Happy New Year!!!

I just saw the stats from WordPress and find it hard to believe that there were about 14,000 views this past year, from 107 countries! The review also says, “some of your most popular posts were written before 2014…Consider writing about those topics again….Not on your life if I can help it!

So just a little update. Early this year I probably stop taking anastrazole (for breast cancer), which means I pass the 5-year period. I can’t wait to see if some of the side effects, admittedly mild judging by what some people report, but still annoying, go away. I am hoping I can regain some of my lost strength, for example.I also had some “minor” knee surgery a few years ago that turned out to be a mistake…but I seem to have finally got beyond it. I started race-walking as I couldn’t seem to be able to jog, but now, even though I can run again, I think I will stick with the walking!

So everything is pretty good. Oh yes, the famous foot…well, since the humungous screw is still in there, it has a bump where the screw head is, and occasionally I can feel it, the foot is still fine. And I will continue to check the blog to see if anyone new has posted a comment…Anyone out there who has recovered, but is still following….how are you guys doing?

So Happy New Year!!!!

I’m Back! Briefly.

Just a short post…the foot is still fine, but I have had a bit of a tingly feeling in the area between the injury site, (where there is still a humungous screw) and the big toe. I blamed it on nerve damage when they moved the nerve bundle to get at the injury, and I would massage it when I thought of it. Well, I was visiting a friend, an acupuncturist, who stuck some needles in the foot, actually to treat a possibly-broken toe on the other foot!

I got up the next morning and the tingly feeling was gone except for right where the screw is, and the whole foot felt really flexible! And it’s held for three days! I am so delighted.

I must add that have had acupuncture on other occasions since the Lisfranc injury, but this time was the most effective for the foot.

So even after 5 years, improvement is possible!

And now I will tuck the blog back to sleep again, though I will get notified if someone writes a comment, and will respond…

Well, I’ve Moved On

As you can see, I haven’t been blogging…it’s because there’s nothing to say about the famous foot! Hopefully, these pages will help others, and I do get notified if you post a comment, so I will respond. I still love to get comments! I will watch for new blogs, too, but there don’t seem to be many of those these days. Does that mean people have gotten smarter and have learned how to avoid trashing their feet?  I certainly hope so! Meanwhile, if you do have a  Lisfranc injury or broken foot, please post and share your experiences…

It’s Been Busy

I’ve been really busy..I went to visit my little sister who lives on an organic Meyer lemon farm in Malibu, up a canyon. Had a wonderful time…I didn’t do as much exercise as usual, but it didn’t seem to matter because everything was up or down hill! I climbed up the canyon and walked in the park above about every other day, and felt so healthy when I returned! And glad no rattlesnake had showed its head…every time I went out, there was a chorus of “be careful!” Needless to say, i was!

The view from my room…

The top of the canyon!

Then, when I came home, a friend had set me up to be a subject at a rolfing workshop, at which a really experienced practitioner was to teach a group about her work with scars and bone healing. She worked on the once-broken bones and the Lisfranc area..it  was so interesting, feeling the foot get more flexible as she worked on it. Shows I still have work to do there! She worked on an old scar I have on my calf, and that got more flexible, too. Sometimes the magic works!

Oops..it made me realize that once I get the meniscus tears on my other knee fixed, I am going to have to get some work done to straighten out that knee.

Macy*s Fireworks…Elderly and Disabled Need Not Attend (unless you don’t mind watching from 52nd St, apparently)

Since I was in NYC this 4th, I went down to see the Macys fireworks, hoping for a nice, festive occasion, and as usual got there really early so I could get a good position. I had my toys to play with (tatting, paperfolding) and a cloth to sit on…as usual. I had missed last two years’ shows, so I wasn’t really prepared for the horrible sight lines you get on the Hudson. The show was moved from the East River to the Hudson two or three years ago. But OK, we’ll deal with that. Then, at about 6:30, the police started telling people they couldn’t sit on blankets. Mind you, this was about three hours before the show was scheduled to begin. So everyone put away their blankets and sat on the pavement, or folded them into tiny cushions…bang go the picnics. If that wasn’t bad enough, about 40 minutes later, the police started announcing (even yelling through bullhorns) that no sitting was allowed, although they didn’t seem to bother the few who brought lawn chairs. ( Mind you, I called the Macy*s “Hotline” when I got home and found that the instructions included a line that asked the public not to bring blankets or lawn chairs, but nowhere did I find this repeated in printed information!) So for over two hours people were expected to stand…including small children, women with babies, elderly people. People were shifting from foot to foot, taking off shoes, complaining about their backs, and at least one person who told a cop she couldn’t stand for two hours was threatened!

