Warning-its a long post 😊 January 4th 2016 was a day I will never forget, surgery day! Having suffered with scoliosis, "wonky back" 🤣 for many years, steroid injections were no longer touching the pain. Walking and even standing around was becoming unbearable and I was finding more and more excuses not to go out. I would suffer for days afterwards so it was easier not to bother. Not much of a life eh? Sooo... the decision was made to fuse my spine from L4 to S1, it wouldnt straighten my back, but it would stabilise my lower back and more importantly, stop it from fusing to my pelvis.... Would it stop the pain? No guarantee but hopefully! Anyway, the operation was a success and i was back on my feet within 24 hours. What i wasnt prepared for was the 5 months on crutches, and the 6 months of morphine, joy! It was painful!! During this time, i was closely monitored by the fantastic spinal team at Morriston who were always there for reassurance. I was heading in the right direction but it didnt seem like it at the time... A long road to recovery. There were some pretty dark days and i began to doubt if i would ever have a normal life again 😔. After months of physio, i finally returned to work in August 2016 still not 100% but some normality resumed. Fast forward to January 2017, 12 months post op, i turned a corner. Frightened to say too much but i was pain free.... I began to realise that in fact, it HAD all been worth it... Scans revealed that my own bone was also growing around the fusion, couldnt have asked for a better outcome! So what did i do then? Joined be awesome fitness and started training 5 mornings a week!! It hurt to start with but my PT believed in me and under his careful supervision, my fitness and strength is better than ever!! Its from the gym, i got caught up in conversations about Cardiff half marathon. They must be mad i thought, i could never do that, never been a runner. BUT, something strange happened..... I started thinking that maybe i could do it too! So, i signed up. I had 12 weeks to start running and get to 13 miles, challenge accepted! So, Sunday, October 1st, i will be running my 1st ever half marathon 😬. I would love to give a little something back to the spinal team who worked their magic on me, without them, i would not be where i am today and certainly not running 13 miles 🏃‍♀️🏃‍♀️. Please, if you could, i would really appreciate your donation, tno matter how small. It will go towards research & equipment which will provide others with the opportunities that this surgery has given me! Keep on running....