Supplements
- I'll discuss all of this with the doctor before the surgery.
- Branched Chain Amino Acids (BCAAs). You can find them in the bodybuilder section of the health food store. Make sure your body has the building blocks for repairing muscles, soft tissues etc.
- Continue with Glucosamine, Chondroitin, MSM supplements
- Proteolytic enzymes - improve scar healing and to reduce the time for swelling to subside (see here). Take on an empty stomach. They break down excess fibrin and allow for more clearance of inflammation and a faster healing time
- Vitamin D - mainly from sun. Try to get sunlight every day on lots of the bod. I may even get my vitamin D levels checked beforehand to make sure I've got this 'in the zone'.
- Cod liver oil for Omega-3 and vitamin D.
- Vitamin C is important not only as an overall anti-oxidant (to counter the effects of being in hospital) but also to support collagen formation.
- A good multi-vitamin to make sure I'm getting Vitamins A, E, K2.
- Anti-oxidants. Consider some Bulletproof Glutathione, otherwise CoQ10, alpha-linoleic acid.
- Zinc to assist healing.
- Annual metal detox using a peptide chelator like Metal Free from BodyHealth.com
- Chlorella supplements?
- Probiotics to counter any anti-biotics they may give me.
- Arnica to reduce swelling.
- Maybe turmeric to reduce inflammation.
Nutrition
- Intermittent fasting (IF), maybe fat-fasting. No protein or carbs until lunchtime. There's certainly evidence to suggest that IF is useful in spinal surgery recovery. I'll do more digging whether it's a good thing for skeletal surgery.
- Bovine collagen in the morning coffee. Give your body the building blocks to repair bones and connective tissues.
- Bone broths, lamb shanks, osso bucco etc. I'm thinking to make a whole load beforehand and freeze it.
- Decent, grass-fed meats - beef, lamb. Tissue healing and repair can temporarily increase your protein needs by about 50 percent.
- Eggs.
- Lots of leafy greens, salads, avocados etc. Veggies with every meal.
- Sauerkraut and/or kobucha - probiotics!
- Some prepared meals in the freezer.
- Butter, coconut oil and Bulletproof Brain Octane for postanesthetic brain recovery. Check the brain health post for more on this.
- Dark chocolate. The darker the better :-)
- Water. Make sure to have a good quality mineral water rather than fluoride-laced tap water.
- Avoid anything inflammatory such as sugar, deep-fried foods and vegetable oils, nightshades.
Training and recovery plan
This definitely starts with pre-surgery preparation. I've got another post in the works about my pre-surgery preparation including exercise, swimming, cold adaptation, saunas etc.
Post-surgery, here's the plan:
- Don't over-do it and go with the flow.
- An in-home physiotherapy program is included as part of the operation package. Hopefully this will be a local physio so I can keep follow-up as necessary.
- Chiropractor. I've been seeing an excellent chiropractor for the past 5 years or so and will want to get back to see him to help ensure good alignment and for him to help in the recovery and wellness process.
- Swimming - luckily we have our own pool and it'll be summer so I should be able to get in the pool morning, noon and night. How long after the op can I get back in the pool? Will depend on wound healing but as soon as possible. Will work up to longer swimming over time.
- Walks, short to begin with but building up over time.
- Exercise bike. I'm going to see if I can borrow one rather than having to buy one.
- Strength training using power bands. I'm having good results at the moment (pre-op) using a power band to do a 'deadlift'. It might sound like putting such a lot of load through the lower body would be a bad idea and I think that good form is essential. But it seems to make sure that everything is moving in the right way. When I'm stiff it can help reduce the pain. Nice straight back, neutral neck, take the strain through the 'posterior chain'.
- Ice for pain reduction, swelling reduction.
- Option 1: Ice packs.
- Option 2: gel wraps like this.
- Option 3: Ice water cold therapy systems like this.
- Red light therapy - stimulate wound healing.
- Saunas. Cause the release of Heat Stress Hormone, BDNF, dynorphin (an analgesic) and increasing sensitivity to endorphins (happy hormones). Also makes the body produce a greater volume of blood plasma.
- Electrostim. I've got an Omron HV-F127 Electronic Nerve Stimulator to help relieve pain and stimulate muscles.
- Grounding. You may have heard of grounding - connecting directly with the earth to reduce electrical charge on your body. It might sound like hippy nonsense but I have a grounding strip running beneath my sheets to bond me to earth as I sleep (with a 1 megaohm inline resistor so I don't get inadvertently zapped!)
While it's claimed that pulsed electro-magnetic therapy (PEMF) such as Earth Pulse can be beneficial in helping recovery for stress fractures etc, I don't fancy the idea of using PEMF close to a metal implant.
Home preparation
- Bed hoist trapeze to help getting in and out of bed.
- Sock putter-onner (or just get the kids to help!)
- Raised toilet seat.
- Walker, walking stick, cane - already got.
- Phone charger next to bed (but airplane mode when sleeping). Laptop/iPad.
- Home delivery. Probably Woolworths Online.
- Entertainment - NetFlix (plus GetFlix to unlock from Aus). I may need to 'up' the broadband limit.
- It'll be summer, so I'll make sure I've got a nice outdoor sitting arrangement so I can enjoy sunshine without getting burnt to a crisp!
Support, timing and work
I'm planning to have the operation after christmas, in the summer holidays. This will mean that the pressure will be off my wife who will be really busy in the run up to christmas. I know I'll be relying a great deal on her and the kids during my recovery so it needs to work for all of us.
Work-wise it's a quiet period as folks take holiday.
The kids might get bored because I won't be out and about as much as usual. We'll think about this some more.
Putting it all together
That's a lot. I'm sure that when the time comes, things will change. Maybe I won't have time for it all, maybe I just can't be bothered. But at least I'm giving it good consideration beforehand to make sure I've got the best tools and thinking to help.
For the nutrition and supplements, I'll probably put together a chart so I don't have to think too much and can just go by the chart. I'll also check all this with the surgeon beforehand.
Any other thoughts or suggestions? Leave a comment below...
Update 22-Aug-2014
I just came across this great post on Bulletproofexec.com forums describing the effects that active post-operation management can have on recovery. This is exactly what I'm aiming to achieve. To quote:
My long awaited doctor's visit has finally arrived. "Holy Jesus!" the doctor exclaimed. "You are like some kind of superhero...like a wolverine or something." He ran to get his camera.
This is also an excellent post by Ben Greenfield on recovering 'like Wolverine'.
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