Knee Scope Update!

I'm aliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiive!

Knee scope went well! I will not know exactly what they did down there until my post op appointment on February 14th. But I'm assuming all that was going on was a plica, because if there was anything more serious, they would have given me different recovery instructions after the surgery. I know, it stinks I didn't get to talk to the doctor at all after the surgery, but you know those orthos... I bet he had 10 more surgeries to do that day. Lucky for me, I was first, so he was bright eyed and bushy-tailed!!!!

Here is the quick and dirty break down of the day, with a few notes...

4:00am - Woke up, couldn't fall back asleep.

4:30am - Got out of bed. Showered and shaved so I had nice smooth legs for the doctors and nurses! I'm nice like that.

5:30am - Arrival at Holy Spirit Hospital for check in.

6:10am - Got set up in my own private pre-op room. My nurse, Diane was so sweet. She asked me if I was a college student. Love her! Got blood taken and an IV was administered.

7:10am - The Anesthesiologist (WOW CAN I JUST TELL YOU I SPELLED THAT RIGHT ON THE FIRST TRY AND IT WAS A TOTAL GUESS?!) came in for me to sign papers that basically stated that if I die, it's not his fault. The doctor came in to chat with me a bit.

7:20am - Some operating room assistants gave me my cocktail and wheeled me to the OR. Then they put an oxygen mask on me and that's the last thing I remember!

8:10am - I woke up in a recovery room. They said the operation was about a 1/2 hour long. I chatted with the nurses in there and then they wheeled me to my post op room. My knee hurt pretty bad, so they gave me pain meds and those worked like a charm!

9:45am - Momma picked me up to take me home! The hospital made me leave in a wheelchair, which was embarrassing. (How comes it took me 10 tries to spell "embarrassing" correctly but only 1 try for anesthesiologist???) Mom swung by Rite Aid and got my prescriptions for me.

10:15am - Home!!! My Grandma and Pappy picked my mom up and drove her back to the hospital to get her car. (She had to drive me home in my car because you can't drive after anesthesia.) My family is wonderful to me!

When I got home, Paul took very good care of me! I was so excited to eat. I was starving. I had oatmeal and cereal. Unfortunately, the anesthesia made me sick to the stomach and I spent the afternoon throwing up. It was so weird, I'd get reeeeally tired and a little "loopy" feeling. Then I'd get a huge wave of nausea and had to practically run to the bathroom. I ended up falling asleep at 2:30pm and woke up at 5:30pm. My stomach felt a lot better then, so that was good!

My knee didn't feel good though. I didn't want to keep taking Vicodin because that stuff makes my stomach feel weird, makes me real tired, a little anxious, and constipates me. I broke down and took some though when the pain got pretty bad. For some reason, the Vicodin didn't even help the pain that much! In fact, I am editing this post at 2:38am because I tried sleeping, but my knee was pulsating and it just wasn't working. I just broke down and took two more pills. Maybe they will work this time?

I think one of the reasons my knee hurts is that I have been unable to properly ice it. I have quite the dressing on my knee that I'm not supposed to take off until tomorrow... yet I am supposed to ice my knee every half hour. How? The ice pack is not cold enough to go through all the dressings. I am contemplating just taking it off now. I mean, it's almost morning!

Okay I'll stop complaining. This is all so I can run and lift and jump PAIN FREE again so it is all going to be WORTH IT.

A few pics for your viewing pleasure...

I love the cute yellow hospital socks they gave me. I still have them on!

I can take the dressing off tomorrow to shower and ice.

Finally got to eat! Luckily I had an early surgery, but I can't imagine

if it wasn't until later in the day. I would have been sick hungry.

I don't know about you, but after I throw up and I start to feel better, I get

very specific cravings for food that will sit well with me. Tonight, the only

thing that sounded good to me was Arby's!!! (I never ever eat fast food so this was FUN!!!)

I ate it all, easily.

Jelly took care of me that night! That is, after I ditched the crutches. He was so

scared of them that he hid under the bed. Paul said, "Jellyyyyyyyyy it's just

mommy with metal legs!"

