Day 11

Great progress today. Lindsay is still working with me and had me put full weight on my left leg today . . . twice. It was scary. She said she thought I was going to have a heart attack . .. my eyes bulged out and I think I even screamed a little. But, the bottom line is that she wants me walking without crutches by this weekend so she is trying to get the appropriate muscles working to do so. The other thing we discovered today is that my hip problem has been going on for a long time so the muscles that support the hip are tight . . locked in place .. . and need lots of work to release. It's painful, it's hard work, and it's a little scary but we made really good progress today figuring out what's holding me back and getting to work on them. For anyone who might be technical -- it's my hip flexor, psoas and it band. Lots of stretching, massage and active resistance. I may not be able to keep up with the 20 somethings in pt but I am making progress.

Tomorrow I am back with Lauri. What will be interesting for me to see is how hard Lauri pushes now that Lindsay has figured out what the problem is. Last week, Lauri made some progress but didn't seem to push as hard as Lindsay. I suspect that is by design but that's something that I think I will know for sure this week.

I found out today that I will need to have a physical therapist lined up when I get back to Indy as I will have to be in pt for another 2 months after I get home. The good news is that there is someone here at Howard Head who will call potential therapists in Indy and interview them. They will then check in with them weekly to make sure they are following the protocols. I have to say, this team here is phenomenal!! I feel so lucky to be able to stay here and do my pt for 6 weeks instead of trying to coordinate it from Indy. I know that I will be so much further ahead by doing this and I feel really, really lucky! Most hip patients only stay for 2 weeks and then head home. The advantage to staying here is that these therapists know when to push and when not to. I can't believe the difference between this time and last time (6 years ago). I am doing things at 11 days that I didn't do until 4 or 5 weeks out last time. It's great but makes me nervous at the same time.

I had a really rough first 5 days but definitely turned a corner at about day 7. It continues to improve from there and now I really feel like I will have my life back on my terms when I am finished with this. Backpacking, hiking, canyoneering, kayaking, learning to snow ski or snowboard .. .the possibilities are limitless!! Woohooo!!!! Maybe turning 50 won't be so bad after all. :-)