Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Stretch Armstrong

People, I am so tired of being sore.  My tendons and such are just so screwed up and trying to elongate and get them to release is a pain in my...everything.

I know it's all for the best and I see improvements, I'm just beyond impatient on week five.  Massage, foam rolling, spiky balls, tennis balls, strengthening exercises and trying not to wince when my foot goes into a charlie horse every other step is who I am right now.  I did a massive stretch session last night after my workout including this IT band stretch.  My legs were a little twitchy afterward so I broke out the ultrasound to calm things down.  This has been an exercise in patience and persistence more than anything.  Despite being down, I am not out and I am trying to kick butt even if it's not at previous levels.

I thought it might be beneficial for me to see in writing the improvements I see from say, 2 weeks ago.

1)  I can actually lay my feet in any position on the mattress when I sleep instead of flipping around 50x hoping sleep will come.

2)  In the past week I am actually able to sit with my feet on the floor in the car without feeling immense pressure and discomfort.

3)  I increased my walk time from 1 hour per day before my feet gave out the weekend before last to 2 1/2 hours in a normal "shopping" day on Sunday.

4)  The ankle on the left doesn't constantly feel like I've whacked it against a wall and am dealing with day 2 pain.

5)  I can stand in the kitchen to make my lunch and not feel like I'm going to drop after 20 minutes.  I can do about 60-80 minutes on my feet throughout the day between making meals, dishes, going up and down stairs.

I am sure there will be more strides as I go forward and I'm very thankful for the ones made thus far.  I'm just very ready to move on to the next phase in healing.  Oh yeah, I got my bill from the quack podiatrist and I would love to know what "surgery" she supposedly performed on me and what orthotics she is trying to charge me for when I never got orthotics from her.  I knew this was going to happen.  So this is where the yin (the calm, level headed Mr) takes over for the yang (the "wanting to call and bust a verbal cap in the podiatrist's office staffs ear" Me) and gets this taken care of.

What improvements are you making this week?  What improvements need to be made?

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16 comments:

  1. Stretch Armstrong is a good name for the pulling, stretching, massaging, lasing and everything else that your poor legs hips and feet have been put through in all this. But the improvements you are seeing are definitely encouraging. I am proud of the way you have been so diligently doing your therapy every day and I know this will pay off. Just imagine where you could be in 2 more weeks!

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    1. Definitely. I never imagined how much work healing and the upcoming rehab would be. I have to believe it's going to be worth it!

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  2. You are doing great! On the aches and pains however, take ibuprofen, eat bananas, and dirk lots and lots of water!

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    1. Thanks Deanna! I eat bananas and drink water everyday. Ibuprofen does absolutely nothing for me so it's not an option. I'll probably head up for an epsom salts bath at some point today.

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  3. Oh, I remember those days - "when is it going to get better?"

    It's good and helpful to you that you're tracking your progress; it WILL get better (just not on your timeline!)

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    1. I know, right? Yes, I am seeing progress in the original issue and I knew that because of the inserts to treat the pronation that my hips, knees and ankles could take a hit for about 2 months. I've got 3 weeks until I'm on my final level on the inserts and hopefully my body will go a little easier on me.

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  4. It sounds like you're making great progress, and not soon enough, right?!?

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    1. Yep on both counts! LOL I know it'll all be worth it in the end. Just gotta keep telling myself that!

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  5. I'd love to know what she charged you for too. I think you should charge her for your time, and for the chiro's bill as well. Probably better that I'm not the one calling the office staff too, I'm sure the Mr. is much better at that. I've got a few places I need to have my own Mr. call for me. I know that it's never the person that answers the phone's fault, the "bad guy" never answers the phone themselves, but it's so hard not to unload sometimes.

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  6. You ARE making progress, but boy, do I understand the whole patience issue. Now that you have this post, you can look back in another two weeks and see how much further you've progressed! (How's that for confidence?!)

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  7. I have been unable to do much of anything since last week Wednesday. I overdid it with my working out, and have strained something in my back. Friday I visited the Chiropractor for an adjustment, and I was doing much better, but then I decided to wash 2 cars which was too much activity for my already overworked back. This past weekend, the weather was so pleasant, but I was unable to go out and enjoy it b/c I was laid up in the bed. This definitely will make me think twice before working out so strenuously again. I have to realize that the pounds didn't pack on overnight, so I shouldn't expect to lose them overnight or by overtraining myself.

    I hope we both get well soon.

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  8. Haha. Brent and I are definitely "yin" and "yang". I'm the one who Gets Stuff Done, and he's the one who keeps me calm throughout the process. Otherwise, I'd probably blow a gasket. If I had a nickel for every time he told me to breathe...

    I'm glad you're making some progress, even if it seems slow.

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  9. I used to have to were orthotic insoles for my shoes for years, until I started doing a 30 minute stretch routine on my local public access channel.

    Search for "Classical Stretch." She's on the older side, but the moves she does make all the difference, I am not nearly as sore after running or strength training, and I haven't worn my expensive orthotics for months!

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  10. It's good to see it in writing--there IS improvement--even though it's almost imperceptible, day to day. I hope the healing continues, even though it's slow, it IS healing and eventually you will hopefully be much much better and able to resume somewhere normal exercise/activity!

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  11. I love the Stretch Armstrong reminder! HA! I posted a blog on Spark today about what I CAN do while waylaid and even though I finished writing it then proceeded to eat the last two pieces of chocolate in the office box of See's I feel pretty good about improving everything I can for the time being! :-)

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  12. Sorry about the podiatrist bill drama. It is always so frustrating dealing with medical bills--there's always SOMETHING with those, isn't there? But I'm glad you're making progress over all. Hopefully all the soreness and stretching will be worth it in the end!

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