Gwen Skis with Grandpa

Brent's friend Lynn Baker called earlier in the week to say that he wanted to ski on Friday and was bringing his daughter, Jenna for a lesson. It seemed like the perfect time to take Gwen for her first lesson this season and get her ready for the Mountain Explorer program which starts next weekend.

Gwen and Jenna hit it off great with lots giggling. They both had a good lesson where they took the magic carpet up and made it around the kid's Discovery area. Gwen is very close to being able to make some turns and I suspect that it won't take much time in Mt. Explorers before she's making pretty turns down the mountain.

After the lesson, everyone was hungry. We thought we'd head home after lunch, but Gwen really wanted to ski some more. So they all headed back out onto the mountain to ski at the bottom of the beginners area. They'd ski down, ride the magic carpet back up, and head back down.

Seriously, how cute is this? Brent was so tickled to spend this time with Gwen. We are both really excited that not only is she doing good, she's really having fun.

She did great and we're looking forward to next week when she starts her Mountain Explorer lessons. These will run for each Saturday for the entire month of January. They run 6 hours a day, include lunch, and the kids are always with the same bunch of kids and have the same instructors. We've heard really great things about the program and can't wait to see how Gwen does. If today

was any example, she's going to do fatnastic!

Christmas

Our celebration this year included Christmas Eve, Christmas, and the day after Christmas. Everyone gathered at our house late Christmas Eve afternoon. Donning festive hats, enjoying a few snacks, and indulging in a little bubbly following Rick's moving toast starts the evening off just right!
The girls sat in their little chairs and opened their gifts first. They each had so many packages to open, it took quite a bit of time. After disposing of the first heap of wrapping paper, they helped pass out all the other packages.

How cute are these two little cousins? They were out in the foyer singing and dancing with Santa and managed to take a moment to pose with Munchie.

Brent and I ran two batches of dishes through the dishwasher and handwashed all the stemware and other fragile stuff. Big decisions...to open presents Christmas Eve or wait until Christmas morning. Yeah, we never make it until Christmas morning!

Christmas day we cycled the last batch of dishes through the dishwasher, stuffed the turkey and got da boid into the oven. A short trip over to Brent's mom's place for another gift exchange. Home with enough time to put a wonderful turkey dinner on the table for our parents, mine brither, and neighbors Deb and Loren. It was all great, but could I please sleep in tomorrow?!!

No. I had important morning after Christmas shopping to do. I got up at 6:30, was out the door by 6:45, shopped at Target and Giant, and was back in bed by 8:22...exactly. Up at 10, I had enough time to clean up, set the table yet one more time, and put together a few things for brunch with Matt and Kim. Luckily Kim took care of making a delicious breakfast casserole. A few more gifts, and good heavens, I needed a nap!

All in all, it was a wonderful Christmas. No drama. Just lots of time with our family and friends.

2010 Christmas Tree

I think this year our tree is the most beautiful ever. Even though it's an artificial tree we bought a few years ago, each year it looks a little different. It used to only have the beautiful heritage balls my Grandmother made and we used gold tinsel. Some years I used a long ribbon zigzagged back and forth. In recent years I bought pine cone, birds, and gold ornaments from the Germany paviollion at Epcot, Disney World. Last year I bought green, gold leaves and some burgandy

poinsettias to fill in a bit and added a few strands of beads. Gwen and my Mom did a fantastic job hanging all the ornaments and made it just perfect. I love turning on the tree lights and turning out the main lights in the living room. Cuddling up with a nice glass of wine and playing Handel's Messiah. Ahhh, this is Christmas.

Sweet Lights and Chocolate World

Last Monday evening we took Kylie (and Travis) through Hershey's Sweet Lights and then popped into Chocolate World to finish off the evening. Kylie really enjoyed all the lights and wanted Grandma to sit with her in the car at Chocolate Worls.

I love this picture of Travis and Kylie in front of the huge Christmas tree inside the entrance to Chocolate World. We stopped so Kylie could sit on Santa's lap. She was so darn cute!

Several years ago my Dad bought us this singing Santa Claus. He sings several different Christmas carols and the girls absolutely love him. He swings his hips, moves his head and arms and belts out those favorite songs. It's fun to watch the girls singing along with old St. Nick!

