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Archive of ‘Exercise’ category

I Spun, I Puppy Watched, I Got Spam and I Learned To Drive

Hi kids and pups. And I mean it when I say pups — I have been watching Santana for the last few days on a live camera feed! She is adorable and sweet and a very sleepy baby. I love her so much I sometimes don’t know what to do other than make smushy sounds and instant message Mallory to discuss how much I love her dog and give her a play by play of Santana’s every move, as Mallory does not have access to this site. She curls up into a little ball to sleep sometimes. santana ball

Sometimes she lies on her side. No matter what, it is adorable. I really want my own puppy so I don’t have to miss my brother’s from across the country. I think it is wrong that I miss Santana this much. If I had my own puppy I could just love it in real life. Anyway…

santana sleep     santana sleep

Funny Spam Comment
I have excellent spam filters on this blog, and sometimes I read through my spam folder for fun. Here is one funny spam comment I received yesterday:

You know so many interesting infomation. You might be very wise. I like such people. Don’t top writing.

I have to say… I agree. I kinda wanted to unspam this so the comment could live on my site for eternity. But then I thought about being responsible for people clicking on that link and getting infected with computer-eating viruses and I decided not to. Although I do think it is important for everyone to know that I have many interesting infomation! So many! Infomation, for those of you who are not familiar, is the fomation of info. It is true that I might be wise. I might not be, though. I like such people too — you know, the ones who have so many interesting information and might be wise. Those are the best kinds of people. I won’t top writing, but if I did, what could I top it with? Playing an instrument, maybe? I always did want to learn how to play the piano… For now, though, my writing will not be topped!

Spin Update
Yesterday morning, upon my physical therapist’s insistence, I took a spin class. PT told me she doesn’t know what to do with me until I test it out and see how I do. I had been seeing her for over a month now and have shown considerable improvement. (Read her letter to my doctor here). So yesterday was the day.

I went to spin with Missy and her sister at New York Sports Club at 7:00 AM. I selected a bike in the front of the room so I could watch my knee in the mirror. Missy and her sister remained in the back. I really enjoyed explaining to her sister that I had to be in the front because I have valgus. I said that! As if she would even know what that was. I felt really cool and medical and smart and sporty saying, “I need to be in the front to watch my knees because I have valgus.” I USED VALGUS IN A SENTENCE!!!

 Class started and I immediately pushed my left knee outwards. It felt like a lot of work but the mirror showed me it looked forwards. It just FEELS outwards to me because that is not the natural way my bone structure lies. A couple of times, I let my knee go normally to see the difference. It was bent SO FAR inwards — no wonder I had problems. Imagine spinning like that multiple times a week for months!

My right knee was facing forwards just fine. I actually remember noticing this one during my spin days. I remember seeing my leg twisting in and looking around to everyone else’s facing forward. I thought there must be something wrong with the way my spin shoe was set up, that it was locking in to the pedal at an incorrect angle. Now I realize that the problem is me!

I used to spin 3 to 5 times a week. It had gotten to the point where while it was a great, drenching workout, it just wasn’t that hard. Well, after not spinning for about 2 months I was shocked by just how DIFFCULT spinning was for me! Within the first 10 minutes my heart rate had jumped to 195. My entire chest was red from exertion and I felt my lungs laboring. The class itself wasn’t any harder — in fact, it was most certainly easier — than the classes I took at my gym. My heart rate stayed in the 190s and 180s the entire class. My max HR was 197, average 181. I burned 470 calories. I was simply out of spin shape!

I didn’t even realize that spinning so much lessened the challenge of the workout. I made a decision that when (if?) I go back to spinning I will only do it once a week so I can get a real challenge and attain the most benefits.

Anyway, back to my knee. While in the sitting position, I was able to keep it stabile and facing forward. Standing in second position wasn’t so simple. I found that even with my greatest effort, my knee still seemed a bit wobbly. It was much better than when I used to let it bend inwards, but it wasn’t as straightforward as I would have liked. Third position was a bit easier since I was supporting my upper body more. Toward the end of the class I found that holding my upper thigh out and tightening the muscles there helped my knee stay in a constant stabile position.

