Graduated!

Hi everyone! (I start this post as if people are reading it. Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?) I hope any Americans reading this had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are fully recovered from turkey comas. I took last week off work to spend time with my family, including my younger brother, who lives in Los Angeles and hasn’t been home for six months. There was much wine, lounging, fishing off the dock (my parents live on a lake), and delicious food. However, with Nutcracker coming up soon, I tried to load up on the veggies — my Spanish costume is really not made to accommodate a food baby.

Speaking of ballet, I have some good news: One week shy of my 5-month surgiversary, I became a physical therapy graduate! I had an appointment last Monday, and according to my PT, everything is looking great. My range of motion (pointing, flexing, demi plié, releve), measures the same on both feet, and at this point, I probably have around 80 percent of the strength in my right ankle as I do in my left. So, even though I am officially discharged, I still have strength and proprioception exercises to do, and I need to be careful to keep my ankle and calf stretched out. If I don’t stretch for a day or two, I notice a big difference in the tightness of my ankle.

So where does that leave me? Ready to crack some nuts in just 11 days, enjoy a restful break over Christmas, and come back in the New Year ready for a fresh start, which will hopefully involve coming back to pointe class. I’m still working on pointe on my own, and although I still get sore more quickly than I would like, it’s improving slowly but surely. This weekend I noticed that the entire platform of my right pointe shoe is dirty, not just the back edge — after having a chunk of broken bone removed from one’s ankle, that feels like a tremendous accomplishment!

As challenging as 2012 has been in many ways, it’s been a transformative year for me, in no small part due to my surgery and rehab. This might sound like holiday-season cheese, but I truly believe now that this all happened for a reason — I’ve learned and grown so much along the way. Also, I am so thankful to have a wonderful physical therapist and surgeon on this journey with me. I don’t think I would be where I am right now without them. In addition to helping me heal physically, they have given me hope that I frankly didn’t have six months ago. After a year and a half of not getting any answers, I had pretty much resigned myself to the idea that I might have to stop dancing or just be in pain forever.  Now I’m looking forward to many more years of doing what I love — and that makes it all worthwhile.

Merde to all the dancers out there getting ready for Nutcracker or other holiday performances! I’ll post photos from mine, so stay tuned, and as always, thanks for reading!