Hippily Ever After

DANCING GIRL

Yes, sports fans, it’s true. I took my new hip to a contradance two nights ago, and it works. I can dance. In fact, I alternated dance one, sit one out, all night long, which I haven’t been able to do in a long, long, long time. 

 
I did it without pain. This is amazing! The absence of pain is like a miracle come true. My old hip was only painful when I made it move. Sitting  still was pretty darn comfortable. So for the last few years, I have done a whole lot more sitting, and almost no dancing.  What a drag! 

 
A fellow contra dancer asked me on Facebook how it felt to dance again. I responded that it felt powerful and gratifying. The absence of pain was simply astonishing. My greatest difficulty was the lack of stamina….I was red-faced and panting after each dance, and very ready to sit for a bit. But I was right back up for the next one. 

I was sure I’d pay for it the next day, but that was not the case. No extra stiffness or soreness. Still able to walk and move and feel comfortable. Contradance world; I have returned! 

I am also pleased to report that I’ve dropped the Tramadol from my med routine entirely, and I seem to be down to taking just Tylenol three times a day. I’m hoping I can cut that down and out in the very near future as well. 

To be pain-free and drug-free….I wasn’t sure I believed it could really happen.  But it is happening and what a gift it is. 

 

WHY? WHY NOT?

First, the medical update. My most recent check-up involved xrays, which show that all is well with my new hardware. ALL restrictions have been lifted….I can cross my legs, take a bath, and generally do anything I want except run and jump. It is fortunate that I do not aspire to be the Double Dutch Champion on the senior circuit. 

Someone asked me recently if I’m really going to keep this blog going for a full year, since I’m pretty well recovered already. Hmm….sure. There’s more to come on the recovery track….the first 6 weeks is just the beginning. I’m sure readers will want to know how my return to the dance floor progresses. And don’t you all want to know who wins in the Grandmother/Granddaughter Staircase Race? There is still the mystery of whether my other hip will defy the xray evidence and remain pain-free, or if another replacement is in my nearer future. 

Plus, I’m still on a regular regimen of pain meds…..tramadol and Tylenol. Readers will want to know if I have to do a stint in the Betty Ford Clinic in order to break my dependency. 

But the most important reason to continue this blog is that I never know what will come out of my brain while I’m writing, and sometimes the most extraordinary thoughts emerge into the universe. I’m a believer that if you put the questions out there, the answers will come. Make your wishes known so the wish-fulfillment elves can get to work.

 
I recently mentioned my concern with what comes next in my life. My new hip makes me feel like a whole new chapter should accompany it. I casually mentioned in that post that I had been looking at the Lansing Community College catalog  to see if anything sparked an interest. Something did. In fact, I fanned the little spark and it blew up into a roaring blaze. It turns out that I have a burning desire to become certified as a paralegal. 

Paralegal training? Really? Where on earth did that come from? Maybe it comes from the wishful thinking of 40 years ago, when I was seriously interested in law school. But there were no law schools in Lansing at that time. I was a young wife, with a BA and a teaching certificate and no real desire to teach. I am quite certain that if Cooley Law School existed at that time, I would have given it a whirl. Would it have been a good fit? I will never know.

Fast forward to now. Why does paralegal training feel like it could be a good fit? 

1. I like taking classes. I like learning.

2. I still have an interest in law.

3. I don’t need a new career.  But a part-time job? Sure. Or a fascinating volunteer experience? Definitely. 

4. If I love the classes, great. If I don’t, then at least I found out. 

Really, why not?

So, I’m enrolled for two classes this summer. I’m terribly excited to be a student again. I have my textbooks, my parking pass, my ID card, and several freshly sharpened pencils and new notebooks.

 
I do hope my instructors won’t mind if I knit. 

SHOE BLUES

Recovery from anything is rarely a straight line. Ever had a broken heart? Remember the ups and downs? The numbness? The feelings of despair? Surgery isn’t a whole lot different. Right now, I’m having a down. I wish it were numb….instead there’s a lot more pain. Despair….that would be way melodramatic, but I’m certainly not a happy camper today.

 
It all started Saturday afternoon. I had lunch with my mom, and then accompanied her for shopping. My mom doesn’t get out much, and she still gets pleasure from shopping, so when we go out to lunch, Lynn and I often take her to the grocery store, or to  a mall store. Last year, we took her to Penneys, and lost her. It was getting to be a tense 45 minutes or so until she finally surfaced in the lost and found.

 
This weekend the quest was for shoes. She wanted to go to Payless because they had advertised on TV exactly the kind of shoe she wanted, for only $9.99. I reminded her that Payless has low prices because they provide no customer service. No one would bring shoes to her and help her get them on and off her feet. She would have to sit on a low bench. I cautioned her that I could not bend over and help her either. Nonetheless, she was determined to buy those $9.99 shoes. More than one pair….a whole wardrobe of $9.99 shoes.

 
I’ve been feeling invincible. Strong. Free of my limp. Able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. Able to stand on my own two feet for increasingly longer periods of time. How long? Hmm…..how could I know unless I tried?

To begin with, there were only two pairs of shoes that were $9.99. The rest were $19.99, and $25.99, and $29.99.…you get the picture. The big come-on is BOGO for half-price. Still….not a bad deal. I generally feel you get what you pay for when it comes to shoes, but my mom doesn’t need to walk a 5K in her shoes. She just needs to get to and from the dining room; to and from the car; to and from the bathroom. We had success right away; she liked the first pair she tried on. It didn’t take too much longer to find a second pair. If we had stopped then, it would have been fine for me. 

But she was having fun. And she wanted two more pairs. Remember that lack of customer service? I was the gofer. Remember that low bench to sit on? She was sitting….I was standing.  Remember that I’ve only tested out standing for 10 minutes at a stretch, maybe 15 since surgery. By half an hour, I was aware that I had hit a point where I needed to get off my feet. If I had simply said so, Mom would have understood completely. I blame myself entirely….I knew she was enjoying herself and I didn’t want to spoil it. So I would strain a little. An extra nap and I’d be fine later. 

Except I wasn’t fine later. It’s now Monday and I’m still not fine. Whatever I strained after the 45 minutes or more on my feet is still strained. I’m doubling up the pain meds and taking them more often, but it still hurts and I’m limping again.  Hello cane. 

It does not help that I’m having intense upper arm/neck/shoulder pain as well. That’s probably due to knitting….I started a new project yesterday and my body apparently is not happy about it. But it means that I am uncomfortable sitting, standing, lying down. Whine whine whine. 

This still beats a broken heart though.