Weeks 8-10: Out of my boot, into my car

Being unable to drive for 2 months was perhaps the hardest part of my immobility phase. What compares to two months of not driving in Los Angeles for a working, social adult? Hard to say...I felt like I was constantly nagging people for rides everywhere. I experienced more ride share awkwardness than ever, like when…

Week 7: My Immobility Workouts

I stayed away from the gym for the first 2 weeks of my recovery, which is when I had my hard cast. I still did abs and posterior chain workouts on my yoga mat at home about 3-4 days a week, though for the most part I wasn't physically or emotionally ready to go back…

Planes, ergs, and scooting to Fargo.

The last 3 weeks have revealed to me what I'm capable of. While I'm at my most vulnerable and broken down physically, I've been able to focus on what I can do as well as how to better care for myself. In my next post I'll include some of my favorite workouts as I round…

Week 3 Part 2: “Doctor, heal thyself”

Doctors make horrible patients. Doctors in training, especially, hardly have time to go to the doctor and may resort to getting "treated" by their colleagues. I may have had my last IUD inserted by one colleague and removed by another, because who has time to go to the doctor during business hours when you're taking…

Week 3 Part 1: New boot, who dis?

Goodbye, Little Monster I was nervous and excited this morning, I was finally having my hard cast off. I'd started to think fondly of my little cast and backpack, my familiar friends that I likened to the 70+ lb pack Cheryl Strayed carried in the novel Wild. Over the last 2.5 weeks we spent a…

Tamed: From busy to bookworm off the Pacific Coast Highway

When I dropped my crutch from the top of the stairs, the first thing I thought was, "Thank God that wasn't me falling down." The second thing I thought was, "Thank God my husband is here so I don't have to go get it!" Actually me after I dropped my crutch from the top stair…

Week 1: the wiggle, a wonky scooter, and Jamie Hagiya’s insights

A week into my recovery I can now wiggle my toes (inside my cast) without severe pain in the outside of my calf. Most of the pain had been in my lateral/outer ankle and calf at the time of the injury. The first week almost like clockwork I'd be awakened by cramps or some stiffness…

“…must begin with a single step”: My first days of Achilles Rupture Rehab

When I tore my Achilles last week, my 9,500 mi journey from L.A. to Kenya was over before I could take that first step. I had planned this big trip to celebrate graduating fellowship in Female Pelvic Medicine and Reconstructive Surgery (a 7 year endeavor after medical school!). I'd planned to go with my husband…