Tuesday, April 15, 2014

32 Hours and counting...

What, me eager? Naah...

It's been 10 weeks since I bailed out of an Advanced Beginner class after barre because I felt so out of breath, even though I was breathing just fine. As I left I told my instructor that I had an appointment the next week to find out what the problem was. I haven't been in a ballet class since.

It's been 9 weeks since that appointment, during which I took a good look at my echocardiogram and said to my doc, "So I guess I'm having surgery." That day I had my dance bag in my car in the expectation that I'd go to class that night. I still haven't opened that bag, though I took it out of the car long ago.

Tomorrow it will be 6 weeks since a crazy woman with a great sense of humor and brilliant skills repaired a valve defect that I was barely aware of six months ago. Almost immediately the shortness of breath vanished, though it's taken me until now to heal enough that I can go back to class. I'm still officially prohibited from "lifting any ballerinas" (her words, not mine) for another four weeks, and it'll be months yet before I'm back to normal.

I thought about cheating a day and going to the Beginner 2 class tonight, but I worry that after 10 weeks off it would be more than I'm ready for. Tomorrow's Beginner 1 class is the safer option, and will tell me where I stand without the temptation to over-do. If I want another class in the short term I have two options Thursday and one Saturday.

For the moment, though, my focus is on tomorrow. Stay tuned for a post-class update tomorrow night...

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