Patience and hip surgery? Really?

I was reading back on a post I made about this time last year. I had finally finished all my promo injections and I was looking ahead with a new coach and a new season in my future. I was focused on IMCD and getting healthy and strong enough to show up and race. I was full of anxiety and hope that I was finally healed and headed toward faster races and life long wellness....again.

I got an email from an old friend from the YMCA and she wrote that it seems like I am always recovering from something! I think she is right. Is that the way life is? I feel like I am recovering from 2012 and the hip surgery was just icing on the cake! 

I look around and see friends and acquaintances that are facing true hardships; sick children and dying parents and I know in my heart that my pains are temporary and my life is blessed. Having said that I think it is important to take time to sit with whatever pain or struggle exists in order to acknowledge it and let it go. I am trying to be much more mindful and for me that means mindful of the good and the bad, the ups and the downs, for me and for others.

Whenever I am feeling frustrated or guilty or wronged in some way or alone all I need to do is to be patient and change will come. Hopefully it will come from inside me. My most favorite saying from Wayne Dyer is "change the way you look at things and the things you look at change" and that is the real truth of it. If I can shut up and be still long enough...be patient with myself and others, then I can see more clearly what needs really exist and if I really need to do anything at all besides be mindful. 

So today I am 14 days out from my left hip surgery. Dr. Leslie Vidal at Rose Medical Center. I highly recommend a consult with her if you have any hip or knee issues. I was thrilled and impressed by the entire operation. The biggest pre-surgery struggle was my insurance and we didn't have approval until 10 minutes prior to my entering the operating room! It was crazy and her entire team was calm, professional and kind. Even Dr. Vidal came out to talk to me about the insurance 20 minutes after we were supposed to start! She is a real professional and genuinely concerned about her patients!

The surgery only took about 2+ hours. It took longer than they expected due to some really cool bone protrusions that had formed on my femur. The Osteplasty took some unexpected time but she said she got everything smoothed out and if I am a good patient it should heal nicely! She also mentioned that my labrum looked like crab meat and in fact should look more like steak...not good. She cleaned it up, showed it back together and then reattached it to the bone. Nice and neat. The pictures are gross but you might enjoy seeing them. Just not my thing.

Now the real challenge begins for me again....patience....4 weeks no walking and no driving. John had decided on a boys weekend the weekend after my surgery so my friend Christine flew out from SLC to be my caregiver! What a saint and a blessing that turned out to be! I am a real pain in the butt to take care of and Christine had the house running like a small military camp! She fed, bed and cared for me with such passion and kindness, it was amazing. Once I weened off the pain meds life got much better for me. I hate those things. We had a big celebration when I was finally able to poop because then we knew I was on the mend. It took 5 days but it was worth the wait! Phew I felt better! 

Since John returned it has been a real challenge for both of us to manage my non-walking, non-carrying status. I don't think we have any appreciation for how important it is to be able to carry things when we walk...or bend over...or lift our legs for ourselves! Crazy! John has been outstanding at caring for me, running his business and trying to run our household. We have been blessed with amazing friends and family who have done so much! MP even offered to come up and clean but I couldn't have that! NR, MB, PS, MT, NS, HS, LS, LN and more have been helping us with so much! I am SOOOOOO grateful for your friendship and help! I know I have a long list of IOUs that I have to manage.

The next 3 weeks it is all about PT and being a smart and conservative patient patient. I am going to Panther PT and so far I like their team very much. I will keep you posted on them as time goes by! I have a CPM machine for 5 more days and then I will be ready to throw it out the window! Ugh! I have lame little exercises to do in order to get my nerves working again! It is amazing how traction can mess with so many parts! I hope the feeling comes back to all my parts soon enough!

I have one little ride in the future that I am hoping to be able to do, Buena Vista Bike Fest, June 1 and if that goes well you might see me doing the Triple Bypass. Not a lot of running for a few months and swimming can start only after my psoas release heals. Ouch! No swimming yet!

Patience and kindness will get me through this. Patience with me and others and the process. And kindness with me and others as well. I feel like I am being grateful but I worry that I am not being enough so I need to be patient with the process. 

The greatest joy is that my niece Madeline has been here visiting and she is a great lady with a really nice friend named Tim. They are classy fun and living life! I am so proud of her!

Patience commence.....

Kokopelli Trail Days 1 & 2 - a story told with photos!

John, Heidi, Matt and I did the 4 day mountain bike trip from Fruita, Colorado to Moab, Utah. Between the 4 of us I think we had a complete training program! Injury, work, travel and a host of other excuses kept any of us from really focusing on mountain biking in preparation for this trip...but when has that ever stopped me in the past! Ha!
If I were to do it again, I might check out the profile for the ride...but I knew I was going to do it either way so it didn't really matter...but HOLY CRAP! The "little" hills you see on the profile were hard enough but the 3rd day was crazy hard and beautiful!

Day 1 we left from the trail head and rode Mary's and Lion's loop and followed the rim above the Colorado River. Just gorgeous! I knew my cycling legs were weak so I would jump off my bike at any sign of danger..it was going to be a long trip and I didn't need to get hurt! We hike-a-biked 3 or 4 times that day. Some of the climbs were hysterical because I could see no chance for a bike to cover the terrain.  

