A journey with Cai Lin...

1 year and 1 week ago since my scoliosis operation! Been really happy and grateful that my operation has been so successful and I don't have anymore back pain! Started exercising a little bit since my last posting. And guess what! No pain! Just a little recap about myself and my operation for the new readers. First of all, I would like to make it clear that whatever I write here is based on my own experience. This blog started because I didn't find many scoliosis warriors sharing their own experience. A lot were case studies by doctors which didn't interest me because the doctor's aren't the ones in the patient's shoes. I needed more first hand information. Information from a warrior themselves.  This was the first time I saw my back in a picture and also the first time I came out openly to share that I have scoliosis. So, about myself. I'm from Malaysia, a former national swimmer, Olympian and now working full time in the sports industr...

Almost a year post op! Everything is looking and feeling awesome! Sorry I haven't been updating my blog. Been really busy at work as I'm learning so many new things! For those of you who don't know, I started working full time since September last year. Got a job in a sports marketing company. Yup! Something to do with sports. My role is mainly to manage athletes. So many new things to learn for me right now as before this, I was the athlete and didn't know much about what goes on 'behind the scenes' but now I see everything. From approaching clients, to arranging photo/video shoots, to scouting for new talent, and the list goes on and on. It's been an amazing journey so far and little did I know that I've already been working for 8 months! No wonder I'm feeling like I'm in need of a vacation. Lol. Back to my life post op, I haven't been doing much  exercising since I stopped going for rehab last August. I do walk my dog twice a day ever...

Wow! What a year it has been for me. Let me recap a little on what has happened: Had a job for 3 months. Decided to resign as I got confirmation about my operation.  Watched Coldplay live in Bangkok. Finally had my scoliosis operation done after putting it on hold for 12 years! Recovery was long but to be honest, I don't remember much of the pain that I went through. But it was definitely the best decision I've made on getting the operation done.  Although I couldn't represent my country at the 29th SEA Games which was held in my country, I managed to get a job as media manager during the games and (of course) I covered all aquatic events! 😄 Got a job in one of the world's most successful sports marketing agencies - Dentsu. Blessed to get this job as the team here is awesome!  7 (no this wasn't planned for no. 7 😝) and a half months after my op I feel fucking totally amazing! My back doesn't hurt at all. No nagging or sharp pain like before. I can no...

"Swimming with Scoliosis" - that was my topic during the Sports Medicine Australia conference last week. Every fourth year, this conference will be some where out of Australia and this year it happened to be in Langkawi! Great place and even greater conference. It was the first time I was invited to be a speaker at such a big huge event. With Dr Chan - President of Sports Medicine Malaysia and Mr Anthony Merrilees - CEO of Sports Medicine Australia As you know, I was a former competitive swimmer and only decided to have my operation done recently as no surgeon could guarantee that I could go back into competitive swimming. Putting my surgery on hold also meant that my scoliosis would get worst as the years passed. But this was a risk I was willing to take because of my swimming career. At the end of the day it all turned out really well for me. Soon it will be 6 months since my operation and all that I've been through has most definitely been worth it.  ...

Do you ever think about your back everyday? Not really? Yup, I'm like that, or rather, was like that too. I'll only think of my back when it's hurting or when I need to lift something heavy from the ground. Even stuff like bending over the sink to brush my teeth or bending down to tie my shoelace was never a big deal. And then my operation happened... I could hardly move much after my operation. I felt like I had this huge flat board tied to my back and it was hard walking around with it. I had to use a mug to brush my teeth, couldn't do the dishes (cause even that slight bending forward would feel uncomfortable/painful), couldn't cut my toe nails, even coughing was a pain! Don't even talk about sneezing..that was just..HELL!! But with every passing day, I felt a lot better. Slowly my flexibility started coming back and I had more range of motion. And one fine day...I could bend down to tie my shoelaces! 😂 It may sound very dramatic but trust me, once you ...

