Weekend and more PT (it's my life folks!)

Ben and had a pretty chill Friday night, met up with some friends for happy hour and then went out to dinner with them. It was nice - low key and good company. Saturday we had lunch at our fave restaurant, Cherry Creek Grille, and shared their tuna burger - yummy! Then I went and got a pedicure - it was FANTASTIC! I hadn't been able to do my own toes since before surgery and they were in dire need of some help! Believe it or not, I couldn't get my knee/leg bent enough to paint my toes without throwing a kink in my back, so they polish was totally worn off and my feet were looking pitiful. Mom and Kari got me a gift card to use for after surgery and it came in handy - thank you to them for a wonderful post-surgery gift.

Saturday afternoon Ben went to a BBQ with some work buddies and Kari and I picked up Shelley and we were off to Colleen's to begin the festivities for Kate's bachelorette party. I can't share many details, after all this is a family site, but we had such a great time! We drank champagne, shared some naughty cake, went out for drinks and shared a bunch of food, went dancing, and I took about 160 photos - I went a little nuts at the end of the night. Part of the reason was that Kate said she didn't want to go dancing, so when she started to tear up the dance floor, I felt like I needed some proof. I'll post a few photos at the end of this post, but they will be the tamer ones. We closed the bars down! It was seriously a good time, and we are all so excited for Kate and Matt we just wanted to celebrate some with just the girls. Really, everyone was on their best behavior. I've found as I've gotten older, yes, these are some words of wisdom, that you can have more fun hanging with the girls than dealing with drunk, random guys. Congrats Kate and Matt!

Sunday was recovery day - I was a tad hungover. Kari and I went to get some breakfast, then we came home to veg out. We watched the Euro Cup soccer finals, Spain v. Germany. Spain looked awesome. The entire second half they just pounded at Germany's goal, and Germany looked as if they were just completely beat. Spain won 1-0 (goal scored in the first half), but Germany is lucky they didn't get completely blown out. Ben took off on Sunday morning for Milwaukee to meet with some clients. Really, they are just going for fun - a concert and cruising on someone's boat, but I guess it still does help his client relationship. I'm just jealous!

Monday -- back to work. But I did go to PT today and saw Erika. Brandi is on vacation in Alaska this week, so I was a bit worried today because I'd not seen anyone but her. But Erika was wonderful! I did all my exercises with Kate before I saw Erika. I did the bike, more shuffles, some new stretches for my hip flexor (oh my gosh, those felt awesome), and then I did some balance exercises using a weight machine. The more the better, I feel! Then Erika did some massage for me and stretched me out really good. I measured just TWO (!!) degrees short of full extension today, but I was still around 130 degrees for flexion. Only 11 more degrees to go on that -- I CAN DO IT! Soon, hopefully. The best part of PT today was the way Erika massaged my IT band. She could still see bruising from where Brandi pummelled me on my IT band last week (I'm told by everyone that works at my PT it's completely normal to bruise, so don't anyone freak out), so she decided to take it easy on me. She slathered on some baby oil on the side of my quad, then got out a plunger. Yes, a plunger! She got it all suctioned on my skin, then gently pulled away from the skin without breaking the suction seal, and just kept pulling up a little bit and moving it all around. It felt so good, and I was so relieved not to be squirming. I am still tight there and in my hammies, so I know once Brandi gets back she'll be all over those again. I am telling myself the easier massages this week is a reward for living through brutal ones!

Okay, here are some photos from Kate's party:

The start of the night at dinner (L to R: Kate, Lauren, Shelley, Colleen, me, Kari)

Peace out...notice the shirt? I made that...
Shelley and Kate
Kari and Kate fooling around at Spill
I knew the night was only going to get better when Kate left Spill with her beer in hand and no one stopped her...she's mighty proud of herself as you can see.
I can't tell if she's smiling or grimicing at the sight of more shots?

Nearing the end of the night. We don't look too hideous.
Kate said she didn't want to go dancing. Yea, I didn't believe her either. Do you see that look on her face - she's totally rocking out! (And she managed to keep her "straw" all night!)
Still standing...and smiling...
Friends help friends stand up (actually, I think they are only barely standing up)

I truly love this girl and am so happy for her!

Surgery pics

I finally got a CD of my sugery pics: (here are some of the better ones, and the ones of which I can remember what it actually is...)

My torn ACL (ugly, huh?) - I couldn't even begin to tell you what is what in this photo.

My new ACL (Apparenlty, I received a really good, solid, thick cadaver graft, so thick in fact they had to take shave down bit of bone off my femur - you can see the reddish brown part where they shaved off where the graft goes into the bone at the top of the photo.)

