Just call me Sabeehah

Back from belly dancing, and my knee is actually starting to look normal most of the time. The lumpiness over the lower lateral incision is going away. It seems like I've kind of stalled at the discomfort level, when I get to the last few degrees of flexion, it't still uncomfortable, and it doesn't seem to be getting any better. It's not a prohibitive pain, but it's definitely noticeable. And if I try to keep my knee at full flexion for more than a minute, it starts to get stiff. I'm doing as much strengthening as I can, flexibility was never an issue for me. I don't have access to a gym, so I'm doing what I can with ankle weights and resistance bands. I got adjustable ankle weights so that as I get along further in the rehab, and I can go with heavier weights, I won't need to constantly buy new weights. Definitely something that is recommended. The ones I have are adjustable from 2 pounds to 10 pounds. I was warned not to do straight leg raises with weight that is more than 10% of my total body weight, and I'm not going to post my weight online, but I have enough in ankle weights to eventually get to that point.

I do have some medial joint pain in the knee, and it's irksome, but not enough to make me want to see a doctor for it. Maybe I should, but I figure I've just been working out more, putting more stress on the knee, and it's hopefully just an adjustment period and once I get back to the high level of activity, my knee will get used to it and then it won't bother me.

But the belly dance classes I started, those are so much fun. I am having a blast doing it. We started last week, and it's such an amazing workout, and so much fun you don't realize what a good workout it is. It's hard too, I've been using muscles I didn't know I had. I'm not saying I'm great at it, in fact, I'm probably pretty darn terrible at it, but a lot of it is in the attitude I think. Fake it til you make it. We were told to channel our inner diva, and so I decided that means I need a stage name. I found a website that lists middle Eastern dance names for belly dancers, and I wanted to get one that had the same first letter as my real name. And so I found Sabeehah, which means "beautiful lady with a fair complexion". Oddly appropriate, I think. So next week when I go to the dance class, I'm not going to be myself, a somewhat nerdy, constantly fumbling, almost pediatrician... I am going to be Sabeehah! Master belly dancer, diva extraordinnaire! Graceful as a swan, beautiful arms, beautiful legs, hips and chest moving in isolation.