Update from PT yesterday - more things ending with “-itis”, tornadoes in Denver, and my 30th Birthday…

So I’ve been kinda sore these past few days with no real culprit that I could come up with. I’ve been riding the bike for half an hour the past three days, so I thought maybe that might be it, but turns out it wasn’t. I went into PT yesterday and showed Brandi where I was feeling sore and describing that it felt more like tenderness around some of the bones in my knee and right below, and she pushed on the soft spot right below my knee and made me jump. Turns out I have patellar tendonitis (goes well with my pes anserine bursitis). Brandi did more of her “famous” massage yesterday, and yes, I managed to cry again. I feel like such a baby, but man, it hurts! Big old crocodile tears rolling down my cheeks….wimpy girl that I am. (Side note – I’m really not wimpy. Wade, an attorney I work with here, sees Brandi for his shoulder and he tells me every day after he sees her how much it hurts!!) Anyway, she showed me how to massage it so I can do it at home. Then she proceeded to tell me that I need to cease all exercises this weekend, no bike either, and just do stretching and lots of ice. Oh, and I can use the stim machine (the electric shock therapy thing that was delivered to my office this week - we tried it on Ben - he didn't like it too much!). So yesterday at PT was an “easy” day, so to speak. I did tons of stretching and then an ice massage for my patellar tendon. Then I was out the door. First time in weeks I haven’t left there dripping with sweat.

After work, we drove home in the rain (yes, rain!!). We haven’t had rain in months! I went to take Tanner out and Ben was making dinner. As we were playing in the greenbelt by our house the lightning and thunder seemed like it was starting to get closer, so we headed back to the house. Ben was listening to the news while he was cooking and 9News had the running line on the bottom with “Tornado Warning” and listed Denver as part of the area in that warning. Ben goes and gets online to check the radar and there is a huge storm right over us, moving to the northeast (toward my mom’s house). Then we hear the TV say that there were funnel clouds spotted and a possible tornado moving to the east from the Dacono area, which is just north of Denver. So I called my mom and Kari to see if they were moving to a safe area. My mom answered, sounded a bit frazzled, and said they were, but she’d have to call me back. I ran upstairs to grab something, and as I came down Ben said, “The tornado sirens are going off.” I didn’t believe him cause I couldn’t hear anything. He turned the sound off on the TV and then I could hear them. In all my time living in Denver, I’ve NEVER heard tornado sirens! Very eerie sound! Well, of course, being the smart girl that I am, instead of going to an interior closet (no basement at our house), I decide to go outside to see if I can spot anything. Duh – not smart. But I got outside and didn’t see crap! I was kinda disappointed. Ben will tell you, I’ll watch any show in Discovery or National Geographic with tornadoes and weather stuff. I still have never seen a real funnel or tornado. So the sirens are going off for about 5 minutes and then they go off. The tornado warning expired about 10 minutes after that. All safe and sound. I talked to Kari and she told me that as they were trying to wrangle the cats into pillow cases (they have a plan already discussed), my mom proceeded to go in her bedroom and change clothes!!! Kari and I were laughing so hard. Of all things to do, that would be last on my list! I’m sure Mom was just a bit out of sorts. They get warnings up there a lot, but I don’t know if they’ve had actual sirens going off or not. Anyway, just a funny story to go along with the crazy weather. There are some photos below of the weather that I grabbed from Channel 7's website...

We’ll be working a half day tomorrow, and then heading to my friend Bonnie’s wedding up in Granby. I think the weather should be nice, hopefully no sirens up there! Then Saturday, we’ll be having the BBQ for my big 30th! Can’t believe I’m 30…oh well, I still feel young. That’s all that matters, right!?

This is near E-470 (highway east of Denver)

This is near Harvey Park in SW Denver - caption says "Possible Tornado"

So, being that Ben and I live in Central Denver, we were right between these two weather related photos...fun stuff!

OMG – I’ve been bad, shame on me…

So I’ve been really, really, really bad about blogging. But my excuse – my dad was here for 11 days so we were busy spending time with him! We did lots of great stuff, had tons of fun and quite honestly just got wiped out by all the goings on that I just didn’t feel like logging on to the computer at all. My apologies…

First and foremost – rehab. Still doing well, I think. I still have some of that bursitis which Brandi massaged again last week and PT. Not comfortable, but getting better. Riding the bike more and more and continuing with my exercises as diligently as I can. I did take last Wednesday night off since Brandi and Kate had me do tons of hamstring exercises during PT – I was sore before I got home at the end of the day. But for now, that’s our focus, strengthening the hamstrings and quads. I still do my range of motion exercises at home in the morning to get me loose after sleeping, but at night it’s all strengthening exercises. Sometimes I feel like its working, other times I don’t. I still see a difference in the size of my quads, so I know I’m not there yet, but each day is better, I think. Back to PT tomorrow, more strength stuff. I need to get a list from Kate of any exercises I can do at home. Sometimes when I’m doing them I literally draw a blank as to what I can do next…..I’m losing it. I remember like 4-5 of them and just repeating those over and over, and I’m getting bored with them, so I need to see them all and pick and choose and give myself some variety. Note to self – get that list tomorrow!

