Endings and Beginnings

Two more days until the new era begins. It's been really sad saying goodbye to so many people. But it's been gratifying to hear that these people will really miss me. I've spent most of the last year like a turtle inside her shell just trying to deal with the BS going on in my work life that I lost sight of all the good I've done and all the positive vibes I've spread during my time there.

Part of starting the new era, I think, will be a new focus on my fitness program. I went to physical therapy on Tuesday to have the initial assessment done of my torn rotator cuff. Long story short, the weakness is in the muscles in the upper back and around the scapula and also in the rotator muscles (duh) particularly the one that brings the arm up parallel to the side. I had no strength at all when the therapist pushed down on my outstretched arm. It was scary. She also commented on the stiffness in the extension of my thoracic spine.

I was prescribed a series of exercises to do every day:

1. External and internal rotation with a band. I think this is pretty standard for shoulder strengthening.
2. Something the PT called "full can" which was to anchor the band with my foot and then, with my thumb pointing up and my arm at a 45 degree angle from my body, raise the arm up to parallel. This will strengthen that supraspinatus muscle.
3. Another pretty standard set of exercises for the upper back. On my stomach, raise the arms in an I, T, Y, W position. I'm starting with just bodyweight although she told me to use 2 lb weights. Once I'm comfortable with just bodyweight, I'll start using weights.

One set of 20 reps for each exercise every day.

I'm still working on the sore low back. I'm having a lot (a lot!) of discomfort in the hips. It's not pain really, just more of a heaviness. I'm focusing on using a lacrosse ball to target painful areas over the sacrum and then stretching the hip flexors, hamstrings and glutes for extended (2 min) periods of time every day. I'm also working on painful areas around the bottom of the scapula near the armpit of the left arm. I assume this is related to the torn rotator but it has gotten a lot more painful since I stopped working out.

So basically I'm a mess. I've been swimming in such a toxic stew at work for so long and I think my body has been holding in so much anger and tension just to get by. Now it needs to work itself out so I can feel normal again. I want to get back to strength training but I think for now I need just to work on lots and lots of rehab for as long as it takes. Fortunately with the new job I'll have time to do that at home. I have next week off and I've decided to spend that time focusing on lots of detox techniques (which I'll talk about in future posts), spending time alone in my favorite nature spots and working on getting my mental status healthy again.