Handsome/footsome

I don't think I've mentioned here before -- since my time in the wheelchair, I've experienced periodic numbness in my right hand. It's been off and on since early March, and so for a long time now I've been avoiding things that seem to aggravate it -- video games, sleeping on my stomach or side, rope suspension, etc. On Memorial Day weekend, I figured I'd play some League of Legends with friends since my hand hadn't acted up in a while. I hoped maybe my hand was better. But no -- for several days afterward I experienced lots of tingling and numbness -- not just in my fingers, but in the whole hand and even a little on my arm.

So now I'm waiting to get test results back from a couple Fridays back, when I went in to have a lab tech shock me repeatedly up and down both arms. They were specifically testing for carpal tunnel issues, for which there is apparently a relative straightforward surgical fix. My suspicion, though, is that the problem is further up the arm, maybe even having to do with my weakened back muscles. Here's hoping the answer is more physical therapy, rather than getting cut open!

In other news, I've started a new job out in Bothell. My desire to minimize my driving commute has moved me to get back into bike riding for the first time since grade school -- I'll be taking a refresher bike-riding course in a week or two. In the meantime I've been exploring the Burke-Gilman Trail on my rollerblades. It's exciting -- I've always loved assembling a mental map of an area that's informed by my own personal wanderings. I feel like I'm finally becoming oriented to how neighborhoods I'm familiar with actually patchwork together in context with the local bodies of water. As footsore as I get, nowadays, it's a great feeling to be able to cover so much ground in a way that doesn't hurt. Bikes make it even easier to travel long distances, which makes me think I'm going to have a lot more fun on the trails very soon. I'd love to be able to incorporate some amount of biking into my commute... we'll see.

Bike & Folklife!

My new job is in Bothell, which means I have a non-walking, non-tele- commute, for the first time in... almost five years? (Whoa.)

Anyway, I'm not excited about the prospect of a driving commute. Sure, I could get myself some audiobooks, or avoid rush hour by setting out at the crack of dawn, but when it comes right down to it I just don't want to be devoting over an hour to sitting in my car on a daily basis. The problem is similar with public transportation (which also takes three times as long, by Google Maps' estimate). I'll already need to be more focused about making time for daily physical therapy exercises when I'm working 9-5, so the idea of my transit time cutting further into my available time to move around was bugging me a bit.

I've been mulling this over and finally thought to check out the possibility of commuting to work by bike. A bit of backstory -- when I was in grade school, I outgrew my beloved bike Tornado (yes, I named my bike) and refused to ride a bike ever again. I haven't ridden since, though it was as much about fear of the intimidatingly-taller bike my parents tried to foist on me as a replacement as about dedication to Tornado's memory. So my bike-riding skills are a bit rusty, to say the least. The biking commute to Bothell is about a two-hour commute each way. It sounds daunting but I'm tempted to try and work up to it, especially since it's summer now and the weather tends to be nicer. My best defense against pain is to strengthen the muscles around my knee, and bike riding is great for that -- not only does it work the right muscles, but it does so in a low-impact way that's unlikely to lead to injury. Also, much of the path I'd be biking to work is along dedicated bike trails (rather than roads with car traffic) which makes me feel fairly safe -- with my exposure to cars minimized I'm unlikely to get run off the road or ambushed by someone opening a car door in my path unexpectedly. With four hours of built-in exercise a day, my knees could be so strong... I'm not sure whether it's a realistic plan, but I figure at least it won't hurt to look into it and try and work toward it.

So yesterday I took my bike (a hand-me-down from a friend) down to the bike shop for a check-up. While at the bike shop the mechanic asked whether Stephen & I had made it to the Folklife Festival, which I had completely forgotten about... it's a three-day event with tons of contra dancing. My knee has been hurting, so I was a little unsure about going, but I popped over for the last few hours of the festival, and contra danced for the first time since I'd been in the wheelchair. It was wonderful, and if anything my knee felt better afterwards -- with all the spinning involved in contra, it's probably good for working the muscles around the knee too. So maybe I'll start doing more contra as well.

Gonna pick up the bike later today and (if I can work up the courage) try to ride it. Wish me luck!

