Blog : plateau? I think no

159 posts
6/25/2022 2:02 pm

plateau? I think no

I’ve never really had a major injury before. I mean I hurt my back pretty badly once or twice but the total recovery time during those instances was short; maybe 10 / ten days. Until March I’d never broken a bone, and rarely broken the skin. Yes, I have scars, but they didn’t have horror stories attached to them until now.

My expectations so far have been crushed. What I thought was going to be a relatively quick and easy process has turned out to be a difficult, painful, arduous one. The damage I inflicted on my hip and pelvis was pretty major, I just haven’t really come to terms with that yet I guess. You might as well say I’m half learning to walk again, because even if the muscles are getting stronger they don’t seem to remember how to function correctly. I was getting frustrated because I thought my progress had plateaued, but then suddenly a set of muscles came to life, or activated is what I like to say.

Specifically, it was my Rectus Femoris and it seemed to almost leap to life. I’d been doing little workouts that involved flexing it, but it hadn’t seemed important to maintaining a steady gait. Turns out I was wrong, and at this point in my recovery it is necessary to compensate for other, weaker areas of the leg that haven’t caught up yet. I still have to kind of concentrate to get it to work sometimes, and the progress on my hobble and wobble is terribly incremental, but there is progress.

There’s no denying I am getting more active, but with that comes a proportionate dull ache that I’d just as soon not medicate. So the more I do the more I hurt, but the better the progress and rehabilitation. No pain, no gain. Even though the doctor warned against riding my bike in and around the neighborhood, he did say the activity would be good for me, so I have been taking short, careful trips while the weather has been warm. I can ride my bike again; that’s progressing not plateauing.

The ever present sensation of foreign materials and objects inside of me remains unsettling, and a major reason I haven’t made better progress. I’m definitely not as flexible as I probably should be by now, mainly because when I lean too far forward I can feel those plates and screws inside of my body shifting and pressing up against me. If that sensation doesn’t eventually go away I’ll be forced to conquer it, but for now I’m taking things extra slow because I am frightened of causing myself any more pain, or worse, re-injuring that area by pushing too hard or extending too far. The doctor and physical therapists swear I can push myself harder and further, but of course they’re not the ones who’d have to deal with the pain if that turned out to be incorrect. I remain overly cautious because I’d just as soon never, EVER experience this level of pain (and all that is attached to it) again.

I’m going to be able to walk, maybe fully recover and find myself capable of so much more, but one thing is certain; this is NOT going to be quick or easy.


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