Who's this adorable reingdeer? LOL!

We had a fantastic time with Kylie and Travis. Can't wait for Christmas!

Book Club Christmas Party

Each year we have such a good time attending this book club event that includes spouses. Christina invited us all to her home and, with the exception of the meatballs, made all the food herself. It was a grazer's delight! So many interesting and tasty things.

The book this year was The Christmas Bag. I would highly recomment it. It's a very quick read - you can do it in 1-2 hours. It would be a great book for kids around 10 to read too. Great lessons to learn, for all of us.

The Christmas season is upon us!

Six Months

Friday marked the six-month mark since the total knee replacement surgery. Things are coming along. I try to be patient with the evening stiffness and I'm trying to keep up with the exercising. I have two more days of physical therapy next week. I signed up for their wellness program which is much like having a gym membership there but with the advantage of them knowing what I need to do for my knees and how to continue building on where I am today. One of my book club friends has been going to Conforti too and is considering the wellness program. This is great because I'll have someone to workout with.


I was looking way, way back to some of my goals at 2 and 3 months. think most of them, with the exception of the flexion stats have been accomplished. I can stand as long as I need to these days. I'm sleeping in my own bed, although I still wake frequently. That can be attributed as much to heat flashes as my knees.

Everyone says that 6 months is the big turning point. I can't honestly say that I'm seeing a b ig difference, but maybe it's because improvement is so incremental.

My goals today are fairly simple. I need to keep myself going with the exercise program. I'm having trouble keeping everything going (work, home, exercises, you know....life). I need to make sure that I get enough rest. I need to dump some baggage out of my life to focus on the positive things.

Wahoo!

The leaves are D-O-N-E!

Now there's something to celebrate!

Black Friday

I know many people would stay as far away from the mall on black Friday as they possibly can. A few years ago I would have said the same. But, my friend Renee talked me into going out several years ago and we really had a great time. Not being a morning person, it's hard for me to slip out of my warm bed to do anything. I don't like mornings, and I don't like crowds, but I do enjoy going out to shop on black Friday.

I have my shopping list, I gathered all the flyers, and put together my itinerary. Neighbor Deb was game, despite the fact that she had to be at work by 9. Crazy! We agreed to meet at 4 a.m. and head for Walmart. I was shocked when Kera called at 3:45 and said she'd be at my place by 4. The three of us set off for the madness that is Walmart at 5 in the morning. Honestly, I'd had enough of it in pretty short order, but we were finding things on our list, so I did my best to tolerate the chaos.

Moving on to Target where the line went through the entire store, we walked in and walked right back out, and headed back to the East Shore. We found a few things at Five Below, and Game Stop where Deb left us. Kera and I c ontinued into Target, where we shopped, and walked right up to a cashier. Good deal! Went to Toys R Us and then to Neato Burrito for lunch. We ended our shopping day and I only need two items to have all the grandkids gifts purchased.

Yeah, an early morning, lots of craziness, but fun with Kera and Deb and lots accomplished. A good day.

Happy Thanksgiving

Despite the dreary weather, our Thanksgiving was wonderful. Ten of us gathered, intending to devour our 25 pound stuffed turkey with all the trimmings. Everyone looks forward to our annual traditional meal.

We are so thankful that three of our four parents are still here to celebrate with us. The clan elders, my parents, picked up the big bird and made the most delicious pumpking cheesecakes. Brent's mom seemed to enjoy alk the chaos. My brother made his famous cauliflower casserole, and I'm quite disappointed that there were no leftovers. We were delighted to meet Travis's friend, Jessica. We're not quite sure where he found such a nice girl...LOL! Finally, we were thankful to have friends, Deb and Loren, join us again this year.

Our large bird was taking an extraordinarily long time to cook. About an hour later than we anticipated, we began pulling everything together and getting food on the table. The back door opened, and Kera, Chris, and Gwen walked in. If you didn't know, they were spending two weeks in India and were going to miss Thanksgiving. I've done nothing but worry and miss them since the day they left. I was so surprised, and tremendously thankful to have them home safe and sound five days earlier than we expected.

What a great day. All our family (except Kylie) together, friends to join us, and a holiday meal with plenty of leftovers. We have so much to be thankful for, unlike so many people in the world. We are tremendously grateful for all that we have.

