After a good night's sleep, some good music, a good movie and a good laugh, I am feeling way less stressed and tired and over everything. Funny what a difference 10 hours of sleep can make.
The new gym should be open mid this week. I am hanging out for it - we've got spin bikes with computers, lots of leg machines, spaces for me to hang my therabands, mats for abs, rowing machines and normal bikes. I can't wait until I can start using the fun stuff like the TRX and kettlebells and the synrgy.
I'm still banned from treadmills and using the stride handles on the cross trainers until I see the surgeon in January for my six month post-op checkup. I'm also temporarily banned from the rower until I get enough strength up to use it. Probably that will have to wait until I see Ash (my awesome surgeon) in January also. So, for now it's spin bike, cross trainer with no arms, core work and legs.
I'll soon be able to come home for lunch, walk to work and work out again. Having had no gym access for the last two months has sucked and I have so much stuff for the gym in my house that I can't set up my bike on the mag trainer anyway. Bring on the spin bikes! I'll start going back through my coach Jamie's initial programs for bike and run stuff, and look at what else I can do. Hopefully my physio can write me a program for the arm and shoulder stuff.
So, my routine will now look something like this:
Monday - train in the morning and work
Tuesday - physio, work and cardio
Wednesday - train in the morning and work
Thursday - physio, work and cardio
Friday - day off, errands and training
Saturday - physio and work
Sunday - day off and rest day
I'll throw some Zumba in somewhere as it will help with killing the boredom I get from the incessant physio exercises. Yes, they are absolutely necessary but they are so freaking BORING!!!
I'm now off to grab some breakfast, do the washing and shopping, tidy the house, then chill out with a movie tonight before the most feral week of my life kicks in!
Sunday, November 18, 2012
Saturday, November 17, 2012
18 weeks and bitching
Warning: Rant follows.
I'm now 18 weeks post-op from my shoulder recon. I have more strength and ROM than I did eight weeks ago, but many things are still really difficult and frustrating.
For the past two weeks I've been able to do up my own bras. BONUS! I can lift small and light things in and out of the microwave with the operated side, and I've progressed up through the therabands for most exercises. I'm allowed to put a bit of weight on my operated side, not much, but a bit. I can almost type at normal speed again, but sometimes my arm and hand just lose the plot and won't do what I tell them.
Most of the time I feel like a normal person, until I go to grab something on a high shelf and have to say "go go gadget arm" to make my arm move. Sleeping on that side isn't comfy and some days I want to have a meltdown. Most days I just keep on keeping on, pretending that this isn't as frustrating and painful as it actually is.
This is no walk in the park, no piece of cake, nor is it a happy 1950's film clip of fluffy bunnies and purring kittens. It's exhausting, frustrating, annoying and a million other things that end with -ing.
I'm almost 20 weeks down and still can't get my arm over my head properly under it's own steam. I can't do push ups and some words I just can't touch type. I can't vacuum, mop the floor or pull the blankets up on my bed. I can't change my doona cover on my own, move the furniture or ride my bike. I can't swim, I can't lift stuff and I can't do anything repetitive.
I'm not even out of the woods yet - I'm not safe until the seven month mark, which is February. There is still a huge risk of the repair coming apart, hence why I can't put too much weight on the arm or do anything fun like swim freestyle or throw a footy.
At the 12 month mark (July 2013) we will know if the operation has been successful and if so, how successful. I may achieve a 90% return of pre-injury strength and function at best. I'd settle for 50% right now, I think I'm about 35-40% at present.
My muscle is slowly returning but I can no longer say that my arms and shoulders are my best feature and selling point as a PT, because I'm no longer a PT and I no longer have two great arms and shoulders. I worked bloody hard to get what I had in terms of muscle tone and definition. Even my lats have waisted and my whole body is now lopsided. Whoever said this would be easy needs a knuckle sandwich.
Bring on 12 months and one day post-op, so I can see a lawyer about compensation for the two years of lost earnings from not being able to work as a PT, and for the pain and suffering incurred.
And then bring on my big holiday to Malaysia and Singapore - that's "Singalaysia" or "Malaysiapore" to me, depending on my mood!
/endrant
I'm now 18 weeks post-op from my shoulder recon. I have more strength and ROM than I did eight weeks ago, but many things are still really difficult and frustrating.
For the past two weeks I've been able to do up my own bras. BONUS! I can lift small and light things in and out of the microwave with the operated side, and I've progressed up through the therabands for most exercises. I'm allowed to put a bit of weight on my operated side, not much, but a bit. I can almost type at normal speed again, but sometimes my arm and hand just lose the plot and won't do what I tell them.