Smooth bone, no fractures

Undamaged meniscus (smooth surfaces)

Damaged medial meniscus (look for fraying)

Damaged lateral (I think) menicus

Damaged medial meniscus

More damaged meniscus (not sure which one)

And still swollen after 20 days, but you can only see one scar (I have five total)

Dr. follow up, more PT, and weekend plans

Thank goodness it’s Friday! I’ve had such a long week - I think because I’m still having trouble getting a good night’s sleep. If I lay on my side (either side), even with a pillow between my legs, I get sore right on the inside of my knee (I think I found out the cause…more about that later). The only way to not be sore sleeping is to lay on my back, and I’m really not a back sleeper.

I had my follow up with Dr. Gonzales on Tuesday. He was on vacation immediately after my surgery, so I hadn’t seen him since June 4. He said everything is looking really good, scars healed nicely. He was impressed by my flexibility and extension and just told me to keep plugging away at physical therapy. I told him that my only concern was the amount of pain I had on the inside side of my knee, and he said, “Oh, well that’s not really uncommon considering you sprained your MCL as well.” I was kinda dumbfounded – NO ONE had mentioned that to me since I’d been seen this whole time. So he pulled up my MRI report from the radiologist and it was right there, clear as day, “Grade 1 Sprain of MCL.” (Grade 1 is the lowest amount of injury.) Hmmm…the only thing I can possibly think of was that with tears to two meniscus and my ACL, but no tear to the MCL, they just overlooked it. Or maybe he thought he’d mentioned it. I have no idea…Regardless, he said that my pain is likely from that. I asked how long before it gets better and he said a while. I was thinking maybe a couple more weeks, he said a couple more months….wonderful. Eh, nothing I can do at this point. More Advil, I think.

I went to PT on Wednesday as scheduled, and man oh man, what a day – highs and lows. Wednesday was also three weeks since I had surgery. I rode the bike for 15 minutes when I got there since Brandi was finishing with another patient. Kate got me started on some more shuffles with the resistance band around my ankles. Hello, tired! Then I did some squats and calf raises on the total body machine, along with some hamstring curls. Absolutely love doing all of those. I’ve really, really been craving doing stuff since I’ve been so limited since I hurt myself. Then I went over to the table of death. It really is I’m convinced. Brandi flipped my on my stomach and noticed that I had some bruising where she “massaged” my hamstring on Monday. So she conceded that she didn’t need to do that again at least for Wednesday’s appointment, so I lay on my side and she got right to work on my IT band. How do I explain this – bluntly, she was killing me!!! No tears though…still, she kneaded and pushed, over and over. My leg was all red by the time she finished, I’m not kidding. She did some massage around my knee itself and also on my scars (stellar feeling too…). Then back to more stretches and exercises. I love everything there except those frickin' massages. I remind myself that it’s all for the good of my rehab, but it’s tougher to buy that each time. Especially when I woke up on Thursday morning and had a bruise from just above mid-thigh all the way down to my knee. Yes, a really big bruise from that massage. I have a photo at home to upload later.

So, Ben and I are going to dinner and movie tonight. I think we’ll hit the Cherry Creek Grille and then maybe see “Wall-E” the new animated movie. It got good reviews. I wanted to see “Wanted” but Ben wasn’t too into that. Weird – action flick, Angelina Jolie….yea, weird. I’m sure I can convince him to go see it with me sometime. Saturday we are taking Kate out for her bachelorette party with her Denver friends - I’m very excited for that. It’ll be my first night out since surgery. We’ll see how it goes. I may be the girl crashing someone else’s party just to have a place to sit by the end of the night. Ben leaves for Milwaukee on Sunday, and I’ll be watching the finals of Euro Cup ’08 (Spain v. Germany). Have a good weekend everyone!

Democratic National Convention is coming...

Last week we had like a million helicopters in and around our house, training for what they called Urban Combat Missions. They said (which is a complete load of horse$hit) that the training exercises were not related to the upcoming DNC.....yea right. Anyway, they were flying super low in Blackhawks and some other kind of helicopter, practicing landing on building roofs and parking lots around the old Children's Hospital (which is currently under demolition) and some other downtown locations. It wasn't terribly annoying, except when they started the training exercises at 10 p.m.! Thank goodness for our A/C unit in the bedroom, it drowned out the noise almost entirely. I still find it ironic that in as long as I can remember, Denver's never been home to such training missions...and they still claim it's not in preparation for the DNC.

