Today marks 5 weeks since the surgery!
It's been a long 5 weeks, too. Especially this past week or so I've been getting extremely antsy and more frustrated by the second at not being able to do anything. I watch Fall for Dance or Nutcracker rehearsal or Rodeo rehearsal for a November show and it *kills* me not to be able to move. It's complicated...
Part of it is that I'm tired of sitting still. Part of it is that dance is my form of expression - of love, frustration, joy, and concentration - and I have no other effective outlet for that right now. Part of it is seeing so many friends moving on happily and improving while I've lost so much strength. Part of it is desperately missing the daily-ness of class and I'm missing out on all that happens there.
The last one is about the only problem I can solve at this point. Even though my physical therapist said I should just start gentle yoga when I get out of the boot, I couldn't take it any more. I started yoga last week (nothing standing up though) and after that I was like a bat out of the cage. I've taken two classes a day for the past 3 days - yoga, pilates, and floor barre.
Now that I've found some options I feel like I'm finally making progress. It feels SO good to work my muscles again after so long off. Ah, that soreness is wonderful, haha. Saturday I took back to back pilates classes at DNA's Free Class Day and afterwards my abs were burning, but I felt so strong. Yesterday I also did double pilates. I'm not sure why I ever stopped taking pilates (no time?) but I really ought to keep up with it even when I'm healthy because it's such a good alternative workout with really focused muscle work.
Sunday in addition to yoga I tried floor barre. It was an interesting class...I've never taken it but it was nice and low impact. You're laying on your back basically the whole time and it targets the rotation and turnout muscles. I enjoyed it, but I think if I'm gonna have to start paying big bucks for classes (why oh why are classes so expensive in this city?!) I want something more physical that wears me out, haha.
Anyway...I go back to PT tomorrow after a week off from him and I'm really hoping this is the end of the giant boot. Then next Monday I see my doctor again and that's when we should start strengthening. The foot hasn't been too bad, though it does sort of hurt in the usual place if I flex and plie...hmm. In my head I'm hoping that means another week or so before I can try basic barre. It'll probably be longer but...fingers crossed.
2 comments:
Hi,
My name is Jennifer and i am 15 years old and i am a training ballet student. i have danced at summer intensives with SAB, miami city ballet, and Milwaukee ballet. So as you can see, i am very serious about dance and want to pursue it prodfessionally. But sadly i went to the doctors a couple months ago, because i have big bumps on the back of my heel. Later to find out that it was Haglunds Deformity. i was actually quite confused at first. I didnt think it was a common thing to get as a dancer. the doctor told me that surgery was the best way to go. im still not sure if i should get it or wait. So i just wanted to tell you that your blog was very encouraging and inspiring. Its nice to hear that after all of the nasty things that have happened, you still seem to keep shooting for your goal to fully dance again. Your story is an inspiration for me. Thankyou:)
Hi Jennifer,
Thanks for your comment! So sorry you have Haglund's Deformity, too. It's so painful :(
For me at least, surgery ended up being really the only answer. I struggled with pain (which led to my technique getting weaker and weaker) for 3 1/2 years before it finally go to the point that I just couldn't dance on it and succumbed to surgery. So far I'm still recovery so I don't know if it has completely worked - but I am glad I finally did it. Not sure if it's right for you at this point - only you can know - but I would say it's better to have it done BEFORE you try to embark on auditions, get busy working, and then have to stop all of a sudden. While you're still training you have time to come back safely and slowly at your school...
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