First Swimming Lesson

SWIM SWIM SWIM

I took my first, free, trial swimming lesson on Wednesday and I was not that bad.  I caught onto the technique fairly quickly.  I was worried that I would not be able to catch on since I have never learned proper technique.




I learned how to properly kick, how to do one stroke (don't remember the name) and how to breath.  The motions felt mechanical and robotic but at least I could do it.

However, since my lesson, I have been having a lot of pain in my glutes and around my sit bone.  The pain also radiates down my thigh and into my calf.  Sciatica?  I am not sure.

Hippy Gal Plays Dress Up

Hippy and Pretty

When you're in a lot of pain, don't look like everybody else, and can't do things that everyone else can do, it sure makes you feel crummy.

That is why I try to forget about my pain, my disability, my crutches, my limitations, and just try to feel good about myself, by looking good.  You just have to spoil yourself sometimes too.

That is why I bought two new dresses for Spring.  I want to look like spring.  And the best part, I only spent $20 to look like a million bucks; well, at least feel like a million bucks.

I went to Ross over the weekend, and I have to tell you, I have super, duper, purchasing anxiety.  I have a hard time purchasing items for myself.  But last weekend, I said, heck with it, I am going to spoil myself.  Even though it was raining, and there is another storm coming in this weekend, I bought some dresses for Spring.   The first dress I spotted was a black, cotton tank dress.  I love cotton dresses because cotton is more breathable than other fabrics, which is important in hot weather.

The black tank dress was perfect.  The clingy dress has, thicker straps so I could wear a bra underneath and the scoop neckline doesn't reveal any cleavage.  There is ruching at the hem so I can pull the hem down for a more conservative look, or hike up the hem for a more flirty look ;)  I think I will more likely be hiking that baby up.  And a cotton black dress can easily go from day to night.

The second dress I spotted was a royal blue maxi dress.  I have been looking for a dress this color for a  long time since I think this color looks good on me and brings out the blue in my eyes.

I don't own any maxi dresses and I thought a maxi dress would be perfect for a hot humid day.   I had never tried on a maxi dress before but when I tried it on I loved it.  I felt like a princess.

Hippy Gals Can Smell Good Too

 This Hippy Doesn't Stink

I want to smell good and I want to smell like Spring.  That is why I stopped by Bath and Body Works last week to pick up some fragrances.

I already have Japanese Cherry Blossom which is an exotic fragrance with Asian pear, amber, ceder wood, and sandalwood.  It is a perfect Fall and Winter scent.  But I needed something Springy so I picked up three more fragrances since it was buy 2 get 1 free.

Japanese Cherry Blossom

 Pink Chiffon, smells light and spring-like, floral, not too sweet, with hints of jasmine and vanilla.  I think this is my new favorite so I got the body wash too.

Pink Chiffon

 Sea Island Cotton, smells clean and fresh with hints of dewy jasmine and vanilla.  I love the clean smell and spray it in my closet and on my pillow.

Sea Island Cotton

 Dark Kiss, this was the last fragrance I got and I thought it was going to smell sexy, but I decided I didnt like it and exchanged it.  It had hints of amber in it, amber is too strong and overpowering of a scent for me.  Dark Kiss, to me, after wearing it for awhile, smelled too sweet, like cotton candy.  Cotton candy is not sexy.

Dark Kiss

I exchanged Dark Kiss for Paris Amour which is a light, floral, summery scent.  I thought it was similar to Pink Chiffon but a little less light and a little more romantic.  Paris Amour has dry notes of French Vanilla, Coconut Milk, Amber Wood, Sandalwood and Creamy Musk.  I just hope that the amber and the musk are not too overpowering after the floral top notes wear off since I am sensitive to amber.  I don't want to have to make another exchange.

Paris Amour

 So know I have four bottles of body spray from Bed Bath and Beyond.  That may seem like a lot, but for me I will probably use it all up within 6 months.  I go through a lot of body spray.

Every time I get out of the shower I spray my body from head to toe.  Not my face though.  Then when I get dressed spray myself again once more.  Since the scent is under my clothes, on my skin, the scent will not be overpowering to others.  