Most of the time I feel like a normal person, until I go to grab something on a high shelf and have to say "go go gadget arm" to make my arm move. Sleeping on that side isn't comfy and some days I want to have a meltdown. Most days I just keep on keeping on, pretending that this isn't as frustrating and painful as it actually is.
This is no walk in the park, no piece of cake, nor is it a happy 1950's film clip of fluffy bunnies and purring kittens. It's exhausting, frustrating, annoying and a million other things that end with -ing.
I'm almost 20 weeks down and still can't get my arm over my head properly under it's own steam. I can't do push ups and some words I just can't touch type. I can't vacuum, mop the floor or pull the blankets up on my bed. I can't change my doona cover on my own, move the furniture or ride my bike. I can't swim, I can't lift stuff and I can't do anything repetitive.
I'm not even out of the woods yet - I'm not safe until the seven month mark, which is February. There is still a huge risk of the repair coming apart, hence why I can't put too much weight on the arm or do anything fun like swim freestyle or throw a footy.
At the 12 month mark (July 2013) we will know if the operation has been successful and if so, how successful. I may achieve a 90% return of pre-injury strength and function at best. I'd settle for 50% right now, I think I'm about 35-40% at present.
My muscle is slowly returning but I can no longer say that my arms and shoulders are my best feature and selling point as a PT, because I'm no longer a PT and I no longer have two great arms and shoulders. I worked bloody hard to get what I had in terms of muscle tone and definition. Even my lats have waisted and my whole body is now lopsided. Whoever said this would be easy needs a knuckle sandwich.
Bring on 12 months and one day post-op, so I can see a lawyer about compensation for the two years of lost earnings from not being able to work as a PT, and for the pain and suffering incurred.
And then bring on my big holiday to Malaysia and Singapore - that's "Singalaysia" or "Malaysiapore" to me, depending on my mood!
/endrant
Sunday, September 23, 2012
10 weeks and counting
It's now been 10 weeks since the surgery. My supraspinatus repair has been great, I just wish I could say the same for the messing with my biceps tendon.
I've now been out of the sling four weeks and each day I get a little stronger and a little more movement back, not necessarily in the plane of motion that I want. Any kind of forwards movement requires a lot of effort and comes with a lot of pain. If I don't use momentum from my shoulder or torso to move the arm up or outwards (forwards of course), it hurts like hell and the control just isn't there.
It's causing me issues and limiting my movement and causing me pain. I'm over it. I see the surgeon in two weeks and I can't wait to get some answers. I can do pretty much anything backwards, some things sideways, but very little forwards. I can now scratch my face without bringing my head down to meet my hand, and I can touch the hair on my head too. Yesterday I managed to do up a bra on the loosest hook with both arms (almost) behind my back.
I do of course have way more movement with way less pain than I did in the previous update. I haven't taken any painkillers with any regularity since week one, aside from the odd occasion my shoulder has become furious with me and demanded them. Stress makes it ache, the cold doesn't seem to any longer and it's been a nice ten weeks of not waking up every day at 3.30am in screaming pain.
I can now type and use my mouse (and Mac) again, which is great. The iPad is fabulous and I'll be forever grateful to Apple for it, but I've missed a keyboard and mouse. I've missed the raised bouncy buttons of my wireless keyboard and the ability to whack out a sentence at 70wpm. I've missed being able to right-click, hold down keys, do some things online that you just can't do on an iPad or iPhone, and am generally enjoying Mountain Lion too.
On the plus side, after seeing the surgeon on October 4th, I should be cleared to start strength training with therabands, providing I can get my dang arm over my head. The physio gave me a pulley last week so I could start passive overhead ROM. It's boring but necessary, and hurts like heck. Fun times.
My idea of a ragey night now involves a hot wheat pack before exercises, a nice cold ice pack after the exercises, and a skinny hot chocolate with which to wash down my myriad of pills. I swear the glucosamine and chondroitin are helping with my recovery, everything else is just for my health. I take a COQ10, multivitamin, metformin for my PCOS and diabtetes, Vitamin D becuase i'm a D deficient diabetic, and two glucosamines.
I've been on glucosamine since my major knee surgery in 2005. I stayed on it because the surgeon said it works - and he's right. Without it, I can barely walk with the pain from my knees - I'm practically crippled without it. I know it is helping with my shoulder too, I just wish it would hurry up and sort out the long head of my biceps tendon.
