The Hinges that Whinge…

The Tussock Trail to the Cregan Hut where I stayed overnight, with just the backcountry as my companion, created many new, positive memories as well as being a great experience. It was also the tipping point for my lower ‘hinges’ to become whinges!
 
I learned later that walking downhill can add 5 to 7 times your body-weight in pressure on knee joints. I carried my food and spare gear in a smallish backpack, which weighed around 12 kg outbound and 10kg on my return. This exacerbated the situation.
 
I was fine trekking up the hills; and as a user of dual walking poles from when I was rebuilding my fitness after breaking my leg, I had a great hike out to the hut on Day 1. I looked forward to skipping my way back to base next day, but the downhill turned out to be a killer. I wanted to enjoy watching the wildlife rather than watching where I put my feet, but that was not to be.   I rather ‘limped’ home, taking the still beautiful but less interesting route, as I missed out on one of the covenanted areas the Harvey’s had set aside on their property.
 
Being a ‘prevention-is-better-than-cure’ gal I booked in with my GP on my return for a referral to an Orthopedist. In fact, I went to see two because I wasn’t happy with what I came away with after the first. The interesting thing for me was what I heard from the first, probably wasn’t a lot different from what I understood from the second … but therein lay the difference.

 
What I heard from the first was basically lay off the hiking; go bike and swim until you’re really grounded and then come back for reassessment, which was most depressing and not what I either expected or wanted to hear!  What I understood from the second was the ‘Why?’  He told me why I wasn’t a good candidate for intervention right now and what I could do about it specifically. This was really helpful and constructive, and although still not what I wanted to hear, it was a more palatable analysis and delivery.
 
Apparently, knee replacements don’t work until you get to the point of bone-on-bone because the success of replacement when there is still some cartilage present, is compromised. The image I conjured up in my head was that would be like wallpapering over wallpaper – it doesn’t give you a good finish!
 
The short story recommendation is to row, use the cross-trainer and stepper and keep riding my bike to build up my quads and be sure to enrich my diet with plenty of curcumin, ginger, cayenne and black pepper, cinnamon and cloves, whilst anti-inflaming myself before, during and after significant activity like tramping The Tussocks …. so here I go!
 
Lessons Learned and Things that Apply to Many Situations:

1. Do we really pro-actively listen and truly hear what is being said? Or are we guilty of dialling out and busily thinking of what we want to say next? I saw the X-Rays clearly: but they didn’t tell the full story. Although a picture is worth a thousand words, are we sure we explain things in plain English, so people really understand so they can have an intelligent conversation about options and choices?
2. By communicating the reasons ‘Why?’ we are better able to understand what is being said, however challenging, and are therefore more likely to engage and accept what is being proposed, more readily.
3. Think about an experience you may have had recently where you were either misunderstood or your request ignored, and notice what you could have done differently to be better understood.

And now a personal skite and thanks to these special people who helped me nail my Blog-Gremlin!

This is my 52^nd Blog: I’ve been writing weekly for a year without missing a week!  

A huge thanks to Bronwen, Ang, Sam and Ben for your coaxing, cajoling, challenging and caring enough to make me do this. It’s been a vertical learning curve at times, and I’m still far from a natural, but you’ve been amazing and I am most grateful – Thanks!

At risk of a cliché, without the encouragement and feedback from you,  the readership, I may well have given up long ago; so many thanks to you too!

It’s been lovely to have some of your stories, achievements, words-of-wisdom and experiences to share from these pages, so please keep sending your thoughts and ideas through to me, Thank-You.

Oh what a journey; it’s been great and my store-cupboard is bursting at its hinges!

Happy Weekending and many thanks,
Jane

Jane Butler is a Business and Personal Relationship Coach, Mediator and Facilitator and is available for Individual Consultations, Team Building, Communication Workshops, Dispute Resolution, Leadership Development and Couples Relationship Coaching.

You can check out the website for more information: www.outoftherut.co.nz and
Jane can be contacted on 021-732 230 or by email: jane@outoftherut.co.nz