I am sure you are wondering about recovery time. The doctor said I should do what my knee can handle. If it hurts or aches, don't do it. I asked if I should do nothing other than walking until I see him for my post op in two weeks. He said no, that if my knee was feeling good in a few days, I could do light cardio. "Don't hop right on the treadmill!" he told me. I didn't plan to do that, but it was comforting to know that he envisioned me doing something light in less than a week, so that is a good sign!

So that was my day!! Thanks for stopping by to hear how everything went. Your messages of support and encouragement mean a lot. 

Tune in tomorrow... I will tell you about my pre-surgery run. Hehehe...

Have you ever had surgery? Did the anesthesia make you sick?

Are your pets scared of anything ridiculous?

Thinking Out Loud #6- R-A-N-D-O-M-N-ES-S-!

Today's post is a Thinking Out Loud link up with Amanda @ Running With Spoons. If you have not yet headed over to her blog, please do so, STAT!!!! I love this link up. I can gather all of my random thoughts into one place. Who cares if this blog post is disconnected? That's the whole point!

Now, let the R-A-N-D-O-M-N-E-S-S begin!

1. I got up at the butt crack of dawn this morning. I am having my knee scoped to remove a plica. Hopefully, it will FINALLY BE FIXED!! I will give you an update tomorrow on how it all went. (The good news about being the first surgery of the day is that my surgeon will be bright eyed and bushy tailed! Also, at least I don't have to worry about being hungry and thirsty all day, like I would be if I had an afternoon surgery!)

2. Ever since I bought a huge bag of cheese curls at Amelia's a week or so ago, I have been eating 26 of them before bed most nights. Why 26? Because that's a serving size. Why right before I go to bed? Because sometimes I lack self control. I don't even sit down to enjoy these puffs of artificial cheese and chemicals. I stand by the pantry and devour them right out of the bag. Shame on me!

Mmm.... chemicals!

3. I have been sleeping in really late on Saturdays. Like, really late. This past Saturday, I didn't get up until 1:07pm. I blame Jelly, who slept between my legs all night.

You'd have a hard time getting up too if this baby boy was cuddling with you.

4. I need more patience. Especially at work. I feel like I hit my patience threshold so much sooner than I used to. Does anyone have tips to help me just chill the heck out when I feel like I am being pulled in 100 different directions?

I'm currently in 10% category.

5. On Sunday night, while watching the Grammy Red Carpet on E!, I had a few thoughts...

Madonna's grill was disgusting.

Julianna Rancic should eat a cheeseburger. 

All I think of when I looked at her is OSTEOPOROSIS.

I wish I were a celebrity and had loads of money to travel, 

go to fun events, and eat sushi every day.

6. When I was at the doctor's office on Monday, the eleven-year-old beside my was messing around on her smartphone while I was texting on my flip phone. Which leads me to two questions... 

1. Why does that child have a smart phone? 
2. What do I still have a flip phone? 

The best answer I got came from my pal Emily over at House in the Heights. "Because she can be added to the family data plan for WAY less per month than you'd have to pay for an individual plan." Genius!

Source

This has been my phone for the past 4 (at least) years. I love it!

Look at the keyboard for texting!!!

7. And now for a super serious question. A friend of mine (for real, I am not asking this for myself!!!) needs to know what to do when "your boobs hurt too much to run". I don't know why she was asking me because I have no boobs, but I am a runner, so I guess she thought I'd know. I suggested wearing 3 sports bras and she said that doesn't work. So I pose the question to blog-land: "What do you do when your boobs hurt too much to run???"

Your turn! Tell me something random. Think out loud...
Or, tell me how to help my friend's boobs!

The ABCs of... ME!

Before we get to our regular scheduled blog post, I promised Fairytales and Fitness that I would post a picture of myself demonstrating the IT Band stretch my PT taught me. The IT Band is still somewhat of a mystery to me, and I never really “felt” it being stretched when I tried the stretches I found on Google. But this one… this one, I can really feel it!!

Notes:

Be sure your hips don’t roll forward and back.

Notice how my left leg is straight and still aligned with my body?

Okay, I hope this helps! Or at least got a laugh out of my ridiculousness. Maybe I should start every post off with an awkward picture of me trying to stretch my IT Band.