I'm also planning and slowly saving for a nice treat next year - a couple of weeks in Malaysia and Singapore. I haven't had an actual holiday in over five years and to be honest, I'm over it! This time five years ago, I was in Singapore, on my maiden voyage to Asia. It was amazing!
I miss Singapore like crazy, I had such a great time and have so many great memories. I adore Malaysia too, so I'm going to fly from Melbourne to Langkawi via KL for a couple of days. Then I'm flying to Penang for a couple of days before going back to Borneo - only this time I'm going to Sarawak instead of Sabah, and staying a couple of days in Kuching (Malay for Cat).
From Kuching I'm flying to Johor Bahru, as it was half the price of flying into Singapore and it's just over the causeway bridge from my beloved Lion City. I'll have a night or two in JB where I'll be visiting Legoland Malaysia, doing a speedboat ride and then a Straits of Johor crusie on a three storey ship with Karaoke and a buffet dinner, then I'll bus over to Singapore for MYR3 (about 90c Aussie) for a couple of days, then bus back to JB and either overnight train or fly back to KL for a couple of days (with a side trip to Melaka), then head back to Melbourne.
Air Asia had a well-timed sale last week and I had flight credit for cancelling my flights for my planned trip this year, which was canned due to my surgery. So, I purchased three internal flights from Langkawi to Penang, Penang to Kuching and Kuching to JB. Score! Now I just need a return Melbourne/KL and a KL/Langkawi and we're set!
I'm already researching and planning and budgeting etc. I had it all planned for this year and then had to pull the pin, so I just need to update prices and plan for a few new bits and pieces (like Legoland which only opened two weeks ago). I'm doing fllghts, hotels/hostels, transport and food as cheaply as possible, as I want some spending money for the Ramadan night markets and Petaling Street, and plan to save my shopping until the end of my trip in Singapore and KL. I'm going to travel the first ten days with just a carry on bag, then smash the shopping! By then I'll be tiny and able to fit into Singapore clothes.
Other than that, I have a new job as manager of a brand new gym not far from home. We're opening next month and between that and the physio and the holiday planning, I don't have a life. LOL.
And that's all for now folks.
I've now been out of the sling four weeks and each day I get a little stronger and a little more movement back, not necessarily in the plane of motion that I want. Any kind of forwards movement requires a lot of effort and comes with a lot of pain. If I don't use momentum from my shoulder or torso to move the arm up or outwards (forwards of course), it hurts like hell and the control just isn't there.
It's causing me issues and limiting my movement and causing me pain. I'm over it. I see the surgeon in two weeks and I can't wait to get some answers. I can do pretty much anything backwards, some things sideways, but very little forwards. I can now scratch my face without bringing my head down to meet my hand, and I can touch the hair on my head too. Yesterday I managed to do up a bra on the loosest hook with both arms (almost) behind my back.
I do of course have way more movement with way less pain than I did in the previous update. I haven't taken any painkillers with any regularity since week one, aside from the odd occasion my shoulder has become furious with me and demanded them. Stress makes it ache, the cold doesn't seem to any longer and it's been a nice ten weeks of not waking up every day at 3.30am in screaming pain.
I can now type and use my mouse (and Mac) again, which is great. The iPad is fabulous and I'll be forever grateful to Apple for it, but I've missed a keyboard and mouse. I've missed the raised bouncy buttons of my wireless keyboard and the ability to whack out a sentence at 70wpm. I've missed being able to right-click, hold down keys, do some things online that you just can't do on an iPad or iPhone, and am generally enjoying Mountain Lion too.
On the plus side, after seeing the surgeon on October 4th, I should be cleared to start strength training with therabands, providing I can get my dang arm over my head. The physio gave me a pulley last week so I could start passive overhead ROM. It's boring but necessary, and hurts like heck. Fun times.
My idea of a ragey night now involves a hot wheat pack before exercises, a nice cold ice pack after the exercises, and a skinny hot chocolate with which to wash down my myriad of pills. I swear the glucosamine and chondroitin are helping with my recovery, everything else is just for my health. I take a COQ10, multivitamin, metformin for my PCOS and diabtetes, Vitamin D becuase i'm a D deficient diabetic, and two glucosamines.
I've been on glucosamine since my major knee surgery in 2005. I stayed on it because the surgeon said it works - and he's right. Without it, I can barely walk with the pain from my knees - I'm practically crippled without it. I know it is helping with my shoulder too, I just wish it would hurry up and sort out the long head of my biceps tendon.
I'm also planning and slowly saving for a nice treat next year - a couple of weeks in Malaysia and Singapore. I haven't had an actual holiday in over five years and to be honest, I'm over it! This time five years ago, I was in Singapore, on my maiden voyage to Asia. It was amazing!
