Surgery

After last nights class it will be pretty apparent to the team that I will not be in the demo or dragon dance for July 1.  

Unfortunately (or fortunately if you look at it from a pain relief perspective..lol) I will be having foot surgery on June 1.  I have always had bunions.  And looking back, there has always been some pain and discomfort, but nothing that I wasn't able to live with.  It was the norm and so I never gave it much thought.  Since starting Kung Fu, and becoming so much more active on my bare feet, I began noticing frequent bruising, visible changes to my foot structure and increased pain, not only in Kung Fu, but just day to day as well. I decided it was time to do something before it got even worse so I went to the podiatrist and I was, indeed, a candidate for surgery.  Sadly, the recovery for this surgery is quite long and difficult.  I'll apparently be bedridden for 2-4 days.  Then zero weight bearing for 4-6 weeks.  No driving for at least 4 weeks.  And I'll be in an air cast boot for at least 8 weeks. Pain and swelling might continue well beyond that. I’m hoping to be all back to normal in about 12 weeks.  But all in all, I believe it is for the greater good.

Anticipating the large lapse in physical training that I'm going to face, I've been working hard at solidifying many things.  I've been really trying to nail down many of the finer details in my forms and also really working at eliminating any kinks in my Kwan Dao form so that I can hit the ground running again once I'm able.  I've also been trying to improve my kicks...although some might think this is a waste of time.  Post surgery, there is no ignoring the fact that my foot will be different.  I have no doubt this will have an impact on my kicks in a big way and there may be a bit of "starting over" that will have to happen.  But I think the better I can make my kicks now, the easier the transition will be later.  At least that's the plan.  lol.

Although the physical recovery will be difficult, it will be nothing compared to what I’ll be facing mentally.  I will be away from my training mates, my core class, away from Tai Chi, away from IHC as well as any demos or special initiatives that take place...and I'll be away from teaching.  And even once I can start driving and attending again, my participation will be limited.  This is the challenge that worries me the most and so I'm trying to prepare myself mentally as best as I can.

So...knowing that I do best with a solid plan...I've been getting things ready and wrapping my head around what I can do to make the most of this.  There will be lots of things I can still advance and progress in and so I’ve been generating ideas of how I can stay committed to my training even with physical challenges.

My plan so far is as follows…

Pre Surgery

- Take videos of all forms

- Take videos of the 4 basic kicks

- Move my training equipment upstairs to main level

- Setup a stand/system in my bedroom with weights, drum, books, etc. so I have everything within arms reach (I'm told I will spend ALOT of time in bed the first couple weeks with my foot elevated).

- Get computer/TV system ready in bedroom to login to classes.

- Set up some pre-written blogs for June 1-4 as I may still be groggy and out of it for the first few days.

Post Surgery

- Work on my online presence for Ferris Wheel Pottery

-  lots of drumming

- watch pre-recorded forms and work at developing eye for detail - make notes of thoughts and ideas or things to work on once recovered

- get creative with “practicing” my forms - upper body only, watching my pre-recorded videos, doing them in my mind (this is harder than you’d think!)…and anything else I can come up with.

- work on hand building - no wheel throwing if I can’t use the pedal

- work on my water colouring

- modify pushups with upper body weight training

- use the time to revamp my diet, incorporating and developing more healthy habits

- lots of reading

- renewed focus on my chi work - start to organize all my notes into something more legible

- come up with ideas for kids classes

- book lots of 1-on-1s….lots of 1-on-1s….I’ll apologize for this now…lol

Anyhow…this is what I’ve got so far.

I might have to be away from the Kwoon, but my Kung Fu is with me always.