Missing Pilates Session

Today I missed pilates.
I had to go to a client site for a payroll handover.

I didn't realise that it would make such a difference to my mood.
It's entirely possible that I'm just grumpy and there are other things that are going on in my life at the moment that are having an effect but....  nothing feels like it should and it's just a generally uncomfortable day.

I'm going to have to figure out something to do for when work commitments stop me from going to a scheduled appointment.  The next one I'll miss is on the 27th of this month.  Not long to figure it out.

Pilates Shake Up

In addition to my regular pilates appointments, I've added two sessions with Julie.

All three have kicked up a notch.

I didn't know that I could have muscle pain like this without joint pain.  It's the most amazing thing ever.    This is going to change everything.  I'm not even sure how yet - but it will.

Friday Pilates

We took a few pictures at Pilates on Friday to submit to Body Leadership for the article that was being published for Body Leader of the Month.   I'm not sure if the one on the left is leg circles or adductor stretching.

In the next, each leg take turns in pushing forward while the other lifts.

I've talked about the next exercise in a pre-op post about Pilates. (Long Spine) I just started this one again on Friday.  Controlling the movement fluidly is a little more difficult that pre-op but still feels really great.   It is working that troublesome glute really well!  There is another one were I am lying on a box on my stomach facing the left (towards the picture of the skeleton on the wall that you can see in the first picture) but I haven't included that one - it truly is the definition of a bad picture!  The increase in the amount of exercises that I can do changes dramatically from week to week and things that I didn't like and weren't comfortable with pre-op aren't all that bad anymore.

In particular if you remember my intense dislike to the reverse knee pulls, well, that's changed.  It isn't that much of an issue any more.  I thought it was because I didn't feel comfortable looking down at the ground thinking that I would fall flat on my face.  I guess it must have been just general discomfort that I wasn't interpreting correctly.

I'm also back on the foam roller and balancing quite well.  I tried this exercise with both arms up off the ground at the same time but I'm not quite stable enough for that yet and get a little wobbly.  Maybe by next week I will have the strength back that I require!

I'm back on the bosu as well.  I can stand and do squats and also from standing transfer weight from side to side.  I stood pretty close to the wall when I got onto the bosu since though I really wanted to try it out and see if I was ready yet, I didn't want to fall on my ass either!

Friday was a very productive session.  I am starting to see how much more I will be able to progress past what I was able to do pre-op.   There are a few exercises that I was doing about six years ago that I am yet to try again but I think that I will be quickly moving on to more that I wasn't able to do at all.   One of the main that I was able to do back then requires me to stand on the reformer (one leg on the bit that I'm laying on in the top pictures and one on the other where the wooden panel and the feet support it - the bar bit goes down).  I'm not quite comfortable with the idea of getting up there just yet but I'm sure after a few more times on the bosu, I'll gain enough confidence to get up there and give it a go.  I don't think that the exercise itself will be difficult for me in the slightest, it's just being that far off the ground that I'm not quite 'good' with yet.  I'll keep you all posted!

The week in review

For the first couple of days this week my lower back has been a little bit sore.  I had some trigger pointing on Monday which released it but it was pretty quick to tighten up again.  I've kept moving and applying heat when I'm seated and it has helped.  I think it might be a combination of not setting my core properly for the whole pilates session or compensation and adjustments due to changing my cane to my left hand.

I'm not sure if I covered the change to the left hand for the cane.  It has been just over a week that we decided to give that a go.  My walking isn't good enough for no support at all when I'm out of the house and walking distances but I don't need very much assistance anymore.  As my left leg has become the stronger side with more range we have swapped over.  I walk a little straighter holding it in my left hand but it feels a little odd.  The positive is that it feels a little odd in both hands now that I'm not really using it a great deal around the house.  A couple of times I've opened the front door to go out and realised as I went to lock up that I didn't have the cane with me.  It is progress.

So the focus of my daily exercises, hydro and pilates is to bring the right side up to scratch, focus on setting the core and getting the right glute firing as well as the left.  Alignment is taking a lot of concentration as I learn where everything should go.  I've spoken about this quite a bit in the last few months and it is still something I am conscious of all of the time.  Well, maybe not when I wake in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom or am in a hurry somewhere but most of the time.

I do wonder if maybe I didn't do enough glute squeezes when I was in hospital.  As I've progressed and hospital was so long ago, I do question whether I did enough.  If I look back through the old posts, I don't think I had the energy to do much more but you always wonder about these types of things.  I have to add a few more in to the repertoire.  I learnt a new way at Pilates on Friday.  Laying on my stomach with my knees apart at neutral and bent so my heels are in the air.  The heels are together like frog feet.  Then its squeeze, hold, release patterns.  Both sides and then one at a time.  Funny things is, that in that position, I can actually really feel the difference between the left and the right.  I can't remember what the name of them is so I can find a better description of what it is.  I'll ask again next Friday and try find a picture as I really don't think that I've given you a proper description.

