I could kick myself for practice last night. I'm really struggling right now. My Monday physical therapist is a big, beefy guy. He's absolutely wonderful, really pushes me hard each time I'm there. I love going to him because no matter what, he keeps me going. Now that my ankle is healing up a bit, I've been noticing pain in my plantar fascia. Last week, my Thursday therapist gave me stretches to do and did an ultrasound on it. This week, my Monday therapist spent about five minutes rubbing out the scar tissue. He's super strong and it *hurt*. It was quite honestly some of the worst pain I've ever felt in my life, even worse than when they were rubbing out the scar tissue in my ankle. I cried a little for the first time whole process. So I went into practice on Monday still sore from that.
Being in derby stance for long periods of time hurts.
Putting weight on my leg hurts.
Crossovers hurt.
Sticky skate hurts.
Endurance exercises hurt.
Do you see a trend here? =/
Physical therapy helped me out in so many ways. Ever since I got back onto skates after starting PT, crossovers are a million times easier. Before, since my ankle turned outwards naturally, I tripped over my own feet or really had to concentrate to force my ankle to go in the right direction. Now I just put my foot over the other like it's no big deal. If you would have told me I could do that a few months ago, I would have laughed in your face. With just standard skating, I'm feeling a lot more confident than I was before.
On days like yesterday though, I almost wish I had never bothered. My bank account is depressingly low. I'm losing hours at work because I'm always at physical therapy. I'm missing opportunities for overtime because I have appointments with the doctor or physical therapist. The first week after I started, I was allowed to skate but instantly regretted it. I was in so much pain that week and gave a poor performance on the rink. It was like the whole thing made me suck harder. Last week, I felt great, but this week... ow. I almost didn't even go into work today because my ankle hurt so bad. And while I'm skating with more confidence, I'm doing certain skills (such as jumping) with even less confidence (which is really saying something considering I've always been a nervous jumper.) I'm already behind everyone else so I don't want to sit out anymore and, being that this is my second recruitment, I don't want to quit and wait to try for round 3. But *guh*, if I don't get my act together, I'm not going to make it. Again.
On a more positive note, if I do make it into the league, I've already spoken with Spikey about ordering some Antiks. The doctor wants me to use a high topped boot to try to protect my ankles from twisting, plus my right foot is smaller than the left, so hopefully upgraded skates will help. They're a bit out of my price range, but they're less expensive than a month of physical therapy copays, so it all balances out in the end, I think. I also think I'll end up with a bruise on my hip soon from blocking practice.
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Back up and rolling!
I received permission this week from the doctor to do some skating. Whoo! It's been pretty freaking exciting. I did some light skating in the beginners rink on adult night plus received permission to skate a bit in practice. I'm noticeably behind in practice, but I feel like not being on skates for awhile made it okay in my mind. I know it doesn't help me any in testing, but at least I feel like I've been trying my hardest and there's nothing else I could really do.
My doctor's note clearing me for practice doesn't actually take effect until the 27th, so I wasn't able to do the Level 1 testing this past week. It's a little disappointing. I really wanted to know where I stand on various moves as of now, so I know what to work on, what I'm doing wrong, etc. Per the doctor's orders, I'm supposed to do 30 minutes on, 10 minutes off, with up to an hour of skating for the first week, and slowly increase it as time goes on. The doctor was afraid if I actually skated at practice and not just at open skate, that I might push myself too hard. However, with my schedule, if I didn't skate at practice, I knew I wasn't going to be able to skate more than maybe once a week. The league owners weren't there on Monday, so since the doctor's note was dated for the 27th, no skating for me. On Wednesday though, the league owners were back so I was able to get permission to skate as long as I took it easy.
I skated mostly pain-free for practice. Any time I noticed pain, I stopped. The ankle itself rarely hurts anymore. We're still having problems with the plantar fascia, which the physical therapist thinks I strained trying to take pressure off of the ankle. Even that though is getting better so long as I keep doing my daily stretches. (I've been horrible about doing them this week.)
