Physical Therapy Begins!

Yesterday turned out to be an even busier day than reported in my last blog post. I watched the race, went to lunch, went grocery shopping... and then at night Andy and I headed to Anna and Bipul's to celebrate their half marathon.

Anna, Lisa, Bipul, Lydia, Ben, and Andy

After scooting up a flight of stairs on my butt, Bipul had a rolling desk chair waiting for me! It was a good way to get around!! We had a lot of fun eating Mexican Food (it was an early Cinco de Mayo celebration as well). I had a lot of fun, and was so glad I was able to be included in the festivities, but my foot/leg sure paid for it... even after a night's sleep my foot was still super swollen. For some reason it really grosses me out to see all of my fat little toes all mushed together. Yuck!

This morning started bright and early with my first trip to physical therapy. I was nervous for it and had no problem telling my physical therapist that I was scared and that I got queasy very quickly. First he had me take the wrap off my knee. I've seen it enough times now that it doesn't gross me out quite as much as it did at first, which is good. Then he had me stand and try to put my foot flat on the ground - which I was able to do, but only by sticking my butt out behind me, haha. Eventually I was standing up "straight" (or as close as I could) with my fat swollen foot on the ground.

Next I had to walk down the hall and back practicing putting my foot flat on the ground while using the crutches. It was tough - I got very sweaty! Thankfully by the time I got back to where I started he had me lay on the table, which was veeery good because I was starting to feel nauseous. Then he showed me the exercises I am supposed to do this week and had me practice them.

Ankle Pumps - this one is my favorite

Quad Sets - I don't like this one

Heel slides - this is my least favorite

He had me do one more exercise that involved tightening my quad muscle and then lifting my leg in the air. I couldn't lift it on my own, so he helped me... and then I started crying because it hurt. Thankfully he didn't try to push it, and said we'd save that for another time. And that was the appointment! He thanked me for not throwing up on him, and had me schedule another appointment to see him at the end of the week. Phew!

It's amazing how much you can accomplish in 30 minutes, even if it actually doesn't seem like you're doing a whole lot. Even though I'm told I won't be getting off crutches this week, I feel a lot better about the progress I'll make by putting my foot on the ground. I must be putting more weight on my foot this way because I feel a little less pressure on my hands - which is excellent because my hands really hurt from using the crutches.

That's all for now! I still haven't gone back to work - and apparently the only entrance that is handicapped friendly is going to be blocked off because Spiderman decided to film their movie right outside of my office. Hopefully I can figure out a way to work from home!

First day out

Hello friends. It is Sunday afternoon, which means it has been 5 whole days since my surgery. I will be honest in saying I thought I would be much better off by now than I am. I'm still 100% reliant on crutches (although I'm getting much better at using them). I'm also still super reliant on Andy for pretty much everything.... he's a good sport, but I know he was expecting me to be fine by now, so I'm sure it's trying for him.

But! Breakthrough today! I left the apartment!!! This morning was the Rochester Flower City Half Marathon and I had 7 friends running it. The course goes right by my apartment building, so Andy crawled out of bed to take me outside so I could cheer everyone on. CONGRATULATIONS to Sarah! Katie! Scott! Maddie! Anna! Bipul! Nelson! You are all my hero's for the day. :-)

Once the race was over, I got to leave the house again! Andy and I met Sarah, Jon, and her parents for lunch to celebrate her accomplishment.

Another medal for her collection :-)

Using my crutches to get to the restaurant patio felt like my own personal half marathon. It's amazing how tired I get from using them. After lunch Andy and I decided to go to the grocery store in hopes that they'd have an electric cart that I could drive around. They did!!

By far the highlight of my day

Shopping and Icing

Success!

I've obviously never shopped in an electric cart before. 1) I am a natural electric cart driver, 2) when you back up it beeps - very embarrassing, 3) it's safe to assume no one will look out for you, give you the right of way, understand that you are broken. I have a knew level of sympathy for people who have to use these. The other shoppers make it frustrating, and on top of that, it's hard to reach things on high/low shelves. I'm glad this is only temporary. I couldn't imagine being in a wheelchair for life.

