Disappointing

No birdie photos today (although that might change if I manage to get something half decent later).

Essentially, it's been a disappointing week. I hoped that the 4 week break from the usual exercise routines would have allowed things to strengthen up and heal up. Unfortunately, that doesn't seem to be the case. The pubic bone muscle strain has improved although the right lower ab/groin area is twingey and painful, and makes me think 'hernia' every time it grumbles.

Table tennis on Tuesday was the first disappointment. It very definitely aggravated the right groin/thigh pain so that it was as bad as it ever gets. Wednesday's evening commitment was cancelled so that meant I could go to the pool in the morning. I stuck to the basics. All I did was the hydrotherapy exercises that the hospital taught me 18 months ago. I didn't attempt any swimming. Right from the start the right groin/thigh was problematic and then I strained the left inner hamstring doing squats. The right lower ab/pubic bone muscle area was tender. Generally, the whole pelvic structure felt twingey, painful or strained! I came home baffled.

I have been doing those hydro exercises for 18 months. There is no way they should cause any strains or problems. It defies belief that I'm still nursing injuries from doing the pool work! The last physio I saw before I left the hospital suggested I do the hydro work for another 6 months before heading into the gym. I've stuck at it for 18 months and I'm still not ready for the gym?!?!?! So, yes, I was very disappointed after Wednesday's session.

Thursday, I was as tired as ever (which again was disappointing because I'd done a lot less than normal on Wednesday). The left hamstring strain seems to have healed up, which is good, but the right groin/thigh/lower ab area is chronically painful.

The best thing to come out this week was that table tennis helped reduce the LHS lower back tightness/pain.

On a completely different note, I caught the end of xfactor last night and Matt Cardle's "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" brought tears to my eyes. What a spine-tinglingly beautiful voice. You hear something extra-ordinary like that and you're transported out of the tangle of your own problems and reminded there's beauty in the world. Does you good.

Still Nursing Strains

Got my first half decent photo of a Chiffchaff yesterday morning. This pretty warbler came into the garden briefly but I only managed a few distant shots through the window, this being the best. It's only the second garden sighting of a Chiffchaff in 5 years so I was delighted.

It's been another frustrating, emotional week. The pubic bone muscle strain (from 4 weeks ago) does seem to be improving but I've done very little to test it out. The LHS lower back tightness/pain and left hip ache down through my groin and leg are back with a vengeance, having done so little exercise. I'm pretty sure now that it's an irritated/trapped nerve in the lower back. The deep right groin pain is also still present. Again, I wonder if that's nerve related too.

I'm on the waiting list (10 week wait) for more physio for hips/back. I'm not sure what they can achieve given that I have been keeping up all physio/strengthening exercises for the past 2 years. I think it's getting to the stage now where I need a scan to see what's going on. Maybe there's a bulging disc or something.

So, I've kept off the bike, out of the pool and away from the table tennis table again this week. I've done a few walks but generally I've been feeling absolutely drained for some reason. I've been forced to take painkillers at night for the hip/back pain to be able to sleep. My muscles have felt 'brittle' and as though they could be strained far too easily.

I plan to go to table tennis tomorrow and see how that goes. I'll miss the pool because I have a commitment on Wednesday evening that I need energy for. I guess it'll be a case of just testing things out and seeing how everything copes.

Tears and a Nuthatch!

In the 5+ years I've been noticing my garden birds, I've only ever seen a nuthatch visit the feeders once, until now. To my delight, the above beauty (not really shown in all its glory due to the ropey photos) has been visiting the feeder daily for the past 3 days. Hopefully I'll be able to get some better photos at some stage. Nuthatches seem to be quite elusive around here. I've only ever heard them a handful of times in the local woods and caught a glimpse of one once. So, I'm chuffed to bits to have one come into the garden.

Apart from the mood-enhancing Nuthatch (I wonder if you can get those on the NHS?!), it's been a fairly tough week. I spent most of Monday and Tuesday in and out of tears for various reasons. I'm very disappointed by the rehab set-back. The strained muscles/tendons(?) attached to my pubic bone are still stinging and strained, and the bike work I did last Sunday didn't help. I'm having to be extremely careful not to aggravate the injury, which means no table tennis, no pool work and no cycling. And, I have a horrible feeling it's going to be weeks yet before I can get back to exercising.

I guess I've been completely baffled (again!) by how fragile my muscles/tendons etc are. I cannot comprehend how, after nearly 2 years of solid rehab, I can still cause myself these kinds of injuries with so little effort. I just don't understand it. I'm extremely careful to increment my level of effort and activity at a pace that's safe, and yet, here I am, feeling like I'm back where I started! Every time I think I'm finally making progress, getting stronger, more resilient, something happens to undermine it. There have been times this week when I've wondered if my musculoskeletal system is responding at all to the rehab. Maybe my mind says 'I've done x amount of exercise so I should be stronger/fitter' when in fact there's something fundamentally wrong, like a lack of growth hormones or something, preventing it?! (Yes, I know, at times, keeping things in perspective proves a little tricky, lol).

I went to sign up for my pottery class at the local college on Tuesday. They informed me that they had cut back on the number of courses where they offer a concessional rate. Instead of the £30 I'd budgeted, I was going to have to pay the full price of £210. I burst into tears and left. If they'd told me this in May I could have saved up for it but instead they just sprang it on me. I know I won't be the only one effected.

The great thing about reading Adrian Mole, The Prostrate Years is that how ever bleak your life feels, Adrian's is ten times worse and he still survives. I finished the book last night.

Note added 26/09/2010: signed up for the pottery course and just hope that the car sails through its MOT/service in January!

Resting Injuries

It's been a thoroughly depressing 10 days. The only thing I've done is gentle walks. No table tennis, no hydrotherapy and no bike work (until today). I've been icing my inner thighs (which, admittedly have improved) and groins regularly. I did some gentle core exercises yesterday but the right, lower ab/pubic bone strains are still painful. I'm worried I've given myself some kind of 'sports' hernia (Link & Link), which is infuriating. Both groins (right, especially), inner thighs and the right hamstring are all painful and/or twingey. Something always hurts when I walk. I'm so fed up with the right ab/groin pain. *sigh*