Mt. Whitney Portal Store & Hostel Forums General Mt. Whitney Portal Store Message Board Summit after spinal abscess surgery

I haven't posted because I'm intimidated by all of the amazing hiking/climbing/trekking done by the people on this board. But the post about total knee replacement has given me the incentive to post my story.

I'm 65 years old and have summitted Mt. Whitney by the main trail as a day hike 6 times in the past 20 years or so. Last November, my husband and I trekked to Mt. Everest Base Camp, on the Nepal side. Along the way, I fell and bruised my forearm. Unbeknown to me, I also cut my elbow. Not knowing about the elbow cut, I didn't treat it with Neosporin or put on a bandaid. Returning to the US, I experienced severe and ultimately excruciating pain in my back. 3 trips to the emergency room and an MRI later, and I was diagnosed with an abscess in my spine, requiring emergency surgery. Bacteria had entered my bloodstream through the unknown cut and settled in my spine. The surgery was successful. It was followed by 6 weeks of daily intravenous antibiotics and assorted testing.

All of this left me very weak and in terrible shape. I've run 15 marathons in the last 13 years, but after the surgery I couldn't walk without support.

Last month, on July 29, 2012, I summitted Mt. Whitney as a day hike for the 7th time. I have to say that the desire to hike Mt. Whitney was a huge motivator during the days, weeks and months of physical therapy, stretching, and strengthening. I logged onto this web site daily, sometimes twice a day, to see what was happening on the mountain. And to see that lots of people have recovered from injury and illness to hike again.

Our hike on July 29 took 17 hours, starting at 3:15 am and finishing at 8:15 pm. We had acclimated (we're from the Bay Area) at Mammoth for 4 nights, hiking to Duck Lake, Lake Ediza and to within a quarter of a mile of the summit of Mt. Dana. After that, we decided to try for Whitney permits and lucked into 2 cancellations.

Reaching the summit of Mt. Whitney, albeit extremely slowly, was an almost ecstatic experience. The weather was perfect--not a cloud in the sky, a gentle breeze most of the time. I couldn't believe I was standing on the summit only 8 months after the emergency surgery. We are so lucky to live near the Sierras. There's nothing like hiking in the mountains for psychic rejuvenation.

Thank you so much for this web site and for all the informative an interesting posts.

Congratulations! Tales of perseverence like yours are an inspiration to all of us.

No need to apologize for being slow .
..the fact that you and I were THERE at all is good enough, esp with your life-threatening illness. A very big Whitney-sized hug and congratulations to you. Harvey

While I'm not familiar with an Abscess spine, My wife has Syringomyelia (mid-spine) AND Chiari malformation (which she had surgery for for the second time back in June). I can see how hard it was for you to come back from that. I'm going to show your post to her to show her that she CAN, walk without assistance from her walker.

There is a quote that I remember: "if I can take one step without assistance, I'm taking another"

BTW - speed is relative. The only person that's important to impress is yourself ( and you can brag to your friends)!

Great comeback!

Thank you for the inspiration!

Thank you all for your kind comments. People on this board have been such an inspiration for me.

Kentucky Todd: I don't know anything about your wife's condition, but for me the key was my physical therapist. She specializes in spine problems. Without her, I wouldn't have known where to start, what to do, what not to do. If you are anywhere near the San Francisco peninsula, I highly recommend Carol Ludwig at Peninsula Spine Education and Treatment Center in San Mateo. Best of luck to your wife.

Harvey: Thank you so much for your big hug. Like you, I was supposed to take a year to recover, but I just couldn't wait. I'm well on my way to recovering my conditioning, and it sounds like you are too. (Go for the Mexico trip if you think you're at all ready!)