Thankfulness: Day 4--Life

This morning I woke up to an aching lower back; sore and stiff muscles in my legs, abs, and rear; one painful jammed big toe; the other big toe with the beginnings of an ingrown toenail; and a right hamstring that hasn't quite healed from being torn this summer. And I'm feeling pretty darned good about all this.

Maybe it's my unusually high threshold for pain after eight non-medicated labors and deliveries. Maybe it's because I've already strained or torn so many muscles that I've forgotten what it's like to not have them. But I think my aches and pains are gentle reminders that I am ALIVE. No, I've never had a near death experience--unless you consider the two times I THOUGHT I was going to die, but in reality I wasn't.* No, I just consider the aches and pains and sore muscles are part of the normal course of life and are reminders that I can touch, see, hear, smell and taste all the wonders of this world. In short, I'm alive.

Offering it up

I have a pretty high tolerance for pain. I've had eight unmedicated births, including one induced with Pitocin and one posterior presentation (i.e. "pain in the back"). I'm not being brave, I think I just don't feel it like some people do. One of my labors was 100% pain-free. I'm not kidding. I had NO LABOR pains at all. Delivery was a bit uncomfortable, but labor wasn't.

So, when my true love and I were doing side-kick drills at our Taekwondo class two nights ago, and he delivered a side-kick to my left knee cap, I figured I'd be fine after a bit of ice and rest. (So what if I was writhing in pain on the floor?) Yesterday morning, I woke up and realized that I had definitely gotten a good whack to my knee and something wasn't right. I felt pretty sure I had torn all my MCL's and that surgery would be the only option.

I was feeling pretty sorry for myself all day. I'm not very good at offering up inconvenience. Pretty good offering up pain; not so good offering up sitting still. Not only was I getting ready to test for my next Taekwondo belt, I was also doing an indoor triathlon: 4 weeks to bike 56 miles, swim 2 miles and run 10 miles. I started a week late so I only had 3 weeks to complete it. How could I do that if I had to have knee surgery?

I made an appointment with the doctor for later in the day and my dear husband, who, by this time, felt miserably horribly awful for inflicting such pain to the mother of his children, called into work to ask for personal business so he could drive me to the doctor's office.

After checking for swelling (virtually none), and range of motion (pretty darned good, considering), the doc proclaimed it just a strain. So, rest, ice, compression and elevation (RICE), with some Ibuprofen for any swelling, should see me back on the karate floor in a couple of weeks.

Good thing, since we're testing for the next belt on March 6th. Then my true love and I will be sparring.

Offer it up, Dear!