the last couple of weeks

I've been going to PT every Monday and Wednesday, swimming in between, and last night I had another acupuncture session.

PT is going slowly, but I believe forward. I've been working on strengthening my core, and doing a couple of stretches, but not too many. Originally the PT was icing my neck after but that seemed to make my muscles spasm a lot. We tried heat a couple of visits ago and that seemed to not irritate the muscles nearly as much.

The acupuncture hurt more than usual last night, not sure why. I am sore and a bit stiff today but not too bad. I am planning on going swimming after work, that usually helps a bit.

A couple of Saturdays ago I went out dancing. I know, I'm totally not supposed to do that. I was feeling pretty good, and we went to a place that was having an 80's dance night. That's my favourite kind of music, especially when they started playing all of the Brit 80's. I went a bit wild for about an hour or so and just let loose. It was a great feeling, though at a certain point my body told me that it was time to go home. I did pay for it pretty bad the next few days, and I know the long term effects are bad, but it was worth it. I can't see myself doing that on a frequent basis, but it was definitely good for the psyche!

first PT session

I am pretty sore from last nights session, and my neck on the right is in pain. It's amazing that even though we didn't do too much, it really made muscles that forgot they were there react. Iced for ten minutes after as well. I've been given four exercises to do every day:

1)on back w/ towel roll at base of skull, tuck chin and hold for 3 seconds. 10 reps/2x day
2)sit w/ good posture, keep face forward, tip ear toward shoulder and hold for 20 seconds. 2 reps/2-3x day
3)stand w/ arms at side, pinch shoulder blades together and hold for 5 seconds. 10 reps/2x day
4)lie on belly w/ arms in diamond shape above head, thumbs to ceiling, lift one elbow up and slowly lower down, repeat on other side. 10 reps/ 2x day

I sure felt them even though it doesn't seem like much. Not happy about the pain today but I have to start somewhere. The PT person said it was a good thing to do the acupuncture and strengthening at the same time. I have to be careful though and just do minimal stretching and no heavy weights for strengthening. At present I am set to go twice a week until the end of February. We shall see how it goes.

21 Weeks post op

This weekend my body felt like it went through the ringer. Friday night I started feeling pretty crappy because of the weather, so just went home and reacquainted myself with my couch. Did not have a good nights sleep which never helps matters and on Saturday I was worse. I had theatre tickets on Saturday to see "Is He Dead?" and didn't want to miss that (good thing too it was quite amusing) so I schlepped to the theatre district. Not sure how I got there without crying, but the stairs to the mezzanine were the worst! Afterwards I had an early dinner with my theater date and then headed home, straight back to the couch! Unfortunately I had another rough night and sleep was not good.

I started to feel a bit better yesterday as the weather was much improved, but last night again sleep eluded me and so I'm still pretty achy today. This does not forebode well for me as I have PT after work and am having major muscle spasms especially in my back.

As for my right hip, yesterday I walked two block and was fine and then all of a sudden the front of my hip tightened up and I was limping again. That's been coming and going now. I haven't been to the pool since Thursday. I believe S will be back at PT tonight so I will have to discuss this with him. Perhaps some sort of stretching will help in that area? We shall see. I will only be going tonight as I have a do to go to on Wednesday. Friday is my appointment with Dr. Kelly - I'm thinking he's not going to be too pleased to see me when I tell him what's been going on.

sore

Last night after having a lovely dinner at Gavroche (highly recommend this place, it was delicious!) and half a bottle of wine, I thought I was superwoman again. So we walked around and around until we found a bar we liked that wasn't too crowded. We stopped into a nice little pub and we were going to leave after using the facilities but then some guys started talking to us and next thing I know I've been standing for a couple of hours. I finally had the chutzpah to ask one of the guys for his bar stool. So now I am sore, but because I missed the pool on Thursday I feel the need to go. That and yesterday was the first time I ate three meals in ages and I feel like a beached whale! So, off I go. Fingers crossed that this is a good thing. My hamstrings are SO tight from earlier this week so will be stretching those as much as possible.

13 Week update

In honour of my thirteenth week of recovery, I decided to be brave and ditch the last crutch. Unlike most people I've had to use one for a much longer time. The idea was to keep down the inflammation in the surgical hip, and it did work. The main issue was it made my left hip very upset and inflamed.

Today is my third "official" day going sans crutch. It's been going pretty well. The main issues I've found are if I walk for a few blocks my hamstring starts to get tight and sore on the upper part, and the tendon under my right knee gets a bit irritated. My PT guys doesn't seem to concerned and I feel that the stronger I get it will work itself out. At least that's what I'm hoping. My psoas has been feeling a bit tight and we stretched it out at PT on Monday, and hopefully will do that again tonight. It's tricky for me as we don't want to overdue the stretching because of the EDS, but at the same time, it really needs to be done. I am going back to the genetic doctor in January so hopefully will get a better idea of what I should and should not be doing.

As for the left hip, it's not been too bad the last few days. Ironic as I'm getting an injection on Friday. I think it's very happy to be without the crutch and I am definitely more balanced so not putting most of my weight on it. It was pretty sore this am, but I also feel horrid and achy - it's my fibro kicking in. Sleep wasn't good for a few days and though I did fairly well the last two nights, the weather is a bit off where my body is concerned. I will have to make a concerted effort to get some good sleep in before I leave for London next week, as I don't want to start the trip off like this - the flight itself will be a challenge.

I am a bit nervous about the injection. I want it to make the pain go away, but at the same time, if it works, that means I will most likely need surgery. I am in no mental state to be able to handle that again, but at the same time I do want to get it over with so I can get on with my life. Ok, I'm not going to think about that now. As Scarlett says, tomorrow is another day...