The rest of the story is best told with photos!

A beautiful view from high above the Colorado River

We were trying to climb as much as we could without hiking!

Heidi took a pretty good shot to the axle. Day 1 damage!

John and Heidi hiking up another climb.

Checking out the view from my campsite.

Making it to the top after a long day!

John hanging on for dear life at the campsite night 1!

Day 2 started dark and wet and never got much better!

A wicked hail storm moved in on us faster than we expected!

Holding up in a vacant van while the storm hammered our bikes!

My hero!

Hail creating a wicked gully washer in the desert!

All the water created a clay soup that we COULD NOT ride or walk through!

This is just stupid...40+ miles of this crap! Oh my!

 

Finally got to dry land! The road was long and hard too!

My MOJO was on the Kokopelli Trail!

So I tried to hit the "restart" button about 1 month ago and apparently it was just a little out of reach...until now. Thanks to Matt's 40th birthday and my ability to power through any crazy effort I think I am starting to find my MOJO again.
Plus my new drug to combat my weak thyroid helps too! I have been taking it now for 6 weeks and only in the last few days I have I started to notice a difference. So many people wanted to tell me how to handle my diagnosis with food, supplements etc and to be honest, I was looking at 5 weeks of travel and I was thrilled to find 1 pill that might help me feel better sooner! At least the pill will get me headed in the right direction and then I will work with Kindra F., my acupuncturist, to see if we can get me realigned with Chinese remedies, more sleep and better nutrition.
The last couple of months have been jammed with business travel and weekend adventures. Riding mountain bikes with John, Heidi and Matt on the Kokopelli trail for 4 days was an unexpectedly challenging adventure…I might pay more attention to the profile maps etc next time. I wouldn’t have had any more time to train and I would not have backed out so maybe the ridiculous elevation gains and brutal rock gardens were best left as daily surprises! The countryside we rode through was spectacular and it was the perfect time of year to enjoy the fall colors, cool evenings and warm camp fires. Matt and Heidi are so much fun to travel with and so easy to hang out with! Thankfully they’d done a trip like this before so they knew the best food to prepare and how to pack it. And, since I left for the trip from Newark it was a blessing Heidi could do most of the food prep for us. We traveled with a company called Hermosa Tours out of Fruita. Basically they haul our camping gear and food from campsite to campsite, set up the kitchen and then hang out while we ride, fix our meals, set up our tents etc and then we make our own breakfast, pack and hit the road again. If I were to do it again I might take the “they cook for us” option so that we have more time to relax and enjoy hanging out after riding for 8+ hours. The short days didn’t afford is much time between riding, cooking and sleeping.
The 4 days were jammed with amazing views, wicked weather, brutal climbs, plenty of hike-a-bike and tons of good food and laughter. I highly recommend the trip to anyone who wants to see the world from Fruita to Moab and who can stand to sit on a mountain bike saddle for 6+ hours a day! Always a challenge!
I flew from Grand Junction to Seattle, not having showered for 4 days, and settled into my final trade show of the season. I flew home for one day and then turned around and drove back to Moab to do The Other Half marathon, which takes place at the top of 128 starting at Dewey Bridge and ending at Sorrell Ranch. No, I had not been training for that time or distance so it was up in the air if I was going to run or not.
About 2 ½ months ago I managed to pull my left leg out of the hip socket and although it popped back in it seemed to stretch and piss off all the connective tissue around it. I’ve spent the last 2 months working with Dr. Sheridan and doing 3/1 workouts, riding my mountain bike and chilling. Definitely NOT preparing for a half! I spent most of October in a hotel and a crappy hotel gym so I have mastered my power hotel workout, which some of the people I coach can tell you is pretty hard. It is like a circuit session between a lousy piece of hotel cardio equipment and my own weight bearing exercises. It is better than nothing!
Moab was a great weekend. I missed John as he decided to stay home and try to get some house projects done. We need to get some things done before the snow comes…it is snowing tonight. Ah well. Nicole, Michele, Christine, Nancy, Priscilla, Monica, and the boys all hung out and rode road bikes up to “big nasty”, dirt biked and ran the half. The schwag was awesome as ever and we all invested in new Black Diamond headlamps! They are inexpensive and put out awesome light! We used them when we hiked out to watch the sun set over the Delicate Arch in Arches National Park. I LOVE that park and that hike! It was really really windy so we didn’t stay very long! Besides we needed to get to Milt’s milk shakes before they closed at 9:00! Phew, we made it just in time!
The next couple of months will be focused on improving my swim form and times, healing my hip and getting to know my new bike team members and coach! Yeah Altitude Cycling! I am also taking a course that is consuming a great deal of time and I am learning a great deal about how to do things in my life differently. I am still coaching and am hoping to add a few new athletes this year and build up our group workouts for next season.

Looks like the snow is covering the patio now and the stars are gone. Winter is here, a time for healing, recovery, good food and good friends!