"Birds make great sky-circles
of their freedom.
How do they learn it?
They fall, and falling,
they are given wings."

-Rumi (translated by Coleman Barks)

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

More Obstacles

It's been a rough couple of days. I went to PT again this Monday in NY. We did some extensive work on everything, including my hip. Stacey told me I might feel very sore later on because my muscles were worked very hard.

During my night class I started to get a shooting pain coming from my hip. It was too much to bear so I caught the eye of my teacher and left the room. She shortly followed and we came up with a plan. First I called my PT to make sure this was not abnormal. Turns out the sharp pain was still due to the physical therapy in the morning. So we got me downstairs into an office and for the rest of class I was able to ice my hip and take 4 advil which brought significant relief.

I'm so grateful for everyone who helped me yesterday, specifically my teacher for being understanding and helpful. And also to one of my friends who stayed with me for hours, brought me dinner, and got me back to my room. I'm so tired of getting help, but it's a relief to know that I have friends who are always ready to offer it.

I've been trying to take it very easy since yesterday. I only sit when I'm in class, and try to keep my hip straight. I'm also going to my athletic trainer at school every morning to get ice and stim, as well as ultrasound, and then to get my lower back taped like I showed in earlier posts. I think these treatments are working and helping to calm down the inflamation. I still feel a soreness today, but at least the direct pain is gone.

I'm also still having some burning and discomfort while sitting, but only after longer periods of time. I have a three hour class that is a bit of a chore to get through, but at least it's interesting. I definitely see some improvement from last week though. I just have to be patient.

The silver lining in all of this is that what changed recently was that my hip got very inflamed and started to hurt, which was a catalyst to all my other problems. This shows the direct correlation between my hip and pelvic/sitting pain. So, I'm becoming more and more convinced that once my hip is healed completely and as long as I keep working hard at physical therapy, I can put this whole experience behind me. Hope everyone is doing well.

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Taking a step back

I apologize again for not updating- it's been a crazy couple of weeks. The biggest news is that after this past weekend, I am unable to play tennis anymore this season. My hip could not take three days in a row and is inflamed and very irritated right now. I'm pretty upset because I worked so hard this past summer to be able to play and compete at regionals, and now I have to stop one week shy of my goal. But, I guess there's always next season. And I know there's more to life than college tennis.

Due to the inflamed hip I have experienced an escalation in all my other issues. I'm having difficulty sitting, as well as sharp vaginal and rectal pains. Although it's hard to deal with it, it's a little comforting to see the connection between my hip and my pain. I still think I'm on the right track. I also haven't been able to get up to New York, so I'm sure that contributed.

Thankfully, I was able to see Stacey today and she released me rectally. I felt some immediate relief, but everything is still very tight and painful. I'm seeing her again Monday, so I just have to be patient and work through this low.

So the new plan is to give my hip a break for a month. I obviously pushed it too hard, so as hard as it will be, I will rest it. No tennis, no dancing, no climbing, no running. I can still work out, but only my core and my upper body. It's very hard for me to sit and do nothing- I'd much rather take a proactive role when it comes to physical therapy. But it seems like this is what I need right now. I'll have to settle for reading climbing books and daydreaming about mountains.