June 21 2010

Three weeks since my last post and a lot has happened.  The worst of which was my Dad passing away at the grand old age of 89. I'm not going to dwell on that now except to say that it was hard saying goodbye and I will miss him dearly.

The news on the shoulder front just keeps getting worse.  Have been to see one of the top shoulder surgeons and his assessment is that I definitely need to have a arthroscopic debridement and very likely need to have an open subscap repair to cut and reattach the bicep tendon.  That 2nd part is nasty and will put me out of action for 6 months but long term it will be better for my lifting longevity.  Anyway he will asses that when he does the artho and if need be he will switch to a full shoulder op so that its all done in a single hospital admission.

For the time being however I'm just going to continue with the rehab, naprosyn and letting pain be my guide.  I need to get thru Nationals and World Masters before I can consider surgery.  One of  the guys at the  gym, Kirby, suggested a lectric soda pack at night before bed to draw some of the fluid out, it worked well the first night and I was able to finally get a full nights sleep, but wasn't so beneficial the next night.  I will persist tho', cos the nagging dull ache a night makes it hard to sleep.

Had  bit of a giggle tho at the letter Dr. Hoy send to my sports doc. Personally,  I there's a typo...

"Vicki is a 47 year old right hand dominant woman......"

I think it should be:

"Vicki is a 47 year old, right handed, dominant woman...."  

LOL


Other than that, training is good. I've settled in pretty well with the guys at Apollo/ESP.  Hmmm, well I think I have anyway.  I'm not shunned for being female nor for being IPF and there a couple of other IPF lifters there. :-)
I dont get treated any different to anyone else and I dont want to be.

One of the things I enjoy there is being under pressure to perform.  I don't like to be a pain in the arse so I try to keep up with what they are lifting, as best I can at least.  Martyn puts me the group with lifters who a closest to my level or are lifting raw so I'm not massively behind them but it gives me something to strive for, pushes me to my limits and if the guys think I should back down the weight a bit, Martyn just says no, she'll lift that, and I do - or I die trying :-)    He doesn't let me back down and I like that - a lot!

It's a good training environment too with everyone in the group giving constructive feedback while you're lifting, giving cues that help to build the right habits. Even Bro, who's not training with us will yell  'knees out,  spread the floor' and this works for me!

We just recently moved into the new compound in Spotswood.  Its at least 3 times the size of the ESP gym in Footscray with an extra mono-lift and heaps more equipment.  Like being in a new playground!

This morning:
Max squat
Box squat - low, half suit & belt.
60x5, 100 x5, 120 x3, 140 x2, 150 x1 150 x1 150 x fail

Good mornings
40 x12, 50 x12, 60 x10, 70 x8, 80 x4 x2sets

Glute/Ham raise 8 x5sets

Standing ab curl
30 x12, 35 x12 x3sets

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June 1, 2010 (happy birthday Mum, RIP)

Well, 15 minutes in hell. That's what an MRI is. Not for the claustrophobic! After strapping my arm down and giving me a panic button in the other hand, the radiologist put a face washer over my eyes so I couldn't see that the top of the machine was only a few cm's from my face. He held my ankle as I was conveyed into the tunnel and waited until I was breathing ok before letting go and leaving the room. 15 minutes. An eternity, buried alive.

The result? Well lots of things going on in the shoulder, some that have been there for some time and confirmed the physio's and Sports' Doc diagnosis of a SLAP tear.

Summary from the MRI report:

Large glenohumeral joint effusion and prominent synovitis. Evidence of prior anterior macro-instability episde with a GLAD lesion, prominent subchondral cystic change within the inferior gleniod and a displaced osseous fragment. Anterior oedema suggests a further recent anterior periosteal stripping/anterior capsular injury.
Chronic SLAP tear.
Subscapularis tendinosis and anterior supraspinatus tendinosis. Small delamination tear superior insertional fibres of subscapularis.

So, what next? you ask, well I have been referred to a shoulder specialist and after initially being told it would be late July early August before I could get an appointment, the clinic called today to see if I could come in this Friday. Done! Ben's referral must have done the trick :-)

In the meantime, training must continue... around the sore shoulder, plenty of rehab, therabands, and rotator cuff work. So I still turn up for training at 6.30 am, works good for Saturdays so I can nick around to my Dads place after training, he's just 10 minutes down the road, and I can spend some time with him, he's not too well, and let my sister get to work without worrying about Dad being on his own while she's out. I must remember to pack some brekky and lunch tho' next week. Maybe a protein drink too......

Monday hit a PB squat, kinda... well I didn't realize it at the time. Was doing box squats and when Martyn asked what my max was last time and said 200kg. When it got up to 160kg I struggled and failed my first attempt, got the 2nd and failed the third. So he made me do 2 sets of 5 at 120. Was beating myself up all day, why was my squat so lousy? Then it dawned on me that I hadn't done straight box squats at Apollo before. Previously I'd done heavy box squats with chains the 200kg but it was a reverse band box squat that I'd done at 200kg ! Therefore 160kg in half suit was actually a PB. Didn't feel so bad then!

Last week at weightlifting I learned to do full cleans, as opposed to power cleans. ie. pull the bar up onto my collarbones and squat down and up like a front squat. So much fun, especially since I cant do any overhead pressing at the moment. Still really enjoying this extra-curricular activity, tho' it might be a while before I'm able to step up and compete. We'll see....

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