3 Months

Small steps up the stairs!

       The day after Christmas marks three months since my surgery. I’ve not written a post for weeks, as I’ve had a difficult time recently. At first, I just felt I had nothing to write about but negative feelings about my (lack of) progress. Then, I fell incredibly ill with a flu and was unable to do anything for a week but lie in bed in distress. My first day outside post-sickness on my return trip from PT, I was hit in a large car crash, which was another big deal. Luckily, it seems my hips were not injured, although my entire body has been sore from the impact for a while now. And then there has been the final for my photo class and holiday madness, but I am still determined to give an update at three months. 

      

       The past weeks haven’t been easy. I’ve felt pretty discouraged, as all the exercises I’m supposed to do, as well as the deep tissue work my therapists do, have been leaving me super sore. And it’s hard to have faith that all these things that cause me pain are actually helping me move forward, rather than harming me. It’s an ongoing struggle with myself to decide how much I should push through the pain in the hope that the inflammation will just go away at some point, and not keep worsening. Further, I now only have one more month at home to heal before returning to New York for school on January 25th. So, I really would like to be in better physical shape before this time. 

       

       On the plus side, I now ride the stationary bike for ten minutes when I’m at PT without pain. A family friend has offered to loan us her bike for use at home, so when I have that, I’ll be able to ride it every day. This motion is really good for my tissues. I long for the day I’ll be capable of riding my bike around town instead of driving a car. I’ve graduated to some more difficult exercises, too. For instance, I’m doing squats, which is a really challenging thing for even healthy bodies to do! And I can now do some pitiful crunches—abs are on the way!

       I’ve also moved back into my dad’s apartment now, which I’ve been unable to do due to the flight of stairs. That has been surprisingly easy—the stair climb hasn’t been hurting me as much as I’d feared. Must be all those step ups and downs I’m doing in PT! So, I’m happy to be able to spend some time at my dad’s before I leave for school. Also, I managed to finish my photo class with an apparent “A,” which feels good. It was really hard for me to get myself to that class and move around in the lab developing my photos with crutches and pain, but I persevered! And now it’s over, and I’m glad I stuck with it throughout. I almost quit several times in despair, so I feel proud that I made it through!

Side lunge

Jazz stepping with resistance band

Crunches!