A Few Days Rest

This is one of a pair of Robins who consider my garden their territory. I'd gone out to refill the feeders and this little fella came to warn me off. It perched on the fence less then 2 metres from me and watched. I popped back inside to grab the camera and it allowed me to take a few snaps before putting a bit more distance between us.

I'd been looking forward to Easter as an opportunity to take a break from rehab for a few days and it didn't disappoint.

The increase in pain a few weeks ago has essentially reverted back to where it was before I had the cold. It seems I really do have to keep my body moving.

Last week was pretty difficult mentally. Trying to calm down the issues raised in therapy was almost impossible. I wrote the following on 29/3/2010: when it's like this it's like all these gates have been opened in my head and my thoughts are pulled down streams which should be blocked off or resolved or not even there. Suddenly there are all these awful, dark, obsessive trains of thought that my mind gets trapped in and finding a way out is like trying to escape a maze. Which ever way I turn I end up back in the same place. dark, twisted, dreadful. you don't feel safe. the world doesn't feel safe. nothing feels safe or comprehensible.

....anyways.....time has gone on and getting away at Easter helped to get back into 'the present' (rather than trapped in past terror).

I stayed longer at table tennis last week but managed to strain my lower back. That's taken a good 6 days to stop hurting.

Whilst away, I had an appointment with a personal trainer who also offers massage therapy. I'd arranged too to have her talk through her WaterRower (http://www.waterrower.com/en/how_it_works.htm) with me and allow me to try it out. She's extremely knowledgeable and helpful, and we talked through the benefits of rowing for conditioning and strengthening. Basically, I need something that's going to help me focus on my upper body, which I realise is going to take years to recondition. Rowing seems like the gentlest solution and the WaterRower in particular will work perfectly with my limitations - it's self-regulating and smooth. It is expensive but I think it's worth the investment, especially as I am looking at years rather than months. I was very pleased to discover that I could use the rower without difficulty (my frozen shoulder had enough range of motion and my back/hips were flexible enough).

Anyways...the massage was wonderful. She identified that my left iliotibial band (ITB) was very tight/short/knotted, there was a knot in the top of my hamstring, there was a knot in my right subscapularis/rhomboid/trapezius complex, tightness in terres major and minor, and a knot in the left lower trapezius/latissmus complex. It took a day or two for everything to heal!

Home now and taking it easy today. I want my back to be ok for tomorrow's table tennis.