Though it's been busy, I am pretty happy with how life is turning out.  Even though I'm not there yet and there are a lot of unknowns, I do feel that I am on the right path in my life for the first time in a very long time.  There is a couple of people who seem to think that I should be miserable and trying to find issue with things.  I think this comes from the fact that things are very different from how they used to be.  I have been focused on what I need to do to get the best results possible out of the surgery and this has meant that I haven't always been available to others.  I was usually the one that could always be relied upon to do what everyone else wanted me to do.  Now that I am focused on me instead of them, there must be something wrong.  I am busy and I have a lot to deal with but I am fine to do that on my own.  When I'm up to it, I need to work in the spaces between rehab activities.  I need to make sure that I'm preparing healthy meals and eating well.  I need to get enough sleep.  I need to be engaging my brain and getting back into things.  There isn't too much time left over after that.  After a period of time things will normalise a bit more and I won't need as much rest on weekends to catchup and rejuvenate and I'll value that extra time a bit more than I used to.  I don't think I've become particularly selfish.  Just enough to be healthy.

Thursday wasn't very fun.  My husband's iMac blew up.  (Well my iMac but there is some question of ownership since I have claimed the MacBook Air!  I suppose it is his now it has been in his office since I got the 27" iMac at the start of last year and possession is nine-tenths of the law, right?  By that logic, I'm on the Air now typing my blog post, so it's really mine right?)  That was a truly tragic day.  There are still other Macs around but this one just can't be replaced.  It's one of the 24" aluminium case ones that they don't make anymore.  My husband's office seemed so sad without it.  It was taken to the doctors and we didn't have a huge amount of hope as to its recovery as the magic smoke had been released after a bit of a bang and that bad computer smell that happens when bad things happen.  Usually there is no coming back from that.  Somehow, this Mac was special and is alive again.  I don't know how but I am thankful!

With the resurrection of the iMac, a switched off telephone and an afternoon nap, today was a good day.  I ruffled a few feathers to have a time out day today to spend with my husband but it is worth it.  With so much going on, I need to remember not to take time for granted and continue to make my priorities a little closer to home.  There has been no 'big issue' to prompt this revelation.  It started with the closure of the last business that I worked for and has progressively become more of a mission.   This was part of the catalyst to do the surgery this year.  It might seem a little bit of a drastic response to the end of a job and it is a little bit more than that.  It is a new start and my body wasn't really up to a new start without the surgery.

I finally received my leave entitlements from the liquidator on Thursday and banked the cheque.  It was a little reminder to stick to my mission.   I did end up doing a rather long day that same day as the young girl at work resigned without notice leaving a rather large mess of uncompleted work.  I was happy to help out and the balance for it today was not doing any work.  I need to be careful not to sacrifice my recovery for work or health.  There are only so many hours in the day and some things will need to be sacrificed, just not anything that will cause me not to reach the full potential of the new joints.

I'm not sure what the plans are for the weekend.  There is likely to be a big sleep in and possibly a coffee run and a hunt for JaMocha Almond Fudge (my latest Baskin Robbins favourite).

Back to Pilates

I went back to Pilates yesterday and it was awesome.  I knew that some of the things that I would be able to do would be things that I've never done before so it was pretty exciting.  The new ranges that I have that have no pain at all, mean that I'll be able to strengthen more muscles and get more out of both the Pilates sessions and my new parts!

Some of the regular exercises that I used to do have been cut back a little bit as far as the number of springs that I am using on the reformer.  I also skipped some of the balance ones that require standing on a bosu and the like, as I'm not ready for those yet.  My strength has dropped a little from my pre-op levels, though I was a little surprised at just how much I was able to do without any difficulty at all.  I'm not quite up to the long spine where the pelvis is lifted (as I spoke about and had images of in Late to Pilates) but I am doing the first part and it is a little wobbly and harder to control than pre-op but still pretty awesome.  I'm not yet doing reverse knee pulls yet - which is also pretty awesome since I really don't like them!

The biggest issue I had was with maintaining alignment.  My brain doesn't seem to know what is straight and I need someone to keep me in line (in more ways than one, but that is a story for another post).  My alignment is significantly better than it was pre-op and I am slowly starting to get things to move in the right way.  Some things feel a little weird, like correcting the inward rotation of my femurs.  I stopped it post op, but as I have been getting stronger and doing more, I have fallen back into my old bad habits.  I'm didn't think that would happen as I didn't do that post-op but maybe muscles had to heal and gain some strength before they wanted to do what was 'natural' to me.  Those so called 'natural' movements weren't really the way that the human body was supposed to move but pre-op it had no choice.  Now, I have the choice to train it properly.

