Sergeant Kesuke Miyagi: Fighting not good. But if must fight… win.
First, I’ll get this out of my system.
WAX ON, WAX OFF!
I’m a karate kid. Always have been. I did my time on the dojo for 13 years! I earned my black belt, and lasted multiple blood noses in competition fights.
A massive lesson I learnt from my Karate days: self-discipline.
My definition of self-discipline, is the ability to control yourself when faced with temptation or when faced with trying circumstances, whatever they may be.
I simply haven’t written a blog-entry for two months now because I’ve been trying to figure out how I can control myself. How to use self-control from turning this blog into a negative view of my feelings about the truth of this last part of my recovery.
The truth being, for a while, rehab and recovery have been pretty crap.
It all started when nothing was getting better. My last ‘50%’ blog entry was the day I saw the suave surgeon after my “recovery” period of 12 weeks. I hadn’t healed as expected at the end of the 12 weeks, so my surgeon gave me the “two more weeks on a single crutch” line (funny word crutch, I know).
Brilliant timing. My boss had her wedding date two weeks away from that day so I counted down each day until I was “crutch” free (stop giggling!).
I asked the surgeon about my chances of wearing heels to the wedding. He said he couldn’t see why not. He did however warn me that I will “feel it” the next day. I clearly was too busy doing a happy dance to hear that second part and wore heels to the wedding, danced the night away, and had a bloody good time with my walking stick in hand WAAAAAAAIT A MINUTE!
Walking stick?!? Crutch free my ass.
And “you’ll feel it the next day” turned into “MY BODY IS BROKEN!!!!”
After two more weeks spent with my walking stick permanently attached to my arm, a positive “I’m getting better!” attitude started to fade.
As well as the lower back pain/soreness returning, two things took me by surprise. My referred pain from using the single crutch, and a massive burning pain in my thigh where my feeling hadn’t returned.
By the time May rolled around, I’d celebrated a birthday, worn heels, gone from good to bad, and lost all confidence that I was actually going to get better. Despite the many hours of physio and hydrotherapy, nothing was happening in my recovery.
My housemate also went into hospital. Nurse bestie developed a dangerous cyst on her lower back that had to be surgically removed. The inconveniences of the year were beginning to be a bit too much for this household.
Self discipline went out the window. I went out of my way to express how utterly inconvenient my operation had been. I acted like a petulant child. Complained that it was all for nothing. Got angry and frustrated when I couldn’t do things at work. Couldn’t repay my housemate with the same care I was given straight out of hospital because it all hurt too much. I pretty much went a bit off track.
Introducing Myotherapy.
Myotherapy focuses on the treatment and rehabilitation of musculoskeletal pain. Its a method for relieving pain based on the application of pressure at trigger points throughout the body. Trigger points are defined as hypersensitive places in the muscles that cause pain in response to undue stress.
My muscles went into a spasm state around my operation site, and on my opposite side from referred pain. Simply, my body hated me for putting it through so much and had shut up shop until everything stopped hurting.
Enter Mr Richardson, a myotherapist from Tecoma who unfortunately copped my “I’m feeling down” moment whilst conducting my initial appointment. He was awesome.
I learnt quite a bit in my first sitting with Mr Richardson. Firstly, dry needling is not a massage technique, it is tiny thin needles placed into your body trigger points to activate the nerves and muscles and release toxins/spasms from the body. I did not expect tiny needles to be popped into my back! Next, Mr Richardson did some remedial massage and sent me on my merry way. Amazing.
Feeling like an octopus (floaty-ish with gangly arms and legs), three weeks of Myotherapy successfully calmed my muscles down and allowed my physio/hydrotherapy work to actually start building my hip strength up.
Finally feeling a bit stronger, my physio instructed that I try out my new found strength with backstroke in the pool. As much as I love the beach and swimming in the water, I’m a runner, not a pool swimmer. It took me 5 attempts to get in the lap pool and actually swim. I found myself standing at the edge of the 50m outdoor pool, contemplating jumping in, before hobbling straight for the hydrotherapy pool and continuing on with my general pool work. Long story short, I was a bit scared that I would start swimming and only make it half way (to where I can’t stand up) before something would go wrong.
Eventually I jumped in. Swam 6 laps (300m), and then I shed a tiny tear of joy. Poor kid in the lap pool next to me must have thought I was crazy as I started celebrating my new found ability to actually exercise again. The joy. The absolute joy.
Today marks 5 months since my operation.
I’m about to start strengthening my core through pilates, and will continue to swim laps as well as complete my hydro and physiotherapy routines.
I’m not putting a date on “when” or “how long” until I no longer have pain, or need the walking stick. I’m just taking it one recovery day at a time.
I could have thrown it all in, but I have a great support network of family, friends, colleagues and random strangers at the pool that keep me on track.
My definition of self-discipline, is the ability to control yourself when faced with temptation or when faced with trying circumstances, whatever they may be.
Come at me last legs of recovery. I’m ready.
HIP 2 BE ME 