Editing but not writing, rotator cuff, & school

Egads.

I didn't realize I hadn't posted since early November.  A lot has happened.  Some good.  A lot not.  Much of what is not good is not content for a public blog post.

So let me get to what's relevant:

If you follow my mish-mash blog because you found me while doing a Rotator Cuff search, let me bring you up to snuff on what's happening with that:

I'm a week shy of 7 months since my surgery to repair a full tear of the rotator cuff in my left (non-dominant) shoulder.  I just had my last physical therapy visit last week--not that I couldn't still use PT, but there is nothing left for them to do for me that I can't do for myself.  While the shoulder is better than it was, the jury's still out on whether surgery was a success.  I still have 20-30% weakness in the shoulder and more importantly, I still can't do any boxing or lift heavy weights and the shoulder is sore (not medication inducing sore, just sore) all the time.

The physical therapist tells me that the soreness may stick with me for at least a year.  As far as the surgeon is concerned, he's a smashing success because he reattached the tendon.  To me, there is no grade A until I'm back living my life and doing the things I want to do.  So once again, I'm left to wait.  And wait.  And wait.  Rotator cuff recovery simply takes forever.

If you stumbled across my blog due to writing fiction, here's the update:  I've done no writing in several months but I did have the great pleasure of editing someone's manuscript for them last month and it is just as valuable to edit someone else's manuscript as it is to write your own.  Both help improve your skills in the realm of writing fiction.  It was a great manuscript.  One major stumbling block in the early part of the manuscript, but otherwise, an awesome read.

School:  I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE being back in college now that I'm taking classes I have a genuine interest in (for those out of the loop I'm dual tracking a Strength, Nutrition and Personal Training degree along with the long, long, long-term goal of going into Physical Therapy or, as a plan C, Nutrition.  To be honest, if I was going to live long enough, I would do ALL THREE! 

The classes are kicking my tail.  I'm liking the nutrition aspect a lot more than I thought I would so that's good to know.  The only bad part of my re-education is that I went to high school in the dark ages--didn't have to take much math or biology, so I'm having to make up for those deficits now.  It's hard, but I'm motivated and hope I can pull it off.  Besides, I work with a lot of youth who know a lot more about this stuff than I do so I have resources. 8-)  The trick is navigating my 10 credit hours with full time and highly stressful work.  But I'm on a mission.  I'll make it.  I need career change desperately.

And last but not least, if you stumbled across this blog reading about my journey to better health, here's the update:  (the backstory is over the last 21 months I lost 55 pounds, have MOSTLY kept it off, but HAVE put back on about 12 pounds.  However the lowest weight I dropped down to, I realized subsequently, was not a sustainable weight).

Most frustrating things about the health journey:  Eating healthy continues to be extremely time consuming.  It was much easier eating hot pockets and pizza.  Fast. Easy.  Next to no prep time.  But eating healthier, despite the tremendous time drain, has been so, so much better for me.  The other frustration I already mentioned--I still can't do any boxing (which means no stress outlet) and still can't lift the kind of weights I want, though thankfully I can lift smaller weights so I'm now not completely without weight training, one of my passions.

So that's it till the next post.  I'm hopeful that one day soon I'll be able to post that the shoulder pain is completely gone and I'm boxing again.  That's the dream. 8-)

P.S.  Weight training tip I learned from the physical therapist--when you're doing weights, balance out your training by doing as many pushing exercises as you do pulling to balance out the muscle training.  I need to keep that in the forefront of my mind as I forge ahead in rebuilding my fitness.

Have a great February!

3.5 Months Post Op Full Rotator Cuff Tear Repair - Life Returns!

It has been a few days shy of a month since my last post--testament that the shoulder is improving.

Huge milestone for me at 16 weeks (3.5 months post op).  In the last week, it is absolutely the first time since surgery that my left shoulder doesn't feel utterly fragile. I can't describe it, but it simply feels stronger.  Three reasons I know the shoulder is better?

1.     That twisted-up muscle feeling down the front of my shoulder is FINALLY gone after being a painful presence for months.