The Ministry of Silly Walks

This is me for the indeterminate future:

Trying to walk normally still feels highly abnormal, so yeah, that's part of it. More than that, though, I've gotten back into doing all my old silly PT walks -- the monster walk, the crab walk, the lunge walk. My knee has been hurting a lot lately and these walks are the best way I know how to combat that.

I've been remembering lots of old exercises lately. My foot was disconcertingly sore and stiff, so thinking back to my ballet classes from ages ago, I started doing daily foot flexes and ankle rotations. I'm also planning to do some daily foot hooping in the hope that it'll be a low-impact way to build up more strength in the side muscles around my knee.

I've backed out of the buskers program for this summer. On the one hand it makes me sad, but I also believe it's the smart thing to do -- I want to focus on building my strength and balance back up while avoiding re-injury. I'm also starting a new job next week, which means my daily routine will be changing significantly -- got a lot to figure out over the next month.

Kneeds

Been exploring more areas of Seattle... a couple weeks ago Stephen & I took a decently epic walk to Annapurna (for delicious Indian food) and then up to Blaine Steps/Streissguth Gardens.

Lately we've been having weekly date nights, which generally involve some amount of walking. This past week we walked to Pie Bar to try their savory dinner pies (almost as good as their wonderful dessert pies!), and then walked up Broadway Ave to see the movie Under The Skin (which was more artsy-creepy than I'd hoped) at Capitol Hill's historic Harvard Exit Theatre.

It was probably a bad sign
 that I felt I was walking like a robot.

Last week was my very last physical therapy session with Avant. I got some parting advice about ways to modify my walk, which I think I was a little too diligent in observing -- after a week of modified walking and a night of enthusiastic dancing I was feeling some troubling, near-constant pain in my right knee. I was very glad this past Sunday to be able to go in for a free dance injury screening with Seattle Dance Medicine. They helped me further tune my walking patterns -- I'd been over-correcting in response to my PT's advice -- and guided me away from certain knee-strengthening exercises and towards others, which have been helping a lot.


Again and again I'm finding that because I need to push myself in order to work back up to my old levels of strength, it's to be expected that sometimes I'll go a little too far and end up in pain. In those cases it seems that the best way out is through -- to double down on PT exercises, making sure I know which exercises will help rather than exacerbate the problem. Even though this ebb and flow of improvement and pain sometimes makes me feel like I'm just going in circles, my overall physical condition really is improving. It wasn't that long ago that, between foot pain and knee pain, I couldn't be up on my feet for the length of time it took me to take a shower. So I keep reminding myself -- even if I'm still experiencing occasional setbacks, I've come a long way!

To the pain

First off -- Cosmic World was fun! It wasn't as cool as advertised (aside from the starting area and four color zones the run took place in darkness -- I didn't see "mesmerizing visuals" or "talented DJ's perform[ing] on intimate stages"), but I'm a sucker for events where people throw powdered colors on each other, so I had a great time.

In other news, my foot and knee have both been really starting to hurt again. I think I've been allowing myself to think of physical therapy as just another type of exercise, and because of that I haven't been as rigorous about doing the specific physical therapy exercises I should if I'm easing off from a period of increased exercise (like this recent volunteer appreciation week, when I was probably walking at least a couple miles a day). Cue my return to near-religious observation of specific daily physical-therapy-required reps -- pain is a tremendous motivator!

I've been thinking about starting a pain log, to better track it. I find that when I'm not currently in pain, it's easy to forget that I've been in pain at all lately. Whenever I am in the grip of pain, I want very badly to know whether my current pain fits into some larger pattern.

Footsore and fancy free

It's been a while since my last post, so let's catch up!

4 Weeks Ago:
I got on a slackline for the first time since my injury (video above), and then took off for the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco. Good times -- the weather was gorgeous and I spent lots of time on my feet, walking the SoMa district, standing around socializing between talks, and running into old friends.

3 Weeks Ago:
I was catching up on work, networking with new, post-GDC contacts, and enjoying some recovery time after the previous week's jump in daily physical activity.

2 Weeks Ago:

A bittersweet week, starting with the final class of my rope suspension course (which was awesome but felt like it came way too fast). Good: My foot and knee kept improving... I increased my daily walking and on my goth club night I was able to dance for significantly longer. Bad: Toward the end of the week I began to experience horrible, persistent back pain.

