Author: mriverswright

Gonna leave this here for any Hamsters having a hard time.

I drove *myself* to work today! 11-minute trip. It didn’t feel great sitting on my hams, but it was bearable, I took my time, & there was little traffic. I’m 10 Weeks PO, and was cleared to drive at 6, but I could not have done it before now without pain & fear. I did the right thing by waiting. Laying down now to ice before the trip home.

When I was resting my body on Mon & Tues, I made this chart out of curiosity & the need to do something with my busy brain. It compares my surgeon’s rehab. protocol alongside those of Dr. Wood in Sydney and the two in our files section (University of Wisconsin & Carl Askling article).

The management of such minutiae made my head spin a little (Wendi Brown Miller!), but it gave me both a bird’s eye view of the similarities & differences, and a good preview of my PT exercises & goals to come. If you have nothing better to do…take a peek.

What are house-bound Hamsters doing for their honeys this Valentine’s Day..? I’m making dinner and writing a poem, cuz it’s what I’ve got! Other ideas?

Den of Positivity, 100 days PI, 71 PO:

After a new workout or PT exercises, I usually experience Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS), AKA “muscle fever“: “the deep muscle soreness that surges 24-48 hours after an unfamiliar workout intensity. DOMS is much weaker after the next workout, but the first bout can be so fierce that people avoid starting valuable exercise programs, especially strength training.” This kind of makes sense for me; my brain processes new material slowly. Why should my muscles be any different?

After a Saturday of extra sitting & walking at a conference, I spent Mon. & Tues. back on the couch instead of at work. Now I’m posting these words in order to get myself off my hamstrung ass and do some PT exercises, even though everything between my belly button & toenails is DOMS sore. In my darkest moments of pain, I totally lose my head & start to feel afraid of movement, which is appalling me. Hopefully just moving will bring on some positivity. I don’t have to love my pain, but I will try hard to accept it, and to love myself as fiercely as possible. “I’m starting with the [Meg] in the mirror…”

Happy V-Day, Hamsters. Love you to the moon and back.

On a thread in here yesterday I offered a couple Hamsters some healthy recipes for the crock pot / slow cooker, and then thought, why not share with the group? I’m adding my list with a link to a googledoc, and others can post their favorites in the comments. A few of these come from the wonderful folks at Prime Fitness & Nutrition in Westford, MA, where a mentor of mine is Manager. They have a great nutrition blog.

* For those of us in the warmer hemispheres right now, crock pots are great for summer, too. You don’t have to turn on the oven and heat up the whole house.

It’s easy to let our healthy eating habits slide when we’re in pain, immobilized, bored, or depressed. Let’s help each other get back on the protein-veggie-goodfats train.

One step, one step, one step. We’ve got this. Have a great week, Hamsters.

I’ll be 10 Weeks PO this week. Last week at the end of my PT session Melissa told me we could go down from twice-a-week sessions to once-a-week, and I celebrated because it means progress. And then I went home and just flat out wept, because it means seeing a little less of someone who has been kind & funny & caring & wise & encouraging & a really good masseuse.