active every day, but lack motivation in the morning and am not the usual early bird!

[hernanu]

I've gone through patches like that. I think just like your body heals in peaks and plateaus, your mental effort also goes through the same. I saw that with some martial arts students as the honeymoon wore off and the workouts became more routine for them. It coincided with their becoming really fluent with the things they were doing, yet they were not good enough to do more advanced stuff.

I usually approached them about it by telling them that it was ok to take time off or not expect linear improvement at all times, some times your mind and body just needs to cruise a little.

[John C]

I think that at 10 weeks, a lot of our energy is still going into healing. Your Qi Gong will help with that energy, but some part of you is smart enough to know that much of that energy needs to go towards healing, so it does not want you to be too ambitious about using it elsewhere. By September, I would expect that you will be that much further through the healing process, and will have more energy available for other things.
While a lot of healing has happened in that first 10 weeks, your body is going to be repairing and remodeling tissue for many months yet.

[Nadia Smith]

Thanks, Hernan!  You've hit the nail on the head. It's true that the first few weeks were like a "honeymoon" period, and now I feel heaps better physically, and think "Oh, I'm really OK!" and I do loads of walking, standing etc, and then feel absolutely whacked in the early evening.  I have to constantly remind myself that it's not so long ago that I had major surgery, and that my body is still adjusting.

For the other part, it is like starting with a new body, as the stretches I'm doing are stiff, but there's no longer the blockage through the OA, and That is exhilarating.

I guess you're right that my mind and emotional state are healing too, especially in recovering from the years of not having been able to achieve physically what I used to do.  I think right now I'm at a plateau stage.

[Nadia Smith]

John, thank you for your words of wisdom too!  I had just posted a reply to Hernan when I received your post.

Deep down in my core I know what you say is true.  I suppose I just reached a low note and just wanted to hear from fellow beings.  It's encouraging to hear from you guys, as I know how very active you both are right now.