The picture on the left is the post-surgery X-Ray. A surgery on your spine is a risky surgery, this was not a reason for me not to go through with the surgery. My surgery at the Spine Center UMC Maastricht in November 2015 was successful, the bend was reduced from 52 degree to 28 degree. I gained some weight with a lot of iron (pins, plates, bolts and screws) in my back and increased my length by 3,5 centimeter. The most important thing for me is that I don’t have that much pain anymore.

Although the recovery of a spine surgery takes a lot of time, I was able to start practicing a little golf again after only 4 weeks. Every day I took a step in my recovery by doing excercises, walking, playing golf and staying in motion. It took me 10 months in total to recover. The securing of my spine does give less flexibility for me with golf, it is not easy for me to bend forward and I can’t screw my body in the backswing as others can. In my daily life things have become a little bit more difficult post-surgery, but things are never impossible. For example I am not able to tie my shoes as easy anymore, I need an elevated area to put my feet on. At the end of 2017 I joined the European Disabled Golf Association and the Dutch disabled golf team, after I had been examined by two specialists from the EDGA.

For my future I hope my spine and physical condition will stay stabilized. So I can continue to join the great game of golf and will successfully graduate from my HBO SPECO Sport and Marketing study at the Johan Cruyff University in Tilburg.