Timing, Praising, Stretching

So yesterday was another weird driving day. In the morning, I saw someone drive directly across the cobblestones at the circle (to shave, what, 2 seconds off the drive)? At least the shrubs and whatnot are planted such that someone can't drive through the center of the circle directly (though they didn't used to be like that, and one morning I saw tire tracks across the mulch).

Then on the commute home, car B hit car A, car C hit car B, car D stopped in time. I was car E.

Timing is such a wild thing, isn't it?

Today I got really positive feedback on slides I wrote for a game show I'm hosting in 2 weeks. One of my coworkers said she is actually looking forward to attending the session (um, this is about software tips and tricks, folks!), and that she can't believe my training is in science because I'm so creative, and that she started laughing as soon as she opened it! Another said she loved it.

Then I led a conference call and another coworker said, "Good job Kyle!" when it was over. Yeah, I felt like I rocked it.

Tonight I went to a free class called "The Art of Therapeutic Stretching" offered by the Princeton Health Care System. It was lead by a physical therapist, who happens to work at my gym. Basically it boils down to:

• hold each stretch for 30 seconds
• do the stretch in sets of 3
• do them twice a day
• do them every day

He led us through a bunch of different stretches, some of which I've do now, almost all I've done at some point, mostly in the toning class. The person who checked me in said, "Weren't you here last night? You look like someone who was here last night."

Next Monday I'm going to another free class about preventing orthopedic injuries (scintillating topic, right?). Oh, but first on Friday is David Sedaris at the McCarter Theater in Princeton. I bet it will be fantastic. I'm also thinking of going to see Cesar Milan at Barnes and Noble--I think that's on Tues or Wed. But I bet that will be a zoo.

A Dozen Visits to Therapy

A little bit o' Hawaii in NJ

I want to plant flowers, specifically impatiens, like I do every year, but I guess I have to give that up too for now. My mom bought me this hibiscus bush. I water it by filling up a cup at the sink instead of using the hose. Isn't it beautiful?

Tonight marked my 12th visit to therapy.

It was a 7:20pm appt and I got out around 9pm, so it was one of the longer appts.

Janet did deep tissue therapy and the elbow-in-the-piriformis trick, plus the "I press up while she presses down" move. She also grabbed onto my left ankle and literally pulled my leg, then grabbed onto both ankles and pulled. It feels good when she does that. But she didn't stretch out my hamstrings or piriformis.

She asked if I'd be willing to try the traction table. Why yes! She strapped me into this two-part harness type thing that felt like a corset. Then I just was on the table, lying there, and they turned the machine on. It separates the table which also pulls on the two parts of the harness, which thus pulls me "apart", for 8 minutes. It even has this safety release thing in case I felt new or additional pain. The assistant said some people get dizzy when they stand up after being on the machine but I didn't.

Since that was my last appt, we discussed the next round of appts. She recommends 4 more visits. She does NOT recommend the MRI. Since I am improving (now I'm at a pain level of 3 instead of 3-4), she thinks it's most likely to be disc issues and not a pathological reason for my pain. I said, well, I've been in pain since Jan 15 every single day, so, how much longer is this going to take? What if it is something pathological? She said for peace of mind, I could ask for the MRI, but in her report to the doc, she is going to not recommend it. For some people, it just takes a long time to feel better. If it was something pathological, I wouldn't be feeling better. I'd be feeling the same or worse.

So this weekend I go back to the doc to get the script written for 4 more therapy visits and to ask for the MRI. I guess he will say no. But sometimes life has surprises, you know?

Just a boring post

My new Skechers
Maybe the silver is a bit "14 year old" instead of "33 year old", but whatever...


My new Saucony's
Hope these are the proper fit

I took today off! Yeah!!
I woke up at 7am as if I were going to work (sigh). But I fell back to sleep (bliss!)

This afternoon I went to the dentist. No cavities. No gingivitis. I asked about my aching jaw; he didn't seem concerned since it was aching last week and has since stopped. The hygienist found a spot on my gum that is really sensitive while she was cleaning my teeth. She said it's a recession that's exposing a nerve. Just don't brush too hard there, and it should be ok, just keep on doing what I'm doing, especially since it doesn't hurt me when I brush. She said overall my gums look really healthy. If it gets worse in that one spot they can do tissue grafts or something? Er, I'll maintain what I've got. The dentist didn't say anything about that at all. He said everything looks good.

I didn't blog about my pool pass issues, but they were resolved quite nicely today. Even though I'm the only one paying the mortgage on my townhouse, they gave me TWO resident pool passes, instead of making me pay for an additional guest badge, hurrah! I also met our community manager and she seems very very nice.

I also had therapy tonight. Session 11. It was only an hour and 10 minutes, which is my briefest therapy session ever. Tonight's treatment featured stretching out my hamstrings and piriformis, deep tissue massage and more "I press up while she pushes down" exercises. Shockingly, though, she did not do her favorite "elbow in my piriformis" trick. I didn't have ice and stim tonight because when I was done, someone else was just starting stim. So I will do the ice tonight here at home, which I've been doing anyway, for my back and for my knees. Pain level today was pretty reduced, but I had taken Aleeve this morning for a headache. The next session is my last session. She said she will recommend to the dr for me to have more therapy to try to get the pain to 0 or 1. I want the MRI and therapy.

I talked to one of my neighbors today. She said her mom had pain in her leg. She went to doctors, no one could find what was wrong. She took her mom to an acupuncturist in the city. She said her mom felt relief after the first session and no pain after a week. She went to him 2x a week for a month and then 1x a week for 2 months after that. She has not felt any pain since and that has been more than a year now. She said her mom didn't have stim with the acu. Hmmm. My neighbor, who just had a baby, said she went for acu when she was really nauseous and he resolved it in one session. Hmmm..

I also did a wee bit of shopping too, as you can tell by the pix.

I'm going to start labelling my posts. Enjoy!