I miss Singapore like crazy, I had such a great time and have so many great memories. I adore Malaysia too, so I'm going to fly from Melbourne to Langkawi via KL for a couple of days. Then I'm flying to Penang for a couple of days before going back to Borneo - only this time I'm going to Sarawak instead of Sabah, and staying a couple of days in Kuching (Malay for Cat).
From Kuching I'm flying to Johor Bahru, as it was half the price of flying into Singapore and it's just over the causeway bridge from my beloved Lion City. I'll have a night or two in JB where I'll be visiting Legoland Malaysia, doing a speedboat ride and then a Straits of Johor crusie on a three storey ship with Karaoke and a buffet dinner, then I'll bus over to Singapore for MYR3 (about 90c Aussie) for a couple of days, then bus back to JB and either overnight train or fly back to KL for a couple of days (with a side trip to Melaka), then head back to Melbourne.
Air Asia had a well-timed sale last week and I had flight credit for cancelling my flights for my planned trip this year, which was canned due to my surgery. So, I purchased three internal flights from Langkawi to Penang, Penang to Kuching and Kuching to JB. Score! Now I just need a return Melbourne/KL and a KL/Langkawi and we're set!
I'm already researching and planning and budgeting etc. I had it all planned for this year and then had to pull the pin, so I just need to update prices and plan for a few new bits and pieces (like Legoland which only opened two weeks ago). I'm doing fllghts, hotels/hostels, transport and food as cheaply as possible, as I want some spending money for the Ramadan night markets and Petaling Street, and plan to save my shopping until the end of my trip in Singapore and KL. I'm going to travel the first ten days with just a carry on bag, then smash the shopping! By then I'll be tiny and able to fit into Singapore clothes.
Other than that, I have a new job as manager of a brand new gym not far from home. We're opening next month and between that and the physio and the holiday planning, I don't have a life. LOL.
And that's all for now folks.
Wednesday, July 18, 2012
Post surgery update
Since I am now down to one hand for the next several weeks, I will give you a brief update of what's been happening since I had my shoulder surgery on Friday 13th of July 2012.
Surgery kicked off at about 9:45 in the morning on Friday 13th of July. I was in theatre for approximately an hour and a quarter. The surgery went very well and the surgeon told me later that day that he was very pleased with how the operation went. I had minimal pain that day because I had a nerve block which was inserted through the right side of my neck. My right hand and arm were completely numb until this wore off just after midnight on Friday 13th of July.
Unfortunately Saturday was not a good day for me. I was absolutely chock-full of opiates which make me extremely sick. I straddled with pain relief all day Saturday and Saturday night and early Sunday morning. Nursing staff were uncooperative at best, did not really wish to help me solve my pain problems, and I struggled to get ice packs all that day and night.
I was rather unceremoniously kicked out of hospital on Sunday morning and sent home. I had issues with the pain relief that the pharmacist was trying to get me, but this was to do with the change in my medication on the Saturday as I was so sick. I finally got the correct pain relief, however they did not complete discharge procedures correctly and I was not offered any support at home. This was very disappointing to me, it was a situation I had worked very hard to avoid.
I have now been home since late Sunday morning. Because I had done a lot of cooking and preprepared meals and froze them, I have been able to feed myself quite adequately. I have become an expert at making "one arm porridge". I am also very good at making coffees with one arm, although I am too scared to fill the kettle all the way in case I drop and burn myself. The home help and attendant Care that I had arranged weeks ago through WorkCover has come through and has been absolutely invaluable and assisting me to remain independent and in my Own house.
As I am using dictation, it is very difficult for me to get my words down correctly. The phone does not really like my hybrid Kiwi-Aussie accent and it is causing dramas. Once I am able to type I will definitely fill you in more.
Surgery kicked off at about 9:45 in the morning on Friday 13th of July. I was in theatre for approximately an hour and a quarter. The surgery went very well and the surgeon told me later that day that he was very pleased with how the operation went. I had minimal pain that day because I had a nerve block which was inserted through the right side of my neck. My right hand and arm were completely numb until this wore off just after midnight on Friday 13th of July.
Unfortunately Saturday was not a good day for me. I was absolutely chock-full of opiates which make me extremely sick. I straddled with pain relief all day Saturday and Saturday night and early Sunday morning. Nursing staff were uncooperative at best, did not really wish to help me solve my pain problems, and I struggled to get ice packs all that day and night.
