Update - not in the best of moods

Over the next few months I will be writing less about dance and more about other stuff.

A bit depressed over the weekend as my former sweetie ended things. He said it is because we are too far away but there has to be more to it. Will talk to him later in the week for “closure”. Not sure if that will help anything.

Began looking at online dating sites, finally wrote to one guy and he responded – he recently moved to another country! Too bad but it was nice of him to respond.

Currently watching the show: Housewives of New York City.

Did get a chance to go to the hand car wash, that was very nice.

Updates

I haven't posted for a while. Here are some updates.

- I have taken time off from ballet classes and have been going to Pilates mat class 2x per week.
- The latest advice from a doctor was to have rocker bars put on my shoes and to get a pad for my ballet slipper. From what I read on the internet it relieves pressure on the big toe. I hope this will help. I have been putting off going to the orthodic place for that for a while.
- My doctors don't agree on what is wrong with me. One says I have hallux rigidus and the other says I simply have arthritis and doesn't think the rocker bar would be the greatest idea
- I have to find out if I will be having any prolotherapy / PRP injections in the future.
- One of my Pilates mat teachers is going to stop teaching my class! I will miss her.
I hope they don’t cancel the class, attendance has been pretty low lately (good for me but not so go for the school / teacher). I am looking into other schools for Pilates (reluctantly at this point).
- I have to see a Hematologist because one of my blood tests came out off the scale (my platelet count is too high. Could it be from the PRP injection???). More on that after I see the doctor.
- I got some cool exercise pants from the Danskin outlet.

Due the lack of dance I might start touching upon other subjects from time to time, like my new guilty pleasure, watching the Real Housewives of Organge County, season 4.

Kids Books, Class and PRP

I haven’t posted for a little while, I meant to post after my class last week but that just didn’t happen. A few things:

Karen Strickler Dean book:
When I was a teenager I read all the Karen Strickler Dean books about the dancer Maggie Adams. Here is one for sale on eBay. However I would recommend that you read them in order (which is pretty much "Maggie Adams Dancer", "Between Dances", and "Stay On Your Toes Maggie Adams". Karen Strickler Dean also wrote "A Time To Dance".

I did not read her other book, Mariana, however.

Class: I have been to ballet class twice in the last two weeks. I didn’t do the jumps at the end of class, that used to be my favorite part of class but now I guess it doesn’t matter too much. I was sad to miss the sissonne / pas de chat combination but someday I hope to be doing that stuff soon. We did some combinations with pirouette in two groups and the teacher commented on how well we worked together (since you have to quickly get out of the way to let the second group begin).

Going to class twice in two weeks is not much but it is a big deal for me.

PRP: I had my first PRP (Platelet Rich Plasma) Injection a few days ago. I will keep this short: A few minutes after I got to the office (they are quite efficient there) one of the assistants drew blood and spun it in a centrifuge to separate platelets I would have been interested to see the machine but they perform that task in a different room. Then the doctor came in and introduced me to another doctor that was with him. The doctor injected some anesthetic, and then one of the syringes filled with the blood and that was just about it. I always get nervous so I squeezed a rubber ball and didn’t look while they performed the injections. The doctor said that there will be more pain in the next few days than with the regular prolotherapy injections. I have been sore but nothing horrible.

Here are some links related to PRP (you can also see the links on the sidebar):

http://www.biomet.com/patients/clinical_recruitment_recover.cfm

http://www.northjerseyoralsurgery.com/oral_surgery_teaneck_nj/prp.html
(for oral surgery but a good description)

Here is a Cute article about a dancer who has kept all of her shoes.
I don’t think that 9 is late to start ballet but that is just my opinion.

Off to Pilates either today or tomorrow. Have a great week

Blog Entry, Internist

Read this really great post about a professional dancer taking adult ballet classes from Taylor Gordon's blog. I don't want to comment on it now as it made me a little emotional. I miss my classes a lot.

I recently visited the internist / GP for my annual checkup. He is a traditional doctor but I think he is a pretty smart guy so I mentioned that I currently see a D.O. for prolotherapy and plan to also have PRP injections (note: I am scheduled for early August). The doctor said had never heard of prolotherapy and said not to spend too much time on the experimental stuff. He suggested looking into cortisone shots and anti-inflammatory medication. I was not surprised.

One interesting thing I learned this weekend - a young relative of friend of a friend of a friend was planning on auditioning for the role of baby June in Gypsy on Broadway. She had performed the role in other occasions (at other theaters) but in this case they said she could not audition because dancing in Pointe shoes is required. I love Gypsy but I don't remember Baby June dancing in Pointe shoes in the movie or when I went to see it on Broadway many years ago.

However I did find this link that mentions that the real Baby June danced on Pointe at the age of 2!! I will have to check that out some more.

Check out the latest video below from Aneheim Ballet. Dance jam. I love how they incorporate a puppy and roller skating into their routine.

Have a great week.