I was going to have to go home…My foot gets uncomfortable if I stand too long, and I am having an operation next week to repair a torn meniscus, I went to ask to speak to a supervisor…there wasn’t one there, but the cop I spoke to told me “you can sit.” So I did, and eventually, the most of the crowd rebelled and sat down. By then, the lady with the baby on her hip and another clutching her skirt had given up and gone home. Gotta say, it felt like some sort of weird detention pen, not like a 4th of July celebration. Some people from Boston were telling me how much fun the Boston show is, compared to NYC’s.

So this is my last NYC Macy*s fireworks, at least until they move it to the East River again…next year, back to Washington DC!

This is where I was, not long before the police decided it was too crowded for people to relax on blankets. You can see how how for some people the view would be blocked.

People resting their feet.

The hoi poloi vs the privileged: Looking through the shoulders of two guys in our holding pen, out towards the riverside views enjoyed by the privileged.

Sorry this is such a gripe, but it seems so unfair that people who can’t stand for long periods can’t enjoy this event, and Macy’s doesn’t even give us fair warning! Why not say…”Only for people who can stand for 2 1/2 hours.”

Oh, and yes, I did see later that they had reserved DeWitt Clinton Park for the elderly and disabled, but many people who are not certified as disabled still can’t stand for 2 hours or more!

A Beautiful Day in Central Park

The other day, I went for my bike ride around the park and then decided to sit for a while and do some tatting, so I paused by a big rock outcropping…and then saw that the place was swirling with butterflies! I’d noticed quite a few in the previous few days, but nothing like this. There were dozens, maybe even hundreds, swirling, circling, rising and falling, and even settling on people..most of whom took no notice whatsoever! I took pictures, most of which didn’t come out…and of course, the ones that landed on me sat on my back, where I couldn’t get a picture. I stayed until the sun went down and the butterflies went to sleep.

They were Red Admirals, for the most part, anyway, and it turns out their migration this year was humungous..in part, at least, because of the mild winter…here’s a link. It’s about New Jersey, but the butterflies don’t know the difference.

So for a few hours, Central Park was an enchanted magic land! Is it silly to say that I wouldn’t have been there if I hadn’t started riding to rehab the foot?

Anastrozole and Exercise

I finally have got to (about) where I was in November, when I stopped cross training…today I jogged nine minutes, walked 1 minute, three times…I think in November I was able to keep it up for an hour, so I am not quite there. Now I am aiming for a 5K race in a few months.

Of course, please keep in mind that it isn’t the foot that is holding me back, it’s the Anastrozole. I’m posting this just in case someone comes across it by accident. I finally found a website that has tons of posts by people who have breast cancer, are recovering from breast cancer, and even those who are trying to maintain conditioning while on  aromatase-inhibiting drugs. I can’t say I liked what I read, but at least I know I’m not crazy! And it was nice having a few people write encouraging things…

So in case anyone is looking for support, it’s http://www.breastcancer.org. Can’t think why I missed it all this time…

Does Blogging Help Recovery?

I was thinking about my injury and the long recovery period, especially the three months when I actually followed the doctor’s orders and stayed on the couch with my foot elevated about the heart almost 24/7. Looking back, I can’t believe I actually did it…I think I was too drugged up to rebel. Maybe that’s why he kept offering me Oxycodone. I think that the blogging was a truly important part of the recovery, perhaps little-recognized.

1. It kept my mind active, and gave me a connection with the outside world when getting up and down 4 flights of stairs was really difficult.
2. It forced me to stay positive…At least, for me, whining in writing just isn’t an option.
3. It helped me organize and remember what I had to do once I started PT. OK, I could have just kept a private notebook, which I did, but putting it out there meant I HAD to do it!
4. It gave the experience a bit of a weirdly positive spin. If it helped someone else, maybe it wasn’t totally and completely a waste of my life and time.

I would be interested in what other bloggers feel…was your blogging just something to do, or did it actually help you to get better?

Spring Has Sprung in Central Park

All of a sudden last week the Cherry Blossoms along the bridle path have sprung into bloom! I’m running part way along the path, because it has ups and downs, but I found I miss the reservoir, so I run back along the jogging track. That way, I see the blossoms from two different perspectives! They are really early this year, a bit troublesome…

Early Cherries

Checking Back In

Just a quick post, since I have been absent for so long. Various family episodes gave me an excuse to stop all the cross-training…so I took it! Now I am back, at least riding my bike in the park and jogging. Swimming should be next.

Foot update…just a bit numb on top, perhaps because the screw is still in there. I expect that will slowly go away.

Anastrazole update: my knees hurt.

a bit.

So if that’s all the side effects I get, I’m lucky.

The park is beautiful. Plantings of crocuses are blooming. I hope we don’t get a freeze that kills them all!