Then today I'm just working away and two guys walk off the elevator into my office. And then, like straight out of a movie, both of them flip out their wallet things, flap them open and say, "We're from the Secret Service Sniper Squad and we're here to check out your building's windows that face the Pepsi Center." Staring right up at me is their Secret Service ID badges, all official and such. They had this color aerial map of our area and said they had to investigate each and every window facing the Pepsi Center that is not obstructed. They also needed contact information for each person who sits in the office with said windows, in order to be able to contact that person on a moment's notice should they need to come in our office and take positions in the windows. I'm not sure I see them contacting people - I figured if something were to happen and they'd need in a particular window they would just bust on it and make themselves at home. Who's going to argue with that??!! So yea, them being in our offices was the most exciting thing that's happened around here in a while. Kinda makes you wish for a more exciting career...

'Twas a good day at PT on Monday

Had a great day at PT yesterday - not kidding! The massages are starting to hurt a little bit less, and it's probably because Ben has been helping me out at home and doing some of the massage and stretching with/for me. I ended my PT session last Friday at 121 degress flexion, and starting out today after only one flexibility exercise, I was at 128 degrees - proof that the boring, painful, at-home sessions actually do work! I was able to do some different types of exercises today (in addition to the normal and customary ones) including "squat" shuffles with a resistance band, a one-legged (bad leg) modified squat on the total gym, calf raises (straight leg and bent leg) and then some hamstring curls. Oh baby, the burn feels so good!! When you haven't done anything remotely close to exercise in two months, you crave it. Brandi watched me walk and said each time I go in it's better and better, so that's encouraging. My extension today was better too, and it's taking much less work at the start of a PT session to get my leg straighter. Still, when she pushes my kneecap straight down, I feel like I want to cry! But, in the end, all things considered, I can't complain about yesterday's PT. If I can be this positive about it, I think I can follow through and end up with a successful rehab program.

We didn't do much this weekend, as I was still focusing on RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation). My swelling is still there, but gradually improving. Brandi thinks that maybe I can ditch the compression sock starting next week - I hope so!!! It's so hot and uncomfortable. On Saturday, we did go to a friend's BBQ, and had a really good time. I was getting sore and having a hard time finding a good position (stand vs. sit; or both...), so we left around 9, but it was good to see our friends for a while. I feel like I say no to a lot right now since I can't possibly go to a bar and stand for four hours. On Sunday we went to my cousin's baby shower via internet camera (she's in North Carolina) and had a great time. She looks so cute!!! I can't wait to see her newest one. They are naming him Owen.

Last night for dinner Ben and I made some grilled ginger chicken, with cucumber and red onion salad for dinner. I also tried this recipe from Rachel Ray that was lemon chive noodles, which was so good (whole grain noodles and all). Ben even liked it, and he is P-I-C-K-Y. After dinner I rode my bike - a serious woo hoo is needed here.....I never realized how much I needed that damn bike. I never got the mountain bike bug, but it's been a lifesaver before and after my knee surgery. Ben and I even contemplated selling it earlier this spring, and I am so glad we didn't.

I have my first follow up with my surgeon today. He was out of town after my surgery, so I'm super interested to hear what he has to say. Brandi told me to ask him if he did any microfracture repair since I'm still pretty sore in one certain spot when he did work on my medial meniscus. And she is dying to know why he put me in a straight leg immobilizer - she's never seen one of his patients come to her with one of those on. I will post more after I meet with him this afternoon.

Wade, an attorney I work for sent me this article about knees - I'm getting a label as the knee girl!! But I can't complain since the articles I've read so far that people have sent to me are really informative. http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_9595969

Adios for now.

