Power Yoga

First time back at Power Yoga since the surgery. It showed me how tight I am on the left(operated) side compared to the right. Not in the hip joint, ironically, but in the hamstrings, calves, etc. By the end of the class, I had stretched to the point where I felt equal on both sides, but I must admit as soon as I sit down I tighten up again. I can see that I can stretch it, though.

Yoga is such a gift. You learn so much about yourself. The sense of community is awesome. And the stretching and strengthening seem so much more interesting than just doing exercises in a gym.

2438 E. Whitton Avenue Phoenix Arizona 85016 240 Coral Reef Ave Half Moon Bay, CA 94019	602.910.5622(V) 602.218.5272 (F) Francine@stealthmode.com Francine Hardaway, Ph.D
Objective	Entrepreneurship Coach and Mentor Chairman of a Small Business Group Corporate Board Appointment
Experience	1998-Present Stealthmode Partners Phoenix, AZ CEO Started and grew a company that is the market leader in Phoenix for startup company acceleration (fee-based) 1:1 counseling for five private clients in technology, construction, and environmental markets. Facilitated and administered ten successful FastTrac entrepreneurial training programs through the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation (applied for and received grants from the Cities of Phoenix and Tempe) Facilitated a monthly Founders and CEO Roundtable dinner attended by hundreds of local entrepreneurs Ran a highly successful First Annual Arizona Entrepreneurship Conference with 500 attendees and a bottom line profit Currently facilitating ENT 250, Networking and Public Relations for Entrepreneurs at Grand Canyon University Writer of a blog that is a resource for entrepreneurs Started a chapter of the Social Media Club in Phoenix Facilitate Social Media Club meetings monthly
	1997-1998 Innovative Environmental Products Tempe, Az VP MARKETING Negotiated NASCAR license for environmental cleaning products Introduced company to online marketing Created web site Created marketing strategy and plan 1:1 counseling on business strategy for CEO
	1996–1997 Intel Corporation Santa Clara, CA MANAGER, WORLDWIDE PRESS RELATIONS, Computing Enhancement Group 8 direct reports Introduced digital imaging, Internet phone (VOIP), USB, and Intelligent I/O to both b2b and consumer markets Supported Intel’s appearances at Comdex, CES, and Semicon West trade shows Delivered and participated in 360 feedback process
	1980-1996 Hardaway Marketing Services Phoenix, AZ Founder and CEO P&L Responsibility for $2m annual budget Became largest PR and marketing agency in Phoenix 15 direct reports President, Arizona Commercial Real Estate Women Counseled 1:1 clients of all sizes on networking and public relations
Education	1968 Syracuse University, Ph.D. 1963 Columbia University, M.A. 1962 Cornell University, B.A. high honors Bronx High School of Science
Community Organizations	National Business Incubator Association, Phoenix Community Alliance, Churchill Club, Silicon Valley Association of Startup Entrepreneurs, National Network of Commercial Real Estate Women, Social Media Club, Arizona Technology Council

Hostess with the Mostess

Hostess with the Mostess
Originally uploaded by chelsea hardaway.

Chelsea's Bo, part of the Golden Retriever nursing team,. welcomes me back to Half Moon Bay after the surgery

Grief

I have had a horrible week. Although when I went to the doctor she told me nothing was fractured or loose, and that I was still healing well, it didn't cheer me up. In fact, very little cheered me up. I managed to make everyone in my life angry with me, because I was so self-absorbed that I wasn't "there" for any of them, although I thought I was running around trying to help everyone.

Finally I began to think that, four and a half months out from the hip replacement, still in (some) pain and still limping or leaning, I am mourning the loss of my youth. Or at least that part of my youth represented by the ability to walk gracefully without shifting and leaning from side to side or limping. When I was younger, no one could notice I had scoliosis. Now my right shoulder is visibly raised all the time. And no amount of exercise that I've done so far has been able to impact this.

I have tried very hard to embrace wisdom, age gracefully, etc., but I think I must be fooling myself.

Concerns

More clunking in the hip joint when I raised my leg today, so I was told to get X-rays, which I will do tomorrow.

Meanwhile Chip, the trainer, came over and tested me. He was pretty worried for a while that the joint was unstable, but after he tested me, he thought maybe the issue was just a tight ileo-tibial band and an unconscious external rotation that turns the wrong muscles on and off.

