Like anyone going through an injury recovery, I've been experiencing ups and downs, emotionally and physically. Physically, I'm miserable. Doctor's orders are for me to be a lump. I'm supposed to sit in bed with my arm propped up watching Netflix all day, do my PT exercises, and ice my shoulder. I hate doing nothing all the time and I feel like I'm going crazy because I can't run, climb, or even ride a real bike. I've been riding a stationary bike and doing what I can, but I've never been someone who enjoys being in a gym. It's fall, it's beautiful, and all I want to do is run at the quarry, bike the greenway, and climb boulders.
Ups and downs all over the place… I wrote that baby paragraph two days ago, and things are already looking up. Why is everything so much better? Because I have things to do other than take naps! Like bake muffins, work on a matlab project, clean my apartment, slowly chop vegetable for fried rice, watch the Portland Boulder Rally Highlights, reread Harry Potter, dig in the rice bucket, make to do lists, make coffee all the time… So many things to do!
And I'm so psyched to get better! I talked to my physical therapist yesterday and got an outline of my future therapy:
Weeks 2-5 ~ stretching to the point of pain, trying to fix the numbness in my fingertips
Week 6-12 ~ stretching past the point of pain, trying to achieve full range of motion
She told me more, like I knew the outline of the entire rest of my recovery, but I already forgot. I just know that I might be able to run at 10 weeks, instead of 12, which is a HUGE difference to me right now. And 10 weeks is really six weeks, which will soon be five, four, three… Perspective is everything. I'm also weirdly psyched about my shoulder being forced into full range of motion in two weeks. Physical therapy already hurts, which is so weird. I feel like it shouldn't be hurting, my shoulder was fine one day and then the next it's stuck and needs to be forced into normal positions. It blows my mind that my good shoulder just externally rotates on it's own, and I have to push and force my bad shoulder to rotate less than 90 degrees. And it hurts. So weird.
My sling comes off at six weeks (I just celebrated four weeks post-surgery), and yesterday I got to actually use my arm!! Until yesterday I've been stretching it and moving it around with my other arm, what my therapist calls "passive motion". I can't just use my arm like normal yet, but little things every day bring a smile to my face. I'm getting more and more comfortable with being out of my sling for small tasks like typing. (There's been a lack of blog posts because nothing exciting was happening anyways and I've been typing one-handed).
Other things:
~ One of my roommates just turned 21, I'm so very happy for her and can't wait until I can hang out at wine night with her
~ Andrew is 23, not 24
~ I can't stop listening to Chance the Rapper
~ Go vote! Early voting goes through next Friday, get informed because we all matter
~ It's trendy soup time
~ Pumpkin Chocolate Espresso Muffins
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Hound Ears Triple Crown 2014 and Checkup
I didn't go to the actual climbing part of the Hound Ears Triple Crown, but I went to the part that matters - the post climbing party where they give away free stuff. And they gave away so much free stuff. People were winning raffles all over the place, they were throwing free stuff at us from the stage, a guy won something because he ran up and begged, then a guy won a crash pad because he did a backflip off stage without warning; it was madness.
In the midst of all this, winners were being announced. It was freezing but so worth it to wait and watch the awards be given out and to see my friends presented with awesome prizes that they worked so hard for! By the way, it was freezing. The high in Boone was 45 degrees, and it hit 45 at 6:30am when everyone was making coffee then dropped steadily all day.
It was an amazing weekend in Boone with awesome friends and awesome weather. Sunday at Blowing Rock was exactly what I missed so much about bouldering season (other than climbing). I got to drink coffee all bundled up in my puffy and watch my friends crush, and I was so happy to just be there with the people I miss so much in a place I still love, plus eat apples with peanut butter.
Back to my other life, I saw my Doctor yesterday and he gave me a really good checkup. My shoulder is exactly where it's supposed to be, and I only have five more weeks in the sling. Except that my fingers have been numb and tingly, which is not normal, I learned. Since my fingers are being weird I get to start physical therapy a week early! I'm so excited to be actively getting better, even if I'm not really supposed to be yet… And I might be able to get my sling off early, which means I could drive again! Not being able to drive is terrible, especially since I always want go to two different grocery stores in Knoxville because no store is as good as the Harris Teeter in Boone I lived by this summer. My roommates are so patient and nice to me about needing to tag along to the store, and what an awful job I do washing dishes with one hand. This surgery has shown me what amazing friends I have. Everyone around me has been so good to me, from my Mom standing outside the shower handing me everything to Ryan driving to Boone and sharing his pancakes, and all the little things people have done like helping me put on a jacket or not being annoyed when I move around all the time in the library because nowhere is comfortable in this sling.
 |
| total madness |
 |
| Meira kept Rumi warm in her jacket |
 |
| Oh right: torn labrum, awkward sling, lack of showers |
Wednesday, October 1, 2014
Surgery
I suppose I should get around to writing about my surgery, the reason for six months off.
