The weekend was so busy that it’s kind of a blur — much like
this picture, which is what you get when you ask your husband (the
oh-so-willing party scene parent and unitard-wearing Mouse King) to take
pictures from backstage.
I was too busy to get many pictures, but here are a few more shots from Nutcracker:
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Stage dirt on the front edge of the pointe shoe platforms. After dealing with 5+ months of swelling in the back of one’s right ankle, this is a glorious sight.
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| Stage makeup. Rawr. |
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| That awkward moment when you show up for warm-up, makeup half done and dressed like a Red Hat lady. (This jacket is purple, not blue, in real life.) |
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| With my parents, brother, and husband after Friday night’s performance |
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| Flowers from my family! |
It was such a wonderful feeling to get through a long week
of rehearsals, warm-up classes, and performances with minimal pain. Now I’m
enjoying two weeks off before classes start up again in January. I’m looking forward to getting back en pointe in earnest — aside from the
minimal pointe work in the Nutcracker party scene and working on my own to
rebuild strength, I haven’t really danced en pointe in a challenging, meaningful
way in six months. Gulp. I plan to start with a lower level class than I was
taking before surgery, just to make sure I don’t do too much too soon. But I'm feeling strong and the swelling and pain I was having en pointe is much improved, so I'm hoping it won't be too tough to get back where I was.
I may pop in to blogland occasionally and update, but since I’ve been
discharged from physical therapy and deemed well on my way to being 100% again,
I probably won’t have any major news to share.
I hope anyone who is dealing with os trigonum or FHL tendon
issues, or just injuries and recovery in general, has found this blog helpful.
If anything, it’s an honest reflection of my experiences, which have included
pain, frustration, and sadness along the way. But now that I'm more or less on the other side of this journey, I’m truly thankful
for this experience. My ankle feels better than it has in years, and I’m a
stronger dancer and person because of what I’ve been through over the last six months.
As always, thank you for reading! I hope you have a merry Christmas and a happy New Year. May it bring you new hope and new beginnings (I, for one, can't wait)!
I just want to thank you so much for being vulnerable and documenting your os trigonum surgery. I have been living with a fragmented Os Trigonum for goodness knows how long and this year after dancing professionally, have found out the true cause. All this while i was misdiagnosed.
ReplyDeleteI am getting my surgery on Friday and am freaked out about it. However, your blog and journey has helped me breathe and know that God is in control no matter how hard the journey ahead might be :)
Happy New Year!
Hi Joanna Faith, thank you so much for your comment. It means a lot to me that this blog has helped you, and I hope it continues to do so during your recovery from surgery.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you finally got some answers (I can definitely relate to the frustration of being misdiagnosed) and wish you all the best on the journey ahead! If you ever have questions or want to talk, feel free to e-mail me at littlebonebigproblems (at) gmail (dot) com.
Happy New Year to you too - may it be full of new beginnings and new hope.
Kristen,
ReplyDeleteNow 3 years post surgery, can you tell us how much improvement in the line of your foot you got out of the surgery. I.e. did it turn your old bad foot into the equal of your good foot as shown on the early photos. (A left/right after photo of your feet would be helpful.)
Thank you
Hi! I'm sorry for the delay in replying. I am now a graduate student in physical therapy (I'm long overdue for a blog update!) and just finished finals. My right/bad foot did improve - the last time my plantarflexion (pointing) range of motion was measured, it was actually better in my right foot than in my left! Hope this helps.
DeleteKristen
Thank you for sharing your journey. It's helped me prepare for what to expect after my surgery.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for this! I am also a part-time ballet dancer with an office gig, and I did a double-take when I saw who your doctor is. I'm having this surgery in January with another doc at Dr. Porter's office. (A friend actually recommended Dr. Porter, but thanks to a misdiagnosis last year I'm seeing someone else, but I really like him! I will also have to be driven a couple hours to get to the surgery.) I'm getting really frustrated because I want to dance a lot before I'm laid up, but it just hurts too much. Reading your blog has given me some hope for the future, though! I know I'll get back to class eventually, and be in way less pain than I am now (if any at all). Thank you so much for sharing!
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