These Feet Were Made for Walkin’

Yesterday was dedicated to just kind of hanging around Copenhagen and wandering the streets like a tourist. I ended up in the gay district. I knew immediately I was there because of the karaoke bar and all the rainbow flags. But if I’d had any question about it, I am sure I could have popped in either of these locations and gotten it straightened (or gayed?) out:

I kept wandering around the streets. It was a lovely day and even got up to a balmy 70 degrees. It seemed to me everyone was on the streets drinking a beer and smoking cigarettes. I eventually wandered into the super-touristy shopping area. I took a picture of this bench because it says peckerhead on it. My 15 second Google search turned up a potential band name with a song called Copenhagen Bloodbank. But Dictionary.com says it’s a term for an asshole or a jerk. Apparently, it is also a term for a motor termination box (whatever that means). It wasn’t until I posted this picture here that I noticed the dude in the picture is wearing a CrossFit shirt. Unrelated, I am sure.

I was actually on a mission. I love knitting and thought it would be cool to go to a Copenhagen knitting store and fondle or possibly buy some yarn. I turned the corner headed toward where Google maps said my shop was and I saw this:

I imagine this is like a Segway tour. Do you think they have you walk the Great Danes or ride them on the tour? I peaked in the window and saw no dogs.

Practically next door was my knitting shop. Apparently it’s not just the dogs that are larger in Copenhagen.

This is one kilo of yarn. Also, look at the size on the needle they recommend, they ran out of numbers and just put a Great Dane on it. Andrew, let’s get a snow leopard kitten – I have just the yarn for it to play with. In other news, I had to buy an extra seat on my plane ride home…

After all the walking and running I have done here, my feet are in need of some TLC. I looked around for a pedicure place and there was one just a few blocks away.

When I was a little baby I use to make fish faces with my mouth and my nickname became fish face. Eventually, that was shortened to “fish” – this makes my ComedySportz nickname of Hadas “Tuna” Cassorla even a little more special to me.

Now as an adult, I have become fish food. This is something I have always wanted to try. It feels ticklish at first. Then it’s just odd. I did 40 minutes, which was 20 minutes longer than its novelty appeal. While soaking in it I did some Googling to discover why these bone fish eat people. I found no answers, just that they do. Also, apparently, this type of treatment has stopped being available in many places because of sanitary concerns, but so far my feet haven’t fallen off. And if they do, I will likely just blame it on all the walking I have done around town.

The One For Knee

KT Tape (not to be confused with KT Tunstall) is a stretchy physio tape used to help sore muscles or tendons to heal. A roll of it has 20 strips, which as it turns out is the precise amount of strips one needs to recreate a right leg from glute to ankle.

One issue I am finding that makes KT Tape a bit difficult to wear is that I keep feeling like I have something in the back pocket of my jeans.

I am not really sure what is wrong with me or how it started, but potentially my hamstring or tendons in that area are over-worked and as such have started making me feel like I have runners knee. I know that running is not the cause of this runners knee feeling because one would have to actually run to have an injury caused by running.

I visited my chiropractor, Dr. Dave; he is amazing and made me feel much better with some focused and gentle (but intense) massage. He then told me to rest it for a few days. Having convinced myself that it was a torn meniscus from my initial visit to, and misdiagnosis by Dr. Google, I was overjoyed that I was not broken and, after Dave’s ministration, actually felt healed. I celebrated by heading to the gym and telling my coach that I needed to rest my hamstrings. Then I did a WOD that involved 2 miles of Airdyne (it may not look like much – but trust me it is brutish). Dave and I may have a different understanding of “rest”.

Not surprisingly, I sent a follow-up email to Dave saying that the healing he had given me was temporal (due to my interpretation of rest) and that I would need to come back – but after my Florida vacation. That’s when Dave sent me to the KT Tape site. He only had me do the hamstring one, but as I have been resting (read: working out lightly) other parts of my leg have been a little achy. 

