Well, three hernias need repairing. I've had them for a long time and chose to leave them alone as long as they didn't bother me. Alas they seem to have reneged on our agreement of late so in January it's off to Bay State for me to be patched up like an old inner tube.
When the discomfort hit my first reaction was to stay off the mat as visions of strangulated hernias and emergency surgery filled my waking moments. As I began to adapt and determine what I could and could not do I found that I could continue attending class wearing my instructor hat. Ukemi is out for the time being.
As a result of having to take it easy I'm exploring the subtleties hidden in technique. My technique, pretty soft to begin with, has gotten softer, much softer; to the delight I'm told, of my ukes. I've really had to look hard at correct timing and distance as tools to help me overcome my inability to move with as much freedom as I previously enjoyed.
Gonna be a long few weeks until the operation but this too shall pass. The surgeon, a hernia specialist, is going in laparoscopicly and, according to him at least, how soon I get back to normal activities is strictly up to me, no restrictions.
(Original blog post may be found
here.)
