Wednesday, January 01, 2014

Winged (Hipped?): A List

Haven’t posted not because things are terrible but because I feel like I keep saying the same old things, and who wants to read or hear that? Everyone likes lists, though, right?

10 Things That Happened In the Last 5 Months
  1. I injured my hip and can’t run. CAN’T. RUN. You all understand the terrible blow this is to me. I ignored my own advice (unfortunately not an unusual occurrence) and ran even though it made it feel worse. I kept going until every time I ran it felt like I was a deer futilely trying to escape a hunter despite the arrow hanging from my flank. I got an injection, which helped a tiny part of it, but it seems to be a much bigger problem. More specialty visits are in my future if I can pull myself out of my funk to actually schedule them. However, the injury did lead to one good thing:    

  2. Namaste! I have taken up yoga with a vengeance. I’ve been doing 90 minute classes two to three times a week, and it’s the bomb. (Why am I using all these aggressive words? This is yoga!) I’ve known for ages that I needed this to help with my flexibility and my core/upper body strength and evening out my crooked self blah blah blah and there’s a great studio blocks from my house but the injury was the push I needed. One of my best friends, on hearing of this, messaged me: That is unexpected. Instructor: “Serenity now!” You: “... no.” And sometimes it is like that. But OMG does it make me feel better. I’m not bendy in general but the hips, they are absurd. They are less flexible than a fundamentalist with lockjaw. The other day the instructor said “one teacher I had said that the hips are where the things we need to say but don’t are stored” and how I laughed. (I actually don’t mind the woo-woo stuff, the instructors are pretty noncommittal about it.)

  3. I feel embarrassed about how slowly therapy is progressing. I know, I know, I KNOW, it’s not a race, I can only deal with things at the pace I can, things that went on for years and then were suppressed for over three decades aren’t likely to be dealt with in the blink of an eye, Rome wasn’t built in a day, a watched pot never boils, ’tis not good to bruise an injury till it were full ripe … but still. I feel like I have therapy dyslexia.

  4. Therapy IS progressing. Per my therapist, the trickiest part is not to replicate the abuse by forcing the therapy, but we have established that he may be a little too gentle and things are getting more intense now.

  5. My therapist asked why I’m not doing the things now that I’ve always wanted to do and I said “uhhhh …” so I am learning Spanish for real and planning a two-week solo trip to a language immersion place for my birthday in the summer.

  6. Also, tentatively planning a big tattoo of a jellyfish on my back. Why a jellyfish? Because jellyfish a) get to float gently on the warm waves, going with the flow; b) are beautiful; c) pack a secret weapon. And why a tattoo? Mid-life crisis.

  7. HB now has hair to his waist and has thrown himself into guitar and drums at rock band school and has paid for a bunch of equipment with his own money. His stage name is Lemon and he wears as much yellow as he can. He is also doing well at school school, where he continues to be a class clown (still amazes me given his angry angry first five years) but is also making a name for himself with his writing ability (!).

  8. I cry at movies.

  9. The cat who lost half his weight has stayed at his goal (and the thin cat has not starved, though this takes some strategizing).

  10. I visited my mom over Christmas and it’s oddly reassuring to see again that I’m not imagining how weird it was to grow up with her: she’s like a lamp with a loose wire, flicking on and off, all there and then all gone. Sample exchange, as she’s writing a list: “I’m going to the supermarket. What will the boy eat?” “Chicken nuggets and Bubba Burgers.” When she returns: “I'm surprised he wanted Boca Burgers - they're vegetarian!” “I said Bubba.” “No you didn't.” “Look at your list.” “I lost the list.” “How come you didn’t call?” “I forgot my phone. Oh and they didn't have chicken nuggets.” And they still can’t lock their house because she loses every single key. They only lock it when the cleaning service comes (which, thank goodness for cleaners) and then my mom can’t get back in unless my stepdad is with her.

Did I miss anything important?