I was rather unceremoniously kicked out of hospital on Sunday morning and sent home. I had issues with the pain relief that the pharmacist was trying to get me, but this was to do with the change in my medication on the Saturday as I was so sick. I finally got the correct pain relief, however they did not complete discharge procedures correctly and I was not offered any support at home. This was very disappointing to me, it was a situation I had worked very hard to avoid.
I have now been home since late Sunday morning. Because I had done a lot of cooking and preprepared meals and froze them, I have been able to feed myself quite adequately. I have become an expert at making "one arm porridge". I am also very good at making coffees with one arm, although I am too scared to fill the kettle all the way in case I drop and burn myself. The home help and attendant Care that I had arranged weeks ago through WorkCover has come through and has been absolutely invaluable and assisting me to remain independent and in my Own house.
As I am using dictation, it is very difficult for me to get my words down correctly. The phone does not really like my hybrid Kiwi-Aussie accent and it is causing dramas. Once I am able to type I will definitely fill you in more.
Monday, July 9, 2012
Surgery Week
It's surgery week. On Friday this week (yes, Friday the 13th) I am finally having my shoulder reconstruction surgery. One year, two months and 28 days after the accident at work that busted my shoulder.
This process and the unreasonably lengthy wait for surgery have taught me many things. My pearls of wisdom are below.
The only person that truly has your back is yourself - closely followed by your BFF. I bet that the person who could have cut down on the time I've been waiting for surgery by actually doing their job and the paperwork that would have expedited the process 14 months and 28 days ago won't a) visit me in hospital, b) care that I'm having surgery or c) even wish me well on the road to recovery. I'm still very disappointed that I trusted this person. Oh well, lesson learned, move on! Ps I'm un-friending them on Facebook today. Whatever. YOLO.
Organisation and planning and preparation prevents a veritable tonne of frustration post-op. I consider myself to be extremely well prepared for the aftermath - meals cooked and frozen in portioned containers, paper plates and plastic cutlery, mugs with lids, a long-arm reacher, front-opening bras (sorry boys, TMI, I know!), clothes that are easy to put on with one arm, light but warm blankets and doonas on the bed, elastic lace locks for my shoes, electric toothbrush - etc.
Of course, there will inevitably be stuff I've forgotten about. But I'll deal with that later. At least with a long arm reacher in the house, if I drop anything on the floor it won't be sacrificed to the floor gods now.
Side-splitting comedies and dance flicks are not good to have on your iPad post-op. Fits of laughter will result in pain, and dance flicks will result in attempts to boogie in the bed and chair, which will result in pain.
Making sure you have entertainment for the hours you will be spending alone in hospital with only beeping machines and overworked nurses for company is imperative. Poor nurses. I'm converting my movies into an iPad-friendly format as I type. Obviously not the funny or dance ones. More stuff like Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The Bucket List, etc, is required.
That's about it. I'm sure I'll be far more amusing next week on painkillers, using Dragon dictation for blog posts, seeing as I won't be able to write, type or use my right hand properly for weeks. Did I mention I'm right-handed. Oh yes...that's another little challenge to deal with!
This process and the unreasonably lengthy wait for surgery have taught me many things. My pearls of wisdom are below.
The only person that truly has your back is yourself - closely followed by your BFF. I bet that the person who could have cut down on the time I've been waiting for surgery by actually doing their job and the paperwork that would have expedited the process 14 months and 28 days ago won't a) visit me in hospital, b) care that I'm having surgery or c) even wish me well on the road to recovery. I'm still very disappointed that I trusted this person. Oh well, lesson learned, move on! Ps I'm un-friending them on Facebook today. Whatever. YOLO.
Organisation and planning and preparation prevents a veritable tonne of frustration post-op. I consider myself to be extremely well prepared for the aftermath - meals cooked and frozen in portioned containers, paper plates and plastic cutlery, mugs with lids, a long-arm reacher, front-opening bras (sorry boys, TMI, I know!), clothes that are easy to put on with one arm, light but warm blankets and doonas on the bed, elastic lace locks for my shoes, electric toothbrush - etc.
Of course, there will inevitably be stuff I've forgotten about. But I'll deal with that later. At least with a long arm reacher in the house, if I drop anything on the floor it won't be sacrificed to the floor gods now.
Side-splitting comedies and dance flicks are not good to have on your iPad post-op. Fits of laughter will result in pain, and dance flicks will result in attempts to boogie in the bed and chair, which will result in pain.
Making sure you have entertainment for the hours you will be spending alone in hospital with only beeping machines and overworked nurses for company is imperative. Poor nurses. I'm converting my movies into an iPad-friendly format as I type. Obviously not the funny or dance ones. More stuff like Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The Bucket List, etc, is required.
