One month in...finally, physical therapy in site!

First week of work was hard but I managed to make it the whole week thanks to wonderful co-workers who picked me up for work, brought me pumpkin spice lattes and made sure I had lunch and anything else I needed all week.

The hardest thing about being at work ALL day was sitting.  Since I can't bend my left leg (in a straight full leg brace) I am always sitting crooked which puts a strain on my back. I have been trying some different things with chairs, pillows, blankets, my exercise ball, etc. to make my day more comfortable. Needless to say my office looks like a hospital room with so much stuff.

This past weekend my youngest daughter came down with the worst case of STREP ever! Ended up sitting in the ER with her Saturday.

Now my older daughter and I are sick too. We haven't slept in days...sigh! Hoping we are all better by Friday because trick-or-treating is this weekend and we have costumes that need to be worn! 

Began my second week back at work Monday. Being busy helps the hours go by, but its still  hard because of  the back pain. My knee pain is minimal at this point, however I am not doing much with it since I am still non-weight bearing and its in a brace.

Yesterday I completed ONE month since my surgery and no walking. One down, two to go! Defiantly feeling like its been a month! Today I had another follow-up with my surgeon. I am slightly behind on my knee flexibility. Only at a 45 degree bend and I should be at about 65 degrees at this point. Because of this my surgeon is having me start physical therapy two weeks sooner than originally planned. I am excited about this because it will feel like I am actually doing something to progress my healing and get me on the road to running again. I go for me physical therapy eval this Friday.

It's Saturday night...hospital gown anyone?

Saturday night was supposed to be an exciting evening for me. I had been showering like this for the past 18 days:

and I was excited because this was THE NIGHT, the night I was FINALLY going to be able to shower without Saran wrap from thigh to ankle...and this meant I could finally shave my leg! Now I know this might not ring out as an "exciting evening" for some of you, but when you have been bedridden for the past 3 weeks, trust me, even an evening shower and shaving your leg seems like an exciting adventure.

I got in the shower and realized my leg was numb from calf to ankle (not good), so I decided shaving was going to have to wait (didn't want to end up cutting myself, since I couldn't feel the razor). I finished showering and then immediately called my surgeon. He told me I needed to go straight to the hospital and get tested for blood clots (I had other symptoms too: cold calf and foot, no pulse on the top of my foot, and occasional shooting pain up my leg).

Obviously this is not how I anticipated my evening going. I called my sister, who graciously agreed to watch my girls and my ex-husband who, without hesitation, agreed to take me to the ER.

I got to the ER around 7:00pm. I let them know that although my symptoms were not necessarily typical of DVTs of the leg, my surgeon wanted them to make sure, since it is the biggest concern for patients post-op. They agreed and called in the technician, who had already gone home. We had to wait for him to drive back to the hospital, which took some time.

While waiting for the technician, I got to change into this fashionable get up:

I of course brought along my blanket. God knows it is always cold in the hospital and hospital blankets are always stiff and scratchy, not to mention not nearly as fashionable as mine:

Luis got a little tired/bored waiting for that technician, but he was a trooper none the less, never complaining about spending his Saturday night in the ER with me. But lets be honest, ER or not, spending any evening with me is pretty special! :) 

The tech finally showed up and I got wheeled down to this little room to have an ultrasound done of the veins and arteries in my legs. Umm, ladies...even though its October, in the Midwest, and you have no plans of wearing a bathing suit  for months, you should NEVER neglect your bikini line...you just never know when you might have to have THIS done to you:

This is what the imaging looks like on the screen when they are checking for blood clots in your veins/arteries. The technician told me mine looked like an Olympic champion's...ehh, I think that's a good thing!

The testing took quite awhile, but good news, NO BLOOD CLOTS! Still not sure what all the weird symptoms are all about, but following up with my Surgeon on Monday.

Left the hospital and got home around 11:00pm. I decided the best way to finish out my exciting evening was with some Ben & Jerry's Coffee Heath Bar Crunch. Perfect end to my evening!

Super great Saturday evening! That's how I roll, at least until I can get both feet back on the ground...running!

16 days, a cocktail of drugs and 3 amazing men...

Its been 16 days since my knee surgery to fix my torn PCL and resurface the end of my femur.
Things did not go quite as planned and I ended up being away from blogging MANY more days than I had anticipated. A LOT has happened during the last 16 days and it seems almost impossible to catch up on writing about all of it...but...I am going to start with today and as days go by recap on particular things that happened that I think are important, funny, memorable, or embarrassing (hey, if you can't laugh at yourself, life is going to be awfully miserable) that either I need to remember or that you might enjoy reading!

I am noticing that I have good and bad days in a pattern. Currently that pattern is every other day. So I have a good day, followed by a bad day, followed by another good day. I am still in a lot of pain (16 days later...I know right, I was surprised too) and am still taking a cocktail of drugs to get me through the days and nights. On a positive note, my kids find me more fun to be around and heck, I find I enjoy my company a little more while on narcotics as well. Negative note, no driving for this lady! It does bother me, but thank GOD for the BEST nanny in the world who drives me anywhere I need/want to go, which usually isn't far from the house since I am still feeling pretty crummy.