9/10/2017 Had my second post op check up with my surgeon. He was really happy about my progress. Took two x-rays, one from the back and one side ways, and my bones have all fused up! 5 months post op, not bad huh? As I've said in my previous post, I'm really glad that I've done the operation. I can walk so much more now without my lower back aching. Since I've started working I haven't really had the time to exercise but I'm definitely planning to start exercising sometime soon. My doctor said I can start doing some light swimming soon but I think I've had enough of swimming for a while so I'm going to find new exercises to do. Any suggestions? <3 Cai Lin 

Post op 14 weeks on the 14th of August. What are the odds? Lol. Anyway, really sorry I haven't been updating my blog as regularly as I used to or as I would like. I've been really busy the past two week because..*drum rolls*...I'm involved in the SEA Games!!!! No, of course I'm not swimming. Duh! I'm still doing my rehabilitation you know. But, I'll be part of the SEA Games as a media manager. Basically I'll be taking care of all the media at the aquatics stadium. The media used to call me to interview me, but now the tables have turned. The media is now calling me to ask me where they can interview the athletes. Lol. Some of them are even shocked that I'm the media manager now. Haha. At the main press centre @ MITEC yesterday. Finally got my accreditation card yesterday! But they spelled my name as Can Lin. 😞 Maybe they're also trying to say that I "Can, Lin". Get it? Get it? My duty starts tomorrow and it'll be crazy hectic...

Guess what? I started doing aqua jog since my last post. Been trying to squeeze in at least 3 aqua jog sessions a week. Other than that, I've been going to the gym to do my rehabilitation exercises and continue job hunting. I'm now slowly increasing the number of exercises I do as I get stronger every day. If you are following me on  Instagram , you would know that I did a bit of 'swimming' last Friday. The reason why I said 'swimming' is because I was using a kicking board like in the video below. I used to be able to do this with my eyes closed and without a board but I've lost all my balance now. It's like learning how to swim! I found it a bit difficult to balance on the kicking board. The reason why I put the kicking board under my belly is so that I keep my spine in a neutral position. As a post op patient, I am NOT ALLOWED to rotate, bend forward or arch my back for 6 months. It felt good to be back in the water for a while. The s...

3/7/2017 Today marks two months since my operation. Everything is going really well. I started doing rehabilitation exercises slightly more than a week ago. Most of my exercises are with a theraband and it is just basic strengthening exercises. It was a bit difficult at the beginning as I haven't been exercising it got better everyday. Below is another comparison picture before (left picture) and after (right picture) my surgery. Notice how the 'curve' on my right side is totally gone? Yup, even my abs are gone too.😅😅. Time to start putting the buns back to work! Until today, I'm still really amazed that I don't have a rib cage hump anymore. I'm really really happy with my results. Now, I can be out and about the whole day without having the need to lie down or my back getting sore. I'm glad I did the surgery because I'm so happy with the results. Everyone that has seen me after my operation said that I'm looking really well and s...

This post is specially dedicated to my scoliosis warrior mother. Dear mum, Thank you for taking care of me since the day you found out you were pregnant with me. But above all, I want to thank you for being my mother.  You brought me home the day before mother's day. I didn't get you a gift for you but you said that me being home from the hospital was the greatest gift. On mother's day itself, you spent 6 hours in the kitchen cooking all my favourite food. Even with all you aches and pains you still managed to do so much for me and still go to work.  Making milk for myself was the least I could have done for myself but you didn't even allow me to do that as you just wanted me to rest after my operation. There's no words that can describe how grateful I am to have a mother like you. Any kid that has you as a mum is truly blessed and I'm glad that I am that kid. I don't know how you do it all but you are amazing! Thank you for everything you...

Since publicly telling people that I'm going for a scoliosis operation, a lot of people have told me to go for a second opinion and asked if I'm doing surgery for 'beauty' purposes. Here's what I have done in the past: I have seen 2 chiropractors, multiple physios, worn the SpineCor  brace and seen 3 surgeons. The surgeon that is doing my operation is my 4th surgeon. Of all the treatments, nothing has help solve my lower back pain or the progression of my curve. Wearing the brace didn't help because as a patient, you are to wear the brace for up to 20 hours. I spent around 7 hours training a day so there was no way the brace was going to work on me. The only treatment that worked for me was a stretching method called Active Isolated Stretching  which is only offered by  The Stretch Clinic  here in Malaysia. (No I'm not promoting this because I used to work there but I worked there because the stretching helped me and I wanted to help people in return.) ...

Hello! So here I am, finally starting a blog like I said I would on my Instagram . Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Cai Lin and I'm from Malaysia. I've been a national swimmer since 2003 and have represented the country in various competitions starting from SEA Games to The Olympics. I started going for swimming classes at the age of 3, training at 5 and my first competition at 7. I never liked swimming because I always finished last in my races. I only started winning when I was 11 years old and that's when my passion for swimming grew. Swimming became my priority and I told myself that I wanted to go to The Olympics even before I knew how big The Olympics actually was. The reason why I started this blog is so I can share my story about how I've been living with scoliosis since I was 8 or 9 years old. What it's like swimming competitively with scoliosis, dealing with pain, getting made fun of and so on. I will also be writing about my scol...