I did meet one very friendly chatty woman near the deli. Turns out she had knee surgery by the same doc that did mine. I asked her how long it took for her to walk again and I guess she made me feel better by saying it took awhile... not that I want it to take awhile, but at least I'm not the only one who wasn't dancing out of the OR.

And now I'm back on the trusty couch with my newly purchased bag of frozen peas working their magic. Whenever I am upright for a short period of time, my left foot/leg starts to turn purple.

See the difference?

And that picture was taken just after a quick bathroom trip. You can only imagine what it's like now after my big outing. But as much as the color change grosses me out, it was really good for me to get out of the house... I felt alive again (even though I was frustrated a lot).

Tomorrow morning is my first physical therapy appointment. I hope they help me learn how to walk again!

48 hours post surgery

It's been a little over 48 hours since I've had my surgery. I'm still on the couch. Today has actually been the most painful day so far.

Several good things to report - last night I was so tired that I actually got a decent night's sleep. And this afternoon I took a 2 hour nap. I get excited when I sleep because they said it's the fastest way to recover. Anyway so that is good. I also got to enjoy the Pocky that Rebecca got me. :-)

Eating pocky while icing

Finally 4:30 rolled around... the time I was allowed to take the dressing off.

The iodine makes my leg look so tan!

That's about as far as I got. Thankfully Andy has a stronger stomach than I do. He took the rest of the dressing off and threw it away while I laid with a blanket over my face. Finally I got the courage to look. I know it's not that bad, but it still really grosses me out.

The big reveal

Finally it was time to take a shower. Yes!! I sat on a plastic crate in the tub and used a cup to dump water all over me. It wasn't the best shower in the world but I sure felt better afterwards. Now it's wrapped back up in a regular ace bandage.

Smaller bandage

It's nice to have more of my leg freed up, but now the ice is a lot colder... which I guess is a good thing.  But man... it sure hurts today. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. I'm allowed to start to put a little weight on it with the crutches now, but I think I'm going to wait until tomorrow. If it aches this much just laying with it elevated, I don't really want to stress it anymore.

That's all for now! Stay tuned for updated progress. :-)

Knee Surgery

Greetings from the couch - my new home for the next few days.

Yesterday day was a day 4 months in the making... knee surgery day! I got the call Monday afternoon that I was scheduled to check in at 1:45 on Tuesday and then would go into surgery at 3:15. I wasn't allowed to eat anything after midnight the night before, and was allowed to drink water, apple juice, and ginger ale up until 9:45am.

I tried to make the most of dinner on Monday night. Andy took me to Mr. Dominic's (my favorite Italian place) and I ordered Chicken Parm... I figured that was a massive dose of carbs, protein, and fat, and hoped that would stick around longer. I tried my best to eat as much as I could, but it was hard! I felt disgusting but I was so scared of being hungry the next day, I was determined, haha.

The next morning I tried to sleep in later than normal. I got up around 8:45 - then I made it my job to drink as much water and apple juice as humanly possible. I peed A LOT. I spent the rest of the morning doing a little laundry since I won't be able to do that for awhile. Eventually 1:20 rolled around and it was time to head out.

Andy drove me to the Sawgrass Surgical Center. It was a pretty big place!

Surgery Center

I checked in, then sat in the waiting room with Andy. I was pretty nervous... my hands wouldn't stop sweating. The wait wasn't too long until they called me back. I had to pee in a cup (not a problem since I drank SO much), then they had me change into my hospital gown. And then the moment I was dreading most... the IV. The nurses were really nice. I started crying a little bit just because I was so nervous and while one nurse "did it" the other sat and held my hand and talked and talked - I told her I was getting married so we talked about venues around the Finger Lakes that were nice. Amazingly I didn't pass out. Once that was all taken care of they let Andy come back and sit in the room with me.

Waiting to go in for surgery

I was so glad they let Andy come back because I just laid there for an hour waiting. If I had been by myself I think I would have freaked out, but he did a good job of keeping me distracted. A slew of different people came in during that hour - Dr. Maloney stopped in to say hi, the anesthesiologist came in to tell me what I could expect, the attending nurse came in to introduce herself, and Kim the PA got me set up with my recovery plan and meds.

The Doctor put his initials on my leg...gotta make sure he does the correct knee!!