That's about it. I'm sure I'll be far more amusing next week on painkillers, using Dragon dictation for blog posts, seeing as I won't be able to write, type or use my right hand properly for weeks. Did I mention I'm right-handed. Oh yes...that's another little challenge to deal with!
Wednesday, June 6, 2012
Back to the butcher
After a lengthy hiatus, I'm back.
To cut a long story short, my shoulder is still munted and I still can't race or train properly. I got really fed up and went back to my surgeon in April. I had an MRI and nerve conduction study in May and on the 24th of May, my wonderful surgeon said "SURGERY!".
So, I'll finally be having shoulder surgery to finally fix this insidious shoulder injury on 13th July 2012.
Yes, it's on Friday the 13th *spooky sigh*. Wah wah wah...whatever. It's actually seven years to the day since having that big old left knee reconstruction. Sadly that was a Wednesday, not a Friday.
I'll be undergoing a rotator cuff repair and bursectomy to my right shoulder. Hopefully it will be arthroscopic, but if the supraspinatus tear 1cm from the insertion is really big (i.e. bigger than the 80% the surgeon suspects because the bursa is hiding some of the damage), I'll be getting a big old incision of 3-4 inches. Thank goodness I haven't got that black widow spider tattoo yet, because that's where I was going to put it!
I'm now focusing on prepping for the surgery.
When I moved into my current house in August 2011, I set most of it up left-handed as at that stage the possibility of surgery was floated and I was panicking. I need to change the sofa around again and move my bed over another three feet but I can bribe my neighbour to do that with home baking - while I can stil bake that is.
I've bought an electric knife, long arm reacher, elastic shoelaces, paper plates and plastic cutlery, new pajamas, a poncho, a long handle loofah, an electric toothbrush, a long shoehorn and front opening bras (yep, sure you wanted to know that). I still have to buy one of those fancy self-pumping hand soap thingies and a pumpy toothpaste thingy. Vodafone offered me with a free upgrade to an iPhone 4S, which I took last month as it comes with wonderful Siri, who is going to be a godsend (along with the voice to text feature) when I'm down to one non-dominant hand, and double the memory of my previous phone.
I've got a pre-surgery exercise plan that I'm working on. I won't be able to teach Zumba for 2-3 months post-op so I'm doing as much of it as I can at present. I'm now reduced to therabands and the stationary bike, with weights only for biceps and triceps, and legs. It's boring but necessary. I'm banned from the treadmill and rower, the crosstrainer and anything overhead, above the chest or bodyweight. I'm still allowed to walk and do water running, and teach Zumba as long as I limit movements to what is still comfy. Not much is.
The list of activities the surgeon has banned me from grows longer and more illustrious by the day as I find more activities I can't do for the next 7-13 months. So far it consists of:
The list of stuff I can still do is:
To cut a long story short, my shoulder is still munted and I still can't race or train properly. I got really fed up and went back to my surgeon in April. I had an MRI and nerve conduction study in May and on the 24th of May, my wonderful surgeon said "SURGERY!".
So, I'll finally be having shoulder surgery to finally fix this insidious shoulder injury on 13th July 2012.
Yes, it's on Friday the 13th *spooky sigh*. Wah wah wah...whatever. It's actually seven years to the day since having that big old left knee reconstruction. Sadly that was a Wednesday, not a Friday.
I'll be undergoing a rotator cuff repair and bursectomy to my right shoulder. Hopefully it will be arthroscopic, but if the supraspinatus tear 1cm from the insertion is really big (i.e. bigger than the 80% the surgeon suspects because the bursa is hiding some of the damage), I'll be getting a big old incision of 3-4 inches. Thank goodness I haven't got that black widow spider tattoo yet, because that's where I was going to put it!
I'm now focusing on prepping for the surgery.
When I moved into my current house in August 2011, I set most of it up left-handed as at that stage the possibility of surgery was floated and I was panicking. I need to change the sofa around again and move my bed over another three feet but I can bribe my neighbour to do that with home baking - while I can stil bake that is.
I've bought an electric knife, long arm reacher, elastic shoelaces, paper plates and plastic cutlery, new pajamas, a poncho, a long handle loofah, an electric toothbrush, a long shoehorn and front opening bras (yep, sure you wanted to know that). I still have to buy one of those fancy self-pumping hand soap thingies and a pumpy toothpaste thingy. Vodafone offered me with a free upgrade to an iPhone 4S, which I took last month as it comes with wonderful Siri, who is going to be a godsend (along with the voice to text feature) when I'm down to one non-dominant hand, and double the memory of my previous phone.
