Countdown to Colorado

Two days until I leave. As I was packing some items earlier today, I thought back to last year when I was trying to pack to leave home for 7 weeks. It's so much easier to pack for only a week!! :-) It also brought back lots of memories of my time in Vail after surgery and I cannot wait to get back there!! Looking forward to dinner at Sweet Basil and/or Montauk's and wandering through Vail village. And, of course, I am going to have to spend some time at my favorite brewpub in Edwards. Funny how the bad memories fade and we are left with only the good ones, huh? I have almost completely forgotten about sleeping with my feet bound together, the foot pumps and the hip brace.

A little time in Ft Collins, Rocky Mountain National Park and then Vail. The mountains in the summer - the only place to be. Can't wait!!! I will really look forward to the day when this hip issue is completely resolved and I am writing about the backpacking trip out of Durango that I am planning or the canyoneering trip to Utah or the million other things that I want to do.

As I write, the sound of Willie Nelson singing, "on the road again" is playing in my head. It's for a week; it doesn't seem nearly long enough. Seven weeks may sound like too long but 1 week surely isn't long enough.

Looking forward to seeing my "second family" at Howard Head and catching up on their lives.

NOT looking forward to the shots.

Looking forward to seeing Dr. Philippon and finding out his expert opinion on this whole hip thing. And, looking forward to putting together an action plan. I am tired of sitting on the sidelines waiting for things to get better.

Will continue to post on my progress . . . the good, the bad and the ugly. I am hoping for more good, less bad and absolutely no ugly. We'll see how that works out for me.

Groundhog Day

Ever see the movie Groundhog Day with Bill Murray. He has to repeat every day until he "gets it right". I'm pretty sure I am stuck in the same movie. Every day, I get up and diligently perform my psoas stretches and think that back pain will magically disappear. It doesn't. In fact, I was on the verge of more back spasms this week because I had the nerve to take a walk and work in my garden. Ugh!!

So, just about 1 week until I see Dr. Philippon. I was texting today with physical therapy and getting my "team" in place for next week. I am excited and anxious all at the same time. Can't wait to see Dr. P and hear his assessment of my hip situation. Nervous about the shot(s) but anxious to get on with it so I can get back to my regularly scheduled life. :-)

Have steeled myself for the potential of a third surgery but remain optimistic that the shots and physical therapy will be able to remedy the situation. Am anxious to get back to my workouts without pain.

Looking so forward to Vail in the summer!! Want to have dinner at Sweet Basil or Montauk's and walk through the village without wincing or feeling hip instability. Hoping that Lindsay and i can hook up for dinner and catch up on each other's lives and enjoy a little of what Vail has to offer in the summer.

Feeling terribly optimistic tonite and looking forward to seeing Dr. Philippon and his staff. I know I am in the best hands possible and will be back on track to living my life again.

Let the journey begin!

Independence Day

But not for me. I was feeling pretty good this weekend. No hip pain and things seemed normal. I was so confident that I even went for a long walk. Wow, I thought, no hip pain, a little lower back pain but maybe that's because I haven't been walking for awhile. So, I turned to head back home and was actually fantasizing about how I might have been working out too much which contributed to my earlier hip pain and now that I had actually taken some time off maybe it had healed itself. In fact, I went so far as to think if maybe I should call Dr. Philippon's office and talk to them about cancelling or postponing my August appointment. And, while I was off in la-la land, I even thought about not cancelling my appointment and simply going to Colorado to do a little hiking.

Wake-up call for April. . . yes, it's your hip and you aren't doing any such thing. No go . . . by the time I got home, the pain was back in full force including the pain down the inside of my left thigh and the lower back tightness and tenderness. Ugh!!! Even as I tried to sleep last night, it kept reminding me how foolish I had been for even thinking that I had self-cured. Nope!!!

Today - still tenderness in my inside thigh and my back is killing me. Back to the psoas stretch twice a day instead of once and limiting my activity. Do you know how much it pains me to write, "limiting my activity"? This was supposed to be my independence year -- no more hip pain allowing me to plan one adventure after another. ugh!! My adventure this summer is a trip to Colorado to see Dr. Philippon for a diagnosis on my hip. :-(

I am not feeling especially optimistic today and hate to wish my life away but am anxiously awaiting August 4 to hear the plan of attack. I do, however, know in my heart of hearts that if anyone can figure this out and make it work, it's Dr. Philippon. And, spending some time in the mountains in August isn't the worst thing in the world. I just wish it were sooner rather than later. I am not the most patient person in the world.

So, it's back to my summer reading list instead of the mountain bike or road bike. Limited amounts of time in the kayak and wishing for August 4.