More Prolo, The Holidays, and Staying Thankful

A little update, since it (once again) has been a little while since I last wrote in.

* Prolotherapy is the real deal, my friends. I have now had two treatments, and am due for my third a week from tomorrow (December 8). The second treatment was not nearly as uncomfortable as the first (maybe because I was mentally prepared for it? Who knows.), and my recovery time (the time I spent moving gingerly from point A to point B, and taking Tylenol as needed for pain) was MUCH MUCH shorter. My OMT had not seen me for five weeks between treatments, and reckoned that I was moving about 50% better than I had been before my first treatment. Since I'm living in this body 24/7, I hadn't noticed the difference too dramatically after the first treatment. However, after almost five weeks since my second treatment, I am feeling a huuuuge difference. My pain levels are way down. I am able to sit down on the floor from a standing position without help. I am able to bike on my trusty Airdyne with nearly full-abandon. My OMT has told me that she thinks I will need 4-5 prolo treatments total, before we move on to the manipulation-based treatments. We shall see. I remain, as ever, cautiously optimistic about all of this! Where is the fingers-crossed emoji? I need one.

* PT is also continuing to go well. I have "graduated" to the gym-area of the rehab clinic, wahoo! Meaning, I am now working on strengthening my poor, weak muscles. I am still working to fix one last, stubborn area of diastis recti, too. I am still using the cane when I'm out and about, or when I'm trying to move fast (at work, for example). Slow and steady.

* My whole little familia had the stomach bug over Thanksgiving break, which is one of my very favorite holidays. I was SO sad to miss celebrating with R for the first time. Now that we have all regained our appetites, I am looking forward to Christmas - gahhh! I'm already jamming to old-school Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra, and have hauled out our Christmas decorations. I've loved reading R some of the staples of Christmas books from my childhood: The Polar Express, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, etc. 'tis the season, after all.

* What with the demon virus, my husband getting emergency gallbladder surgery, the current American political environment, etc., I have been feeling admittedly blue lately. Missing Thanksgiving had me miss my annual opportunity to truly and openly reflect on the many reasons I have to be thankful. Usually I can count my health on that list, and I had initially thought, "Well, not this year! Stupid pelvis!", but - but but BUT - here I am. Breathing. Carrying my son some. Living in a sweet little house. Loving my adoring, supportive husband. Walking with only a cane to assist me. Eating every day. Advocating for what I believe in. The list really does go on and on. I can't continue to ask WHY my injury happened, but I can focus on the present and future. So, that's what I'll do.


Stay thankful, everybody.

Back To Work, New PT, Starting Prolotherapy, Etc.

So, it's been almost ::gulp:: two months since I last wrote. Needless to say, a LOT has happened since then. Here we goooooo -

* I went back to work on August 30 (I'm a middle school Spanish teacher). I hadn't been working since maternity leave started in the first week of February. So far, being back in the classroom has been really great for my mental health - it turns out that I had missed teaching tremendously. Even with my physical limitations, I can basically be my "old self" when I'm in teacher-mode. My coworkers and my students have all been very understanding and supportive, too - so good. I'm taking on a new role as part of my building's Leadership Committee, and have new classroom to boot - GOOD changes.

* My work with my OMT is going well so far. She and her wife have a son who's about a month and change younger than R, so she *gets* what my situation is, and how much of a struggle my injuries entail. I've seen her twice thus far, once for an initial consult, and just over a week ago for my first round of prolotherapy (also known as regenerative injection therapy). Prolotherapy (from here on out, I will refer to it as prolo) has been around since the 1930s, but isn't necessarily considered "common" - I had never heard of it before. You can read more about prolo here (http://www.prolotherapy.com/), but in nutshell, this is what prolo does: injections of saline and dextrose into the ligaments around my damaged joints (primarily my PS and my left SI) are promoting healing. The injections purposefully cause inflammation in these areas, and are prompting my body to restart the healing process. After a few rounds of prolo, I should feel a significant decrease in pain. After that starts happening, I'll be able to start more manipulation work with my OMT, which should jump-start my mobility gains. For about 6-7 days post-prolo,I was REALLY sore (as prescribed). I took Tylenol (but no anti-inflammatories!) for about a week to help myself along. For the first time, pain IS gain, as far as my recovery is concerned. Time will tell how successful OMT/prolo will be for me. I'm feeling cautiously optimistic.

* Work with my new PT is also off to a great start. We are about three weeks into working together. She's also a new mom (her daughter is 18 months old), and, as with my OMT, we can relate on many levels. She is a pelvic PT, and does have experience working with patients recovering from PSD/PGP. We meet twice to once a week, and I'm doing exercises independently at home every day. The big focus has been core work. At our first meeting/after her first examination of me, she informed me that I have two areas of diastis recti (who knew?!). Nothing crazy, but - enough of a separation that it's been affecting the ability of my core to strengthen. So, we shall continue to work on that! Slow progress, but - progress.

* I have started to use the stationary bike again! I am terrified of biking on the road, but I have always loved a good sweat session on my Airdyne stationary bike (a birthday gift to myself when I turned 25). For the past three weeks, I have been slowly getting reacquainted with it: I started with 4 minutes total, and have cautiously added minutes. I'm now up to 15 minutes, and am trying to get in at least 4 rides a week. I feel zero SI pain when I bike, and my PS is only a wee bit sore afterward. I have the blessing of both PT and OMT to continue biking as my body tolerates it - wahoo! Since I was an avid athlete pre-baby/pre-injury, it is amaaaazing to be able to sweat even a little bit again. :)


OK, off to work - happy Hump Day.