(Here we are on a trip to my favorite grocery store 9 days after surgery. 

I was still very bloated from all the IV fluids I received during my hospital stay.)

Recapping basic info about the past 16 days: I did have surgery on September 24th, 2013. I was anticipating 1, perhaps 2 nights in the hospital. I spent 6 days! Although the surgery went as planned, I had some issues with a numb foot that the doctors couldn't figure out (I kept telling them this happened to me in 2007 with my last knee surgery, but they had to be sure for themselves). I couldn't leave until that was sorted out and then there was the pain management. My pain was unbearable and they had quite the time trying to get it under control. When they finally did, I was so thankful (another blog post being written about this in the near future).

Probably the worst thing that happened while in the hospital, not in regards to my health, but for the life of this blog, was that my phone quit working and somehow erased over 1000 images, many being those I had taken during my time in the hospital to document my journey. Sooooo, needless to say, almost every moment I caught on camera while I was in the hospital, is gone. Boo!

I had my second follow-up appointment with my surgeon, the physician's assistant and the nurse yesterday (they work really well as a team and you always see all three of them when you go for your appointment). I got my stitches out for the incision used for the camera. The other three incisions have stitches on the inside and will dissolve over months. I also got cleared to go back to work next week (that makes 3 weeks out of work...yikes). I still am non-weight bearing on my left leg, however I am managing well on the crutches.

 My four year old and I worked on thank you gifts for the three most amazing and important men in my life at the moment. We gave them their little gifts at my appointment yesterday. Nurse Tom is Yuvia's favorite (she has a crush)!

 (Little gift bags full of candy)

 

 (The little note included with the bag of candy)

 (Nurse Tom)

(My surgeon and physician's assistant)

I am only 16 days post-op during my year of NO RUNNING...so much has happened already, I can only imagine whats next...

Diagnosis: Squishy Monsteritis

 This morning I had my pre-op physical and my Lil Cupcake just had to come along.

 

 Ugh, the dreaded scale...I about hyper ventilated when the nurse said "Please step on the scale". However, I maintained my composer and politely declined (like I ALWAYS do). The nurse's head turned around so quickly, it wouldn't surprise me if he is suffering whiplash this evening. He insisted weighing me was necessary due to needing anesthesia for the surgery. I grudgingly climbed on the "depress-o-meter" backwards and told him to not tell me the number and to "clear" the scale before I got off of it. That way I wouldn't have to except how much weight I have gained due to not being able to run the past 6 weeks. 

 After the trauma of being weighed, I had some other stupid stuff done, like blood pressure and pulse taking. Cupcake and I got REALLY bored with all of the lame stuff, so we decided we needed some imitation latex glove balloons.

 

(These are not nearly as fun or great as the latex ones) 

(She was happy with hers)

More boredom, so some knee shots to memorialize these HOT pre- surgery legs/knees. 

 The doctor had me lie down on the examining table while he examined me to make sure I was "surgery ready". Decided on a selfy shot of me laying on the table (this was a self-distraction tactic due to the doctor's cold, clammy hands on my stomach...yuck).

 Next I had to go to the lab across the hall to get some lab work done. Cupcake was quick to inform the phlebotomist that she had several patients at home (baby dolls). One that had already been diagnosed with "Squishy Monsteritis" (WTF...look, I have know idea where this kid comes up with this stuff...LOL) and several others who she was going to be diagnosing. She said "I need medical supplies, please"? The phlebotomist was great and hooked her up with swabs, cleaning clothes, band aids and cotton balls. I however did not fare as well...I got these HUGE swabs shoved up my nose and 3 tubes of blood drawn.

                        

 After leaving the doctor's office I decided I needed a stroll through the Farmer's Market . After all, you shouldn't waist such a beautiful Friday morning!

 

(Came across this stand at the market that sells only Organic...I'm in heaven)

 (Lots of healthy options)

 

 (Yummy and 100% Organic)

 (Loving this cute old couple holding hands through the market)

 Next I headed to my friends house to have a garage sale. It was a good day for a late season sale and we had a great turnout.

A lot of randomness today...trying to fit in as much as I can before Tuesday...today I did it all, with both feet still on the ground! :)

...nothing that you, me and a gallon of ice cream can't solve.

I woke up to a dreary, sad morning of thunderstorms. I was immediately disappointed because I wanted to walk my daughter to school and with the torrential downpour this was going to be impossible. 

(Wet, wet, wet morning view from my front door)

As we left the house to make the mile drive to school my 4 year old offered me her Dora The Explorer umbrella to use. In an instant I went from feeling bummed about not being able to walk to school to being thankful for the little things...the ability to hold an umbrella while walking.

(Here I am in action with the Dora umbrella)

This led me to think about all the other little things I need to be thankful for...of course the list is way to long to list in a blog posting, but here were just a few that crossed my mind this morning while doing the day to day stuff...

