I finally made the decision today to take care of myself. I've been in some serious fucking pain for two days in a row, partially because of pushing myself in practice more than the doctor originally wanted me to, partially because I've been in shitty work shoes walking around like crazy for two days straight. Tonight I didn't skate as hard as I probably could have. I sat out for the last half hour or so. After about 10 minutes of sitting out, I know I could have gotten back up and tried again, but I didn't want to risk getting up, feeling horrible pain again, then sitting out again.
I didn't get to finish out some necessary practice time. I'll fall behind a little more still. But hopefully I'll get caught up soon. Once I feel a little more comfortable with the ankle situation, I'll start heading over to Barber Park and practicing more, talk Shae into coming down from Ocala and working with me, and maybe trying to hit the Luna practices on Sunday.
But yes, taking care of myself. While the doctor hasn't said this, I recognize that part of my ankle issue is my weight. I've struggled with weight problems for a long time, stemming from poor nutritional habits built during childhood. So today I downloaded an app for the phone to start tracking food and exercise in order to try to lose a little bit of weight. I'm also back to taking my vitamins again, something I got off of fairly recently. I've done stuff like this before, but I've never kept up with it because of it being inconvenient, getting bored with it, falling off the wagon and never getting back on, etc. but hopefully derby proves to be the driving force that keeps me going on this.
I'm also going back to my weekly goals. Having just a small amount of things that I really need to focus on helped me out a lot early in this recruitment.
1. Derby stance. I need to do this even more. I think the new exercise I picked up in PT should help with this. It reeeeally works the quads.
2. Balancing on my right leg. The right leg is the problem leg, but if I can't balance on it, I'm going to struggle with blocking. I have a hard time hitting on that right side, and fall fairly easy on the right.
3. Staying positive. I whine. A lot. Not necessarily in practice, but on here. It's a new goal to make some sort of statement about something awesome that I did.
4. Controlling my arms. I need to keep my elbows in when making a hit and doing crossovers. I feel like a chicken flapping it's wings.
5. Do the full range of my ankle exercises instead of only half of them.
And to start off my goals? Something positive: I took a hit, fell and did a pretty decent superman without even thinking about it.
Showing posts with label ankle issues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label ankle issues. Show all posts
Thursday, March 1, 2012
Tuesday, February 28, 2012
Things could be better...
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.
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.
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, January 30, 2012
An emo post
Today was the first day in this recruitment that I realized - I can't do this. I can't. Skating is painful. My body has adjusted to the brace already and simply moved the pain above and below it. Today we did an exercise where we skated five laps, did two cool-downs, waited for everyone else, then skated six laps sticky skate, waited for everyone to catch up, then did seven laps. I was ready to cry halfway through the sticky skating. I have to push on that bad ankle in order to make it around, and I just can't do that. It's horrible.
It didn't help that today was the first day of physical therapy. My ankle was poked and prodded for about an hour before going in there. The physical therapist said that I have to work on improving movement of the dorsiflexion. I have 2 degrees of movement right now. Apparently I should have 10 to 15. Basically, I can't keep my foot straight and bend my leg at the same time... something that's kind of important for skating. So I need to do a few weeks of physical therapy, and then probably a lifetime to exercises at home to both stretch and strengthen those muscles. However, my insurance doesn't cover it. Not for a long time anyways. I have to pay a $40 copay each time for the visit, PLUS the full cost of the actual therapy until I hit my $2,000 deductible (fun fact: I have nowhere near $2000.) The physical therapist is also worried that I'll just undo all of the work we do when I go skating, so I'm trying to keep it easy. I told the coach what's going on and was told not to jump, and sit down when it started giving me trouble. I hate this. I hate this so much.
I want to do this. I want to do this so bad. But I don't know if I'm strong enough to handle it.
It didn't help that today was the first day of physical therapy. My ankle was poked and prodded for about an hour before going in there. The physical therapist said that I have to work on improving movement of the dorsiflexion. I have 2 degrees of movement right now. Apparently I should have 10 to 15. Basically, I can't keep my foot straight and bend my leg at the same time... something that's kind of important for skating. So I need to do a few weeks of physical therapy, and then probably a lifetime to exercises at home to both stretch and strengthen those muscles. However, my insurance doesn't cover it. Not for a long time anyways. I have to pay a $40 copay each time for the visit, PLUS the full cost of the actual therapy until I hit my $2,000 deductible (fun fact: I have nowhere near $2000.) The physical therapist is also worried that I'll just undo all of the work we do when I go skating, so I'm trying to keep it easy. I told the coach what's going on and was told not to jump, and sit down when it started giving me trouble. I hate this. I hate this so much.
I want to do this. I want to do this so bad. But I don't know if I'm strong enough to handle it.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Fresh Meat Day 2
I feel so much better this recruitment than I did the last. Last night we worked on falls and stops some more, as well as doing side steps and grapevines. I did pretty well on most of it. I still suck at plow stopping, but I t-stop like a boss. I also did knee glides last night! I really struggled with those last time, so it was pretty awesome that I picked it up fairly quickly. I was so shocked when I went down the first time and came right back up that I just stood there for a second like "OMG, I DID IT?!?!" before moving out of the way for the next girl. When I skate this weekend, I'll make sure to work on these a little bit so I don't stand there looking like an idiot afterwards, as well as my plow stops, crossovers and double knee falls.
During warm-ups, I managed some crossovers! This was particularly exciting because I recently adjusted my trucks, so I felt pretty awesome that I could do (crappy) crossovers even with that. However, my ankle still hurt like a son of a bitch during warm-ups, even with me doing ankle strengthening exercises this week. In fact, I worry a little bit that the ankle strengthening exercises made it worse, because I went into practice with a little bit of pain from doing the exercises for a few days. So I finally gave in. I've scheduled an appointment on Monday morning first thing in order to see a sports medicine physician to check it out for me. I really think it's just a weak ankle from what I've seen on the Internet. I had a bad sprain on it when I was a kid, as well as a couple of minor sprains in high school and once doing faire back in 2004. Hopefully they'll just tell me to do some exercises and tape it up when skating until I get the ankle built up.
During warm-ups, I managed some crossovers! This was particularly exciting because I recently adjusted my trucks, so I felt pretty awesome that I could do (crappy) crossovers even with that. However, my ankle still hurt like a son of a bitch during warm-ups, even with me doing ankle strengthening exercises this week. In fact, I worry a little bit that the ankle strengthening exercises made it worse, because I went into practice with a little bit of pain from doing the exercises for a few days. So I finally gave in. I've scheduled an appointment on Monday morning first thing in order to see a sports medicine physician to check it out for me. I really think it's just a weak ankle from what I've seen on the Internet. I had a bad sprain on it when I was a kid, as well as a couple of minor sprains in high school and once doing faire back in 2004. Hopefully they'll just tell me to do some exercises and tape it up when skating until I get the ankle built up.
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