Hoping things continue to be pain-free, am a little nervous about giving birth and the position my hip will have to be in for goodness knows how long as that ‘open’ position is still quite uncomfortable.  It seems now I have great internal rotation, but external is worse, I’m guessing it’s scar tissue.

The pelvic/SIJ pain comes and goes.  It is most definitely activity related and I wonder how much of it is due to the biomechanics of my pelvis as well.  I’ve now dropped down to working four days a week until I finish up in five weeks to give myself a rest day in the middle of the week.  Struggling with big dogs and bending now as I’ve suddenly popped out the front!

My hip has been holding up extremely well so far.  I get the odd clunk, but it has not caused any pain or trouble.  My pelvis on the other-hand has been causing issues, but this is likely pregnancy hormone related and nothing to do with my hip history.  One lovely little hormone called Relaxin causes ligaments to stretch and become lax, which means my sacroiliac joints are moving more than they normally would which is rather painful! I have been to a physio at Women’s Hospital and she’s given me a couple of exercises to do and a support belt to wear, which is yet to make any difference.

I have a pregnancy blog if anyone wants to follow at nzbabymcb.blogspot.com

I am still getting lots of emails from you guys and do my best to reply to everyone!  Hope you are all doing well.

]]> http://www.jessmcb.com/2010/09/30/where-have-i-been/feed/ 1 http://www.jessmcb.com/2010/09/30/where-have-i-been/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/JessicasBlogPage/~3/r4qLD6T1vU8/ http://www.jessmcb.com/2010/05/27/two-of-every-animal/#comments Thu, 27 May 2010 09:43:11 +0000 Jess http://www.jessmcb.com/?p=2037

KIRK HARGREAVES ~ THE PRESS ~ SNOW CONES: Porters Pass, on State Highway 73 between Springfield and Arthur's Pass, has been closed by snow.

Oh my gosh, it has been raining all week! There’s surface flooding everywhere and some rivers have burst their banks causing all sorts of trouble. We had a downpour of hail today and there’s even snow up on the hills that has caused some roads to be closed. I think we’re going to be in for a ripper of a winter this year!

That's It? Another microscope moment brought to you by Jess's radiology

Went to the podiatrist last week.  She couldn’t get in to see my xrays but managed to have a look during the week.  Said she could see the area of the stress fx and had a yak to one of the sports docs who agreed that treatment should just involve taking the load off of the bone.  So now I have some fancy pants orthotics in my shoes to do that job.  It seems to be working as my forefoot isn’t sore, but oh my god, who would have known orthotics could be so uncomfortable!  I hope it’s just a matter of getting used to them as I’ve already had them adjusted to make the arch more comfortable (feels like it’s digging into my heel or walking on a rock all day), but a trial walk around an office and a day on your feet are totally different things!

Hip is doing great.  Had my trial ‘last’ acupuncture session on Tuesday, she must have wanted to go out with a bang as I ended up with a huge bruise from one of the needles lol  I got a new exercise to do to activate my glutes and take the load off my hip flexors.  Have to report back next week on how things are so we can decide whether I need to go back.

Off for a bike ride now while there is a gap in the rain.  It’s so cold here now!  Glad for my new wind/waterproof booties

Brought up about my foot as I had x-rays taken yesterday, all apparently normal and the fact I was to be sent for a bone scan to be sure.  Said I’d rather not have any more radiation and would prefer an MRI if it came to that.   That would mean I’d have to be referred to SportsMed for them to send me for an MRI as a GP can’t do this so I asked that even though a stress fx of a metatarsal might be beneath him, if he could possibly write the referral.  He pulled up my x-rays on the computer (I love how they can just log in and see everything!), zoomed in on the area in question and said without a doubt there is periosteal reaction indicating a stress fracture (March fracture – common injury in sodiers).  The radiologist’s report was indeed normal so he is writing to him to review it and submit a new report lol.  Hopefully won’t even need the MRI to confirm now.  So looks like I’ll be off to a podiatrist to sort out something for my shoe to help take the pressure off and try to avoid it getting worse and needing casting.

I had a great time up in Auckland last weekend, boy was it action-packed!  We went snowboarding on the Friday, first time for all of us.  My best friend and I went to Tiritiri Matangi Island on the Saturday, saw heaps of awesome native birds and were lucky enough that the weather cleared up for the most part as we were out in the open trekking around.  Sunday was the duathlon.  Mum was SOOO not looking forward to this haha.  Much to my surprise she decided to jog most of it, I was expecting to walk the whole way.  I think she did super considering she didn’t do much in the way of training, we lost eachother on the bike leg but regrouped and finished together which was really cool

Needless to say after that lot we were all pretty sore,  Mum could hardly move on Monday morning lol  But we got her out and walking and she felt better

I had a few sore muscles but amazingly my hip was FINE.  I was sooo surprised as I gave it a real thrashing.  I came home with a head cold and a sore foot.  The muscles have all recovered but the foot is really giving me grief as I can’t bend my toes when I walk.  Had my physio look at it tonight and it seems I very likely have a stress fracture in my 3rd metatarsal.  Not really much we can do for that but will have to think about having it x-rayed or a bone scan at some stage in the near future.