I went to bed at 1 am last wednesday night, after taking two midterms, working 3-10, and then rushing to turn in a matlab project before midnight. At 6:30am Thursday I woke up and got ready to go. By 10 I had an IV and was complementing all the nurses on their different hats and asking if I could wear one, then I woke up in recovery. I was told that over the hour I was in surgery my doctor found a second, larger tear in my labrum that hadn't shown up on the MRI, along with a little flap of my labrum that was dangling around in my joint where it didn't belong. He cut out the damaged part between the two tears, and the grody little flap, then sewed my labrum back to the bone. All better! Luckily I had a "robust" labrum, so now I have a regular sized labrum that's totally fixed.
I'm glad that I made the decision to undergo surgery, especially finding out that I had two tears. The smaller tear that I knew about was one tearing the labrum from the bone, and the second tear was one ripping the labrum almost in half a little away from where it meets the bone. I'm not sure yet what, if any, impact having two separate tears will make on my recovery.
Now recovery!
I'm six days out of surgery and it's hard. I was supposed to take my sling off and shower Sunday (three days post-op) and it was a miserable and humbling experience. Having my sling off for the first time gave me a glimpse of how hard this is actually going to be. My arm dangled uselessly by my side. It felt like my arm weighed a million pounds and I couldn't do anything to move it, and it hurt so so bad. I didn't think my surgery was or really would be painful until I took my sling off that first time. I was so demoralized and upset. I'd been feeling so good! I felt like this was easy and I was going to magically be all better as soon as I got my sling off. The reality of how hard I'm going to have to work after being out of the sling is finally setting in.
I think that last night I hit rock bottom of this recovery stage. I had taken tylenol instead of my prescribed pain medication and everything hurt while I was trying to fall asleep. My back hurts most of all, but whatever I did and wherever I moved, something hurt. It was freaking me out and I was getting so frustrated. I couldn't get myself to relax and it was getting worse and worse because I was letting my worries and fears overpower me. I had to let go of my stress and convince myself to relax and breathe, that it would be okay.
I will get through this, one small victory at a time.
My most recent victories: getting to sleep lying flat on my back last night instead of sitting up on the couch, and being able to take my sling off without breaking down into tears and wanting to puke.
In her most recent blog post Shauna Coxsey said it perfectly, "All I want to do right now is go climbing. All I ever want to do is go climbing. There is no magic to dealing with injury. We all know exactly what we are supposed to do with regards to rehab and staying positive but sometimes that is just hard."
I went to bed at 1 am last wednesday night, after taking two midterms, working 3-10, and then rushing to turn in a matlab project before midnight. At 6:30am Thursday I woke up and got ready to go. By 10 I had an IV and was complementing all the nurses on their different hats and asking if I could wear one, then I woke up in recovery. I was told that over the hour I was in surgery my doctor found a second, larger tear in my labrum that hadn't shown up on the MRI, along with a little flap of my labrum that was dangling around in my joint where it didn't belong. He cut out the damaged part between the two tears, and the grody little flap, then sewed my labrum back to the bone. All better! Luckily I had a "robust" labrum, so now I have a regular sized labrum that's totally fixed.
I'm glad that I made the decision to undergo surgery, especially finding out that I had two tears. The smaller tear that I knew about was one tearing the labrum from the bone, and the second tear was one ripping the labrum almost in half a little away from where it meets the bone. I'm not sure yet what, if any, impact having two separate tears will make on my recovery.
Now recovery!
I'm six days out of surgery and it's hard. I was supposed to take my sling off and shower Sunday (three days post-op) and it was a miserable and humbling experience. Having my sling off for the first time gave me a glimpse of how hard this is actually going to be. My arm dangled uselessly by my side. It felt like my arm weighed a million pounds and I couldn't do anything to move it, and it hurt so so bad. I didn't think my surgery was or really would be painful until I took my sling off that first time. I was so demoralized and upset. I'd been feeling so good! I felt like this was easy and I was going to magically be all better as soon as I got my sling off. The reality of how hard I'm going to have to work after being out of the sling is finally setting in.
I think that last night I hit rock bottom of this recovery stage. I had taken tylenol instead of my prescribed pain medication and everything hurt while I was trying to fall asleep. My back hurts most of all, but whatever I did and wherever I moved, something hurt. It was freaking me out and I was getting so frustrated. I couldn't get myself to relax and it was getting worse and worse because I was letting my worries and fears overpower me. I had to let go of my stress and convince myself to relax and breathe, that it would be okay.
I will get through this, one small victory at a time.
My most recent victories: getting to sleep lying flat on my back last night instead of sitting up on the couch, and being able to take my sling off without breaking down into tears and wanting to puke.
In her most recent blog post Shauna Coxsey said it perfectly, "All I want to do right now is go climbing. All I ever want to do is go climbing. There is no magic to dealing with injury. We all know exactly what we are supposed to do with regards to rehab and staying positive but sometimes that is just hard."
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)