Feets on the Ground

I guess I've been pretty lazy about keeping up this blog lately mostly because I was having so many ups and downs that things changed daily, er, hourly and I didn't really feel like charting my emotions lest I reveal the true state of my lunacy in cyberspace. Anyway, I'm almost 5 weeks post-op. Its almost tougher these days than when I was confined to the bed or couch and CPM machine because now I get more of glimpse of what I'm missing outside the asylum. I've had stretches of 3 or 4 days where I barely touched a bag of ice or Flexor patch and consequently felt pretty encouraged. I've also had some down-right rotten days where the pain was overwhelming and worse than before surgery and I had to fight back the tears while sitting cramped on the bus back to Boulder in the evenings. I've been pretty religious with my PT -- I've done 2 "sessions" per day on most days with the occasional slacking on the second session because I was sore or exhausted and felt that sleep was equally as important as hamstring curls and single leg raises.

I weaned myself off the crutches very gradually -- 3 weeks at 2, then 1 week at 1 and another 4 or 5 days with 1 as needed in the evenings. My gait is totally off -- I tend to lean over the "involved" hip to protect it and it feels like I cannot really straighten my back all the way. I look like I'm constipated or someone just took a 2x4 to my spine. I'm hoping this gradually changes in another week or I am going to worry for real. I see Dr. S on Friday and I have a laundry list of questions to bug him about (lateral hip pain and tightness? knee is really pissed off? can I get a platelet injection for my IT band? what can I expect in the way of pain level at 3 mos.?).

I've also been gradually working my way up on the bike and am excited to report that I broke a sweat today -- mind you, I intentionally wore insulated running pants and a long-sleeve shirt to the gym so that I would sweat but it was a sweat all the same and I think I may have even gotten my heart rate elevated for a few minutes. Now I'm a little achy and stingy but who knows if this is the dog walk around Shanahan Ridge that took place after the bike, my glute muscles still sore from this morning's dry needling session with Sue (ouch!) or any other dozen or so things that can set my hip off into a red and angry state.

Sue, the PT who I see for trigger point dry-needling at Boulder Center for Sports Med said I have one of the highest thresholds for pain from the needles that she has ever seen. Could that possibly be that I have been in pain for so freaking long now that its really all very relative?? I swear, those needles hurt like a bitch going into the muscle but it does seem to work and I can definitely tell it gets the glute medius and multifidus (sp?) firing again so my IT band isn't doing all the work. I feel like I've been SPANKED hard for a day or two after the butt needling but the muscles surrounding the joint that have been at Threat Level Orange for the last month are able to get a break for a few days. In case you were wondering, I have no formal scientific training past college biology but this whole injury has made me, necessarily, wholly familiar with anatomy, physiology and a host of other sub-disciplines I never would have any reason to know or care much about in a previous life.