FINALLY it was time to go in for surgery. It was about 3:45 (30 minutes late). To say I was hungry would be an understatement. First they put something to "relax" me through my IV. As soon as they did it I made a noise and kind of jumped. I could tell they were concerned (I obviously was too). They asked what it felt like and I said it felt like burning - they said that could happen sometimes, so they calmed down (and so did I). Then they started wheeling me back. She asked how I was feeling and I told her I was nervous, but she assured me the meds would kick in soon. They wheeled me into the OR... there was music playing and a lot of people in there. I could tell they were putting a blood pressure cuff on me and putting some monitors on my chest... at the same time they gave me an oxygen mask. It probably only took a few seconds before I was knocked out. Next thing I new I was waking up in recovery.

All done

They let Andy come back again. I was so glad he was there. I honestly don't remember a whole lot, but I do remember the nurse laughed because she said I told her how much I like sandwiches with turkey and mustard and that I was excited to eat pancakes, haha. All true! They also told me I didn't have any sign of a tear or any structural damage, which is great news! That should mean I'll be able to do everything I used to do. They did however, drain a cyst that was the size of a golf ball... bigger than it was in the MRI so it was obviously still "growing." No wonder my knee hurt. A golf ball is pretty big to be in a knee, which doesn't have tons of extra space. They said that could easily be what was causing all the pain. Mystery solved!

Once I was a little more awake Andy helped me get dressed and then they wheeled me out in a wheelchair and got me in the car. As we were pulling into our apartment, Sarah was walking up the sidewalk - she was here to make me pancakes!! What a friend. :-) I didn't write about it in my last post, but Sarah made me a bagel and and PBJ sandwich during the relay, and then she came to make pancakes and eggs post-op. She's a friend and apparently my personal chef, haha. Lucky me!!

COOKIE DOUGH PANCAKES!!

Sarah and Babs :-)

We hung out and watched Jeopardy and The Voice. It was a good night, especially considering I just had surgery. I spent the rest of night on the couch. This was my view...

Leg all wrapped up

I didn't have a terrible night pain-wise, but I sure had a hard time sleeping for a long period of time. My leg feels best with my knee cap pointing towards the ceiling, which means I had to sleep on my back all night long. I typically sleep on my side, so that was not the most comfortable. Hopefully the recovery time will be quick. On Thursday at 4:30pm I'm allowed to take the wrap off my leg and also be able to take a shower. I'm already counting down!

One last thing - a HUGE thank you to all of my friends. Your emails/texts of support really made me smile and helped me feel much calmer. You are all the best. :-)

Seneca7 Relay!!!

This weekend was the long-anticipated Seneca7 Relay! 77.7 miles of running split 7 ways = 7 happy (and stinky) people. :-) Since I took a ton of pictures I'll try not to type sooo much and tell the story more through pics.

Preparations:

There was a lot to get ready... hotel reservations, renting a van, deciding what to wear running at different times of the day, figuring out what to eat while running all day long... and of course the fun parts like ribbons for the girls' hair and signs for our van.

Starting the pile for packing...

Shopping for supplies

Saturday: Katie, Andy, and I all had to work Saturday morning/afternoon. Once Katie got off work, she and Scott went to pick up the van we had on hold. Who knew that rental car places closed at noon?! That was quite a stressful time, but with a lot of calling around we managed to find the best price possible at Hertz. A little later than anticipated we loaded up the van and headed off for Geneva!

At the hotel we met up with Sarah, Tim, Emily, Jon, and Dylan (the newest member of the Field family)! Then it was time for a pasta dinner at "Deluxe." It was not fine dining, but it did the job. :-)

Katie and Scott

Emily, Dylan, Jon, Tim, and Sarah

Babs and Andy

Ok, so I handed my phone to Scott so he could take a picture of Andy and I at dinner, and then told Andy, "pretend like we don't know he's taking a picture." I decided to make a funny face, and had NO idea Andy was doing the same. I have looked at this picture probably 10 times now and every time I look at Andy I can't help but laugh out loud. Yep - just did it again. This might be my favorite picture of us, hehe.

After dinner it was back to the hotel for hanging out, fingernail painting, and eating puppy chow! Then it was time to go to bed... in a double bed. Andy and I shared a room with Katie and Scott... it took awhile to get comfortable haha.