When class ended, I was thrilled to have finally spun again — and thrilled that I felt NO knee pain during the entire class. I did feel shoulder pain, but that is for anothet entry. I was excited to tell my PT, and while I decided that I will not rejoin my gym (too expensive) I would begin taking a spin class every now and then at friends’ gyms.

And then the knee pain started.

A few hours after getting to work, I was sitting down chatting with a coworker when I felt an intense pain in my knee; in the same spot that always bothered me during spin. I figured it was nothing, a fluke and dismissed it. But then I had to get up and walk. And I couldn’t move my knee. I couldn’t straighten it. I couldn’t bend it. My knee was caught in the exact position it was in when I was sitting. I assume the “catching” occurred at the time I felt the sharp pain.

I got up and hobbled my way back to my desk. After a few minutes my knee was no longer caught — but now the pain was constant. After about 20 minutes the pain seemed to have dissipated. I was on the phone with the boy and he thought the knee catching might indicate a more serious problem. He asked me to bend and straighten my knee. I did this and it HURT. At one point it also caught again. I stopped doing this.

Throughout the rest of the day, the knee pain was there. It wasn’t constant, but it was often. It hurt most when I walked. I didn’t feel it while sitting. Later in the evening, the boy and I were walking to the Boat Basin for dinner (YUM) and my knee was killing me.

I think that I was not ready to spin. Which also means I am not ready to run. PT had told me that if I can walk without pain (which I can), then I can run without pain. But maybe I need more time to recover, more strengthening, more stretching. I have an appointment with her tonight and I look forward to hearing what she says. I also have an appointment with my orthopedist on Thursday, so I will see what he says as well.

I was doing my absolute best during spin. I didn’t take my eyes off my knee once during the entire 45 minutes. If I still feel pain, then perhaps my problems are bigger than we realized. I guess we will see… in the meantime, I can still do Core Fusion and honestly? I am liking it much better than spin now anyway.

Drivers License Photo
And lastly…. yesterday I wrote about why I love my drivers license picture. Here is a refresher in case you didn’t read it yesterday:

I never changed my license address when I moved to Manhattan. Three and a half years ago. But I have a good reason!

I, uh… love my drivers license picture. And I was worried that if I changed the address they would make me change the picture, as I somehow entered a loophole in the picture changing timeline. I didn’t want them to realize that I haven’t taken a new picture since I was 16. I am 26 now. But I love that picture! If it were up to me, I’d have this license picture forever.

Like I said, I was 16. I was slightly ghetto-fab, being from Queens and all, so I had the two front pieces of hair framing my face while the rest of my hair was half-up. (Remember half-up!) I had also applied generous amounts of fake tan the night before — in preparation for this photographic opportunity. I was also rocking perfectly applied eyeliner. Because of (despite?) all this, my picture turned out beautiful! I loved it, I love when I have to show it to people, I love the compliments I get for it!

And here you have it… my drivers license! (My middle name is Heather, I don’t know how it got on there!) Also, note how I dotted the i in Dori with a star. And I am actually 5’5, NOT 5’4. My mom is 5’4 so I always assumed I was the same height as her, so that is what I wrote. I used to also assume I had the same shoe size as my mom and spent a few years buying size 7 when in fact I am a 6 or 6.5. Oops.

DL-002    DL-001

Valgus

This morning was finally the last morning I had to spend at the hospital this week. Waking up at 5:45 to get to the hospital by 7:30 and then going straight to work has not been fun. I am  tired, cranky and ugly. The good news is that this is the last GI test ever — unless something new gets invented. No more tests!

But first, I want to describe what happened on the first day of the test I just finished.

As you know, I have had some frustrating experiences with the medical system. Read some of my experiences here and more here. And please read my good friend Phoebe’s eloquent post about her recent experience here.

I am always given the runaround, sent to the far ends of the world and back, forced to do the work of the doctors’ offices and have an impossible time getting any answers. The answers I do get are wrong. So, when I made the appointment for the test I just finished, I called about a month ago and was told that they have June 8 available. I remember clearly since it’s the boy’s birthday, and I reluctantly accepted the appointment with that in mind. The woman I spoke to on the phone, Rose, told me to call her on Friday, June 5 to confirm my appointment. If I do not confirm, they won’t order the materials needed for this test as they are very expensive.