Now, to our regularly scheduled programming…

Alright, this is a new idea I had for a blog series so you could get to know me a little bit better. I urge other bloggers to join in, too! All you do is go through the alphabet and think of words or phrases that describe you and your life. (I’m sure you had an assignment like this in middle school language arts class, right!?) I’m not going to do the whole alphabet in one post, I’m going to break it into chunks. So here is Part I of a new series I created called…

 For better or worse, that is often how I operate.

 My husband often tells me I'm funny, and that my sense of humor is "blunt". 

(Not to be confused with rude!)

 You thought I was going to say cats, didn't you? 

Well, surprise. I really like cake, too!

 I tend to set my mind to certain things and nothing stops me.

I like to be early for things. That is not to say I am never late.

 But I'd prefer to be early than to be on time!

 I walk fast, I talk fast. If my ass isn't on the couch, it's moving fast.

*Will you join me in this new blog series? I’d love to learn more about you!

*Or just comment here and describe yourself using one of the letters from above!

GLORRRRRRRY, GLORY HALLELUUUUUUUUUJAH!!!!

Well my friends, this post is going to be quick and dirty since everything has happened in a whirlwind!!!!!

GOOD NEWS!!!!!

My ortho is 99.9999999999999999999% certain I have a plica.

Solution? Knee scope! Outpatient, 15 minute surgery. Minimal recovery time. If all goes well, I WILL BE AT THE START OF THE BOSTON MARATHON ON APRIL 21ST, 2014!!!!

I am soooooooooooooo relieved to have an official diagnosis and an action plan.

When I told my ortho I wanted to run Boston in April, he asked, "Well, whatcha doing on Thursday?"

ANSWER: GETTING MY KNEE FIXED!!!

You all know I've been complainy and worried about my knee since, oh, JULY!!! I am so happy to have an action plan.

I can't believe I'm having surgery THURSDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe I'll be able to start blogging about actually RUNNING soon!!!!????

WAKA WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Tell me something good going on in YOUR LIFE!!!

Weekend Wrap Up!

Good Morning! I hope you had an awesome weekend. We had snow again, and it's supposed to get even colder here this week. How do you get colder than a polar votex?

 Anyway, here it what I was up to this weekend!

Friday after work, Paul and I headed to Wal Mart to pick up some essentials. You know, like chocolate...

What's your favorite candy pictured?

They are all so good!!

I don't know why, but I have really been enjoying miniature chocolates lately. And by lately, I mean for the past two months!

Wal Mart was a shit show. We even went to the "nice" one. I made the mistake of going there without grabbing a snack first. I was getting very hangry, and determined there should be a law against using your cell phone pushing using a grocery cart, but that's just me.

You may have remembered me telling you how our heat went out on Thursday. When we got home from Wal Mart, Secco came to try to fix it, and fix it they did. You can read about the horrible, expensive, stupid reason our heat stopped working here. Thank you to my readers who pointed out it was similar to an AWESOME episode of Friends where Monica couldn't figure out what the light switch controlled!

Her switch ended up controlling the TV across the hall.

Mine controlled the furnace.

I drowned my Secco sorrows in carrot cake... and with some Jelly cuddles...

I freaking love carrot cake.

90% of the time, if I'm on the couch, Jelly is on my lap.

I don't know why, but apparently I am exhausted by the weekend and need to sleep in. On Saturday, I didn't get out of bed until 1:15pm. (I know, it is shameful!) This made for a very strange day. I didn't work out until 5pm, and dinner wasn't until 8:30pm!

I didn't feel like going to the gym, so I did a really weird workout at home. It was a combination of spinning and circuits in my living room.

I did the circuit 4 times.

The good part about working out at home is I can wear my ugly workout clothes without any judgement!

That night, we used a gift card from Christmas and got sushi!

My sideways sushi. I'm a blogger, not a photographer.

Paul's shrimp tempura! Why did this come out right side up?

After dinner, we picked up some stuff at Target and Wegman's. By now, it was almost 9:30pm, and both stores were dead!

This was Wegman's. I know, I can hardly believe it!

I also tried my first scotch! It smelled like tequila, which worried me,

 but the taste was much better. I enjoy a strong drink.

