I build my house with bricks!

Right! So I've been on February break, and thus neglecting this place and my dedicated fan(s). :) Basically spent a week sleeping, which was grand, though I was also lucky enough to have my first therapeutic massage with Jennifer Harris, who Dr. Hoo had recommended to me. Jennifer's actually a chemical engineer by trade, but also teaches yoga and gives a mean psoas massage. Hoo-boy!

I'd never had a massage before and was a little nervous, but Jennifer was (and is!) great and was so excited to do psoas work - her favorite muscle! She warned me that she'd never normally do psoas work in the first session because, um, it really hurts! But promised we'd finish with some nice luxurious pampering to make up for it. And man did it hurt - she got right into both the front and back of both sides and I walked away with a nice big bruise across my pelvis. Of course, I also walked away without any hip pain for about 5 days, which is pretty much unheard of, and for the first time slept comfortably on my back - something I need to get used to for after surgery.

We also talked yoga, which Hoo thinks might solve my problems (at least hip-wise) altogether, and Jennifer recommended a series she thought might help. She also told me about The Psoas Book (neat graphic, eh?), which I didn't even know existed - it's not in print anymore, but I'm anxiously awaiting my used copy. The more I learn about the psoas, the more I understand how much of my pain is rooted in them - nearly all, I'd say, or actually all, barring the pain I experience when I turn funny or step on it wrong. Jennifer also commented that my right and left psoas feel very differently (though she was able to "release" both of them) - a comment I didn't pursue at the time, because I was focussing on not yelling "OW!", but will talk with her more about at our next session (by which time I'll have my hands on my book). Oh, and apparently I'm a "great breather" - having just come from an adjustment at the time, I told her she was getting my best breath of the week! And when you're done she gives you chocolate - clearly the woman is an angel.

Ehm... and what the heck else has been going on? Tuesday I had a really fine adjustment with Dr. Hoo - after my seated work I laid back down and my fingers touched the floor! It's weird, the first thing to go after my massage was my stupid left shoulderblade - I don't get it! It's my RIGHT shoulder that's supposed to be compensating for my left hip! I guess I blame my old torn right subscapularis (thanks TRAVIS!) somehow making the left one compensate for its... lack of compensation? Oh, human body, what a mystery you are!

And my folks won't be staying with me in the hospital - that's been determined for certain. I think at best I'll get the day of surgery with them, but then they'll head back home til I'm released. I floated the question of in-hospital support to the ladies of hipwomen, and got predictably mixed replies, basically summing up with that I needed to decide what I wanted. Well, I don't know what I'll want - I have no idea how I'll react to the whole experience, let alone the chemical cocktail burning through my bloodstream. But, really, I've come this far alone (invaluable web help aside!), so I might as well just keep on keeping on. Ugh, which reminds me - I need to schedule my pre-op and call the dang insurance company! How strange that I put that off during vacation! ;) I'll go ahead and blame Season 5 of Curb, which I found intact on my computer, unbeknownst to me. What a happy surprise!