I Wore My Good Underwear to Get My Hands X-rayed

Not so much my hand

Sometimes I've been known to not think things through the whole way. Yesterday would be one of those times. You see a few weeks ago I visited a new rheumatologist. I've had some progressively aching hands to match a hip that aches every now and again, and my dermatologist recommended it. I could deal with my hip hurting because it's just a hip. But my hands?!? No way. I use them too much.

So I went in for my appointment and because it was just my hands, I didn't expect the exam to be too invasive. But she's apparently a very thorough rheumatologist (plus she's a HUGE college basketball fan, Kansas, but I'll forgive a little rock chalk jayhawk for someone who at least knows where Indiana is). She talked through my family history, and then had me strip down to a gown and my undies for the rest of the exam.

I had not expected this and as I'm apt to do on occasion was not wearing undies. So there's that.

I vowed never to let this happen again. She ordered a bunch of x-rays on my hips, wrists and chest and I was well-prepared. So when I got called back in for my hands x-rays this week, I was ready. I went back to the radiology lab and was jumping into the room that I'd been in the week before. I put down my purse and started to take off my clothes when the tech just looked at me.

"You get to keep your clothes on today. We're just x-raying your hands."

Between the no undies and the strip down, I'm pretty sure my doctors all think that I'm an exhibitionist. Oh well, I have a gynecologist exam soon and I know they need me to be naked.

Like Shakira, My Hips Don't Lie

I'm probably a bit premature in getting excited or celebrating, but I was able to run on the treadmill for the whole of this week. Why is this a big deal? Because I haven't been able to run more than a day on a treadmill, or even more than a mile outside, in more than a year. I've been relegated to the elliptical because of my hips. My poor arthritic hips.

I gained quite a bit of weight before moving to LA (like 30 pounds from my lowest  to what I stepped foot into town carrying). I'm sure the extra lbs didn't help in the crusade, but my hips were in agony for months. Even without the running or constant working out, I would be stiff in the mornings and near tears at night. Not fun. And if I actually pounded the treadmill, the pain was worse.

So I gave up the running. Which was sad, because --and I'll be the first to admit this was a shock to me--I actually like running. Used to HATE it. "I only run when chased," I'd say. Frequently. Without being prompted for my opinion. But at the beginning of the great weight drop, I walked outside and then when I needed a challenge, I started jogging. I really loved being outside in the mornings and having the time to zone out and think about things. I even miss having to bundle up because I was freezing cold, and then getting home and sweating in 10 degree weather.

And while I can't run outside here in the mornings (I mean, I do live in LA. It's a nice neighborhood, but I'm not crazy), I can do the treadmill. At least now. And so until my hips kick in (or they don't), I am back to pounding the treadmill. To be honest, the past few mornings, stepping off and having that weird floaty feeling that's a combination of the endorphin rush and the adjustment to walking on a stable surface has been a highlight of my day.

Never thought I'd think that 5 years ago.

Too Old for Treadmills

This is clearly not me.

Okay, maybe I'm not too old as there are lots of people older than I am that are running on treadmills at this very moment (or at least I assume there are). I guess I should say that I'm too decrepit.

Last night I decided that it was time to up the ante on my workouts again so I could sweat. I read a nice article on heart rates and keeping them high, so I thought that I needed to try running again. I always push myself harder when there's a fear of falling flat on my face and skidding off the back of something rather than just stopping with the elliptical.

This didn't work because I ran the whole 30 minutes, but my hips have hurt like a son of a bitch all day. I guess it's back to the elliptical for me. Anybody out there got a challenging elliptical workout for me??

Relegated to the Bench

Last night I was starting my nightly toning exercises at the gym. Mornings are for cardio and evenings are for toning. At least lately. I was starting yesterday and as I began, I felt a small pop near my hip. It was a pop that I knew wasn't audible to anyone except me. Or at least I assumed that it wasn't. As soon as I started to do another lunge, I knew that something was wrong.

Because I'm an idiot, I kept going and finished my workout. I just omitted doing any lunges or moves that required me to bend my hip flexor. When I got back to the apartment, Chef helped input my symptoms into webMD and BAM! IT confirmed that I either strained or pulled my hip muscle. You might ask why I needed confirmation. Well, I'm still coming to grips with the arthritis that's primarily affecting my hip joint so it was a little hard for me to pinpoint if this was a joint or muscle issue.

So, I'm relegated to icing and aleve until the pain subsides. Bright side was that I got to sleep in this morning. Down side was that I was pretty sure that I was going to go over my calorie count. To that I say, tomorrow is another day.