You know, my dear reader, that I lead a charmed life. I am not excused from scrambling for income, or worrying over bills. I am not excused by the tax-man, nor from medical nightmares. And yet, if you look over just the photos from my blog, one may well gather that I lead an amazing life. Indeed, I often feel that way myself.
But every so often there is a comeuppance. In this case the bill from that terrible failed beach launch this last June from East Beach on BHI finally had to be paid. Not only did I damage both shoulders, and gain a back spasm, but I also re-tore the cartilage cuff in my hip that holds the femoral head in place. The cuff is called a labrum and I had a recurrent labral tear. Only 1 or 2 % of patients will ever have a recurrent tear. Of course, I had to be the special one.
I tried some conservative management but by October I was literally not sleeping. I started struggling with night pain as soon as I injured it but with both my shoulders bothering me, and a back spasm, I simply could not tell what was bothering me more. My shoulders needed rest to heal and the back spasm as well, so I did that first.
Unfortunately rest made no difference with the hip. In fact it grew steadily worse. By October 1st, when I moved the leg in bed I would wake up cursing, equalling dozens of startled wakings in a night. This pain was much worse than the last tears. I had less stiffness this time, probably due to the fact that I have continued the hip stretches and exercise that I learned in PT during the last round of surgery and recovery. So I had not lost any muscle mass yet, and in fact was logging 3 to 5 miles a day with my dogs on the trail. But at night, when my body relaxed the hip would come roaring in, "You'll pay for that now."
I sat down with my surgeon, whom I adore, and explained that I do not want to treat my shoulders like they are a fire to be stomped out. Instead I would like to give them some time to rest and then some PT. I had made a surgical appointment for the right shoulder that was approaching, but I wanted to switch joints. Here is my reasoning:
Last time through I put off the hip surgeries for an entire paddling season. By the time I got to surgery I had lost an incredible amount of condition; not just muscle mass, but cardio, and balance. I literally found myself on a two year track to recover my dry land skills. I could paddle, sure, but I could not hike for any distance and even a long day in the museums in DC might destroy me for days afterwards. But this year, 2015, I was finally back on my game. I was in yoga class, walking and barefoot running with my dogs, just feeling great. Even after I got crushed in that shore break, I was still keeping up with my fitness. But I knew from last time that it would catch up to me and eventually take my ability to walk away from me.
Bald Head Island is calling, and it wants its pound of flesh. So last Friday I paid it. Now, it is Monday and I know I made the smartest medical decision I could have. I *slept* two nights in a row, not because of pain meds, but because I could move in bed without stabbing pain. I am confined for the next few weeks but what small price is that? Indeed, a pittance. A spot of PT for the hip and then on to PT for the shoulders and I will be ready for pool class and the winter workshops down south. Oh yeah.
Yeah, I still feel like I have a charmed life.
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