hitch it...

i tweeted, facebooked and foursquared it!

i went on my first hike and it was amazing!

as i reached the top of the hill, with barely a breath, i welled up. how amazing is it that i am capable, i am able to take this weary body up a mountain pain free! yes, that is correct, i said pain free. well, lets be honest. i felt the burn, but the shooting pains of my past are just that, the past!

i was exhausted and slept 10 hours that night, but my gosh, the places i am going!

working again, hiking again, laughing again...i am in control of my body again!

with the new movement comes exhaustion, and an ache that has truly camped in my hip joint; but, i am capable.

here's to more hikes and a whole heck of a lot more trips to dog beach with the sweet mookie.

first day back...

my first day back to work and i am exhausted. you would have thought i had been building a house in the hot sun all day!

an hour in and i was sure i wasn't going to make it. the quick moving back and forth behind the counter, crouching to grab things out of cabinets, lifting coffee shuttles, all of it! i didn't think that the sharp pains would subside, but they did. the ache didn't and it still hasn't but i think ache has setup camp in my body and is going to stay for a while.

one thing i have realized is that the lack of muscle in the hip region is causing so much strain on the hip joint that i have got to get some muscle back to allow my body to heal. i heard isometric exercises are great for a joint injury and i might have to read up on some hip isometrics...clearly there are more technical terms to target specific areas, but my body is so weak that it could take days describing what needs strengthening. just picture a thigh and an indentation as to where a quad muscle once resided. that sums up the rest of the area too.

what a different place i am in though.

six months ago i couldn't dream of the things i am capable of now and just over three months ago i didn't think my body could physically get through another day of work.

my how i have changed and am in such a better place, despite the obstacles. i am in recovery, on the road to better.

*addendum*
i woke up this morning sore from head to toe. the workout that is my work is as tiring as, again, building a house in the hot sun, for a weakling like me! i'm about to start again today and wondering how these aching limbs are going to coordinate any movement. God give me the strength and even more patience today!

the end, and a new beginning...

i have hit the end of disability. i have been off of work for almost a full twelve weeks, and am back in the groove tomorrow.

what a mix of emotion as i enter a new stage of hip recovery. what is it going to be like, on my feet all day, moving around for hours, moving quickly, lifting boxes...? i guess the only thing i can do is press ahead and hope for the best. realistically i will be sore, my body will ache and i won't want another day of it, but for my benefit i must press on.

it is a challenge to get the muscle back, to push a part of my body that is still healing. i can't move too quick and side swiping motions in the hip region don't bode well. the sharp pains remind me of where i came from, but get me excited about where i will be in, hopefully, three more months.

wish me luck and pray for strength and pain relief as i push myself harder than i have yet...this could get interesting.

back to business-10 weeks post op!

i've got a week left until i head back to "the office". i couldn't have planned this timing any better. i am finally feeling like i have energy. i haven't had energy since 2009!

2010 started the pain, mild and slow, but my body spent way too much energy trying to heal an area of my body that was progressively getting worse. now, 2011 is bringing in a new me!

i've been getting out these last few days to dog beach. i even jogged down the beach today! i can frolic and move! i thought i knew how limited i was, especially toward the last few days before surgery and especially post, but this new-found movement has shown me the life that i have been missing out on. i realized this past weekend what i have been missing out on when i missed-what will hopefully be my LAST to miss!-hiking excursion with some close friends. how devastating! i think i can do it now, i might hold people back, but i'm hoping those who are close to me will encourage me through these next hurdles.

i'm in for a continued long haul, making my complete recovery at six months to a year mark. so, on july 4th when the fireworks go off i will be celebrating what will hopefully be the best six month anniversary i have celebrated to date!

photo by Lewis Dawson

i am more than nervous to see how my body reacts to all of this new movement. an anxiety that will hopefully not keep me from the amazing steps i could take in the next few months.

here's to a continued recovery, hard as it is, i wouldn't trade this opportunity of healing and getting better for anything!

week nine post-op!

i can't believe it! i'm week nine post surgery!

the last couple weeks have been filled with disappointment with the realization that pain hasn't gone away and there is the potential for worse pain if i work too hard. don't even get me started on building back the lost muscle! the reality is that this is a long process. between six months to a year is the magic bundle of months where one should start feeling "good". i put it in parenthesis because i'm not sure what my good looks like. is there going to be lingering osteo issues, or am i going to feel like a 20 year old? definitely getting close to the round number of 30 so 20 sounds good to me.

but, ultimately at the end of these nine weeks i am amazed.

i have come to a point where i am capable. i am capable of driving my stick shift again, i can get up and about for the day and i can get some of this strength back! slowly, but surely my body is getting back to a place where i have confidence that anything from here on out is better than before surgery.

i get back to work in two weeks! i am really nervous about going back to work. i don't want to be in pain, i really don't. i worked on my brakes this week and helped a friend on her car and i can't tell you how much my body hates me. not only that but i have finally given in to catching whatever is going around. so the thought of going back to work right now really makes me cringe. i can only imagine how much my body is going to hate me once i go back.

what a process this has been and i've only scratched the surface!