I put it on my calendar. On Friday, June 5, I called Rose. I told her I was confirming my appointment for the following Monday. She said I was confirmed and to arrive at 8 am.

At 7:45 AM I arrive at the hospital and go to Rose’s desk. I  tell her who I am and what I am there for. She checks the wall. She checks the computer. She tells me there is no record of me having an appointment.

WHAT! Not only is she the one who “made” the appointment, but I called to confirm with her the Friday before. Didn’t she check to, uh, CONFIRM when I called?

I brought this all up to her and she shook her head and said, “I don’t know. There is no appointment for you. I’ll have to see if anyone is available to do this today.” I started getting upset, thinking I would have to leave and go through this all again after I took a day off work and CONFIRMED with her! Rose kept acting like she had no idea who I was, as if we didn’t speak just a few days before. I said, “But I called you on Friday. Didn’t you confirm then?” She acted like she had no recollection of that phone call ever happening.

Yet she ordered my materials for the test. Wouldn’t she check to make sure I was actually scheduled for the test before ordering expensive materials??

Sigh. Luckily she told me I could stay, but I would have to start the test an hour late. Fine. So she brought me to a hallway where I had to fill out some paperwork. She took my insurance card to make a copy. I finished filling out the form and Rose came back and handed me my card. She said, “He will be with you shortly to take you where you have to go.”

Not knowing who “he” was, I sat and waited. And waited. A little later, Rose came back and said, “Did you get your insurance card back yet?”

I was confused, being that she herself had given it to me earlier. I said yes and she said, “Great. Come with me.” And then she brought me back to where I was originally.

So here is what I wonder: Who is “he” and why did she think “he” would be taking me somewhere — and did she really make me wait there because she didn’t remember handing me my card a second before she told me to wait there???

Sigh. Anyway, it was all smooth sailing after that fortunately.  I look forward to catching up on my sleep this weekend.

And then I have to get up ridiculously early again on Monday. But this time it is for a better reason — I am trying out a spin class for the first time since starting physical therapy! My PT has been telling me I need to go to spin, aware of my alignment, and see how I do so that she will know what to do with me next, and so she can tell my doctor. She wrote a detailed letter to my doctor explaining her findings, which I found fascinating.

Here are the contents of the letter for your reading pleasure:

Dori has made very good progress. Pertinent findings from the initial evaluation include hypertonic left iliopsas, pes anserine and joint restrictions in the sub-talar, talo-crural and proximal tib-fib jts.

Is any of this English? Anyone know what this all means? Tib-fit jts? Jts doesn’t even have any vowels in it. Is that a real word?

The posterior gluteus medius on the right side tested at 3+/5 on a manual muscle test while the left tested at a 4-4+.

Ohhhhhh. I see.

Functional testing revealed significant internal femoral torsion with associated valgus, worse on the right than the left. Analysis of her spinning technique revealed significant valgus at the left knee joint.

True dat.

Treatment has included soft tissue and joint mobilization as well as corrective exercises (eksusises) to restore mobility and strength. She still displays valgus at the knee but is more aware of it during functional and strengthening tasts. She has yet to test her knee with spinning and running but has been advised to do so over the coming week.

Best physical therapist ever, anyone? She knows so much and her approach (from what I can glean) actually makes sense. She really has a true understanding of why my knee hurts, why I have bursitis, and what I can do to get better. By the way, valgus is when I turn my knees inward; poor alignment. The word sounds much dirtier than it is. It should really be the name of a reproductive body part. It sounds vulgar. Like vulgus. The valgus. My valgus hurts. Valgus.
Valgus

Anyway. The last time I went to PT for my knee he had me do some planks. He didn’t know what to do for me. The last time I went for my shoulder, she did a stock program that didn’t apply to my specific problems. I am so happy I found such a good physical therapist. And I might have to see her for my shoulder soon, too… I will be having a shoulder/arm MRI soon since the pain hasn’t stopped and the doctor said Bone Marrow Edema shouldn’t last this long. And the pain radiates down my arm. Ouch.

I found a picture of this tired puppy on the internet.

a tired pup

Thank you to all those who helped with my hair decision! I will be getting my hair cut at Devachan on Wednesday where I will learn the best way to grow out my curls, and then next Saturday I will be getting a Keratin treatment to help me transition smoothly. I am excited!

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