Paul whooped my ass in Monopoly Deal as we drank our scotch.

A high class Saturday night!

** FUNNY STORY: The next day, my mom told me that on Saturday night, my dad tried his first scotch at a buddy's birthday party. WHAT ARE THE ODDS!? Father and daughter try their first scotch ever on the same night!!! We're two of a kind! (He liked it, too!)

Sunday turned into "Get Shit Done Day". I had a long to-do list and I got it all done! It included a cold workout in my carport. It was 21 degrees, but I bundled up. I really could not stand one more trip to the gym or a boring spin bike workout, so this is what I did...

Another thing on my to-do list was a quick trip to Aldi.

This is why I love Aldi: I got everything pictured for $10.74.

That's strawberry jelly, sandwich thins, deli turkey, chocolate truffles, and 

two medium sized bags of sweet peppers! 

This order would have cost me twice as much at Giant!

I finished the evening sipping some scotch, icing my knee, and watching Dateline and the Grammy Red Carpet on E!. You know, it would be so fun to be a celebrity. You could travel, wear gorgeous clothes, go to cool events... sigh.

Oh well, my life ain't so bad as it is. As long as I quit turning my furnace off, things should be fine!


Tell me a highlight from your weekend!
Did you watch the red carpet?
Have you ever had scotch?
What's your favorite drink?

Tomorrow, tomorrow, I dread ya, tomorrow...

Source

Tomorrow is either going to be a wonderful day or a horrible day. I'm going to see my orthopedic doctor to get some DEFINITIVE answers about my knee situation. I had an x-ray on October 1st (he didn't see any problems) and an MRI in the beginning of November (his secretary called to tell me the MRI showed my knee is inflamed and I was prescribed physical therapy.)

But I have taken time off running, I've seen two physical therapists, a chiropractor, spent $200 on a knee  brace that didn't help,  spent $200 in co-pays, I've had my gait analyzed, I've done my stretches and exercises at home... nothing is working, and I have NO CLEAR ANSWERS!!! Just a lot of "little" things that are wrong with me that wouldn't necessarily cause my knee to hurt for 7 months straight. (If you see a physical therapist, I guarantee they will find at least 3 things wrong with you. My first PT found three and my second one found three different ones.)

I don't mind spending the time and money to fix whatever is going on, but it's just frustrating when it's not getting fixed.

Oh, and I have this weird tissue that rubs over a bone in my knee. I can FEEL and rubbing and sometimes I can hear it popping. I bet that could cause inflammation, right!?

I. WANT. ANSWERS. I don't want a call from a secretary. 

So tomorrow, at my appointment, I will either get a good answer, a bad answer, or no answer at all.

Due to my not running situation, I feel as though I haven't talked about running a whole lot on my blog! And while running is not my only passion nor is it the only focus of my blog, I still enjoy writing about it. However, I haven't had the drive or motivation to write about it lately since I'm not actually running. I feel a little like a fraud too... I feel like I can't write about it if I can't do it. Silly I know.

So I had some ideas for new titles for my blog! The following ideas are more accurate depictions of my life lately, since running is just a dream in my head right now and not a reality!!!

What do you like best for my new blog title? I'm not really going to change it, but what title do you think would garner more readership? I'm leaning toward the carrot cake one...

And since this post started with a song in it's title, let's end with a song! Do you ever make up songs and sing them to your fur babies? I do. All the time.

Chrissy had a great night last night because he found a straw to play with!

So of course, I had to sing him a song...

Sing to the tune of "I Love Paris" by Cole Porter.

I love Kissy in the springtime, I love Kissy in the fall.

I love Kissy in the summer when it sizzles,

I love Kissy in the winter, when it drizzles.

I love Kissy every moment, every moment of they year.

I love Kissy, oh why oh why do I love Kissy?

Because I love dat boy!

(Kissy is my nickname for my cat, Christmas.) I know my song doesn't rhyme at the end but that's okay!

How did you come up with the title for your blog?

If you had to change your blog title, what would you change it to?

Do you make up songs for your fur babies?

Did you ever have to take time off from running? How did you stay sane without eating too much carrot cake?