I've got a pre-surgery exercise plan that I'm working on. I won't be able to teach Zumba for 2-3 months post-op so I'm doing as much of it as I can at present. I'm now reduced to therabands and the stationary bike, with weights only for biceps and triceps, and legs. It's boring but necessary. I'm banned from the treadmill and rower, the crosstrainer and anything overhead, above the chest or bodyweight. I'm still allowed to walk and do water running, and teach Zumba as long as I limit movements to what is still comfy. Not much is.
The list of activities the surgeon has banned me from grows longer and more illustrious by the day as I find more activities I can't do for the next 7-13 months. So far it consists of:
- treadmills
- running (was for more than 30mins, now it's no running at all)
- cycling on my own road bike
- swimming of any kind or stroke
- cross trainer
- rower
- grinder
- lat pulldowns
- seated rows (unless with a band)
- any other overhead weights (e.g. shoulder presses)
- Pull ups / chin ups
- tricep kickbacks
- upright rows
- dumbbell rows
- dips
- push ups / press ups
- crossfit
- planks
- Kettlebells
- TRX
- bodyweight exercises
- chest press / bench press
- flyes
- incline rows
- anything above the horizontal
- heavy lifting
- carrying anything of more than 1-2kg above the waist with my right arm
- holding a phone to my right ear
- writing for more than a few sentences
- rotating my right arm with weight or strain
- demonstrating exercises
- lunges in case I fall over as my balance has gone to hell in a handcart
The list of stuff I can still do is:
- Stationary bike
- bicep curls
- tricep pulldowns
- theraband rows
- theraband cuff rotations
- walking
- aqua jogging
- Zumba (within reason)
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Fructose, glucose, dextrose and "oh-no's"
Over the last couple of weeks I haven't been feeling too well.
Without going into too much detail, I thought I may have appendicitis so I went to a doctor at the medical centee up the road from work. He sent me off for a whole pile of tests and scans, and it turns out I have PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) and I'm insulin resistant, and due to my scary blood glucose first thing in the morning, he suspected I was also diabetic so he sent me for a glucose tolerance test - which I failed gloriously. I had more bloods done and yep, diabetes.
I've just come back from buying a blood glucose meter/monitor (now called Dracula). It could be type 2 or type 1.5. I'm waiting for an appointment with a diabetes educator, FODMAP diabetes dietician and an Endocrinologist. Meanwhile, I'm busy being bitten by dracula up to 7 times a day and trying to figure out what response everything I eat and drink has on my numbers.
The doc sent me back to my normal GP, who sent me off for extra blood tests to see if there's anything else in the works, while she investigates what pills she can give me to sort this all out. I'm also vitamin D deficient (common for diabetics) and my cholesterol is elevated for the first time ever (also common for diabetics). My Iron is way high - etc.
Basically, I already knew that I'm a fructose malapsorber, which means there's about 10 things I can eat and about a billion that I can't (or shouldn't, LOL). I'd been unwell and tired and sick for years before we figured this out and as long as I'm really carefully monitoring what I eat AND drink, I'm okay. We thought maybe it was fructose related, but I haven't consumed any FODMAPs in months.
Crikey.
Without going into too much detail, I thought I may have appendicitis so I went to a doctor at the medical centee up the road from work. He sent me off for a whole pile of tests and scans, and it turns out I have PCOS (polycystic ovarian syndrome) and I'm insulin resistant, and due to my scary blood glucose first thing in the morning, he suspected I was also diabetic so he sent me for a glucose tolerance test - which I failed gloriously. I had more bloods done and yep, diabetes.
I've just come back from buying a blood glucose meter/monitor (now called Dracula). It could be type 2 or type 1.5. I'm waiting for an appointment with a diabetes educator, FODMAP diabetes dietician and an Endocrinologist. Meanwhile, I'm busy being bitten by dracula up to 7 times a day and trying to figure out what response everything I eat and drink has on my numbers.
The doc sent me back to my normal GP, who sent me off for extra blood tests to see if there's anything else in the works, while she investigates what pills she can give me to sort this all out. I'm also vitamin D deficient (common for diabetics) and my cholesterol is elevated for the first time ever (also common for diabetics). My Iron is way high - etc.
Basically, I already knew that I'm a fructose malapsorber, which means there's about 10 things I can eat and about a billion that I can't (or shouldn't, LOL). I'd been unwell and tired and sick for years before we figured this out and as long as I'm really carefully monitoring what I eat AND drink, I'm okay. We thought maybe it was fructose related, but I haven't consumed any FODMAPs in months.