It might take a bit more time yet.  Being able to add Pilates to my already busy schedule means that I'm still moving forward and will be the next step towards being better than ever.

Progress Update

This morning I got out of the pool using the steps.  This wasn't something that I could do pre-op so it's a pretty big step (literally and figuratively!).  I led with the left which is the side with the greater range.  I did need to pull up a little with my arms until my right foot was about 30 cm from the pool floor.  From that point on, there was more weight through the left leg to bring the right side up.  I went up step at a time with the same side so the next goal will be to alternate and then to start with the right leg up.

Next week I'm going to start pilates again.  I was cleared by my physio to do this a couple of weeks ago but I wasn't quite ready for the getting up and down off the floor.  The actual exercises I was and am looking forward to.   It means that I'll probably miss out on hydro for a week or two while I realign all my appointment times to fit everything in.  I'll still go to the pool on its new day - it will just be on my own until everything fits together properly.

Late to Pilates

I was late this morning to pilates...  I swear that I set my alarm a whole hour earlier than it went off - someone must have changed it in the middle of the night!!

I did get there, yawning most of the way through the session as I didn't have time for my one cup of coffee a day or breakfast before I took off out of here in a hurry to actually make it before the session ended!  I was only about 10 minutes late and thankfully so was the person after me, so I got most of the program in before I raced of to get coffee.  (There is a new place almost half way home that is awesome - try it out if you are near Holland Park - it's called Stomp Espresso)

My husband was with me today to see what I have been up to (really it was that he needed a good stretch out and tagging along to pilates certainly does that for you).  He does some different exercises than me given that I have range of movement issues that make some pretty impossible.  This prompted me to remember something that I had been meaning to tell my instructor for a few sessions now.  There was finally one thing that I thought 'oh shit' about for after the op.  I would have to use the fitness circle at pilates.  I've never used that thing, but in all the shared studio sessions that I have had with people, no one likes it.  Every one has the exercises that they love and hate and they really do differ from person to person with, it seems the exclusion of the fitness circle, of which I have never personally met anyone that likes it.

The good news that I found out today is that I won't be able to use it for 'a long time' as it puts too much pressure on the femur and/or femoral head (depending on the excercise) - yippee!

As far as the ones I have love and hate relationships with:
So hate:  Reverse Knee Pulls

  I'm not sure why I really hate these.  It could be that I can't really kneel with the front of my knee comfortably on the shoulder rests (hip range in that position) and end up kinda squished or that as I look down to the floor I visualise face planting.  I'd say it's more likely to be the face plant

So Love: Feet in straps exercises like: Hinges (kind of like the first two positions of the long spine, the long spine and basically everything except for the ones I can't do which are pretty much any abduction stuff which upsets the hips
 Long Spine:

The pictures above I found in google, which lead to google books, which actually had an embed link (which is very cool).  I would have thought that would be something frowned upon - but hey if Google wants to let us :)  To give the author kudos, the book that they both come out of is:

Pilates

No, I have never tried that and though it makes for an impressive cover shot, I think that it leads people to believe that they can't do pilates.  I had someone who didn't know me at all (met a few times during a business transaction once when I was on my way to a session) comment that they are not strong or flexible enough for pilates.  I replied that you work to your own level and slowly increase your ability - that I am not flexible at all, in fact I'm going in for two hip replacements in less than a month, so anyone can do it.  Pilates helps lengthen and strengthen, promotes good posture and is exercise that you don't feel sore from the next day.  Sometimes the muscles feel 'worked' the next day and sometimes the day after that, though I've never had the gym type can't walk the next day done too much (and probably incorrectly so ending up putting excess pressure on all of the wrong places) from going to pilates.  There is still the muscle burn when you are there and not everything is easy but there still is visible results when you go regularly.  I always feel good after a session which makes it a lot easier to go.  People who disagree with me just haven't found the right class or instructor.  There is a lot more to pilates than matt classes or watching a DVD.  A good instructor coaches, makes sure that your alignment is correct, the right muscles are being worked and the program is customised to your ability and has a plan for improvement and progression.  If for financial reasons you are going down the class path (yes they are a lot cheaper), try finding one where the instructor also runs studio sessions so that you can go a couple of times on a one-on-one basis and discuss going to the larger classes with them.  This way the instructor can see what level you are at and suggest some alternatives when things come up in class.  You can also become more familiar with the exercises and the techniques so that you get the most out of the class.  If you find the right person, it will certainly help that they know you individually before rocking up with ten other people.  Also if you are one-on-one, be good to your instructor, they'll appreciate it.  If you have a scheduled session, don't cancel late.  Pilates generally isn't something that has a high demand rate for casual sessions so there is a good chance the spot won't easily be able to be filled and will leave them sitting around the studio for the hour waiting for the next session to start.