The battle for bed territory

Sunday: RELAY DAY!!!! Sarah and I had to leave the earliest so she could get to the start line and so I could board the shuttle bus to take me to the first exchange point. It was SO cold (I think it was in the 20s).

Sarah: Runner 1

Babs: Runner 2

I won't go into all the details, but the basic overall day looked like this... while someone ran, the van would drive to the next exchange point, we would roll down the windows and cheer as we drove past our runner, then once the van got to the exchange point the next runner would hop out, someone would try to find a bathroom, the rest of us would cheer the runner on that was finishing, the runner that was finishing would pass a slap bracelet off to the next runner, and it would all start over again. Then throw some good times while in the van... lots of eating, laughing... you've got a solid relay experience.

Emily: Runner 3

Andy: Runner 4

Tim: Runner 5

James: Runner 6

Katie: Runner 7

Scott: Our driver

Scott was actually way more than a driver. He ran every single one of Katie's legs with her, so he actually did the whole relay AND drove. Now for a few more highlights in pictures...

One of our van signs (our team name)

Van fun - Tim is navigating with the race map

Fun in the backseat

Not so excited for my last leg...

Ok, I know I said I wouldn't write much, but I just need to say that the last leg is tough. You've already run twice, the rest of the time you've spent sitting in a van, which..while fun, is not the best for your legs. By this point I was sleepy tired, my knee hurt, my legs felt tired, and I still had 4 miles to go. Turns out my first mile was trail running which included getting over a wall of boulders (I actually had to have a race volunteer help me get down). Then I spent the next three miles running on a less than smooth path that had TONS of clouds of gnats all over the place. I'm pretty sure I ate a few. But I can tell you... there is no better feeling that seeing the mass of people at the exchange point and knowing you're almost done. :-) Oh I also want to note that the race required reflective gear for a few of the legs. I'm not wearing my suspenders just for fun, haha.

Happy Birthday Emily!

Emily's 30th birthday is tomorrow, so for her last leg we stretched out a "Happy Birthday" crepe paper for her to break through. After the race we gave her a cookie cake which we then all immediately destroyed haha. 

At the very end, your whole team meets up and runs the last 0.1 mile together to cross the finish line.

The home stretch!

We got medals for participating. I'll be adding it to the collection!

Team "This is a 5k, right?"

Katie and Scott

Sarah and Tim

Sarah and Babs

Sarah and Babs "in the hood" har har har

Andy and Babs!

It took our team 11 hours and 15 minutes to run 77.7 miles around Seneca Lake. That's an average pace of 8:41/mile. I of course was not running that fast, which just goes to show how fast the rest of my team was. They were really amazing - not only because they were all so fast, but because everyone was just so nice and friendly and positive. I could easily see how a full day of running, being stuck in a van, smelling, etc would wear on people's nerves, but I think it's safe to say everyone had a genuinely great time from beginning to end. It was an awesome experience. I'm so glad I got to share it with people I love and new friends too.

I smell a rat...

... ok I dont' really smell a rat, but I had a dream last night about rats - more on that in a bit.

Last night was Katie's last night working at Job #2. Our boss got her a cookie cake that said "Good Luck Katie." We nibbled on it all night long, and it wasn't until we were punching out that Katie noticed the only part of her cookie cake that was left said "Go." How fitting. To my dearest Katie - it has been MORE than a pleasure to work with you every Tuesday. Although I know it is a very depressing town, I'm so glad you moved here and worked at Job #2 so that we could become friends. :-) You are one of my most favorite people and you will not get rid of me. Don't even try.

Go Katie. Go.

Well she didn't get rid of me easily after all. For my "lunch break" today I met Katie at Michael's to pick out ribbon for our ponytails! We will be the cutest relay runners ever.

You will have to wait for future pictures to see what we chose!

While at Michael's I got the best text from my dad. My Mema's surgery was cancelled!! For now. She is doing so well, they decided to hold off on surgery for the time being... if she continues to improve, she will get to go home next week. Your positive thoughts all worked big time! Thank you friends. :-)

Now onto the rats. Right now my bedroom is COVERED in clothes. It's the result of many things... our grocery store closed, which is where we used to get quarters (now quarters are super hard to find), it hurts my knee to bend down and pick clothes up/haul them to the laundry room and back, I barely fit into any of my clothes so every morning is a clothing explosion as I try to find something to stuff myself into. It's a bad situation. I HAVE to clean them up before my surgery because I need to be able to get around on crutches, and I'm pretty sure a cleared floor is essential for that.

