The First Snow

This was the first major snow dump of the year. Normally I'm pretty much jumping for joy and trying to figure out where I am going to ski the next day. But this year, alas, I have given up skiing for the healing sake of the ole hip. plus, telemark skiing is pretty much the worst thing i can think of trying to do with a weak and inflammed hip joint. as for a hip update, i am doing alright. started a strength training program to get my hip muscles back on track. they are still incredibly weak. and i have a funky problem going on in my groin still, i can't do a straight leg lift b/c of the intense pain there. i see my surgeon on dec 2 and we'll what he thinks. we are unable to do any imaging of the hip and surrounding tissue b/c of the screws in place (they cause artifact in the images). so it's really just a guess. we thought for a long time it was hip flexor tendonitis. and maybe it still is. but i've rested it for months now with minimal improvement so i don't know if i believe it is tendonitis anymore. anyway, the point is, it hurts. a lot. and still hinders my movement. my range of motion is improving, very slowly. i'm hoping to see some great improvements in my strength with the weight training. i am only doing weights twice a week. trying to hike one day a week, and swim one day a week. that's my goal for the winter anyway. i just got a nasty cold which hindered any movement whatsoever this week though. i am 6 months out from my surgery, i thought i'd be farther along. but shoot, i thought i'd be climbing by now too. and possibly skiing. so no skiing this year, but the hike on this day, up Little Cottonwood Canyon, was lovely and adventurous. I even jogged down hill on the way back. it wasn't pain-free, but it wasn't too bad either. i'm hopeful. jury is still out on whether i think this surgery helped me, or hindered me. sad thing is, i can feel my other hip impinging daily. but i'm not thinking about that right now.