Cautiously Optimistic

Like, no way, it's a hip/back update with a positive title. Waaaay!

It's been almost a month now since I began my backwards-to-go-forwards workout routine with my new physical therapist. Seems like a decent time-gap for a progress report.

Are you sitting down? The word progress appeared in a blog post about my hip and back. No way!? Waaaay.

Despite going backwards in the beginning, we have sped forwards every week since then. It's been nothing short of a-mazing. Just think, in early June, I was in so much pain I could barely get out of bed. My first week of exercises consisted of having almost my entire body touching the floor at all times. Now I'm back at the gym squatting and lunging and using weights. I'm blown away. Literally blown away.

Has the pain miraculously disappeared? Well, no. That would be nice and maybe it will happen but I can definitely say that the pain hasn't got worse, nor have I had any major flare-ups that coincide with the increased activity. I have taken a couple of painkillers on weekends but nothing like the daily NSAID as Pez-Dispenser I was using earlier this month. The best part is that, while feeling at the best end of my pain scale, I have a challenging workout routine that is building strength, balance, and stability. I feel the progress in my core - literally and figuratively.

I am having days without little-to-no pain, however. Still, my culprits are sitting at my desk too long and handling Daisy on weekends - both of which can leave me reaching for the ice-pack. It's a balance thing and not every day is balance-able.

So what is so different about PT #5? Attitude is one thing for sure. He never looked at me as a broken 35 year old who was on the wrong side of her physical best. He saw someone to be repaired. It just didn't seem to occur to him that I wouldn't get better. Equally, each week he has challenged me to do things that other PTs have told me I might never do again, at least not without inducing a major flare-up - jogging, squatting, lunging, for instance. The exercises are different too. No balls, which seem to be the crutch of most physical therapists, but lots of sports-specific-like training - I'm doing a lot of the same exercises (albeit with modifications) that I'm seeing the athletes who train there do. I'm being treated like an athlete with an injury not a couch-potato with a disability. It's awesome and energizing and hopeful.

This week I started back at the gym and it's just put me back in a whole different mind-set. Although most people would balk at the thought of getting up at 4:45am three days a week, I have been almost begging for that day to occur. It's awesome. Almost like the old me.

I've still got a long way to go yet, however. I'm pretty sore from the new exercises and have to be careful not to get slack and flare something up with poor posture or something. Hence, the cautious optimism.