Friday, November 21, 2008

You take the good, you take the bad, you take them both and there you have...

...the facts of bilateral hip dysplasia?

Yesterday in the mail I got:
a) my temporary handicapped parking permit - YAY!
b) a $450 bill from Boston Children's Hospital - BOO!

But today is my last day of school before Thanksgiving break and, aside from the fact that I have to get up Monday and Tuesday mornings at 7 to move my car, it should be a nice relaxing time. And Wednesday night, a nice relaxing time COURTSIDE WITH THE CELTICS!!! (Special thanks to Jon "Fantastic Friend" Kemp!) Though sadly we will not be close enough for KG to fall on me should he go for an out-of-bounds ball, or so Jon claims. I still believe ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE!!! :)

Tuesday, November 18, 2008

I'm getting the fear...

...though thus far I've been able to stave off the bulk of the loathing!

My right hip hurts. There, I said it. The front of my left hip is panging and the side of my right hip is sore, sore, sore. I don't know if you've ever tried to limp BOTH legs, but it ain't easy. The pool yesterday was phenomenal as always (though somehow the water was colder than it's ever been), and I didn't feel any strange strains, so maybe it's just the cold that's doing it. I hope. Except that if it's the cold, I've got at least 5 more months of this. :/

Without getting too far ahead of myself, I'm considering what the next year+ of my life will look like if (when?) I need a PAO on my right side. There are plenty of women who've had both, and I've seen them scheduled as close as 6 months apart from one another, which would put me, in a best case scenario, right around winter break (slash my 30th birthday - yipes!) next year as a possibility. Initially I had said I would do summer of 2010 RPAO but at this point I can't even fathom going through another year and a half of pain and waiting. Of course, an RPAO also means I won't be able to drive even an automatic for maybe 2 months, which would complicate matters considerably. I'm going to give the whole thing a big HARRUMPH!

Today in my as yet futile quest for winter parking, I uttered for the first time the words "I'm handicapped" and felt pretty damn weird. It's not at all accurate... but then it is? Depending on the day? I think the word I've used here before is "limited", but "limited" doesn't get you a snow-free parking spot in downtown Montpelier, now does it?! :) *grumble*grumble*grumble*

Friday, November 14, 2008

Oh, except I can't complain too much...

...because tomorrow I'm seeing THE AVETT BROTHERS!!!



And I will surely weep for joy. :D

I should be thanking my legs

For hurting me, that is - according to Dr. Hoo. It certainly is an unfailing warning system for when I'm pushing myself too hard. It's actually pretty remarkable how quickly it gives me "constructive feedback" (in the form of various pinchings, pangings and wobbles) when I start thinking I can go rushing about all willy-nilly. How soon I forget my crutching and caning pace! But I'm working on it, for sure. Because I have to.

Monday the pool was inexplicably closed for Veterans Day? And yesterday I couldn't make it because of meetings. By the time I got to the Rushfords at 6, I was almost wishing I had the cane with me. Almost. :)

Though I am loathe to even put words to it, I have to admit (to myself, mostly) that my right leg has been bothering me. More than once last week when I was taking off my pants (which I should probably be doing sitting down, but don't always) I had a weird poppy pinch right in the front of my right hip joint. Scared the crap out of me. Dr. Kim claims that if it hasn't starting bothering me yet it won't, even when bearing the brunt of my weight for 3 months after surgery in June, but that seems physically impossible. We shall see...

I'm also in the midst of the Great Winter Parking Finagle with the City of Montpelier. Because I don't have parking at my place, and can't park on the street overnight from tomorrow through March because of our RIDICULOUS automatic winter parking ban, I normally park in a lot behind City Hall. That means, however, parking on the street when I get home from school (to avoid paying at a meter), then going out again in the evening to move my car to the lot and trudging out in the morning to move it again and/or head to school. While it's not a particularly long walk, it's a walk I'd prefer to avoid once the sidewalks transform into a snowy icy deathtrap. Thankfully, because I live in sweet little Montpelier, the Mayor herself has given me a load of leads to try to track down a parking alternative. I'm hoping for the one that puts me on the lower level of the parking garage - can you imagine the joy of not having to dig your car out after a snowstorm?! I sure can't! Otherwise, I'll be investing pretty quickly in hiking poles and some cleats!

Monday, November 10, 2008

T-minus 7 months (and counting)

Yes indeedy, 7 months from this moment I will likely still be unconcious on an operating table at Beth Israel. Oh, how time flies when one is anxiously counting down to highly-invasive surgery! haha That said, I am feeling (to quote Larry David) prettttty... prettttttty... pretty good! I've been off the cane for over a week now, have reduced my ibuprofen intake by half (to a paltry 1200mg/day!) and worked my Saturday shift at the store like a normal employee. My legs were definitely tired by the end of the day, but I didn't have the shooting hip pain I've grown accustomed to - it really just was muscle fatigue, which is actually quite pleasant when you've been mostly unable to use your muscles for some time.