Gym and I are Taking a Little Break

Two Weeks No Gym

I decided I needed a little break from working out and going to physical therapy.  I just need some time to rest emotionally and physically.  It is difficult to keep up my motivation to go to the gym when I am not seeing the results I want.  My muscle tone is getting better, but the pain in my hip is not getting any better and that is really my ultimate goal. 

It is also tiring going to physical therapy every week and talking about how much my hip hurts.  My hip always feels better after PT, but by the time I see my therapist again the pain levels have returned.

I just needed a couple weeks to not think about my hip.  No gym, no exercises, no talking about my hip.  The only thing I did was ice my hip and do some stretches.  And with my puppies gone from my crutches, strangers have not stopped me to talk about my condition.  Sometimes I just feel like my condition defines me and that my hip is all there is to me since that is all I talk about and all I think about.

I plan on returning to the gym next week.  Maybe Sunday if I feel up to it.  I'm sure Gym missed me.

Goodbye Puppies

Last week I said goodbye to my little puppy dogs.

 Don't worry, I am not sending them to the rendering plant.  They took a bath in the washing machine and are sitting in my car.  Don't worry, I left the windows open.

But I got rid of them.  Those cute guys were getting too much attention anyways.  People were so crazy about those dogs that I would get stopped every where.  People would take my picture and want to pet my crutches.  To replace my sweet pups, I ordered some gel underarm crutch pads and gel hand pads.

When I first put on my underarm crutch pads, my crutches felt very heavy.  In fact I kept dropping my crutches all day.  Very annoying.  I thought about returning them, but I tried them for a couple of days.  Now I am accustomed to the extra weight and the crutch covers are comfortable and provide a lot of padding against my rib cage.  The gel also stays cool when it gets hot outside.

As for the handle pads, I was not very impressed.   First, I had to take off the old handle pads, then put the gel covers on.  The gel covers don't cover the whole handle and I keep getting my thumb caught in the gap.  I even cut my thumb once.    I have noticed that the calluses on the palms of my hand have gotten better since using the gel pads, but at the expense of my thumbs.  I will try out the gel handle covers for awhile and see if I get use to them.

Overall, I don't recommend the handle covers.   Also, the weight of the underarm pads have made my arms sore.  The underarm pads are comfortable but I wish I could test drive the wool crutch covers which would be lighter.

If you are going to be using crutches you do need some sort of pad, otherwise the skin on your ribs will be torn up.  However, you can always duct tape kitchen towels around the underarms and save yourself some money.

15 Weeks Post Op Check Up with Surgeon

15 Week Check Up

On Tuesday I saw my surgeon for my follow up appointment.  I was very anxious to hear what my surgeon had to say.  I've been on crutches for 15 weeks and it seems like forever.  I still have a lot of pain in my hip.  My adductor muscles are hurting and it feels like those muscles are pulling on my pubic synopsis.  Also my hip flexor hurts, and my gluteus medius always hurts.  It is hard to get the pain levels down.  I need to rest and ice a lot.

When I saw my surgeon I told him about my concerns.  He said that the pain is coming from inflammation in my joint.  There is still pieces of cartilage floating around in my hip joint and my body needs to get rid of that.  It may take 7 months to start feeling pain relieve.  My surgeon said that he doesnt mind if I stay on my crutches until then.

My x-rays look good.  The impingement appears to be gone.  I have goodish joint space of 3.5mm on my left(non-surgical) hip and 3mm of joint space on my right(surgical) hip.

Right now it is just a waiting game.  I just need to be careful and not overdo it.

New Speedo Bathing Suit

I Got a New Speedo

I started swimming on Thursday night and it made my hip feel great.  Well, not really swimming, more like dog paddling.  I don;t really know how to swim.  But now, with my new Speedo, at least I look like I know how to swim.  No more flashing the swimmers in the next lane when my too big swim suits falls loose.  I bought one top and two bottoms.  The hot pink Speedo was the only bathing suit on sale for $35.   It came with hot pink bottoms as well, then I bought another black bottom that I liked for $14.  I figure black will go with everything.

I also plan to take adult swimming lessons.  I called the pool already and it is $150 for 8 half hour lessons.  I can pick the nights I want to go.  I think that is a pretty good deal.  The lessons are group lessons so I hope no one makes fun of me for not being able to swim.

14 week post surgery update

14 Weeks Since My Surgery

It has been 14 weeks since my surgery and my recovery has been a roller coaster.  I am still on crutches at 14 weeks, that is 8 weeks longer than the 6 weeks I was told I would be on crutches. 