My next appointment is Wednesday, by then I believe I will be in a full body cast made of KT Tape.

In unrelated news, I PR’ed my Romanian Deadlifts last night.

This is Radiculous!

What a pain in the neck.

I mean, I have a pain in my neck, and shoulder, and upper middle back.

Self-diagnosis and several visits to Dr. Google had me at Thoracic Outlet Syndrome (TOS). Facebook polling helped me learn that TOS was basically an issue where dinosaurs over-shop at discount malls.

Eventually, a lack of cure through acupuncture, chiropractor visits and massages, led me to see a physiatrist. Physiatrist is a newer designation for what used to be called an osteopath. It sounds to me, though, like a doctor that will sit down and try to find out how my muscles feel about my mother. Apparently, my muscles – and bones, and nerves – are not happy with my mother.

I have Thoracic Outlet Syndrome – which means, because I self-diagnosed properly, that I am probably qualified to be a medical doctor. 

I have Cervical Radiculopathy – cervical meaning “neck area” and not “pelvical” which is what I thought cervical meant. Latin is confusing. This means that there is some sort of nerve impingement or something that is being caused by discs being out of place or something (see, I could totally be a medical doctor).

I have Bursitis – which means an inflammation in my Turkish city. This causes a crunchy feeling whenever I move my shoulder. I feel like I am grinding coffee.

And I have an over-rotated (to the front) right shoulder.

Also, something is wrong with my neck bones in that when you look at me straight on it looks like my neck is a bit off set to the right. 

Oh, and I get really bad headaches all of a sudden now.

Sigh.

I stopped working out (with weights – running doesn’t count as working out) about 2 months ago, and will be starting physical therapy tomorrow. I did some more research and spoke to a friend of mine who is slightly more qualified than me to be a medical doctor* and I will probably get mostly better without surgery, with some cortisone and just by resting.

I can totally rest (right after I get back from Mexico.** Because, I am going to go swim with the fishes (in the not New Jersey way) despite neck issues).***

I am super frustrated by all of this. At least no one has seen me crying at my desk yet.

 

* In that her legal practice deals with a lot of medical issues. She has read enough medical charts and interviewed enough doctor’s – she could tell me how my body feels about my mother just through email. Also, she’s better than a “normal” doctor because she prescribed Tequila and swimming with dolphins.

** I am going on vacation to Mexico soon. I am super excited! It’s all I talk about. In fact, I don’t even care about my neck. This whole post is just so that I could tell everyone I am going to vacation in Mexico.

*** Andrew stop laughing. I totally CAN rest!

Happy New Year!!!

You know that friend of yours? The one that when you make plans with her it’s about 50/50 that those will come to fruition? The one that will say yes to just about any activity but then has to cancel? That girl is so irritating!

Also, she’s me. I’m your friend.

Hi, my name is Hadas, and I am a Flake.

About once every other month Andrew and I have this conversation:

Me: I feel so busy all the time.

Andrew: SIGH

Me: What?!

Andrew: We should record this conversation so that you can just replay it next time you want to cut back your schedule.

Me: I just feel like I have too much going on.

Andrew: You do.

…

And that is the crux of it. I do too much and want to do even more. But, there are only 24 hours in a day, and 7 days a week, etc. Some of those hours need to be unscheduled, as I am learning.

I use a calendar. Google Calendar even. If Google Calendar were my treadmill, I would hang my clothes on it. That is to mean, I don’t really use it properly. Sometimes I put appointments in the calendar. Sometimes I make appointments and don’t put them in there. Sometimes I make appointments where appointments already exist because I did not look at the calendar before putting an appointment in there. Sometimes I look at the calendar and am surprised that I have an appointment to be somewhere – across town – ten minutes ago.

All of this is super irritating, not just to the friends I cancel on when I have been overbooked for two weeks and need a moment of me-time, but to me. I hate being flaky.

As such, I am making a New Year’s resolution to be better at calendaring and to be less flaky.

It’s not New Year.

I know.

See the problem?