Tuesday Therapy: Prolotherapy #5

I'm now up to five treatments of prolotherapy.

After treatment four, I lasted a full week before I felt any pain. The level of pain was less, but still there. My wrist got very tired and started to get sore around Thursday the week right after treatment. Could have been the stress I was feeling or the weather. It was much colder out than it has been in previous weeks. I have come to find that when my hands are cold, my wrist is more susceptible to pain. This isn't something new. When you're cold your blood doesn't flow as well. Poor circulation usually means cold hands for me, and subsequently, pain. Think of a person with arthritis that notices more pain and stiffness on winter days.

I'm impressed by how much this has helped me. I feel better about doing activities. I don't feel like I have to be extra cautious (even though I should still be) when doing my workouts. I would love to go back to lifting weights, but I'm just not there yet.

A blog follower, Chowsr from Cogitation on Meditation, has gave me a link to an article that explains prolotherapy a little better than I have been.  Have a read here. One of the authors in the doctor I have been going to for treatment. I feel blessed to have found such a prominent force in the use of prolotherapy as my doctor.

Since having Treatment #5 done, I'm doing much better. The pain is no longer pain (if that makes sense). It's more a feeling of weakness. Even those weak days are fewer and farther between. I will have another treatment (#6) in a week from now. From there, treatment #7 will be 4 weeks out. It will be a test at the point to see how long I can really last without pain. So far, close to two weeks!

To assist with all the stress management, I'm still taking my B-complex and using Rescue Remedy. It's helped a little. I feel less likely to crack at anytime, but there are still a few days where I cry a lot. If after a couple more weeks I don't feel any better, my naturopath said he has something else for me to try. In the mean time, I will continue with the vitamins, the therapy, and I will now add in acupuncture.

Movie Review (11): Prince of Persia

Frenchie and I went to Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Friday night. I had to keep reminding myself it was a Disney movie. Some of the lines were pretty cheesy. All in all the movie was entertaining. The acting was good for the script and I thoroughly enjoyed all the action sequences. I kept relating the movie action sequences to that of a video game, and rightly so. The movie is based of the game by UBI Soft. I'm a fan of game-to-movie transitions, so this was right up my alley.

Gyllenhaal did a great job as Dastan. He was believable as the innocent, framed brother. Dastan's character was carefree but smart. Although he was arrogant, he wasn't corrupted by power like his one brother and uncle. He lived through his heart rather than his head.

Sir Ben Kingsley is always fantastic no matter what his role. I found his character dark and brooding. As the uncle, serving his brother the King, and serving the King's sons, his evil demeanor fit perfectly. In every Disney movie there is a villan, and he was it, through and through.

If you're looking for a little mindless entertainment, go see this one. It was well worth it.

Fitness Friday: Stag, Hip Hold and Assisting

You might have noticed that I didn't post about pole on Tuesday.  Since I am done my conversion to being a Catholic I am making my Friday posts "Fitness Friday". Unless there is something that I really want to blog about on faith, you're more likely to get posts about fitness.

Pole on Tuesday was great. I had a set of moves in mind that I wanted to try. We added a new student to our class since it's been changed to Level 7+, or Advance Development, (AD). She seemed to get along good with us. She even attempted a few advanced moves and did pretty well!

We started with Hero. It's a move we learned a long time ago, and never really do anymore. Here is me doing the Hero pose from Christmas 2009. I haven't gotten a new photo of the move recently. Copyright to Deviant Optiks.

Looking at this photo now, I'm seeing that I need to drop my hips down a little further. (my own critique, but it's hard to know where your body is in relation to the floor when you're up there.)

Another move we learned last night was the Stag.  I have a nice bruise on the top of my foot from class this week. (Trophy!) I am not in the full blown pose in this pic. I actually should be grabbing my back foot with my hand to create a finished look. I have trouble doing a forearm hold and it's required in this move. Something to work on.

Hip Hold. I had trouble with this one. I couldn't get a grip with my armpit to create a full anchor with it. My leg was definitely sticking in the most uncomfortable spot. (think bikini line) It's the right spot for the move, however having your armpit gripping will help ease the pain and amount of pressure on the leg. I have a nice bruise on my bikini line now. I was sliding in the pic, so it's a little blurry. I definitely want to get this move and be able to put it in a combination.

On another note. I have completed my first 6 weeks of assitant teaching. I assited a level 4 class. Now I have assisting 3 classes, level 1, 6 and 5. I will be assisting a friend of mine which makes it a lot of fun. We are the exact opposite in terms of personality. We get along great and make fun of each other to no end. I hope the girls we're teaching will love it. Neither one of us are afraid to make an idiot out of ourselves if it betters the class. The classes were really fun and I love helping the girls out. The newbies all have a smile on their face when they leave, the more advanced levels leave looking beaten and worn out. Perfect!

After teaching last night, I am sore. I was already sore from my own class on Tuesday. Another 3 hours has left me wimpering. It will all be for the better in the end. The more pole I do, the stronger I become, thus, the more moves I can learn. So really, assisting is just like a workout.

28/50: The Last Concubine

A friend of mine suggested The Last Concubine book to me. We decided to both read it.

I liked this book from the get-go. I found it moved very fast at the beginning and I felt like I was missing parts of the story. Once I got a little further in, I realized it was written that way in order to get to the real story.

Sachi is a strong character. I found myself admiring her strength, courage and samauri ways. She was taught to stand up for her beliefs and it was refreshing for a female main character to do so. Bound by duty, she struggled between what she was brought up as, and her hearts desire. I found myself wishing for her to follow her heart instead of her duty.  Closer to the end of the book I found myself rolling my eyes at the cliché love story. The girl has to pick between two men. I had my favorite of the two, but I won't tell you her decision.

I don't know a lot about Japan in the 1800's but I learned a lot. I had no idea there was such a large scale civil war. I love books that can teach me something I didn't know. The way the ladies of the palace lived was so interesting.

Wedding Wednesday: Reception Venue

Friday, Frenchie and I are going to put the deposit down on our reception venue. We are using a community hall. This has it's pros and cons. The biggest draw is that it costs a lot less for us to rent. We are able to decide how we want to decorate, what kind of food we want and how the room will be set up. A lot of places that include everything don't give you those sorts of options. You must use THEIR vendors and their vendors only.

One of the perks we wanted was to be able to supply out own alcohol. My future father-in-law is adament that we have an open bar, and that he will assist in buying all the liquor. We won't be getting the best of the best, but there will be a variety of things for people to drink. We will hopefully find a jar of some sort and decorate it to put on the bar. It will say "Honeymoon Fund". My sister did this at her wedding and they got a fair amount of donations.

The bad thing about a hall is that you have to go through the work of finding a caterer. We are STILL looking for someone. We've had outrageous quotes to quotes within our range. I'm lazy and haven't phoned the ones we liked. I really need to get on this. This time next year will be my wedding month!