Crikey.
Tuesday, January 3, 2012
New year - and all that jazz
Yep, another year has (finally) bitten the dust and I can't say I'm sad to see the back end of 2011.
It was a prick of a year. Too much bad stuff went down, all over the world. Let's hope this year Mother Nature finds her prozac and cheers up.
On a personal level it was a 50/50 year for me. 50% awesome, 50% crap.
Let's start with the good stuff first:
I did my first race in Oz.
I had my first Australia Day in Oz.
I had a nice Xmas day.
I became a qualified personal trainer and Zumba instructor
I became assistant manager of a gym after working my butt off for ten months, six days a week
I re-discovered I'm fructose intolerant and have stopped feeling like crap all the time
I didn't have to use my Epipens.
I decided to start an Intimo business
I moved to a nicer, cheaper house (8 feet from the old one, LOL)
I lost over 20kg
I got to go to the Health and Fitness expo in Sydney
On the less than salubrious side:
I busted my shoulder.
At work.
10 days after qualifying as A PT.
Not my fault.
FFS!
I had to pull out of five races, including my dream race, Ironman NZ, which cost me big money and huge amounts of sanity
All my Ironman training came to nothing
I've had 9 months of physio and feel I'm getting nowhere I won't be able to race again for months or years. Having a shoulder injury to your dominant arm is Shit house.
I spent months broke, owing to being screwed over my shoulder and having to pay all my medical expenses when it should have been workcover. Still not happy about this. Considering legal remedy.
I re-discovered I'm fructose intolerant and can't have apples, pears, mango, artichoke, onion, lettuce, melons, leeks, lots of wheat, pawpaw, papaya, and a squillion other things I used to love but now make me really sick :-(
Stuff to look forward to in 2012:
FILEX for free - sure, I have to work half of it to earn my keep, but I also get to play half.
And I get to go to Beto's masterclass. Sweet!
Shep half Ironman, shoulder permitting
July Intimo conference if I qualify
Trip to Malaysia and Singapore in July/August if I have the money
Tax time = refund
Fingers crossed, Intimo rewards trip to Phuket in October
More Zumba instructor trainings, shoulder permitting.
Getting to my goal weight/size/shape
Kicking ass at work and restoring the business to its former glory
More consulting work, or less, as My Intimo business will kick ass!
Not much else to say right now. Bit tired so off to take a nap :-)
It was a prick of a year. Too much bad stuff went down, all over the world. Let's hope this year Mother Nature finds her prozac and cheers up.
On a personal level it was a 50/50 year for me. 50% awesome, 50% crap.
Let's start with the good stuff first:
I did my first race in Oz.
I had my first Australia Day in Oz.
I had a nice Xmas day.
I became a qualified personal trainer and Zumba instructor
I became assistant manager of a gym after working my butt off for ten months, six days a week
I re-discovered I'm fructose intolerant and have stopped feeling like crap all the time
I didn't have to use my Epipens.
I decided to start an Intimo business
I moved to a nicer, cheaper house (8 feet from the old one, LOL)
I lost over 20kg
I got to go to the Health and Fitness expo in Sydney
On the less than salubrious side:
I busted my shoulder.
At work.
10 days after qualifying as A PT.
Not my fault.
FFS!
I had to pull out of five races, including my dream race, Ironman NZ, which cost me big money and huge amounts of sanity
All my Ironman training came to nothing
I've had 9 months of physio and feel I'm getting nowhere I won't be able to race again for months or years. Having a shoulder injury to your dominant arm is Shit house.
I spent months broke, owing to being screwed over my shoulder and having to pay all my medical expenses when it should have been workcover. Still not happy about this. Considering legal remedy.
I re-discovered I'm fructose intolerant and can't have apples, pears, mango, artichoke, onion, lettuce, melons, leeks, lots of wheat, pawpaw, papaya, and a squillion other things I used to love but now make me really sick :-(
Stuff to look forward to in 2012:
FILEX for free - sure, I have to work half of it to earn my keep, but I also get to play half.
And I get to go to Beto's masterclass. Sweet!
Shep half Ironman, shoulder permitting
July Intimo conference if I qualify
Trip to Malaysia and Singapore in July/August if I have the money
Tax time = refund
Fingers crossed, Intimo rewards trip to Phuket in October
More Zumba instructor trainings, shoulder permitting.
Getting to my goal weight/size/shape
Kicking ass at work and restoring the business to its former glory
More consulting work, or less, as My Intimo business will kick ass!
Not much else to say right now. Bit tired so off to take a nap :-)
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