I feel so good I keep having to remind myself to slow down, but thankfully my body reminds me pretty quickly regardless. But I don't stop and hesitate at stairs or curbs like I've been doing for months now - I just focus on the muscles I know DO work to get me up (down's not really a problem). The proof is really in the pudding in the pool (nice image there), where I keep having moments of "Whoa! That doesn't hurt!", mostly about my lower back while I'm doing balance and midsection-strengthening things. Getting my lower back sorted has been an incredible boost in my endurance doing those exercises, such that I've increased reps steadily over the past couple weeks. Being strong is pretty cool! And I finally understand the phenomenon of exercise junkies... not that I suspect I'll be turning into one of them for real anytime soon.

Sadly for me (and much of Vermont), I'm more of a cheese junkie, something I need to work on in my new low-cholesterol lifestyle. Can I get a sarcastic WOOHOO?! :) Janice, my trusty nutritionist, and I had a nice long visit last week where she outlined my best plan of attack for diminishing my nasty LDL levels and praised my progress thus far. It was nice to get that unabashed reinforcement (unlike the reinforcement I give myself, which has all sorts of caveats - why do we do that to ourselves?!) and I don't feel like lowering my cholesterol will have too negative an impact on my diet. Aside from my beloved cheese. :(

I also sent in my form today for Dr. Crose to recommend me for a temporary handicapped parking permit. With snow (and Montpelier's absurd automatic winter night parking ban) fast approaching, I need all the parking help I can get. Otherwise, though, I'm chugging right along, drizzle and drear aside. This afternoon, to the pool!

Saturday, November 8, 2008

Who wants to see my insides?!

I asked for copies of my x-rays to bring to the Rushfords. Pretty cool, eh?! You'll notice almost no difference between my right (1st two) and left (2nd), even though my left has been killing me for over a year and right's been largely asymptomatic. This is also probably the only time many of you will see my butt. :)




Dibbies!

Practical AND stylish! hahahaha

Thursday, November 6, 2008

Barry Franklin: "I feel like I've died and gone to America."




That about sums it up, yes? :D

In light of the New Day Dawning in America (And Whatnot) I'll keep this brief, though I felt an update was in order after I saw Tucker last night and he said "I'm glad you're okay - you hadn't blogged in a few days and I was worried." hahaha I am, in fact, quite a bit better than okay, following an excellent visit with Dr. Julietta (pronounced not with a J but with a "hoo") Rushford on Tuesday. I gave her the quick-and-dirty on my condition (it's always odd to explain it to someone who actually knows what I'm talking about!) and she said "But Marissa, the last time you were here you were wearing a cane, were you not?" :) Saturday was the last day I used my cane, nearly 5 weeks after I started on crutches - that's just about right in the 4-6 week range they'd given me when I started, but I can't discount the role NSA has played in my dramatically improved comfort level.

When I told Dr. Hoo about my surgery, she made the same face everybody makes when I tell them about it and said "Well. I want you to open yourself up to new possibilities. The body has an amazing capacity to heal itself - that's your mantra from now on!" To be honest I'm not quite to the mantra level of relaxation at ol' Rushford - more on the "Whoa! Who's touching my butt?!" level, with periods of patchy meditative focus. But there was a moment when she touched my lower back and I suddenly BREATHED in this huge deep breath, and felt like my whole face opened up. She said "Did you feel that breath, Marissa?! Breath is what the body uses to heal itself - it's something else for you to keep in mind." And I DID feel that breath! It was pretty crazy.

Yesterday I spent a goodly amount of time stretching and exploring my shockingly expanded range of motion - and this after only 3 adjustments! Tucker is convinced it's hypnosis, but if you consider that muscle tension is a matter of your brain being stuck sending the same signal over and over again, it really is a matter of redirecting the brain, or refocusing it long enough for the signal to reset, a form of hypnosis, I guess. Uhm... this is my entirely lay interpretation of what happens to me at the Voodoo Doctor. :) But it works, and that's good enough for me!

I'm walkin', yes indeed!

Monday, November 3, 2008

Leaving Caney City



Maybe I'll head on up ta Gun Barrel City! Man, you really don't want to mess with Texas! :)

Friday I decided to forego the cane for my Halloween extravaganza - it was a last-minute decision, but one I don't regret much a'tall. I wandered downtown Rutland for some time, and even DANCED (which was heavenly) and didn't really feel too horrible at all. Until the next morning! Saturday I spent mostly leaning heavily on the cane and lying on my parents' bed with a cat and an ice pack. Yesterday, though, I fore...went? the cane again and cleaned my disastrous apartment for several hours without any real trouble. HUZZAH!

A big part of the Rushfords' clinical... model, I guess, is that improved spinal function improves the body's ability to heal itself. A couple weeks ago if I overdid it on my hip it'd take DAYS (or weeks on crutches) for me to restabilize, but after resting up for most of the day Saturday I was pretty much good! It feels AWESOME to be on 2 legs again - I can't even tell you. And being in the pool Thursday just reinforced the wondrous benefits of my NSA experience - I keep having moments where I'm like "WHOA! I didn't know I could do that!" Like... putting my right hand completely over my head, for instance. Mmmmm life is good!