2.     I'm not relying so heavily on heat constantly to dull the ache in my shoulder.

3.     I found myself shadowboxing in front of the mirror a few times this past week. 8-)

That last point brings me to my really awesome news.  I asked the PT Friday if it would be ok to do a non-contact boxing class, modifying the class by of course not attempting pushups (no way is the shoulder ready for that kind of heavy duty work) and obviously, no hitting the heavy bag with fists or elbows.  But I felt the shoulder was now ready to take the swinging motion required of the arm for kicks, and for the shadow boxing.

The physical therapist agreed.  I went to my first kickboxing class this morning and it was heavenly and my shoulder held up very. very well.  It's tricky keeping distance from the bag so you don't strike with fists or elbows, but then you have to be sure & move in for the right positioning for knees and kicks, but I thankfully had no mishaps.

It was a good gauge of my overall conditioning.  Stamina was down but not as bad as I feared.  Shins lost conditioning but not as bad as I feared.  However core strength has gone down significantly.  Not surprising since I haven't been able to engage in any floor work for the last 5 months.  But I'll have to start virtually at ground zero and begin working my way up again.  But I'm so glad to be able to participate in class and at least kick because my stress level has been through the roof due to work.  And with no outlet for the stress, I've been eating a LOT of chocolate and sugars.  Very, very bad for me.  I think that will begin to tame down now that I can begin resuming something of a normal life again.

College classes are going well.  The one class is dreadfully boring both because of content (it's a basic health and wellness class and the last 4 chapters have been horrifically boring, dealing with male and female reproduction, pregnancy, and contraceptive use and then substance abuse addictions.  YAWN....) and because it's an online course and there is virtually no interaction on the part of instructor or students.  Very disappointing.  If that's how all online courses are I really hope I don't have to take too many of them.  Life's too short to shell out all that money for little return on the investment.

The other class, my intro to exercise physiology and kinesiology class is in person and much more interesting, though as an 8 week course, I just don't think we're going to be able to cover much material.  But what I'm gaining is valuable at least.

During winter intercession I'll be taking the first of 3 required nutrition courses, and I'm looking forward to that (and hoping it's far more participatory than my current online class).  Then I'll take a heavy load of classes in spring because I won't be able to take any over the summer while I have my right shoulder surgically repaired.  But at least I'm working toward a change.  And taking coursework I LIKE rather than boring old business classes. Double YAWN.

As to novel writing?  I did a first pass edit of one of my manuscripts a couple of months ago, and have been doing research in bits and pieces over the last couple of months, but no actual writing.  I don't know when I'll come back to it but the time is not now.

Right now it takes every bit of energy I have to survive my job and to survive the time consuming process of living and eating healthy.  No wonder we are a nation of convenience foods.  High fat, unhealthy food fits better into the rush-rush lives we are forced to live.  But what a price we're paying both health-wise and financially in the nation...

On we go, till the next update.

12 Weeks Post Op Full Rotator Cuff Repair

It's been 3 weeks since my last post--that in itself is indication that my recovery from full rotator cuff repair has gotten smoother. 

This past Wednesday marked weeks 12 post op which is a big marker--the completion of phase I of rehab post surgery.  Now I begin to do more intensive stretching exercises since the tendon has had several weeks to begin re-attaching to the bone.  Also I'm beginning to strengthen the surrounding muscles more now.  The shoulder isn't considered fully healed for 9-12 months post surgery, but I'm well on my way.

9 weeks post op was a huge milestone and 11 weeks post op was also a very big deal. Starting at 11 weeks, I was FINALLY, CONSISTENTLY able to sleep solidly every night.  Boy that was a looooooong time in coming.  This is a very big deal.  Lack of sleep is a significant factor in our overall health and I was really feeling the repercussions those previous 10 weeks of not getting any kind of decent, consistent sleep.

I'm also able to open and close most doors with my operative arm now--I'm still very careful with difficult to open doors--for example at work one of the restroom doors is ridiculously hard to open and I won't use my operative arm for that.  I'm carrying small objects like water bottles or cereal bowls with my operative arm but nothing really heavy.  I can close the car door with little discomfort and driving is also more comfortable now.