Ok ok so the rats. Last night I had a dream that there were rats climbing in and out of piles of clothes in our bedroom. At first it's like, ok obviously the mess is bothering me so much that it's creeped into my dreams. But then I decided to do a google search to see what it means when you dream about rats (this was inspired because somehow in some crazy coincidental world, Rebecca also had a dream about a rat last night). Here's what google says...

A rat is a sign that negative influences are undermining your vitality. Dreams about rats and mice usually reflect the worries which are "gnawing" you. To see a rat in your dream, signifies feelings of doubts, greed, guilt, unworthiness and envy.

That really "struck" something in me... it was so spot on. Now let me break down my despair for you...

Negative influences undermining your vitality: My knee. It's stopped me from exercising. It hurts to do stuff, so I barely clean/do laundry and the apartment is just so miserable to be in because it's so messy. I never have clean clothes, clean dishes, etc.

Worries gnawing you: Mema in the hospital, my knee surgery, my relay this weekend, TONS of stuff at work, taking care of the apartment, losing weight/worrying that I'll spend another summer hating myself.

Feelings of doubt: Will I be able to make it through the relay? Will I be able to lose weight for my wedding? for Sheena's wedding?

Greed: Don't think I have any of this?? 

Guilt: I feel guilty for "letting myself go" ever since my knee started hurting. I was doing so good with Weight Watchers and exercising. And as much as I try to restart each week, I always give up so easily and keep eating and laying on the couch.

Unworthiness: I don't feel worthy to be on my relay team. My team is so fit and health. And even though I "should" be able to run and keep up, I won't be able to this time, and I can't help but feel like I'll be the big slow one in the group. I would have been the slow one anyway and that's if I were running at top speed! But now I'll probably have to walk parts and my workout clothes will be too tight, I'll look bad in pictures, yet I'll still stuff my face with PBJ's in the van.

Envy: I know everyone has their own struggles, but I'm so envious of my friends who can run just fine, have healthy relationships with food (or at least are better at controlling themselves), don't live in the ghetto, get to be closer to their parents...

I think I need a maid and maybe a therapist. I wonder if there are any therapists that will clean my house while fixing my head.

I'm really hoping that once my knee feels better my life will change. So far I hate 2013.

BUSY

SO BUSY. Will make this super short, sorry.

First I must quickly say I am so terribly sad for the Boston Marathoners and the spectators of the race. These kinds of tragedies are always terrible, but to happen in a situation where I can so easily picture myself and my family (ok I know I would never get to run Boston, but I'm talking about any race in general) makes it that much more "personal." I will definitely be thinking of all of the people affected while out running the relay this weekend.

Ok now a super duper quick recap of what's been going on...

Friday: Girls night at Alyssa's. SO fun (even though Kristin's face contradicts that statement).

Katie intensely studying a wedding magazine!

Kristin and Alyssa (plus taco dip!)

Saturday - Worked Job #2. Came home took nap on couch. Stomach turned to knots. Spent rest of evening on couch curled in fetal position.

Sunday - Seriously abused the bathroom repeatedly. Continued to remain curled in fetal position and slept A LOT. Managed to sit in a chair for an hour at a kids concert. It was rough.

Monday - Stomach still in distress but getting better. Went to work where things fell apart massively. Managed to sort of put some of it back together. Went tanning, Will came over for dinner, watched more Boston coverage. Picked Sarah and Jon up from the airport. WELCOME BACK BUDDY!!

Tuesday (today) - Job #1 (stomach still not great), had an office lunch and ate too many desserts. Managed to fix a few more things from the day before. Now going to Job #2. It's Katie's last shift so I'm sad. :-(

One last quick line (which deserves to not be quick, but I really have to go), please pray for my Mema (my mom's mom). She's been in the hospital since April 3rd and is having surgery tomorrow. Thankfully my parents were able to fly down to Texas last night. You all must send very good vibes to Mema and her doctors tomorrow. Thanks. :)