Written on 9/26/24
I am 3 days out from hip surgery and feeling all the things. The pain is more than I expected and it’s been an incredibly humbling experience. I can’t really do anything by myself at this time besides throwing snacks and water bottles in a backpack and crutching from kitchen to couch and back. Sleep is challenging and pretty much every position I find myself in is uncomfortable. As a highly independent person, relying on others has been the most challenging aspect so far. I will hopefully have some more poignant thoughts on this downtime and forced rest but should probably hold off on *that* until I’m off the heavy painkillers 😂
But for now… you may be wondering “what happened? You’re 37 and in great shape!” and the reality is a bit like this:🤷 I have been dealing with hip pain for almost a year and after attempting a few months of non-surgical options, surgery for a full labral tear and a bone cyst was necessary. I had the luxury to schedule my surgery when I “wanted” it so taught my butt off this summer and tried to physically/mentally/financially prepare for it as much as possible (a la creating this Substack!)
Most of you know I started teaching yoga full-time recently-- and no, yoga was *not* the cause. The type of yoga I have been practicing for the past few years (mobility and restorative focused) would not cause this type of damage. It was likely a combo of structural issues plus running/repetitive movements for many years--- my guess is that teaching a lot this year + stress just made it known in my body to the point it could not be ignored.
I know there are SO many lessons to learn from this experience (especially as a movement teacher) but currently I am tired, in pain… and constipated (if you have had surgery you KNOW this pain).
More to come.