On a happier note I think the acupuncture is doing wonders.  I have had very little snapping since starting the treatment a couple of weeks ago so fingers crossed that is all it needs!  I still have my ortho appointment on Wednesday which I will keep as they are usually hard to get.  Plus it will give me peace of mind.

Hoping everyone is doing well!  I promise to try to keep up with the emails better 

My physio wanted me to get in touch with my surgeon to make sure we were doing the right thing and for some guidance as to what might be going on and the treatment.  He said it could well be scar tissue and has suggested I make an appointment with him so he can check my hip and we might schedule an ultrasound to see what is going on.  So, appointment booked for 12th May. In the meantime he recommends stretching.

My immediate future (from tomorrow til Monday) involves  a trip to Auckland with snowboarding (first time including a 2 hour lesson ), a possible trip to an island bird sanctuary, a duathlon and shopping!  Eekkk.  I’m a glutton for punishment.

Had my physio appointment this afternoon.  She is still too scared to do anything aggressive given my history and seems afraid she’ll make things worse.  She thinks the latest snapping and tenderness might just be some inflammation from overdoing it at the gym a few weeks ago.  The plan of action is to avoid the hip machine at the gym for the time being, stretch the TFL/ITB at least 3 times a day and do some ultrasound treatments then reassess.  If this doesn’t help, last resort is back to the surgeon for possible steroid injection/scans/xrays.  B L A HHHHH for goodness sakes I thought I was done with all this crap.  I REALLY don’t want a steroid injection.  I have worked so hard at getting off all medications and had been successful for the past couple of months until yesterday’s little hiccup.  Feeling like life is once again on hold until good old leftie starts behaving…

Good news?  Still no groin/joint pain   I’m sure the snapping issues can be sorted with physio and the bruised feeling will disappear with time.  Funnily after the first couple of settling in minutes riding my bike, I have no trouble with the hip at all.  I did my first hill ride last Friday, up to the top of the Port Hills for a great view of Christchurch!  Didn’t think I’d make it all the way, felt a bit of protest from my glutes but otherwise it was fantastic!

The road heading south was a complete nightmare with the usual idiotic wannabe racecar drivers trying to kill themselves and everybody else on the road but once at the river, it was just me, Dad, the bus, tent and the birds, not another soul in sight!  They must have all gone to jam-packed camping grounds. We walked up the river and through the water, it was such a nice warm day on Friday. The algae has got quite bad in places where the water isn’t flowing as fast and made walking in the river very interesting.  It was quite hard on my hip with all the slipping and having to catch myself so I wouldn’t fall, think I overworked the muscles a bit as I’ve been a tad sore.  Sleeping in a sleeping bag was most uncomfortable!  I ended up having to pinch some extra blankets from dad and open out the sleeping bag and use it as a blanket so I could bend my knees, slept much better after that.
Roy came for tea on Friday night as he lives just a short distance from the river.  It was great to catch up with him and nice of him to come out as he was very busy finishing off the paperwork for his apprenticeship – four years solid and now he’s finished!  Very proud of my little bro.

The weather stayed pretty good until Saturday night when it rained, then Sunday was a bit cool.  I don’t think I’ve ever read so much in my life!  It was great to just lie by the river with no noise around and read.  On Sunday we drove into Timaru to see where Dad’s been living, went back out to the bus for lunch and then left for home.

I failed to mention all the eating LOL gawd, when you’re camping it’s all you seem to do, especially at Easter time!

It was my 26th birthday yesterday and I was spoiled rotten.  Kat made me cupcakes! I got new bike gear and voucher to buy more, cool doggy doorstop, smellies and bath bombs and a Pandora bracelet with a charm!  I bought some new tyres last week so am eager to get out for a ride tomorrow to test everything out.

So it’s been a great week.  I am only working Tues, Weds, Thurs this week because I’m working the weekend so tomorrow will be a great day off to visit friends and go for a ride.  Going to see how the hip goes this week but I am getting rather sick of the snapping and pain at the TFL so will probably visit my physio next week.  I have one stretch for it but it hurts too much to do, go figure lol I’ve been feeling a bit like an old lady every time I get up from the couch as everything just feels so stiff…maybe I should just not stop moving lol otherwise everything’s a box of fluffies!