19/09/2025
My Road to Recovery
In January 2024, I had my first back operation - a decompression spinal surgery on my S1. At the time, I thought that would be the end of my struggle, but my journey was only just beginning. By October that year, the pain had returned, spreading from my lower back down into both legs again.
On the 15th of January 2025, I went in for my second surgery - an endoscopic spinal decompression on my L5. I was discharged on the 20th, and throughout my hospital stay, Samantha Harding and her incredible team of physical therapists stood by me, guiding me through those first difficult steps of recovery.
But my body was still fighting battles I didn’t understand. That week, the headaches came, fierce and unrelenting, followed by nausea and weakness. On Saturday the 25th, I ended up in the ER at Life Empangeni Hospital, unable to lift my head, stand, or even sit. Im
By Monday the 27th, my specialist admitted me immediately. We discovered I had a CSF leak - a tear on the meninges that had to be repaired. On the 3rd of February, I went in for yet another surgery to close the leak. My son came from Johannesburg to support me and my daughter
Then, between the 9th and 10th of February, everything grew worse. I slipped into a severe meningitis episode. A dear friend found me in a catatonic state and I was taken to ICU once again. I don’t remember much from those days - only fragments.
On the 13th of February, I opened my eyes. I didn’t know where I was, what had happened, or even what was real. I hallucinated, spoke in broken sentences, and fought confusion, but I was alive. I had survived meningitis, something that could so easily have taken me.
Recovery after that was slow and agonizing, I spent days in ICU and Surgical ward, weak and sick. I couldn’t eat - only yogurt, ice cubes, and water kept me going. My body was weak, and I lost so much muscle mass from the bedrest. Samantha and her team came every morning and afternoon, helping me walk a few steps when I wasn’t plagued by headaches or nausea. They never gave up on me, even when I doubted I’d ever move freely again.
On the 5th of March, I underwent open back surgery to fix the CSF leak once and for all. Another long ICU stay, another stretch of bedrest. For 10 days, I couldn’t walk. But on the 11th day, I stood up again, trembling and in pain, with Samantha’s team holding me up. That moment, painful as it was, felt like victory.
I spent a total of 51 days in the hospital, more than half of them in ICU. During that time, my daughter never left my side and my daughter carried the heavy burden of being there during all those moments. My friends, family, and even colleagues visited me, carrying me with their love and prayers when I had nothing left to give.
When I was discharged in March, I was still far from healed. It took two and a half months for my wound to close, and during that time I could do nothing for myself. I needed 24-hour care. It was humbling, frustrating, and heartbreaking.
By June, when my wound finally closed, I began weekly physiotherapy with Samantha again. We started with the basics: small core exercises, movements at home, slow progress. There were many moments I thought I would never live normally again - that I’d never sit, stand, bend, or even bathe without help. Driving, cooking, chores - all the simple things I once took for granted - felt impossible.
But I pushed through. With every painful stretch, every exercise, every visit to physio, I gained a little strength back. The pain in my buttocks and glutes try to hold me back, but I refused to give up. A month ago, I joined Samantha’s Pilates classes. That decision changed so much for me. Physiotherapy and Pilates gave me back a sense of control -of strength building slowly but surely inside my body.
I am not yet at 100%. My road to recovery is still long, and some days are harder than others. But I’ve learned something invaluable: recovery takes commitment, patience, and faith. It takes showing up for yourself every single day, even when it hurts. It takes the love of family, the kindness of friends, and the skill of dedicated professionals like Samantha Harding and her team.
Most of all, it takes hope. Hope that tomorrow I will walk a little stronger. Hope that one day, I will look back at this season of pain and see it as the chapter that built my resilience.
I’m still on this journey - but I know now that I will make the best recovery, because I am not walking it alone.
