Dancing for my life ...
I saw the sports doc on Saturday, and then went to my first dance class since August at noon that day. It's happy and sad and a little scary - I can go back to dance, slowly and carefully, continuing with some physical therapy and a lifelong maintenance leg exercise program to keep my knees at their best. However, their best is deteriorating, and will continue to do so at a faster rate than I had hoped.
The dr said to be realistic about my abilities to do any high impact stuff from now on. As in, don't do it. Which means no jumping and leaping, maybe ever. I will almost definitely develop arthritis in my knees, maybe sooner than later. OK, lots of people live with arthritis in their knees. But the way the dr was looking at me when he said that made me feel like I was looking at a cannon aimed for my joints. ...I didn't ask him to elaborate. He did say that with continued work, I should be able to get back to a lot of my pre-injury movement, and that if I keep up with the weights and as long as the pain doesn't worsen or return, that I can gradually up my activity level. So ... I'm back to dance, slowly and with caution, and I'm not jumping. I can keep up with the elliptical, and I will continue to move and stretch and hope for the best.
The bright side here is that I never did like to run. So if anyone ever says I should jog for exercise again, I can just laugh at them. And the further bright side is that even if I'm not jumping, I can still dance. I can modify and be strong and as graceful as I can, and some dance is better than none.
I went to modern with Kristen on Saturday, and I can't even tell you how good it felt to be back. I almost cried. I lasted an hour, and then thought it was the better part of valor and joint health to stop for the day. My muscles felt so great. Of course, now they feel so sore - and sore in places that haven't been sore since August! It's fantastic! Is it kind of sick to be happy to have a sore butt? Probably. But I am. And I will see all you dancers on the dance floor. Maybe not all night anymore, but still, I'll be there. I can boogie like I mean it, if for shorter periods of time. Dammit. And I will.
The dr said to be realistic about my abilities to do any high impact stuff from now on. As in, don't do it. Which means no jumping and leaping, maybe ever. I will almost definitely develop arthritis in my knees, maybe sooner than later. OK, lots of people live with arthritis in their knees. But the way the dr was looking at me when he said that made me feel like I was looking at a cannon aimed for my joints. ...I didn't ask him to elaborate. He did say that with continued work, I should be able to get back to a lot of my pre-injury movement, and that if I keep up with the weights and as long as the pain doesn't worsen or return, that I can gradually up my activity level. So ... I'm back to dance, slowly and with caution, and I'm not jumping. I can keep up with the elliptical, and I will continue to move and stretch and hope for the best.
The bright side here is that I never did like to run. So if anyone ever says I should jog for exercise again, I can just laugh at them. And the further bright side is that even if I'm not jumping, I can still dance. I can modify and be strong and as graceful as I can, and some dance is better than none.
I went to modern with Kristen on Saturday, and I can't even tell you how good it felt to be back. I almost cried. I lasted an hour, and then thought it was the better part of valor and joint health to stop for the day. My muscles felt so great. Of course, now they feel so sore - and sore in places that haven't been sore since August! It's fantastic! Is it kind of sick to be happy to have a sore butt? Probably. But I am. And I will see all you dancers on the dance floor. Maybe not all night anymore, but still, I'll be there. I can boogie like I mean it, if for shorter periods of time. Dammit. And I will.