I agree about the walking. Although I don’t walk in a pool (and I should try that at the warm pool nearby), I have a Trionic Veloped, a Swedish all terrain rollator that was created for outdoor walking and hiking. It will go over rugged ground, up and down curbs and steps and loves the snow. I walk my dog every morning, walking behind it. My dog is attached to the handlebars and can move to either side to smell and do his business. I lock the brakes and use the sturdy bike frame as support to pick up after him. I walk about a mile each day; lucky to live in a community that has paved trails that weave amongst our homes and into 75 acres of open space. I start out hurting and about one third to halfway through my walk, everything loosens up and the pain abates significantly. I also lock the brakes and lean forward to stretch out my back periodically when walking.

On my own, my dog would be lucky to get 1/8th to 1/4th mile out of me because my walk is too stiff and gets painful in a very short time. I also make use of a small indoor rollator with a tray in the house by evening when my back is tired and I have a lightweight cane in the car for when I have a distance to walk in a mall or have to park far away in the parking lot before getting to the door of a store that has carts inside.

The neurosurgeon where I live only gave me a 33% chance of success with a spinal fusion, the only surgery he said that would possibly fix my issues and he strongly urged me to avoid it if possible. I live in NM and if I do ever have to resort to surgery it will be at the Barrow’s Institute or the Mayo Clinic in AZ, although I was told that the Mayo in AZ and FL only accept Medicare if you live in their state so most likely it would be Barrows.

It doesn’t bother me to use mobility aids. It did at first but I didn’t want to become someone who never did anything because I was too embarrassed to use something that allowed me to get out and about. I can zip around handily with a rollator. It takes just enough pressure off my spine to allow me to walk normally.

Anyone who loves the outdoors and likes to spend time in nature, check out the Trionic Veloped’s. I have the 14” wheeled Tour model and I’ve had it on trails in the mountains. Wide trails work far better than narrow ones however. Lots of people stop and ask me about it. One day I’ll buy their 12” walker/rollator that’s more compact but will still take terrain. That will make travel easier although there’s one guy who has taken his Veloped over 4000 miles, even to Antarctica and one woman who walked the Camino with hers and she was in her 70s.

There’s a Trionic office in Sweden of course, and one in the US.
https://www.trionic.us/en/
One other thing that has helped me deal with often severe discomfort and pain is mind/body practices from Alan Gordon’s book The Way Out and using the Curable app for a year. Although it deals with parasympathetic pain that doesn’t have a structural basis, the techniques are really helpful to mitigate pain. Our brains are pretty powerful and if we can train them to work with us instead of against us, that’s a big plus.

I tried to attach a photo of the Veloped but if it’s not there, it was too large to be accepted.