I do have good days.  I feel a numb, emptiness in my hip joint that was not there before my surgery.  I take that since my impingement is gone, I am not constantly feeling friction in my hip joint.  However, my muscles are constantly aching.  Last week I was having horrible muscle spasms in my hip that kept me up for 5 nights in a row (pain level 7 out of 10). My hip has calmed down now and is actually feeling pretty good today (pain level 3 out of 10).

I started swimming on Thursday night, after my muscle spasms calmed down.  I think swimming helps with my pain levels so I went again on Friday and will go again today. I need to get a sports swim suit though because the string bikini bathing suits I wore in Cabo three years ago are too big for me and fall off while I swim.  Luckily it seems like the other swimmers keep their eyes on their own lane.  :)

As with my last surgery I have lost some weight.  I put on weight before my surgery  because I knew I needed to eat healthy so I would have a speedy recovery.  Now with the recovery dragging on I get really anxious about the future of my hip and I don't have much of an appetite.

Right now I am just over 3 months post op.  My recovery is going slow, but I am am still hopeful.  Professional athletes usually take 6 to 9 months to return to sports after surgery so I still have some time.

I go see my surgeon in 4 days, Tuesday, and I have a lot of questions for him.  I am anxious to know what he thinks, and what he recommends.  I wonder if you will recommend another surgery, or more physical therapy.

Right now it is hard to tell and I don't know what to think.

Birthday Haul

Hi Everybody!  I havent blogged the whole month of February.  Well, it was my birthday month!  So I took the whole month off to celebrate my birthday.  Also I have been very busy in physical therapy trying to get my butt back in shape.  Literally I have been working on my glutes.  But, more about my butt later.  I want to tell you about my birthday month.

My best friend and her boyfriend flew in to visit little ol' me all the way from Washington state the weekend of my birthday.  We had a blast together doing so many things in the Bay Area I don't even have the space to write about it all.  I took my best friend and my best friend-in-law to San Jose, where we toured the grounds of the Mystery Mansion and later in the evening gorged ourselves at dinner at The Boiling Crab, a restaurant where you have to eat everything with your hands because there is no silverware or plates.

Of course I took my friends to see Fisherman's Wharf where we enjoyed the soap opera of the Sea Lions that gather at Pier 39.  The sea lions were cute as always barking away, fighting and cuddling one another.

The last full day that my friends were in town we enjoyed a basketball game, the Oakland Warriors vs. the LA Clippers.    The Warriors, my home team, won that night, but it was also the night that me and my best friend missed Too Short's performance because we had to go to the bathroom because we drank too many $9 beers.  It was a weekend full of excitement and a little disappointment from missing Too Short.

Now on to my presents.  My friends came bearing gifts for me.  My BFF brought me a really cute plaid, fleece, capelet with a matching scarf and gloves.  I now wear it to my cold office everyday.  Oh did I mention that my BFF has a matching capelet?

The week before my birthday I also bought myself a gift.  I paid $40 (overpriced I think) for a Shellac manicure.  It was beautiful and three weeks later, still not a chip. This is amazing because I am so hard on my nails.  Washing my hair, washing my hands 40 times a day, cleaning the bathroom, washing dishes.  Shellac manicures are my new love.  I chose a light lavender color but I forgot to take a picture of it.

The next gift I got came a few days after my birthday.  I asked Gavin for a Kindle and he said I didn't need one.  He said that they are hard to read and I can just go on borrowing books from the library.  I was a little disappointed but I saw his point;  I don't NEED a kindle.  However, a few days later a kindle sized box arrived in the mail.  I opened it up only to find headphones in the box.  But when Gavin got home that evening,  he presented me with an even smaller box that was hiding in the bottom of the first box.   Sure enough, it was a Kindle.  I borrowed The Hunger Games from Amazon right away and I love my Kindle.  It is way better than a paper book.

The last birthday present I bought myself was a Victorias Secret blue Zebra patterned yoga bra because I have been hitting the gym more.  I threw out all my sports bras last year out of frustration.  I was in so much pain I could barley walk, let alone think of doing any form of physical activity.  I am happy that I can now ride the bike and do a few simple exercises, although I will not be training for any marathons anytime soon.