Now that I've been decompressed I'm trying to kind of get my life back in order again, part of that is potentially going back to my job. However, I worked at an animal shelter as a kennel tech and it's a VERY physical job. I'm literally constantly on my feet for 8-11 hours a day, lifting crates/up to 80 pound dogs, bending over, crawling into kennels, getting knocked in the head/mouth, etc... My doctor says this isn't a big deal, but she also seems to think I can go to the moon, as long as I don't play football so I don't completely trust her opinion. Can being this physical make my chiari worse? I've already found out that running makes me want to die, and I'm still only three months post op so haven't tried lifting anything heavy yet. I want nothing more than to go back to this job, but if it means symptoms again and going through all of this, again, then I need to find a new dream.
Bmtiz,
Emmaline's advice is really great. You need to start slow and see what your limits are. As you heal you need to protect the gains you have made. The job sounds very physical. The things that jumped out to me were hitting your head. That can be very problematic and picking up 80lbs! That is a lot of weight and especially while you are healing you need to be careful not to strain too much. Have you talked to your doctor about it? Could they modify the job for you while you heal?
Wendy
Yeah I'm having a hard time with the slow thing, but my body has a good time of knocking me on my butt when I don't behave. It would be a couple of months before I got back into the job, and I'm hoping after this nerve block I can get to the gym and try to get my strength up. The job is extremely physical, and if I didn't love it so much I wouldn't even consider going back. Definitely taking it slow while I am healing won't be a problem, I've already talked to the supervisor and I can start back fewer days/fewer hours, and can go back to the more rigorous activities like lifting more slowly. I'm just more worried about if I AM able to get to that point, will it do any damage. I mentioned it in passing to my NS and she wasn't concerned, but I am going to ask her about it more in depth Tuesday when I go in for the nerve block.
I wish healing wasn't such a long process, I'm supposed to plan and get on with my life when I don't even know what that physically means for me yet. It's extremely frustrating.