ghost in the glass

That thing where I'm supposed to update about ME. That. That THING.

So, my hip. The newest in the ongoing chain of "pieces of Rose that decide to malfunction". A stabby pain in my hip sent me to the doctor, who put me on anti-inflammatories and ice. The hip reacted well and healed up. I continued my normal routine.

Wash, rinse, repeat, from February until now. Except it's now more of a "dull ache constant pain" and it's impacted my normal routine (which means I've gained back every damned pound I lost, plus some, due to not being able to exercise worth a damned with a bum hip.)

Soooo, I go BACK to the doctor and start getting pushy and demanding. YES, the anti-inflammatories take care of the pain, but I don't want to keep popping pills to mask symptoms and How Do We Fix THIS???

* They send me to go get xrays.
* The xrays come back completely normal.
* My doctor throws up hands in defeat and sends me to an orthopedic doctor.
* Who looks at the completely normal xrays, has no idea what I did or how to fix it, says stay on the anti-inflammatories, half heartedly suggests cortizone shots (no thank you), and then helpfully suggests PT.

And THEN, yesterday, I had my first session of PT. And my PT therapist looked at me, made me walk around in bare feet for awhile, put me through my paces in stretching ("can you move this way? How about this? Does this hurt?") and strength tests ("Lift your knee. Now don't let me push it down.") and then made some Hmmmm noises and had two things to say:

"Have you ever been a dancer? I've never seen anyone else walk like that - your heels never touch the floor." (Me: "They don't??" My roommate, on hearing this later: "Duh. You walk like a CAT. Their heels don't touch the floor either!")

and...

"You probably hyperextended something. You're TOO FLEXIBLE and you have ZERO core strength."

.....this is the very FIRST time that anyone has been able to suggest any reasonable or plausible cause of WHY I've been in pain. x____x

So now I have strength building exercises to do twice daily (reverse plank and clam shell leg lifts and weighted marching) which make my thigh muscles burn and beg for mercy (I started shaking like a leaf as soon as the PT lady put me in the reverse plank pose and she just snorted and said yeah, there, SEE? Zero core strength. Stop doing yoga! Start doing tai chi!) and then some stretches to loosen the muscles up afterwards. Which involved her showing me a stretch and going "ok, can you feel that?" and me going "...um, no." Stretch further - "now?" "no." Stretch even further - "now?" "still no." "...ok, this obviously isn't going to work for you. You're too flexible." and then finding a completely different modified stretch that doesn't seem like it'd stretch anything (kneel on one knee and drop your tailbone down) and which had me going "oh, hey, WOW, OW! I can FEEL that!" =P

And I have to do the exercises twice daily, and go to PT twice weekly, and I can't really say my morning routine is improved by doing things at omg!o'clock that make my hips and thighs hurt. mrph. BUT. At least there's an action plan now.

...just mostly. kinda. sorta. oh hai, first round of spring crud. I've spent the last two days weak as a kitten and toddling around the house doped up on dayquil and thera-flu. Today I'm back at work but still doped up on thera-flu (apple & cinnamon thera-flu doctored with two packets of sweetener and some honey is surprisingly nice and not at all medicinal - the honey is key, it kills the sharp aftertaste).

I've been AFK from anything that doesn't go directly to my email and don't much have the energy to do anything else right now. If you want me, email me? *HUGS!* ('cus internet hugs don't spread germs!)

So, yesterday I a) talked to my student advisor, b) talked to financial aid, c) talked to the registrar, d) talked to my doctor. I feel really damned productive, even if I didn't actually do a lick of classwork.

The upshot is that I'm switching to part time - only one class at a time, 8 credits a quarter. This will take effect in two weeks, after I finish the current classes I'm in, and will remain in effect until the end of the academic year in May, by which time I'm hoping to feel better. =P

(I looked into taking an actual leave of absence, but the amount of foobaring around with my loans wasn't worth it.)

Also, as it's almost certain that I'm going to flunk copywriting AGAIN (oh god, don't ask), my student advisor helpfully assured me she'd ask for it to be added back to my class list LATER, so that I don't have to go straight back into it again. x___x

AND, because if I *do* bomb the two classes I'm in (likely, though I might be able to pull a miracle in ethics), I went to my doctor to get a note (it's all typed up official on company letterhead) which might let me appeal the current classes so that I can take them again later at no charge. And the doctor looked at me with that v___v look that doctors get, so in addition to the note I have a new prescription for extra strong Zantac for my stomach, which I'm to take regularly instead of only when I need it, so that we can do a few months of being proactive about my severely over acid stomach.

You know what? It makes a HUGE difference in your outlook in the mornings when you wake up and it DOESN'T feel like your stomach is eating itself. ^___^

Better living through chemicals. Hip hip hurrah!

No, I'm not talking about the infamous Beekman llama cutouts at work, though I do have to do another one of those again sometime soon. =P Actually, I was just telling Tae how I was feeling better in a comment and realized I might want to put it here as well... y'know, to offset all the whining I've done the last few days. =P

The headache! It is... being beaten into submission, at least, if not entirely gone yet. Turns out - and this is the part where I feel really dumb - that little thing called dehydration? Yeaaaah. Don't mix that with killer allergies that legitimately congest one half of your head.

( tl;dr health stuff )

But! Overall, problem solved, and now I need to go drink Yet Another Glass Of Water, take my evening dose of allergy meds, and get back to doing my homework because I can NOT afford to drop behind during finals week. x_x

I've been the definition of "boring" lately. Oh, look - I get up, I go to work, I come home, I do homework, or clean the house, or aimlessly surf the internet, and then I pass out to sleep the sleep of the dead and get up and do it all over again. Wash, rinse, repeat. Etc.

But okay, there's always more to life then that, even when it doesn't seem like there is, so here's the real state of the Rose lately: ( long rambling post is long! )

And now, somehow, it's gotten to be 2pm already. omgwtf, where did the day go???? argh. guess I'd better make with the house cleaning and homework now. =P