I didn’t want to let too much time pass before updating this blog again, so just a few updates …
Inching Back into Gymnastics
A few weeks ago, I attended the first gymnastics class since last November when I broke my foot. I took it EXTREMELY slowly – the most difficult thing I did was a cartwheel drill. My foot did hurt a bit, just because it’s not used to moving in that kind of range of motion or bearing weight in those positions. I did lots of handstands, working on trying to hold them again. I used to be able to hold a handstand for well over a minute, but since I’ve lost so much strength because of my shoulder injury and just not doing much physical activity, I was only able to hold it for 30 seconds at the most. (Yes, that is still good, but disconcerting how weak I felt.)
Then I attended a second class a couple weeks later, and I was able to get through the warm-up without any pain in my foot. I was able to do most of the basic tumbling drills with the advanced group and did some cross-tumbling onto 8-inch mats. I even did some round-off back handsprings! That felt pretty good for the most part, which I’m glad about. I should be able to build on that in upcoming classes. My only weak point was in the “power” part of power tumbling. I haven’t used those fast-twitch muscle for explosive movement, so I wasn’t able to do a few skills I used to have, but it’ll just be a matter of time.
Shoulder Recovery
I met with my orthopedist about my shoulder, and since it hasn’t made a whole lot of progress with acupuncture and PT, I’ve decided to go ahead and try the PRP injection. It’s “platelet-rich plasma” where they draw some of your blood, spin it down in a centrifuge to separate the components of your blood, extract the platelet-rich portion that contains growth factors that are supposed to help with repair of tissues, and inject that into the injury site.
My appointment for that was just this past Thursday. It took a bit for the nurse to get enough blood (I have a feeling she was on the newer side), and then it came time for the injection itself. And HOLY FORK, IT HURT. The cold numbing spray the doctor used only numbed the skin. But inside the rotator cuff itself and into the joint, the needle REALLY hurt. And the doctor needed to poke me twice to get the right angle. Woof, it was unpleasant.
So, now we just wait and see whether or not it helps. I still really want to avoid surgery if at all possible. My doctor is pretty optimistic about it helping enough to avoid surgery, but I guess we shall see.
It feels okay today (two days after the injection). I was expecting to have some soreness, but I’ve really not had any at all. Not sure if that’s a good sign or not.
New-Old Neighborhood
I mentioned in the last update that I’m back in Astoria now, and I’ve done a little bit of exploring – not enough yet to warrant a whole blog post, but that will happen soon, I think. I’m also trying not to eat out TOO often since one of my goals for moving to my own apartment was to cook more and eat out less.
But Astoria is known for having lots of great restaurants, a good handful of them that are vegan and that didn’t exist when I lived in Astoria five years ago. So, I’m excited to try them out!