I ain't gonna lie - physical therapy sucked on Wednesday

Brandi was just mean yesterday at PT (I have permission from her to write this). No joke! I was almost in tears a couple different times. The massage on my hamstring still hurts like a S.O.B., we skipped the IT band massage (thank goodness), but then she worked on my kneecap. She was sliding it all around, moving it back and forth, pressing, holding, etc., until I was absolutely convinced that she was going to dislocate my kneecap. It was all I could do not to cry! No mercy tap-outs allowed on that one, so I just suffered through. After that torture, she had me work on my extension, using the blood pressure cuff and pushing my knee down toward the tabletop about 10 times. Each time I had to get push down enough to register '20' on the dial (not sure of the exact term for the measurement - lb. or psi, maybe??). Those aren't bad and I feel really loose afterwards. But then Brandi takes it a step further - she pushes my knee down for me....and not lightly either. The past two appts. it was tolerable, but this time, I swear my leg would just snap in half. I said that out loud and she deadpanned, "It's only happened once." Then she waits about 3 seconds to see my reaction, starts laughing and says, "I'm only kidding!" Honestly though, it hurt so bad, I really thought she meant it! The pain didn't stop there...so after she almost snaps my leg in half, she starts to "massage" my incision scars. I was finally able to remove my steri-strips (no stitches or staples on any incisions) this morning after my shower. Four of the five incisions are healed nicely (I thought...), no scabs, just small scars, with the largest incision where they inserted my cadaver graft still a little scabbed over and very sore. So anyway, this "massage" is not a massage - NOT EVEN CLOSE. Picture this: you have a really bad bruise on your thigh, like you walked into the corner of your desk or something. Now, imagine that someone takes their finger and digs in there really good, just digging and digging away, making tight little circles, pushing harder and harder....let me tell you - it feels fantastic. Hardly. Again, I almost cried and it was all I could do to not just jump off the table and run for the door. And again, no mercy tap-outs on this one either....she's getting tougher with me! Finally, after what feels like forever, she's done and I get to move on to my exercises. More stretches, and then I got to do some leg presses on a sliding bench/weight machine for my calves and squats for my quads, followed by sets of hamstring curls. Who would have thought I could pull my own weight up using my hamstrings only only two weeks after surgery? Not me, but I did it and I LIKED IT!

So my at the start of my first visit at PT appt. I was at close to 60 degrees flexion; end of same visit I was at 84 degrees. Man, I thought that was awesome - turns out not so much! At the end of my second day of PT I was at 104 degrees flexion - I was completely and totally stoked, but Brandi still wasn't too impressed (in all honesty, she's very encouraging, and I really appreciate it.). Starting yesterday's appointment, Brandi told me the goal was to get to 120 degrees; at the end of yesterday's appointment I was at 121 degrees! Woo hoo!! Sounds fantastic and all, but the problem is that once I get back to work, sitting at my desk, I get stiff all over again and unless I go through a complete set of my exercises, I couldn't possibly get to 120 degrees right off the bat. I keep reminding myself that this is all progress in the right direction, but it does get discouraging at times. So while I'm at work, I have to force myself to change positions of how I'm sitting - sometimes leg bent, sometimes propped up straight on my CPU unit. I also have to make myself get up from my desk and walk around (I'm so busy at work, so I have to consciously have to think about getting up), so once I get some of the stiffness out in the first few steps, I start to walk on my heels. People here have been watching me walk like that and I know they think I'm crazy, but oh does it feel good!

So reallly, Brandi is mean and wonderful all at the same time. This PT stuff is mostly mental, I think. Yes, it's hard to work muscles that aren't wanting to respond, but when I get discouraged, I remind myself that people do this everyday and really do return to normal functionality in time.

On a different note, here is a video my good friend Kate sent to me that made me laugh. Every single time we feed Tanner, sure as $hit, both Milo and Andy (our cats) are both right in there, eating out of his dish. Tanner never seems to mind (he's a good boy), and it's not like they eat much more than a couple kibbles of his food, but I could honestly see Milo pulling this crap on Tanner one of these days:

e.l.f. makeup for $1

e.l.f. (eyes, lips, face) makeup is the store brand of Nordstroms. A friend of mine directed me to their website, where all of their makeup is selling for $1. No joke! I just purchased some stuff today as my makeup tends to get outdated and old - I am far from a makeup junkie. Anyway, Nordstrom is rebranding e.l.f. so they are clearing everything out with e.l.f. on it for cheap, cheap, cheap. I got tons of makeup, a set of brushes, some body butters (3 for $10), and the shipping was only $6.95. Here is their website if you want to check it out: http://www.eyeslipsface.com/default.asp

Happy shopping!

Just call me "Tiger" - grrrrrr....

An interesting article about Tiger Woods: http://msn.foxsports.com/golf/story/8258466?MSNHPHMA

If he can do it, I can do it. And I have a head start on him - awesome! Maybe I can convince him to read my blog and we can do therapy together. Ha ha!

I did it! I earned my way onto the stationary bike!

I spent the weekend reminding myself that I really, really, really do like physical therapy. Well, let me rephrase that….I hate when she’s “mean” to me – like her not so nice, but necessary, massages L - but by the time I leave there, I am actually walking almost normal and feel stellar. All loose, no pain, no limp! But then, within about an hour or so, I get stiff and tight all over again. I remind myself that it’s not as bad as before I head to physical therapy, and that each time afterwards, the stiffness isn’t as bad as the day before. I did all of my exercises this past weekend with more ice and elevation, and even more bitching and moaning about my compression sock. I keep hoping that she’ll tell me this week I can take it off…please?!?!