I made great strides this week though! For example - the more I skated, the more painful the ankle was before. I reached a point at the end there where six laps was my max. SIX. I did 16 on Wednesday before my ankle was ready to give out (though the last few were noticeably slower). We have a month to go before we test for our 25 in 5, so I'm hoping I'll be able to get my endurance up by then. My crossovers are improving majorly now that I can actually put weight on my right foot. They're still not spectacular and they completely fall apart as my leg tires out, but it's still a win that they've improved not by skating, but through physical therapy. Makes me feel a little better about last recruitment. A little.
My doctor's note clearing me for practice doesn't actually take effect until the 27th, so I wasn't able to do the Level 1 testing this past week. It's a little disappointing. I really wanted to know where I stand on various moves as of now, so I know what to work on, what I'm doing wrong, etc. Per the doctor's orders, I'm supposed to do 30 minutes on, 10 minutes off, with up to an hour of skating for the first week, and slowly increase it as time goes on. The doctor was afraid if I actually skated at practice and not just at open skate, that I might push myself too hard. However, with my schedule, if I didn't skate at practice, I knew I wasn't going to be able to skate more than maybe once a week. The league owners weren't there on Monday, so since the doctor's note was dated for the 27th, no skating for me. On Wednesday though, the league owners were back so I was able to get permission to skate as long as I took it easy.
I skated mostly pain-free for practice. Any time I noticed pain, I stopped. The ankle itself rarely hurts anymore. We're still having problems with the plantar fascia, which the physical therapist thinks I strained trying to take pressure off of the ankle. Even that though is getting better so long as I keep doing my daily stretches. (I've been horrible about doing them this week.)
I made great strides this week though! For example - the more I skated, the more painful the ankle was before. I reached a point at the end there where six laps was my max. SIX. I did 16 on Wednesday before my ankle was ready to give out (though the last few were noticeably slower). We have a month to go before we test for our 25 in 5, so I'm hoping I'll be able to get my endurance up by then. My crossovers are improving majorly now that I can actually put weight on my right foot. They're still not spectacular and they completely fall apart as my leg tires out, but it's still a win that they've improved not by skating, but through physical therapy. Makes me feel a little better about last recruitment. A little.
Monday, February 13, 2012
Physical Therapy
The good news: Three weeks ago, I started out with two degrees of dorsiflexion. Today, I have 15 degrees of dorsiflexion. They said that's huge improvement in that amount of time, particularly since I backslid the first week.
The bad news: I need 20 degrees, which means no skating this week either. They want me to get up to 20 before I "can do some light skating" (whatever that means. I'll get a definition before I get up on skates.) They're pretty sure I'll get it in about a week at this rate as long as I keep up with my exercises, so I'll be going in on Monday to be checked out by the doctor. If I have 20 degrees and no pain at that point, then I'll be discharged. For some reason, I thought they said 10-15 degrees before, but no, apparently it's 20. I looked it up online to see what they said ('cause if everything I could find said 10, I was going to get on skates no matter what) and the Internet confirmed 20 is normal.
So hopefully I won't fall too far behind in the next week, though it looks like I'm going into testing without having been on skates for two weeks. Awesome.
(crossposted to Tumblr)
The bad news: I need 20 degrees, which means no skating this week either. They want me to get up to 20 before I "can do some light skating" (whatever that means. I'll get a definition before I get up on skates.) They're pretty sure I'll get it in about a week at this rate as long as I keep up with my exercises, so I'll be going in on Monday to be checked out by the doctor. If I have 20 degrees and no pain at that point, then I'll be discharged. For some reason, I thought they said 10-15 degrees before, but no, apparently it's 20. I looked it up online to see what they said ('cause if everything I could find said 10, I was going to get on skates no matter what) and the Internet confirmed 20 is normal.
So hopefully I won't fall too far behind in the next week, though it looks like I'm going into testing without having been on skates for two weeks. Awesome.
(crossposted to Tumblr)
Saturday, February 4, 2012
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