For almost a year, Ineke thought she was dealing with a burnout. Her daily neck pain seemed to point in that direction, at least, that’s what her doctor believed. “Maybe I wanted to believe it myself,” she says. But the pain worsened. Finally after having done an MRI scan, the real cause became clear: breast cancer that had spread to her spine. “I was just one fracture away from a high-level spinal cord injury.”
Learning to move forward on her own
At UMC Utrecht, Ineke underwent a complex surgery in which doctors removed the affected vertebrae and stabilized her spine with metal rods. “It felt like I had a new spine, only one that was less flexible.” She then started radiation and anti-hormonal therapy, which thankfully worked. But the period that followed was tough. “I could walk for just five minutes, had a lot of nerve pain, and needed a walker just to go outside. No one mentioned an exercise program, but I wanted to keep going. I had to take the initiative myself.”