Last week:
I seriously stepped up my exercise routine, incorporating weight machine exercises to rebuild the strength my shoulders and upper/lower back lost while I was in a wheelchair. Also! It was volunteer appreciation week, which meant that as a Pacific Science Center volunteer I had free access to a ton of Seattle museums -- I walked all around Downtown/Uptown/Waterfront/South Lake Union checking out as many as I could.

And now:
My final remaining appointment with my physical therapist is coming up in a couple weeks -- on the one hand it feels like an achievement, but I'm also nervous to stop checking in with her regularly. My body is still recovering -- I'm frequently footsore and still sometimes wake up to find that the last two fingers of my right hand have gone numb (probably due to increased nerve sensitivity/irritation caused by my time in the wheelchair). At this point, though, continued exercise should get me back to 100%, and I can go to Seattle Dance Medicine for dance injury screenings to help catch any future problems while they're still easily addressed.

Cosmic Run is coming up this Friday -- it was originally scheduled for last October (which was shortly before I gave up my crutches for a wheelchair) but by sheer luck they were forced to move it to April, giving me time to heal up and actually participate. I'm looking forward to all the music/lights/colors! Looks like they've also made changes to the event itself -- before it was like a blacklight version of the 5K Color Run set to dance music, now they've shortened it to one mile and are billing it as "Cosmic World" -- more of an electronic dance music experience rather than a paint race. Should still be a lot of fun!

Coming up: my second summer as a Seattle busker!

As of yesterday I'm signed on for my second year as a participant in the Seattle Parks & Recreation Busker Program. I really enjoyed being a part of the program last summer, though I wasn't able to be as active as I would have liked due to the issues with my foot. Now that I've got a physical therapist to help me with training and injury prevention, I'm even more excited for this summer!

Photo by Robert Wade Photography

Bonus: Now that I live in easy distance of the busking spots I won't have to commute across bridges or look for parking. Yay!

Back on track

My physical therapist told me she wants me to get back on a slackrope this weekend! So exciting! (Also a tiny bit scary, but I glad she thinks I'm ready and is pushing me to do it.) The weather is supposed to be beautiful and I'm really looking forward to it.

Partly to bolster my confidence, I took a ~3 mile walk on the Chesiahud Lake Union Loop today and my left foot didn't hurt at all. If anything my right foot felt more sore, and only in passing. It all seems to bode well.

The trail itself was lovely, and reminded me a tiny bit of the epic walks I used to take on England's South West Coast Path (there was a day I walked all the way from Plymouth to Wembury and back!). There was a stretch of the Chesiahud Loop where it was apparent that the trail used to be a railway at one point -- they left the rails and trestles in place. I found a photo of it on another blog, Surviving Urban:

 They snapped this photo while on a rollerblading excursion -- it had crossed my mind while walking the Loop that it was largely level and would be ideal for rollerblading, I might have to break mine out (and re-wheel them, because the wheels are worn to nubs).

I've been missing the railroad tracks I walked daily near my old apartment in Kirkland, so it was refreshing to see a stretch of abandoned track again. Unfortunately, this one isn't very balance-practice friendly, since it's over a drop of several feet -- it's one thing, trusting myself not to make a misstep just walking the rail, and another thing to feel comfortable challenging myself in practice without inviting some fresh injury.

So I'll have to keep my eye out for a new rail-walking-while-hooping spot. In the meantime I'm happy to be getting back on slack rope!

Learning the ropes

I'm four classes into a six-class series on learning how to do rope suspensions -- it's been awesome. As I continue exploring Things To Do With Rope Besides Walk On It, I came across an online resource on trick roping that seems pretty informative -- The Lasso: A Rational Guide to Trick Roping. I've got a lot of projects in the works right now, but as I find time I'm reading through it, and I've got a lasso on the way to play around with. Of course, different kinds of rope lend themselves to trick roping vs. suspension vs. slack rope walking, but even so I figure there could be some interesting ways to combine these skills.

I have fond memories of seeing Rob Petres' Rope back when I was in Moment of Flight...

Handstand February

One of the benefits of having to see a physical therapist for my foot injury is that I've been able to seriously embark on my quest to learn handbalancing.