Monday was my second physical therapy appointment. Brandi thought it would be beneficial if Ben came with me so that she could show him some stuff to do with me at home. He said he believed me when I told him how bad it hurt sometimes, but until he actually saw tears in my eyes, I don’t think it really set in for him. So we started on Monday with more massage – both hamstring and IT band. When I got uncomfortable, she tells me to go to my happy place. Here's what I imagine (Maui!):

She had Ben do some of the massages on me, and I just loved how they laughed when he realized that with such a small amount of pressure, he could get me to squirm. In all honesty, we laugh a lot there, thank goodness! Brandi then showed Ben how to help me stretch my quad and at the same time work on my flexion. I am convinced it is the best stretch in the world…so far! I did all of the same exercises I did on my first visit, plus a couple of new ones. One is with a thera-band around a table leg, standing up, band behind my knee, contracting my quad, straightening my leg, the release a little bit, do again. Feels good, but man, do I get tired! Weird that doing so little can drain me. I also did some heel slides on the wall, and my flexion was much better than last Friday. I measured at about 84 degrees (bent) Friday, but today, after exercises, I measured at 104 degrees!! Since I’m past 90 degrees now…here comes the really good part --- they let me try the bike! Kate (another therapist there) put the seat way up high and I got on, really expecting to just rock back and forth without going all the way around. However, surprise, surprise…all the massage and exercises really do work! I got all the way around on my first try. I was so happy! I did about 20 rotations in all (sounds silly to say I only did 20, but what a milestone for me!!) Riding the bike was like a gift before my surgery; I would feel so good after riding it. So now that I can do that from this point on, I only see good things for PT in the weeks to come.

Between physical therapy sessions, I’ve been really diligent about doing my home exercises. I thought I would dread them; of course they would be boring and painful. But in all honesty, I feel so good after doing them, I couldn’t ask for a better incentive. I just wish I could do everything at home that I do in PT since I feel so good after leaving there. I get close to that feeling at home, but it’s not quite the same. Still, I will stick with it knowing that what I do now directly impacts my recovery down the road. And I still am super excited about being able to get on a bike now. Our friends, Tom and Colleen, had a bike trainer they let me borrow before surgery, but Colleen is having some issues with her knee now and she’s in PT as well and having to use the bike daily. I was sad when Tom came over to get the trainer last night, but excited to go pick up the used one I found on Craig’s List. When Colleen said she would need it back, I hopped online to see what they were selling for. New trainers cost anywhere from $80-$200. Considering my health insurance sucks and we’ll be paying $3,000-4,000 for my surgery and physical therapy, I couldn’t stand thinking about dropping that much on a bike trainer. So I checked Craig’s List and found a lady selling one for $25! I checked it out online and used ones of this same model were going for $125 on eBay! I totally scored getting the one I did. Now I just have to wait for Ben to get home Saturday to set it up – I’m mechanically clueless. Or, maybe I can ask Tom to come over and do it?? He was so nice last night when he came to get the trainer. He asked me if there was anything around the house I needed help with since Ben was out of town. He’s had three ACL surgeries himself, so he knows it can be rough, but seriously, what a gentleman! Colleen – he’s a keeper! Kari was there last night to help me with walking Tanner and Tom even asked her if she needed anything (I’m sure Ben’s told him that he often gets “conned” into helping with stuff for her too…), and she was like, “Well, actually, I could use a neck massage.” Tom was speechless….and I said, “Oh seriously! It’s not like Ben would do that for you if he was here, so you can’t ask Tom to do it!” We all laughed, and then Tom immediately headed for the door! Just kidding, it was all in good fun.

So, back to PT today for my third appointment. Maybe this time I won’t get tears in my eyes!

Post-surgery photos for your viewing pleasure

Here are some photos of me post surgery (1 day, 2 days, and then 11 days). I should have been better about taking a photo a day, but in all honesty, my swelling didn't go down much since surgery anyway, so there wasn't much to show you. Hopefully with the compression sock and physical therapy I can get the swelling down much more and take some new photos later this week. You can still see the steri-strips on my incisions. I can take those off this week. No stitches though, so that's good. There are also some photos of the food and flowers I got at home while I was recovering.

First day post-surgery (exhausted):

Second day post-surgery (2 photos):


Eleven day post-surgery (2 photos, swelling down a little probably due to my lovely compression sock):


Some of my goodies (flowers from Dad and Kate, food from work, fruit basket from the two partners I work for):

There is a new post (about my first physical therapy appt.) below the one of Ben's GRILLZ....I started it Friday, but didn't have a chance to finish it. So it's there now.

GRILLZ....

On an unrelated ACL surgery matter....here is an email I got from my wacky hubby today: (word to the wise, marry someone who makes you laugh...)

First the email: (and yes, this was all I got in the email)

Got 30 down at the bottom, 30 mo at the top
All invisible set in little ice cube blocks
If I could call it a drink, call it a smile on da rocks
If I could call out a price, let's say I call out a lot
I got like platinum and white gold, traditional gold
I'm changin grillz errday, like Jay change clothes,
I might be grilled out nicely (oh)
In my white tee (oh),On South beach (oh) in my wife beat.
V V and studded you can tell when they cut it
Ya see my granmama hate it, but my lil mama love it
Cuz when I...

And now for the photo:



And now for the explanation:
Grillz...it's the bling that people wear on their teeth to flash their dough and to look tough, I guess. Sometimes silver, sometimes gold, now they do platinum and even diamonds!! Mainly hard-core rappers do this, which means of course, Ben is a hard-core rapper. As if we didn't already know that.

Have a great weekend. I will post about my first physical therapy appointment this weekend. I'm still in pain and it was 4 hours ago...

Physical Therapy - horrible, yet wonderful - is that possible?

So I had my first physical therapy appointment last Friday. I work downtown, and as it turns out, my doctor's preferred physical therapist is downtown as well, so that is convenient for me. Headed there during my lunch hour and stayed for about an hour an a half. (Much thanks to Bonnie and Kelly from work, who were gracious enough to chauffeur me there and back as I'm not quite driving yet.) I was in pain for four hours afterwards, but at the same time, my knee felt better than ever....I was all stretched out and feeling not as stiff as I have been.

First thing we did was to measure my good leg and compare those numbers with my bad leg. In short, I've lost mucho inches: 1.5" off my right calf, and at least 3.0" on my right thigh. I'm just wasting away!! But my therapist (Brandi) thinks she can get me back (even stronger) by the time she's done with me. I'm so glad we hit it off. I had read that if you can find a good physical therapist, it makes a world of difference with recovery.

After measuring me, she laid me on my stomach and began to brutalize me. I'M NOT KIDDING. (She did warn me that I was going to hate her.) She was giving me a hamstring massage on my bad leg, and oh my gosh, it hurt so bad! I had tears in my eyes and basically had to "tap out" a couple of times -- I couldn't handle the pain. She showed me the amount of pressure she was using on my good leg, and I couldn't believe that's how little she was pushing on my bad leg to make it hurt that bad! She told me I have some atrophy and scar tissue there, hence the massage, and hence the pain. But in order for it to go away, I have to continue with the painful massage. Then she flipped me on my side and did my IT band on the outside of my right quad muscle. HELLO!!! OUCH!! Aren't massages supposed to feel good?

Then it was on to my exercises. 5 new ones, so I can stop the ones they gave me at the hospital after surgery. I do wall heel slides (got to 84 degrees after 10 of them - need to get to 90+ degrees in order to earn my way to a stationary bike), IT band stretch on a foam roller (basically more painful massage stuff), hamstring stretch against a wall (feels AWESOME - not kidding), knee extensions (leg straight out, pushing my knee down on a towel or blood pressure cuff; move knee cap toward hip while squeezing quad muscle), and then I do prone hangs. THAT IS THE WORST. You lay on your stomach, legs hanging off the end of the table, allowing gravity to pull your foot toward the floor. I can't relax enough to know if my foot moves toward the floor, as my extension isn't 100% yet. Eventually she'll push down for me....I can't wait for that one. And then eventually she'll bend my knee and push my foot up towards my butt. Thinking "happy" thoughts about that as I write this...pain, pain, pain!!!

At the end, I got some ice along with some good old fashioned shock therapy. I still have quite a bit of swelling and I've developed Pitting Edema (basically excess fluid is still there, and when you push your finger down on the swelling, the impression of the finger stays there for a few seconds.) To help with the edema, I have to wear a STUPID compression sock again on my right leg. Hopefully that will be short lived, as you all know, I HATE THE COMPRESSION SOCKS with a passion. Maybe I'll luck out and when I go today she'll tell me I don't have to wear it. Ben is going with me today so that he can do some massage at home with me. The more the better, she says. I just hope he doesn't brutalize me too! Once is enough, but more...I just don't know about that.

Surgery is over! Sorry for the late (and long) post.

Well, surgery was a week ago yesterday. Man, time flies when you’re having fun. But in all honesty, it hasn’t been fun, nor has it been super bad either. However, in that I haven’t posted since before surgery, I should say that life really does get a bit derailed with something like this. So my apologies for not posting sooner – I just couldn’t find time and the time that I did, I really didn’t feel like doing much of anything. But I’m back to work and things are looking up. I think I’ll just post about surgery day and maybe Thursday/Friday, then I’ll do another post tomorrow about what’s happened since then. Pictures will follow later, the camera is at home.

First, let me say that surgery day started out with me a nervous wreck. But don’t tell Ben that. I wanted to be tough, and I know now that I am such a good actress. No tears before surgery at all (I really thought that was going to be a given). Checked in at 8:15 a.m., back in pre-op by 8:25; I.V. in by 8:40, met with my doctor and his P.A. right after that (thank goodness he put his initials on the injured knee – no mistakes here), then the anesthesiologist came by about 9 a.m., met my surgical nurse about 9:30, and then wheeled to surgery by 9:45, right on time. Ben was able to sit with me in pre-op and the nurse let us have our goodbye kisses before she wheeled me toward the door of doom. For those who’ve had surgery -- HELLO…..is that operating room FREEZING or what??!! I started to feel the nerves even more as they moved me from the rolling bed to the very narrow operating table. I found myself thinking, “Seriously, will my butt cheeks hang off the sides of this thing?” Dr. G. asked if I wanted to hear any particular music before I fell asleep (Ipod connections in the operating room – what??!!), and I tell him what he has on is fine – classical. Nice and soothing. They can tell I’m cold, so the nurse gets a “bear hug” which is basically an electric blanket. Then the anesthesiologist pulls both arms out from under there, hooks up my heart tabbie things, blood pressure cuff, and I’m sure more stuff I can’t remember, then holds an oxygen mask over my face, and soon after I get the warm fuzzies. I ask if he’s given me something, because quite frankly I couldn’t see myself feeling so darn relaxed on my own. “Yes,” he said, “just a little something.” Then the oxygen mask comes back and I hear my doctor says “We’ll get started in just a few,” and the anesthesiologist tells me to take a few deep breaths, which I really didn’t have to focus on because I already felt so stoned and warm, then I was out. No counting, no nothing.

I feel like woke up about 10 seconds later, seriously time flies, how amazing is anesthesia?! I didn’t remember until later that night that I woke up in the operating room. But apparently, I came out of the anesthesia so well that I was trying to move myself to the rolling bed from the operating table. They told me they would do it, so I casually asked if I could go back to sleep and they said yes. So I was out again. Woke up in recovery with a clock on the wall right in front of me, so I could see it was about 11:20 a.m. I was told surgery was over by about 10:45, so I was asleep again for about 40 minutes more. The nurse was right there as I woke up and she asked how I was feeling. Immediately, I could tell my knee hurt, not bad, but I was freaking out that it would get worse, so she assured me I would be made comfortable before I left. Within about the next hour and a half or so, I got four I.V. doses of pain meds, but then she cut me off. That bee-otch!! I'm just kidding. She actually said before I could leave I needed to eat something, drink something, and be able to hold down my oral pain meds, so I started feasting on saltines and graham crackers, sipping water and drinking some juice. (I was eating so many crackers – 6 packets – I think the nurse kinda freaked out a little. She asked if I was hungry. I told her that I was concerned without a ton of stuff in my stomach the pain pill would make me throw up.) I think Ben came back about 12:45 or so to see me. He’d been in the waiting room for about 2 hours (they originally told him he’d only have to wait about an hour) because apparently, I would doze off every 15 minutes or so, and they wanted me to be more awake before he came back. Sorry honey. After he was back with me for about an hour, we started to get me dressed and moved to a recliner. Then Ben was off to get the car, and I was being wheeled to the parking lot. Getting in the car was pretty easy actually; I think I was still numb. We pulled out of the lot and I promptly threw up all of the crackers I’d forced myself to eat. Thank goodness they gave me this bag thing with a funnel on it for the ride home. Got home, out of the car, found myself to be wobbly, Ben looked worried, but eventually I made it to the front door. Ben pulled Tanner outside so he couldn’t knock me over. Ben thought I’d want to get in bed, but I wasn’t tired anymore, so we agreed on setting me up in the recliner. BEST PURCHASE we’ve made in the last few months – lifesaver for being laid up with a leg injury. First, to the bathroom though. I went by myself down the hall, turned the corner, into the bathroom, sat down and then thought, “Gosh, am I going to be able to get up?” I did get up, eventually, and Ben had by then got me set up with a smoothie and more crackers (so I could take another pain pill to replace the one I’d just thrown up), pillows to put my foot up, and my nifty ice machine. Let me tell you, that ice machine is AWESOME. Basically it’s a cooler filled with ice water, and it hooks up with tubes to a pad on my knee under my brace, and it circulates cold water around my knee. I love that thing. I ran it continuously for about 5 days straight. I am still using it to this day.

I think we got home about 4 p.m., but I honestly can’t remember exactly. I do remember watching the Stanley Cup game that night, but I don’t know who won. I also remember that each time I took a pain pill, I would throw up about an hour later. I theorized that if I kept it down for an hour, I must have been able to absorb some of it. Pain was minimal, just more on the uncomfortable side. And I will say that Ben was the most concerned husband ever. He made sure I was okay, brought me anything I needed and sat with me all night. He did take Tanner out for a while, but other than that, he was right there with me. Later in the evening, our friend Kate stopped by with this awesome chicken and barley casserole dish, some flowers, a trashy magazine and some Reese’s Pieces. She’s wonderful. I was ready for bed about 9 p.m., and Ben moved everything in our spare bedroom downstairs. I set my phone to wake me up every two hours so I could put the ice on and off, and every four hours so I could take a pain pill. (I was told not to miss those, as once you do, you can never really catch up.) Ben slept upstairs but took his phone with him so I could call if I needed him. Turns out I didn’t. Got up the next morning, feeling some pain start in more and more as the lidocaine wore off. But the good news was I was keeping my pain pills down!!

Back to the recliner, more ice, more smoothie. Ben got ready for work and my mom and sister showed up to stay with me all day Thursday. They were awesome help, I was so glad they were there. Unless I was getting up to go to the bathroom, I didn’t move all day. Pain came and went, but the ice and pills helped. Not much appetite, but I did eat some of Kate’s casserole for lunch and it was so good. The made sure I was taken care of, as well as Tanner. Thank goodness Kari’s a teacher and Mom’s retired. Kari came back on Friday, and it was more of the same. Recliner, small amounts of food, short naps here and there. Then Ben was home from work and we watched a movie and ordered pizza. At this point, I was feeling there was a light at the end of the tunnel and eventually I’d get off the recliner and on the road to recovery.

I actually started my exercises at home on Thursday (one day after surgery). Six exercises in all for flexibility/extension/range of motion; 3 times per day, 10 reps each. Let me just say, I was still in shock Thursday morning that they wanted me to start so early, but I was diligent and haven’t missed a set of exercises yet. Still, the very first time I tried, I didn’t do too well cause I was crying the whole way through. It was definitely painful during and after, but I was so scared I was going to pop out my new ACL it was all I could think about. Mom was there with me and comforted me, reminding me that they wouldn’t have me do these if they weren’t sure I wouldn’t hurt myself or cause further damage. So I soldiered on.

So there you go. One long post that gets you caught up on Wed/Thurs/Fri last week. Really Thursday and Friday were about the same; those two days run together in my head. But Mom, Kari and Ben were wonderful, so time really flew by. Thank goodness for family and friends. Everyone was concerned, and I got wonderful cards, calls and text messages checking in on me. And the food – wow! My office sent this huge tray of muffins Thursday morning (with more trashy magazines and toenail polish) and then the two partners I work for sent me an edible fruit display thing. That was a hit. Colleen came to visit Friday morning and brought cinnamon rolls, and it was good to have some contact with the outside world! Ben picked up our six readymade meals at Dishin’ It Up (I highly recommend this place – www.dishinitup.com) so he didn’t have to worry about cooking much these next couple of weeks. Here’s to physical therapy and a fast recovery!  (I promise some knee photos soon, as well as an update about what they did during surgery – just had a follow up appt. this week.)

Surgery is tomorrow...

Well, here we go, I'm getting ready to take the plunge and go under the knife. I have to be there tomorrow by 8:15 a.m., surgery is scheduled for 9:45, likely done by about 11:30, and hopefully home in the early afternoon. Seems easy enough, right??? Still a bit nervous, but I'm sure that will pass - yea right. I'll be much better off when I'm back at home and popping some pain pills. Just sleeping away...

Not sure when the next post will be, but as soon as I'm feeling up to it, I'll get back on the blog. Thanks everyone for you well wishes - it means a lot!