So, back to my dad’s visit. On the second day he was here we went to the Mile High Nationals for some good old fashioned drag racing. It was so hot, but we had a great time. I forgot my camera, so no photos….sorry. Then on Sunday we went to the US v. Brazil (women’s soccer game). Ben wasn’t really into it, so I took my friend Ann and we headed out with Dad and Kari to the game. HOW FUN! I’d never seen a national game before and we all really got into it. US won 1-0. Photos of that day are below. Sadly, the very next game, Abby Wambach (#12), the US’s leading scorer and top forward broke her leg in two places so she’ll miss the Olympics! I feel so bad for her; I can’t even imagine training for your whole life, with World Cup or Olympics as a goal and then getting hurt three weeks prior. Very sad….The following weekend we headed to Lake Granby to camp with Anthony, Lisa and Hugh and the kids. So even up in the mountains, it was fricking HOT!!! Luckily we had a boat (thanks, Jason) and we were able to get out on the water. Ben tubed with Kari and the kiddos, and he tried wakeboarding. It looks hard. He wasn’t able to get up, but he tried his best until he was just exhausted and couldn’t do anymore. He’ll try again, I’m sure. We all hung out, drank some beer, eat too much food, and roasted in the sun. Overall, a very fun weekend! Dad left yesterday, the house is quiet without him….he’ll be back in September for Kassidy and Brian’s wedding, so it’ll be good to see him again.

So that’s it for now. Here are the photos from the soccer game. I will try to post more often, just no promises……it’s hard when you sit at a computer all day and then go home and think about sitting there again. I guess if I do the mini-updates more often, it won’t be so bad. Adios!

Pes Anserine Bursitis - I have it...

Yea, say that three times really fast! Basically, I have some irritation in the bursa sack on the inside side of my knee, where the three muscles that come from the hamstring connect into my tibia. The bursa sack is full of fluid and keeps everything moving smooth in thru there, but mine is really irritated and we think that's the cause of most of my pain on the inside part of my knee. Well, that and my MCL. Brandi got back from Alaska, so on Monday I was back with her. She did some manipulations with my sacrum (the lower part of your back) and then started to massage on the side of my knee that hurts the most....and the second she started I could tell it was not going to be fun. I hadn't cried in a while at PT, and before I knew it huge tears were rolling down my cheeks. There was this nice lady on the bed next to me and she was trying to talk to me and make me laugh, which kinda worked. So imagine me crying, laughing and squirming all at the same time. Fun stuff....luckily Brandi could see how bad it hurt, so she didn't go for too long, and then it was off to more exercises. I did a lot of work with balance and strengthening Monday and again today (Wednesday). I still cannot believe how tired I get after the exercises that I do there. Mentally I know it's not a lot, but physically, I get so drained. I know it's working though - after each session, I start to get sore in my butt, hammies, groin, and hip flexor, which means I'm working the things that I haven't worked in a long time. Getting all of those stronger will help my knee and leg get stronger overall. Today Brandi couldn't get a muscle near my knee to contract at all, so she hooked me up for some good old fashioned shock therapy! Seriously, it's these electrode pads that as the intensity is increased, whatever the power source/mechanism is is, it shocks your muscles into contracting. Such a weird feeling and even weirder to look at. She is going to see about sending me home with one so I can contract that muscle as much as I need to. We'll see how that goes. So, other than the bursitis, a really good week at PT. Oh, Brandi also gave me the go ahead to ride the bike as often as I want and as long as I like. Very excited about that!!


We were in Estes this weekend at Connie's place. We had such a great time, very relaxing, quiet. It's always too much food, but we enjoy it! We watched the fireworks over the lake on Friday, and then spent Saturday on scooters tooling around Estes Park and Rocky Mtn. National Park. We had so much fun! Here are some photos from our weekend:

This is how Tanner and Ben roll...

Tanner living it up at Lake Estes Dog Park

Handsome fella

My two boysStacey and I on our scooters
Ben in Moraine Park
Just a pose, we really didn't ride together
Lookin' hot!
Danny getting ready to peel out
Ben showing off
I literally ate this dust

'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:

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!