Back in August, as my foot became increasingly troublesome and my physical activities more limited, I decided to take an introductory handbalancing course at the School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts. Being able to hold a handstand with no support is something I've wanted to do for ages, with the goal of eventually being able to walk on my hands. As much as I tried, though, I didn't seem to ever make much headway practicing on my own. I figured there were probably aspects to handbalancing that were currently lost on me, and getting some instruction could help me make progress a lot faster. The class at SANCA was really informative, but I had to quit just a few sessions in -- partly because my foot kept getting worse, but partly also because some of the exercises intended to help us build up to full handstands created strange sensations and temporary numbness in my shoulder. I was leery of injuring my arm in addition to my foot, so I backed off.

What with all the foot trouble, I've talked with a few different physical therapists since then, and slipped in some questions about my shoulder as well. It turns out my left shoulder joint is plenty strong but the way I use those muscles makes it less stable and prone to injury. So while doing PT for my foot I've also started working to retrain and strengthen my shoulder muscles for handstands.

A Facebook post from one of my former pole instructors tipped me off about Handstand February, a month of random handstands. I'm not participating with daily handstands -- I'm taking it slow and careful with getting my shoulder muscles ready first -- but these shoulder muscle exercises are something I'm working on daily. Once again I have to say I love having a good physical therapist -- it's a great feeling to have the security of checking in regularly with someone who can help identify and address issues before they become problems. I'm hoping for slow and steady progress uninterrupted by injury, and with any luck I'll be able to participate in Handstand February with daily handstands next year!

And yesterday my Pandora channel played a song about handstands. Well, there you go.
Bruises by Chairlift

Walk this way

My feet are now stronger than ever (thanks to hundreds of daily reps on the Elgin Archxerciser), and better-supported than ever (doctors digitally scanned the bottoms of my feet to create insoles that'd support my high arches). So with the obvious problems addressed, the difficulties that pop up as my feet re-acclimate to carrying my body around tend to be weird, random things.

The latest? I have hyperflexible toes and I walk funny! Over the years plenty of people have told me I have a "distinctive" walk... I blame the grade-school classmates who teased a friend of mine because his butt wiggled when he walked. It's because of them that I decided to walk smoothly, in a way that made my butt feel as un-wiggly as possible.

So my latest task is to re-train the way I walk. I need to straighten my knees more at the end of each step so that walking puts less strain on my forefoot. I hardly ever straighten my knees as much as I'm teaching myself to now... I fainted in the middle of a school ceremony, once, which taught me never to lock my knees while standing. Now with each step I take I'm trying to remember to straighten my knee all the way, which makes me feel like a total robot. I've been at it a couple days and still feel a little stiff and jerky. I console myself that this new way of walking can either make me look like a robot or increase the amount the my butt wiggles, but probably not both. =P

Lights and tunnels

Yesterday I asked my physical therapist how soon I'll be able to get on a slack rope again...

It's a little ironic that I gave my Ignite talk about slacklining at a time when I wasn't able to set foot on a slackline myself. During the summer I seriously stressed a bone in my left foot with too much walking and balance training, and by August I was keeping off my feet as much as possible and wearing a stabilization boot. (I was wearing that boot when I gave my talk.) Even after I started seeing a doctor my foot kept getting worse instead of better. This put a lot of strain on my opposite knee, which is already prone to pain from a previous dance injury, and so I spent most of October and November in a wheelchair.

In December, with no indication that things were going to get better, I finally switched to a new physical therapist, the fantastic Laura Bannister of Avant Physical Therapy. My foot began improving shortly after. It's a wonderful feeling -- it's much easier to look past current difficulties knowing that my foot is worlds better than it was before and continuing to improve. I'm out of the stabilization boot and starting to take short daily walks around town, and so naturally my fancy lightly turns to thoughts of slack rope walking.

So I asked how long it would be before I can walk a slack rope again, and this was the answer: when I'm able to walk three miles and think nothing of it -- no pain or trouble, no need to rest up my feet beforehand or take time for them to recover afterwards -- that's when we'll know I'm in good shape to get back up on the line.

It'll be a while, I'm sure, but I'm really, really looking forward to it.

WIN @ Ignite Seattle

Here's the video of my talk at Ignite Seattle 21: