Where I've been ...

Checking in briefly to update folks. It's not that I've left precisely, but truthfully, I am distancing myself against the impending ATS apocalypse. I've also had some pretty hefty personal work going on in my life these past few months to achieve some goals I've actually had for the past several years, so I thought I'd drop in let everyone know I haven't died, not going to die. Actually doing pretty darn good all things considered, and while I miss everyone, I know things are limited here and I don't want to just log in expecting everything to find out that things are dead some morning.

So ...

Around three years ago, we started looking for a physical sports activity my son could enjoy. Given that he's hearing impaired, team sports were going to be difficult. It won't be impossible for him to ever play team sports, but as a 1st grader (6/7 years old), we felt that trying to learn new skills and separate sound input from coach(es), teammates, and parents was going to be a tall order and an exercise in frustration. So we looked instead for individual sports where he only had to rely on himself.

We started with swimming. It seemed the easy one, but he had to learn how to swim first, and he can't wear his earpiece in the pool. The noise of the pool environment, all the various classes, and the physical excitement of being in the water with his head going above and below the water's surface simply overwhelmed. He went through a class session learning next to nothing, and it become apparent that he was only really going to learn with either maturity or private lessons and one on one attention.

It was one to the next idea. For some reason, I looked at the martial arts. We got him into a trial session of tae kwon do, and that one stuck. He's still at it today going on three years later. He adores his instructor. He's past his first mid-term on his way to his 1st degree, and he's on the school's competition team. He thrives when he gets to work with the older kids and adults which is good because he's one of the youngest on the competition squad.

I wish I could say he's super competent at it, but he's still playing at competing more than serious. That's OK. I've seen him when he locks in, and he's got potential to be really good. He reminds me of myself at the same age. And he has a true talent with weapons. So far, there isn't a single one he hasn't picked up quickly, easily and been good at with very little effort. Honestly, I'm glad he's not super serious yet. I want him to go as long as possible enjoying himself. The sooner he locks in, the sooner he risks burnout. I know this from experience.

Now on to me.

I thought my competitive days were long done, but it didn't take long from me watching son at practice to realize ... that I wanted in myself. It looked hella fun, and it's so completely different from anything I'd ever done before that all my old athletic instincts came screaming back wanting in on that challenge.

There were problems though. I was working through a frozen shoulder in my left shoulder. I was overweight - pushing 200lbs at that point. And I was seriously out of shape. All those things had to be addressed before I could even entertain the notion of stepping on to the floor myself, especially at my age in my 40s.

Most of you know I'm a woman of faith, and lots of times I feel like God lets me have the things I want in life, but He also makes me work for them. This is one of those times. So I started really working the left shoulder and the weight. I knocked off 50 lbs so that I was down to between 145 and 150 which is good for a woman of my height. My left shoulder I pushed and stretched and worked so that the joint regained its former range of motion.

A little over a year ago (April/May 2019), I was just starting to address the out of shape issues to prepare myself to go when my right shoulder started in on me. I've posted about that. I only thought the frozen shoulder in my left was bad. It was like my right shoulder said, "Hold my beer!" I lost all my external rotation in the right shoulder. By the time I sought treatment in August and started physical therapy, I had nerve involvement too. I couldn't hardly work anything without spasms across my chest. It was pretty ugly.

By October, it was obvious PT alone wouldn't do it, and surgery was sought. At that time, it was discovered I had a SLAP tear and suprascapular nerve compression in addition to the mother of all frozen shoulders. I had all three addressed at once. It was a unique situation for PT, and the PT crew I was using are really good ones having been trained in part by baby cousin's husband who is internationally known in the field and coming with his recommendation. We forged on and it was slow going. I had atrophy issues and nerves doing things they weren't supposed to. Muscles guarding and not wanting to stop, etc. All of it had to be retrained, and that's a slow process. Plus all the plain healing.

By March, we felt that I could begin to start some outside exercise. I signed up for pool aerobics, but of course, the 'Rona shut everything down again after two sessions. At this point, I was frustrated. So I started working alongside my son when he had his tae kwon do sessions via Zoom. I did it for a few reasons. The first is that Zoom isn't close captioned, so I was playing interpreter for him. The second was to help him feel less alone and help with the things he wasn't getting in terms of form and positioning (my athletic background is useful). The third reason was that I could do the range of motion things ... carefully ... and get some of what I was missing by not being in the pool. It worked out well, and I made some really big gains that month in PT.

In early June, PT and I reached the conclusion that my right shoulder was basically in the process of slowly unsticking itself, and we graduated me out with what we thought would be the final surgeon's visit two days later. We thought it would be a formality. But it wasn't. The surgeon was less impressed because my external rotation was still really tight, and it was especially tight that morning on top of it. He sent me back to PT for the rest of the summer with an August followup. He said if we hadn't made progress by then, I was looking at cortisone and maybe even another surgery! I was crushed at that point.

Then I was marking time again until I finally got back into exercise. This time I hit floor aerobics - a step class with weights and bands - two times a week in the morning. I'm the youngest person in it, and it kicked my @ss to start out. But I've gotten my full risers on, and I've had to bump up my weights and hype the tension on all my bands. It's working like intended. Along with that, the instructor at kiddo's school offered family sessions through the summer for student +1 at certain times. So I added that with my son for 30 minutes once a week.

In short, I have been incredibly, physically busy. I've had two sessions of step with weights, one session of tae kwon do, and an hour of PT every week from June through into August. Then in August, since things were going really, really well, I stepped the tae kwon do up and finally achieved the goal I've spent three years working toward -- I made it into the full adult class. I've been there now three weeks going on four and it's awesome!

So I have two sessons of step and two sessions of full tae kweon do. I saw the surgeon for my last follow up on Thursday,

... and I AM FREE!

I have no more PT after pretty close to a full year of it (insurance loves me by now).

It's been long road, and I've done lots of work to get here. Now I'm not taking it for granted. This is what I wanted, and it's what I've worked for. I've jumped through every hoop in my way, and I'm plenty thankful for it.

I wish I could spend more time here to celebrate my success with you guys, and I'm going to miss all of you, even the ones I disagreed with.

I comment regularly at the PJ Media group (PJ, Townhall, HotAir, Twitchy, etc.) and Powerline as frylock243.

a reply to: ketsuko

Congratulations on the weight loss!

I sincerely hope your shoulder issues improve. I injured mine recently and it has been healing OK for being over 50. I do recommend collagen supplements for injuries like that and never ever take Fluoroquinolone antibiotics, ever (Cipro, Levaquine, Avelox or anything with flox in the name) unless you like ligament / tendon issues like that the rest of your life.


Enjoy the time with the children, they grow up so fast!

a reply to: ketsuko

Good. Good.

My son did Tae Kwon Do right up to instructor level.
Then he learned Yoga right up to instructor level.
He just recently got certified to be a PT assistant.

It's great to brag about our kids.
And now I can brag about you.

"There's this lady who I occasionally chatted with and ..."

You're inspiring, K.
In so many ways.
I think you must be a wonderful parent.
Congrats on all you've accomplished in order to overcome.

BTW...I Loved doing Tae Kwon Do with my sons when they were young.
It was something we all enjoyed sharing together.

Grab yer board you can still surf the wave of the ATSocalypse!

a reply to: ketsuko

Glad ytou're doing better!



Check your mail when you have a chance. . .

It just feels really, really good to know that I can.

There's also something really cool about kicking one of those big bags and knowing that I'm shifting it, but I'm an old hurdler, and I've never been afraid of attacking things with my legs. Kicking is just a modification of that.

a reply to: ketsuko

Awesome!!!
Congrats on so many levels, ketsuko!


I am so glad you checked in with this thread.
There must have been times when your ears were burning.....that was me and I am sure a lot of other ATSers wondering where you've been.

a reply to: ketsuko

Thumbs up from me!

After my pregnancy I struggled to get the extra pounds off. When I decided enough is enough, I had accumulated to around 185 pound wich is a lot for me only being 5.2 foot high. I worked out, used smaller dishes and stopped eating sweets stuff. The last part was the hardest because my daughter kept questioning the "why". But I showed restrain and did not cheat.

Now I am stable at about 133 and feel amazing. Like flik-flak-ing around amazing. People around me also notice and compliment on my success but told me to not overreach lately. The pain in my back is not as dominant as it was before. Old dresses fit again and I got reasons to buy new clothes, too

Now I can touch my earlobe with my big toe again that was always my internal measurement for the status of my fitness. A toast from a terrace at the eastern sea, watching the beautiful sunset.

a reply to: DontTreadOnMe

Yes actually i was thinking of Ketsuko just this morning.

Sorry to burn your ears Ket!

Damn Ket, way to go! And holy cow, you're WAY busier than I assumed, that's quite a bit of time-juggling you got going on

But kindly log your hind end in a bit more often, pls? Believe it or not, impending apocalypse or not, we still miss your sharp wit and common sense

a reply to: ketsuko

It was so good to see you today and so good to hear things are going well for you!

Wow, you’ve had quite the time! Congrats on the weight loss, good on you! You’ve been really busy, and I’m so happy for you and your son. Sounds like you both are in a good place. So glad to see you back on here.

a reply to: ketsuko


So you were not in the Jail like the rumours said --typical

a reply to: ketsuko

Guess what works best on a frozen shoulder?

Ah you thought I'd say honey huh?

It's bee sting venom.
Will cure that#

Now go get stung hehe

Man this ain't facebook

a reply to: ketsuko

a reply to: ketsuko

Hey, glad to see you're well and successfully heading down a path of self improvement.

a reply to: ketsuko
A good OP and good news at the same time. I'm not sure I can handle this.


Glad to hear you're doing well Kets! Your old nemesis sincerely wishes you and yours the very best. Hopefully I'll see you and everyone else posting at least occasionally until they lock the doors on us, but if not, take care.

Glad to hear things are going better, congratulations and hope things keep on the upswing for you.

Miss you!!