Oh Snap!

Frequently with hip issues there are all manner of sounds and creaks that occur. I have been 'popping' my hips in and out of the joint for years, never suspecting it was anything more than the tendons moving over the bones (that's what makes that snap/crackle/pop sound). I have been doing this with just about any and all of my joints, including my neck, since I was little. I just thought it was normal. None of what has ever happened with my joints was ever bad enough to be evaluated when I was young (er), so nothing was ever noticed.

Now that I have reached old (er) age, the effects are presenting themselves. That old wives tale about cracking your knuckles causing arthritis? Well, there's no medical evidence that that's true. But I can tell you that the more you do it, the more wear you put on your joints. IF you have dysplasia or some other as yet undetected condition, that CAN then lead to degeneration of a given joint. I'm no doctor, but I do see it now, decades later.

In addition to my right hip, and possibly my left hip (which will be addressed post op and recovery), I have three discs in my neck that are indeed arthritic and displaced. Not badly enough for surgery, but painful nonetheless. When they 'pop' I feel relief, but the pain goes into my shoulder most of the time.

I always smile in photos.

It seems that I am just one big mess, although I really just feel big, courtesy of steroid injections that fueled my appetite. I just want to know when they will make one that makes you NOT hungry. Until then, I will walk around sounding like a box of Rice Krispies.

Werk It.

After several weeks of 'Oh my god, is this real?' and 'This can't possibly be my only option",  I decided to hit the whole thing head on. With five year old triplets about to enter kindergarten, I needed to act fast. I scheduled surgery for mid September, figuring that would give them time to adjust to new classes, teachers and friends. Then I'd be down for the count. Once I had their schedules set up and rides to and from activities arranged, I panicked about me.

I approached the gym tentatively at first. I had gone through a period of time where one isle in the market would do me in. Then, all of a sudden, the pain got better. I figured if it was going to hurt anyway, and the surgery would ultimately eliminate or reduce what I am dealing with and working around now, I might as well work out.

I called the owner of my gym and explained the situation. I asked for his guidance in working out and in meeting with a trainer. He pointed me in the right direction and I got going. It hurt, I won't lie. But after one week, I decided instead of thinking of it as 'I-must-get-in-shape-I'm-having-surgery-SIGH', I would do what I did when preparing for a skating competition. I have a deadline date and goals in mind.

Here's what I did:

1) Signed up for and pain in advance for private training (just like skating lessons)
2) Scheduled in gym time on my daily calendar (just like skating time)
3) Paid for the bulk child care option for one month so my son could come along (instead of the excuse that I can't go to the gym because he's with me)
4) Began using my fitness/weight loss app again (I hate seeing how much I have gained), but eventually it will be better
5) Enlisted two gym friends to do the app too so we can encourage each other (regardless of weight loss/fitness goals - they don't have to be the same)
6) Started thinking about my gym sessions and plans as I would with skating. Practice, practice, practice makes perfect, perfect, perfect.

I realized i had been searching for a way to think about all of this that would make sense to me. Equating it to something I know well did the trick. The process is really the same no matter what the details. And I've been doing this most of my life. So why not now? I felt relieved.

Here I was only being relieved of my comfort zone by trainer Larry. 

I also felt sore. The first session with trainer Larry was not painful, and was sort of easy. The next two? Not so much. The difference is the pain from injury or deformity is so very different from that of exercise and feeling the 'burn'.  I kind of like the latter. It's been awhile since I felt it. Hurts so good and all that. I look at the limping and pain tolerance building  as training too. I'll have plenty of it after surgery, I might as well get used to it. I've spent years working through the pain to 'werk' it in front of an audience. This time my audience is my family. I need to be in top shape to perform well. My short term goal is this surgery. My long term goal is to be able to lift my children. If I can't, who will show them who to 'werk' it in life?