Tempting Fate?

I have been very concerned with jinxing my progress by explaining how much better I'm doing, but I've decided to tempt fate and share it. 98% of my day I have no hip pain. That is HUGE!!!!! The other 2% of the time is when I stand up from a sitting position. And it doesn't happen all of the time. I'm still trying to figure out how to avoid the pain when I stand, because I assume it has something to do with the angle of my leg, hip, etc. But I feel like a completely different person than I felt when I started keeping this blog a couple of months ago.

Physical therapy is a gift from God. It has to be. I've been able to exercise pain-free, and I'm able to see just how strong I'm becoming. I have been increasing the intensity of the exercises (larger fins for resistance, increased number of squats, faster walking/running). And the water exercises have the added benefit of working my abs and arms also. That sense of accomplishment I got from running -- the pushing beyond my own mental and physical limits -- I'm getting that again, but in the water. And I'm even starting to enjoy the water. It's been hot here -- over 100 degrees each day this week. The water is a wonderful way to workout.

I'm still following Noell's 6-week eating plan (http://pickorstab.blogspot.com/) and I'm not really sure how many inches I've lost or how many pounds, but my clothes are getting very loose. I'm wearing a shirt today that I haven't worn in years (literally). Same with my pants. I even bought a new pencil skirt 3 weeks ago that was quite form-fitting, and I wore it yesterday and it was baggy in places. So, I assume that the reduced weight is helping relieve the pressure I'm putting on my hips also. 

I still haven't really resumed much activity beyond the pool-based, so that's my next challenge. Can I maintain this level of comfort and reincorporate some of the other activities I so dearly want to do -- bike, pilates, walk, yoga? I won't tempt the fates with running. I'm sad about that. There's a Keith Urban song, Till Summer Comes Around, and he's basically frozen in this place where he had a perfect summer love and hopes she'll return each year...she doesn't. He can't leave. I kind of feel like that's me and running. I fell in love, head-over-heals, and (due to my hip), running has said goodbye. I'm still wishing for it turn return to me, to give me the clarity of mind, the release of my over-busy head, the sense of accomplishment, etc. But I think I need to come to terms with the lost love and learn to love again. I'm seeing some shimmer of hope for a long-term relationship with the water.

I still don't know whether or not I'm going to end up requiring surgery. I know that the exercises I'm doing are not actually fixing my labral tear or FAI. They are just allowing me to function with minimal pain. I have a real concern that by not fixing the real underlying cause, I'm just postponing the inevitable, and when I do ultimately get the surgery, I'll have frayed more of my labrum, and caused much more damage to the joint. That is what is driving me to still meet with Dr. P and hopefully gain some more perspective. But at a minimum, I know that losing weight and strengthening my body is the best thing I can do pre-op anyway.

The rest is out of my hands. There isn't anything that this world can throw at me that I can't find a way to endure and of all of the possible things, this truly isn't that bad. Am I tempting fate? Maybe.