The extra session a week has made a big difference to abs and core - I actually am starting to have some dints now :)  (Much to the exasperation of a friend of mine who regularly does lots of sit ups - lots more than I ever do - and isn't getting the same dints).  I know that the dints aren't necessarily the goal here but it is kinda cool to have a visual result.

Pilates Day Today...

I have been doing pilates for a number of years now, with the last three or four with the same instructor. (Who has a really full schedule at the moment and a waiting list, so there is no point trying to steal her from me!)  Over the years, the focus of the sessions changes based on how I am feeling and what I am able to do.  The goals changed a lot earlier this year when I decided to proceed with surgery as I want to be as fit as possible and am prepared to push past what I think my limits are even if there are negative consequences for a couple of days.  I figured that when I started off pushing it, I had more to gain by learning that the limits were a little further away that I thought they were and trying a few new things that I might have previously shied away from.   I need to start to be a little more careful as I get closer to the day as I don't really want to be cut open while the joint is inflamed.  The step up hasn't ignored technique as this really is fundamental to the progress that I feel that I have seen by adding the additional session and pushing a little bit harder.  My change in motivation has probably made a big difference as well.    

My instructor,  knows my main physio really well and they both have similar philosophies on things which is most likely why I get along well with them all and have been going to see them for so long.  The other benefit to them knowing each other and having worked together before is that they have been happy to work together with me to set this whole plan to get me prepared in motion (haha).  Each time I rock up with something new that I have found on the Internet which they are probably a little sick of, though they are all grinning and bearing it and answering my questions about whatever it is that I have found and how it could apply to me.  Today it was about the exercises for both pre-surgery and post-surgery that I mentioned yesterday that I found on Dr Gross's website.  All of these muscle groups are those that are on my regular program, though some a little different as we have the benefit of the reformer and other equipment while I am at the studio.  We have quite a bit more in there and have stepped up some in the old program to push core strength, stability, balance and posture as much as we can through the period of time we had.  I think it was about seven or eight weeks out that I started with the two sessions a week rather than the one that I previously had.    Early after the decision had been made, the physio that runs the hydro sessions for me came along to help with this so we could co-ordinate everyone's efforts.  Seems to be working well :)

Shopping and planning for the week I am admitted....

I spent some time on the weekend looking for the extra bits and pieces that I might need to take into the hospital with me.  Where I'm not sure, I have erred on the side of caution and purchased a couple of options :)  I might have mentioned that my pre-op appointment is on the Monday of the week that I am admitted (I go in on the Friday), so I won't be left with a lot of time to do that much in the last week.  The main question I have is when will I get to wear 'normal' clothes again after surgery?  From some of reading that I have found that the answer varies so, I guess it does vary from person to person based on the incision type and how long drainage tubes are in and generally how fast I heal.  I have selected loosely fitting pants and shirts (not unlike what I wear to pilates now) and dresses that aren't too 'hospital' or 'old lady' looking.   I've elected for soft fabrics that feel good and still breathe.  I've also found myself a pair of flat slip on type shoes with good soles and reasonable foot support so that when I can't bend, I can still have some sense of independence should I want it :)

So far for the last week, I have two physio sessions planned, maybe one pilates and one hydro session as well.  I will be finishing up my medication on the weekend before so the last two will depend on my overall wellbeing given that I haven't been off the anti-inflammatories for that long for quite some time.  I am currently taking Voltaren (aka Diclofenac Sodium) 50mg twice daily and will need to stop that in the week before.  I will be allowed to take Panadol Osteo and Panadeine Extra which hasn't been as effective when trialled in the past.  It's only a week, and I will be fine, though I want to be careful not to set anything off in that week before going in.  I have been working closely with my physios and know that they will make sure that I am in the best physical condition that I am physically capable of being in, so it's left to me to follow their expert advice in that field and focus on other aspects, like eating well and maintaining a positive attitude.

In between the physio and exercise, I have the non-critical tasks like getting my hair cut and coloured and getting my eyebrows waxed and any last minute shopping things that need to be done :)  I figure that if I'm not feeling 100% when I first wake up from the surgery, I probably won't want to look in the mirror and see regrowth :)  Though this may seem to be the least of my problems, I think that everything that I can do to go in feeling positive and good about myself, will help on the other end, even if it is as cosmetic as getting my hair done.