13 comments:

Anonymous said...

Our fat cat lost 1.5 lbs this past year and the vet was astonished. She asked how we/the cat achieved this and we said "We started buying food that they don't like as much." That simple! Good to have you back.
LD

swimmermom said...

I started near-daily yoga last February and hoo! boy is it doing great things for my ridiculously bound-up hips. I too laugh when the instructor says that "the hips are a fortress where we protect our emotions" and stuff like that. How about maybe I'm just not flexible? I still love it though. SO good for so many things that were bothering me, physically.

I think you would appreciate this site: http://www.dailybandha.com/ The author is an orthopedic surgeon and longtime yogi. He had an interesting (to me) post in November all about the hip labrum.

Anonymous said...

I'm on a running hiatus due to pregnancy-induced pelvic instability and I MISS it. Walking just isn't the same.

Alexicographer said...

Ooh, lovely to see you, very sorry about the hip. Interesting about the yoga, I have always said (with some basis) that I am the least flexible female human on the planet (and then I laugh and say, "haha, literally as well as figuratively, haha," and my DH does not laugh with me, but I digress. Well, um, speaking of DH he has had hip replacement and while I hope that's not what you need (and our understanding is that his having had it precludes running, which is a darned nuisance), I will say that it worked wonders for him so there's that. But hopefully your hip circumstances are less dire?).

Good luck to you re: therapy. And your mom sounds, er, interesting. We got a combination lock installed as our front door, and LOVE IT, but its usefulness does depend on being able to remember the combination, so maybe not a good solution for someone who loses EVERY key.

Anonymous said...

Welcome back!! So glad to hear from you. So sorry about the hip. Keep the faith. Things will improve. So glad you discovered yoga. I've seen it help "center" a lot of people.
Happy New Year to you and your family!!
gmg

Anonymous said...

Damn-it. I have no excuses left now. I've been avoiding yoga due to the "newbie" syndrome. I need it worse than you. My spouse read your post then declared, "see!!!!, doc Mom does it. What's your excuse?" And the yoga studio is upstaris from my office....

V.

HNY

Becky said...

Good God, woman! How do you manage to fit in 90 minute yoga! You were making me feel bad enough with the every other day running. :-) You go on with your bad self!

OMDG said...

Aw! When I have that conversation with my parents, it ends with them insisting that it was my fault anyway, and telling me how rude I am for disagreeing.

Happy New Year!

Anonymous said...

Glad to hear from you. I keep checking in. As a matter of fact, my hips are now sore when I run (and kind of chronically after). What IS this, doctor? I'm a little anxious as the plan to control type two through diet and exercise alone is otherwise going beautifully. I am full-on addicted to my every-other-day maggot run (alternating w plain walking) and love the new fit me. Please fill us in...

Anonymous said...

Glad to hear from you. I keep checking in. As a matter of fact, my hips are now sore when I run (and kind of chronically after). What IS this, doctor? I'm a little anxious as the plan to control type two through diet and exercise alone is otherwise going beautifully. I am full-on addicted to my every-other-day maggot run (alternating w plain walking) and love the new fit me. Please fill us in... A5

Val said...

Sorry about your hip - I'm currently nursing a large cellulitic area covering the front of my R shin which I am blaming on a spider bite. One of my bravest most recent acts was going through the door of new hot yoga studio in town, at which I have the dubious distinction of being the fattest creature there (most of the time). I even wore my Maggot shirt for a laugh one evening.

Shane said...

This is a great list. Being happy is being healthy. I am glad to see that this list includes physical health and mental health goals.

Unknown said...

How can you have a bad hip and do yoga at the same time? You are definitely the modern day wonder woman! I hope you've found good pain management docs and other specialists for that hip. That would surely help a lot in cutting your recovery time. As for the cat, good for him for staying on track! Kudos to you and good health!

Steve Fischer @ arizonahealthinsuranceexperts.com