I must say that after he massaged me, my hip joint didn't make the same hollow clunking that it had before. But there is still a chance that I will have to have a revision, which means going through all this stuff all over again -- another surgery, another anaesthesia, another rehab. I was close to tears when Chip was telling me about it.

It is, however, only during flexion, so maybe it's okay.

Clicking?

After two weeks of yoga without consequence, this morning I went to the gym to do the exercises Chip gave me. When I finished the series of exercises, I decided to see whether I had gained strength (although I knew I had), so I went back to some of the exercises I used to do with the physical therapist. When I got to the marching, I noticed that when I raised my (operated) leg, there was a painless catch or click that I could feel, rather than hear, and I wonder if that's normal.
It's almost as if the joint is catching up somewhere, and maybe it's on a muscle, tendon, or ligament that surrounds it.

I'm gonna ask the experts. Better safe than sorry.

Flow

I can flow! This is very important because...well, because I could always flow before. So now I feel "normal." When I went to Dr. Whirlow she told me I should stop when I felt things pulling. This morning in the flow class, I could tell when it was overstretching either the hip tissue or the groin tissue, so I just backed off. I also didn't do anything that involved crossing my legs. Oh, and I didn't really try to balance on one leg without a wall next to me.

But that was a surprisingly small part of the practice, and again I realize how important yoga is for both stretching and strengthening. And how, because it is also a breath exercise and a mental/spiritual exercise, the fact that you have done twenty pushups in an hour doesn't even occur to you.

So what's left now is some tissue healing and some scar tissue that has to be stretched and moved gingerly. But I have just had my four-month anniversary, so there's more improvement to come.

Cleared for Yoga!

Dr. Whirlow cleared me to go to yoga! This is news so good that it immediately caused all my remaining aches and pains to vanish, which tells you how much of all this is psychological. When you think you're a patient, you feel sick. When you feel like you are in training, you feel like a strong athlete. Go figure.

I went to a yin class, where you hold the poses for a very long time. I asked the teacher to watch me to make sure I didn't internally rotate (the only real restriction), and she actually structured the entire class without internal rotations. The good teachers like to do that, because it makes them think, and the entire class can learn from it. However, by now I am pretty sure I know what's an internatl rotation.

Dr.Whirlow also gave me a little card to carry in my wallet saying I am her patient and I have a metal implantable device. Not that I've ever had any trouble making myself understood at the airport; you get wanded either way. I'm going to volunteer to be one of the people who try the new scanner, which I've sure will be much faster. They are testing one at Sky Harbor Airport right now.

I feel so much better.

She also told me that I had a 36" head on my replacement so it fit right and I would have very little chance of dislocating -- except with a lot of force. That's for the woman from Harvard who has been reading this before her own replacement. I hope yours went well. Now you start the tough part, climbing back to full functionality. But it can be done. I did it! I blogged it. I'm here to tell the tale.

chauncey in bed

chauncey in bed
Originally uploaded by hardaway.

So this is one of the dogs I can now walk on a leash. He's Chauncey, he's five, he weighs 85 pounds and he accompanied me through the surgery. Notice that he is a male, and he therefore thinks he controls the remote :-)

He now has a baby brother, a one-year-old golden I rescued and named Luckly Puppily. Although I didn't get Luckily P. until New Year's Eve, I was only about six weeks post-op, and I absolutely couldn't walk either dog on a leash. Ever try to leash train a puppy that you can't tak on a leash? I had to defer the job until very recently.

Just an update on me...

It has been a while since I posted to this blog, because I've been at a standstill in my recovery. But I've been working with my gaiting coach, and I'm getting there -- wherever there is. My daughter still says I'm "leaning," and last night someone told me I was limping. However, I can do everything I used to do, and the only pain I have is when I arise from a sitting position and take the first step. I wonder if that's even the hip, or whether it's all the underlying back problems.

I also feel very strong. I walk two golden retrievers short distances on leashes.

I've been back to yoga, even to Vinyasa, although I didn't flow on the left side. I also don't hug my knees to my chest (going through 90 degrees), do certain ab exercises, or do plow pose or twists. Or pidgeon on the left.

But that doesn't mean yoga is not helpful or possible. What it does mean is that before you go back after your hip replacement, you should demonstrate to a knowledgeable person (surgeon, therapist, or yoga therapist) the asanas you would like to do, but have safety questions about, in order to get an educated opinion.

Or, I supposed you could just wait a year, when almost everything is probably safe.