*Kneeling on the floor to iron (I have a standard size ironing board, I am just too lazy to get it out every morning) .

*Stepping in and out of the shower unassisted

 

*Walking into work holding an umbrella in one hand and carrying coffee in the other or just simply being able to carry coffee.

*Carrying laundry baskets

 

 *Carrying packages into the post office

 

 *Scrubbing my floors...Ok, so I don't exactly do this, but I am thankful I don't have to! :)

 

 By the time I got to work this morning I was truly in a spirit of thankfulness...but still feeling a little bit down (think it was just the gloomy day in general). I was handed a package that had arrived for me in the mail from one of my besties.

 My friend Laura has run so many of my races with me and even the ones she can't run, she comes to be my cheer section and support runner. She always knows just what to say, doesn't scare easy, even when I have gone off the deep end and always finds a way to lift my spirits.

I eagerly opened my package:

Because she knows this is my first instinct ;)

...a million more!

My zero calorie chocolate bars...this is how you make a girl look forward to post-op recovery!

Everything about her little package warmed my heart! Never under estimate the power of kind words and chocolate!!!!  

I am blessed and thankful for the wonderful gift of friendship!

The 3rd opinion...

Today I headed into the heart of Chicago for a 3rd opinion on the knee scandal. I know this is cutting it close, seeing as surgery is next Tuesday, but you can only get into see these people so fast. 

Arrived at the doctor's office and had to skillfully park my Xterra in the narrowest parking spot in the parking garage. 

Parking garage fares...Welcome to Chicago!

(Thanking my lucky stars I was parked under 2 hours and only had to pay $22.00)

While I waited in anticipation to see the surgeon who would render the verdict on my knee debotury, I decided to check out the rooms contents. Your usual examining table, chair & stool. The sink, soap, paper towels, the bio-hazard wastebasket, the latest copy of TV guide weekly & a box of non-latex gloves (boring).

Doing this was out...sigh.

Then I saw this...the plastic model of a knee. I decided to examine it a little closer and snap a few pictures of the different components that make up the knee (like I had anything better to do at this point).

Front of the knee

Front of the knee without the patella

The medial femoral condyle where I have a huge crater that the surgeon plans to remove and do a transplant.

          

 The back of the knee and the PCL (posterior cruciate ligament), which on my knee is torn.The surgeon will  reconstructed mine using a portion of my hamstring.

After finishing my examination of the knee I noticed this shoulder model as well and decided, what the heck, let me take a look at this bad boy too...

The surgeon finally graced me with his presence (actually he was quit nice and down to earth) and gave me his opinion on what he thought should be done. His opinion mirror surgeon 2's opinion on what form of action should be taken. So I am planning on going through with the surgery. 

His only difference of opinion was on post-op activity. In his words "you need to shift your expectations". I looked at him in bewilderment and asked what he meant. He believes I should have the surgery for the benefit of a semi-normal functioning knee but with the idea of finding a "new passion", a non-high impact passion. I swear to god, if I hear one more person say "Have you thought about cycling", I am going to knock out their teeth!!! Don't get me wrong, I appreciate his honesty and professional opinion, but I doubt he says this to the members of the Chicago Bears (he's one of the orthopedic surgeons for the Chicago Bears) who have multimillion dollar contracts on the line. For them its about their livelihood, their paycheck, I get it...but what about passion...he clearly doesn't understand PASSION. I am not going to endure the "Year of Hell" just so I can exist in life...I want to LIVE! Running is living for me!  Now that doesn't mean I am not open to other ideas/activities/sports, but I don't want, nor plan to give up running if I can help it. That is what my "Year of Hell" is for...the possibility of having both feet on the ground...RUNNING!

...everything but the hospital bed!

I got a call today from a medical supply company. They said my surgeon's office had notified them of my post-op needs and they needed to verify my insurance information so they could have everything I needed  ready in time for the BIG day! 

I verified my insurance information with them and then asked what exactly my doctor had requested that I receive...it appears that I am getting pretty much everything except the electric motorized hospital bed  

(which actually would have been fun for my kids...who am I kidding, I'd of had a blast with it).

Here is what I am having delivered to my house (not sure where it is all going to fit):

 A post-op knee brace

 CPM Machine 

(This will move my knee for me...effort free exercising...I could get used to this)

 Pneumatic Compression Machine 

(This is evidently to prevent blood clots)

 

Game Ready

 (Cold Therapy Compression System)

 

Mobilegs Crutches

 (These look interesting)

Last time I had knee surgery and had to be non-weight bearing for two months I used these AMAZING crutches:

 Hope Crutches

They are truly amazing and I cannot imagine having done those two months without them. They are easy to use, provide exceptional balance and allow you to move fast. On a scale of 1-10, 1 being standard crutches, I give the Hope Crutches a 10+. 

I still have the Hope crutches and plan on them being my go-to crutches for this surgery as well, but I am interested in seeing how the Mobileg crutches measure up to the Hope Crutches.

However, the comparing of crutches can wait a few more days...because today I still have both feet on the ground...running!