Last weekend I took my first hike--only 3 miles and not a difficult trail, but that too, was a big deal because that's the first time I've had the stamina for a hike.

The shoulder continues to be achy, especially after PT and the weight bearing/resistance training days every other day, but that will continue for some months yet.  But the discomfort now is NOTHING compared to what I've been through and I am sooooo relieved and thankful!

The return of my stamina is coinciding well with the fact that I become a college student once again in another week, embarking on my dual journey of training to become a personal trainer and my long term goal of progressing toward a Kinesiology undergrad for use as a physical therapy tech down the road.  I'm a bit nervous and stressed---I already have problems finding enough time to do the things I need to do, now I need to add in time to study and do homework on top of everything else. But there's not much choice.  I can't continue on my current career path and the only way to create an alternative is to re-train.

The big question mark for me in pursuing a kinesiology degree is the high math requirement.  It's a long story, but a crummy elementary school teacher I had pretty much traumatized me for life concerning my ability to do math (I still remember the look of disgust on her face when I came up to her asking for help.  I don't remember the exact verbiage of what she said to me, but what my young impressionable mind heard was to the effect of "Are you so stupid that you can't get subtraction?").  There is no doubt that math is one of my weaker subjects. I don't debate that.  But the real question is, will I let one lousy teacher ruin my academic pursuit or will I dig in and overcome huge doubts about my abilities in that area and persevere?

I may not be able to handle the high math requirement.  But I am surely defeated if I don't try.  And I won't give that bimbo the satisfaction.  I've let her stymie me for too many decades already.

Of course all these developments shove my writing under the mat--again.  There simply aren't enough hours in the day.  I do continue to do research for my current series of novels, though I'm doing no actual writing.  I once jokingly said I can write one book a decade.  The one book that is closest to publication I began working on in 2005---so it WILL soon be a decade.  We'll see what happens in 2015. 8-)

Life is crazy, and even though I pray for direction sometimes I wonder if I'm on the right track.  But I need to trust that God will keep opening and closing doors according to His plan for me and He'll get me where I need to go. 8-)

Rotator Cuff Surgery 2 Weeks Post Op

The second week of physical therapy gives hope and there is noticeable improvement in mobility.  I've had 2 milestones in the last two days:

1.  Yesterday, very slowly and carefully, I was able to work myself into a button down shirt.  Yeah!!!!!
2.  Today--one of the most joyous milestones for me was being able to slowly and carefully lean forward and wash BOTH hands in the sink and apply hand lotion.  That was a very big deal for me.  You have no idea how happy that makes me. 8-)

I have noted there does seem to be a misconception among people, who think that folks on medical leave are at home doing nothing but sleeping, watching TV & eating bon bons.  Sorry to burst your bubble, but doing physical therapy modalities a couple of times a day combined with the slow process of the activities of daily living eats up most of your days.  Not to mention you tire more easily and have to rest at least once a day.

The good news is, while everything may take longer, the fact that you only have one good arm requires you to walk that much more back and forth in your apartment, which gives you a little more exercise (unless you have a butler doing it all for you. 8-)

In this second week of rehab, I've consistently had the energy to walk out a steady 2 miles on the treadmill each day, plus some light weights, and some squats and lunges a couple of times a week.  I continue to work on strengthening the rotator cuff muscles of my non-operative arm as well.  And usually, first thing in the morning before the humidity really climbs, I walk to the corner convenience store or grocery store.  It's nice to be outside, humid or not.  My arms may not be fully functioning but there's no reason not to use my legs.

This week, I've also been able to leave the sling off for longer periods of time when in the safe environment of home but I definitely do not go out without it or rest in the recliner without it.  Still fragile and the shoulder needs to remain protected.

All in all, I'm making slow and steady progress, and learning a lot about myself and other people in the process.

And I want to give a shout out to the team at Endurance Rehab (http://www.endurancerehab.com/) for the excellent work they do.  They are awesome!!!!