PT, Day 1

Tags

almond butter, breyer's, crutches, george clooney, greek yogurt, low and slow sweet potatoes, physical therapy, pubic ramus stress fracture, Quaker, quorn, running injury, Steadman-Hawkins, stress fracture, the men who stare at goats, trader joe's

The first day of physical therapy is done, and done. Was it successful? Well, that is yet to be seen.

I really had no idea what to expect going in. I came in and met my physical therapist, which thankfully, is a woman. I know, I know, I’m 21 years old and mature enough to handle having a male physical therapist but well, I’m just more comfortable with a woman. Because let’s be real, I don’t care how old and mature you are, telling a man that you are having groin pain and having him touch said area is just a tad bit awkward no matter how professional the situation is. In any case, we met, discussed my situation, I explained the injury and how it happened, and then she showed me the steps we will take. We are going to get me off crutches first, obviously. She said this may take as little as 2 weeks, depending on how my body reacts to the PT. And we will do it slowly, probably going from 2 crutches (my current situation) to 1 crutch to finally no crutches. And then, we will work on getting my life back to normal so that I can go about my daily routines without pain, which will finally allow me to go back to work. And THEN, once I am finally healed from my injury, we will work on getting me back to running.

Now, I just want to say this, after 4 months of this, running is the last thing from my mind. YES, I love it and yes I want to run again one day. But my concern right now is to get off of crutches and get back to a normal life, without pain. Then, I want to try out other kinds of exercise like hot yoga, biking, swimming, etc. And then, I will slowly add running back to my life. I have learned through this injury how HARD running is on the body, both physically and mentally. It is addicting and can consume your life. And can push you beyond your limits because we all know how stubborn us runners can be. And frankly, as much as I love running, I refuse to do this to my body again. If I never can get back to running like I was, if I can only exercise in other ways, I will be happy. I can’t believe that I am saying this but it’s true – running is not everything. Running is NOT worth injuring yourself. If I have to stick to the elliptical for the rest of my life, so be it. Running will NOT consume me again. If I can find healthy relationship with it one day, then I will welcome it back with open arms. But I won’t allow myself to put it above everything else in my life, never again.

Anywho, after that we started working on exercises. Very light exercises that is. I won’t bore you with details but I did leg strengthening moves while lying down and also arm strengthening moves on a stability ball, which also helps strengthen my core. But my favorite part was the cardio. Yes, cardio. Via a machine that only works your arms. I have no idea what it was called but it’s this thing where you sit and your feet and legs are stationary and you use your arms, it’s the motion of what your legs do on a bike only using your arms. So it’s a perfect way to get in cardio for someone who can’t use their legs, for whatever reason. I only did 10 minutes but it was amazing! My therapist said that she was shocked and amazed (in a good way) that it didn’t hardly raise my heart rate or make me out of breath, meaning that my aerobic endurance is STILL good, after all this time. I’m not sure how, but I’m extremely happy about that. I’m supposed to do the strengthening exercises 2 times a day (it only takes about 10 minutes). And yes, I was sore afterwards. But she said that it was completely normal and expected. I am supposed to ice the area after each time I do my PT moves and I can ice every hour if needed. So, I am glad that it’s normal that I would be hurting afterwards. Because I am. But not incredibly badly, as of yet (knock on wood). I will be attending PT sessions 2 times a week until the end of May, at which time we will see where we need to go from there.

I’m sure that was more than you ever wanted to know and I promise, I won’t share this much information after each PT session. But since today was the first day and this blog IS all about my injury, I felt it was appropriate 🙂 Thank you all for the well wishes and the prayers (again)! I appreciate them SO much and I know that it makes a difference. I love you all! And to all of my new readers, welcome!!!

 

I had a delicious bowl of yogurty-fruity-cereal-almond butter goodness for breakfast.. ha, how’s that for a long name?!

It had Quaker Oatmeal Squares, which by the way, are delicious. If you have problems finding a cereal that fills you up and keeps you satisfied like oats, give these babies a try. They are amazingly delicious with a hint of Maple sweetness 🙂

As well as some fresh blueberries…

And 1/2 of a banana with almond butter

And  yogurt, of course.

All stirred together, you have this bowl of almond butter yogurty goodness. Definitely one of my favorite warm weather breakfasts!

 

I had lunch on-the-go because my PT appointment is at 1:30, when I usually eat lunch. I made a Strawberry Chocolate Bomb that had:

• frozen strawberries
• yogurt
• crushed ice
• Jay Robb’s chocolate protein powder
• splash of milk

Simple but delicious!

And I also had this bar that Freya sent me over from England.

Sounds great doesn’t it?

And check out these ingredients, awesome!

I had half before my PT and half after.

I also had an apple with some almond butter once home but it seems that my camera at the picture 😦

My camera has been acting strange the past couple of days, fingers crossed that it doesn’t die on me!

 

My mom and I had a delicious but easy dinner.

A Quorn Chik’n patty, sweet potato fries, and roasted zuchinni.

The sweet potato fries were seasoned with flax, cinnamon, and salt and cooked low and slow.

I’ve been putting the oven to good use of late!!!

I had a bowl of chocolate ice cream and 2 squares of dark chocolate dipped in peanut butter for dessert. And then some popcorn while I watched a movie with my parents.. what is it about popcorn that makes it SO addicting!!!!! By the way, we watched The Men Who Stare at Goats with George Clooney. I love you George but this movie was not the best, I’m not even sure what the whole point of it quite was… I’m thinking it has this some deep underlying political message but that is WAY over my head. The Friday night movie with the parents is becoming a tradition, methinks. But this time next week I will be in Gatlinburg, TN… woo hoo!!!

Have a great night!! And a fabulous weekend!

Love,
Jess

 

"Every time I’ve done something that doesn’t feel right, it’s ended up not being right." – Mario Cuomo