A Busy Week

Don't you wonder why time is flying by so quickly? It seems to me that not all that many years ago I seemed to have so much more free time. I'm trying to figure out what has happened to make life so complicated, difficult, and stressful.

While we made good progress on the leaves last weekend, we still have piles all over the front and side that need to be raked onto tarps and dragged to the street. At least another full day of work ahead and lousy weather on the horizon.

Monday night Travis brought Kylie over. We haven't seen her since July 15, so we were very excited to see her. I've had a gift for her from our October trip to Disney and I bought her Christmas dress. I'm tickled pink that Kylie was thrilled with both of them. She's getting so big I can't believe it. A real tangible example of time going so fast. I stole this picture from Trav.

Renee invited me to see Michael Buble on Tuesday. While I knew who he was and the type of music he performs, I'm really not very familiar with his music. Well, the concert was quite a pleasant surprise - Michael Buble is awesome. His band was great, he has a great voice, he's very funny, and he really plays to his audience. It was a great evening.

Each day I get up and go to work like millions of other people. Once again, as it has been for the last 26 years of employment, my job is in jeopardy. I am at the point where I just feel that no matter where I go, all hell breaks loose. This job is no different. The timing for this job wasn't the best as a month after moving there I had my knees done and was off work for 2 months. Now, the organization I moved to looks like it will be disappearing which leaves me in a quandry just about as bad as the one I just came from. Is there a sign on my back? A black cloud floating over my head? Seriously? WTF? Tomorrow is Thanksgiving. I guess I'll be thankful for having a job at least one more day.

Happy Nouveau Beaujolais Day!

Yes! Today is the third Thursday in November when the nouveau beaujolais are released for sale. Although the wine isn't great - what do you want for the young fruity stuff that was made this year - but it's a great excuse to get together, raise a glass (or two or three), have a few hot sausages and whatever else I can pull together quickly when I get home.

Don't know what to do tonight? You know where I live!

The Beach in November

Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera on this trip, and there wee plenty of great opportunities for good photos. About six months ago my book club started to plan a girls weekend in Rehoboth. While 12 of us committed to go, when the weekend finally rolled around, there were only 8 of us. The good news is that it was a really compatible group and we had so much fun.

Since I missed so much of my summer this year, I was tickled to be at the beach and felt so lucky that we had a fantastic weather. Our place was very nice and absolutely huge. We had 6 bedrooms and Renee and I claimed one on the first floor with a queen sized bed and a bathroom. Renee brought a queen sized blow up mattress so we both had lots of room and were comfortable. Yes, I took my huge body pillow plus my regular pillow!

After some fantastic snacks we selected our books for next year. That's always fun because there are so many books I would never pick to read myself. 2011 will be a good year! After the book selection, we all got comfy and all grabbed some wine and gathered together to play Apples to Apples. Vicci asked lots of personal questions as we played and now, I daresay, I know more about some of my friends than I really wanted to! LOL!


The next morning Lisa and I walked the boardwalk and walked for 15 minutes or so in the sand. My therapist said I could walk no more than 20 minutes in the sand and I was tickled that it went quite well. We hit some of the great eclectic shops then had some famous Grotto pizza. Of course, the highlight for me was getting some Thrashers fries. It's been years since I've had some Thrashers and they were as wonderful as I remembered.

Saturday night we all went out for dinner to a seafood place called Fins. I had the best fish tacos I think I've ever had. They were really yummy. Then we hit a bar with a crazy guitar player/singer. He sang the types of songs we all know the words to so we were all singing at the top of our lungs. A few beers, a few shots, and lots of fun.

I hope we do this again next year. I got to know some of the newer members of our book club and had a very relaxing weekend.

More PT

Insurance approved 8 more physical therapy sessions. So, I'll be going two times a week. I'm happy about this and am hopeful that this is going to go well.

So Far, So Good

I met with the PA at the surgeon's office today. He thinks things are coming along and estimates 100 degrees flexion in the left and 105+ on the right. He believes that at the end of the day I will end up with 110 in each. So, I need to reconcile myself to the fact that I won't be able to hit that magical goal of 120 degrees. He feels that this will take between 12-15 months until I reach the max I'm going to get and everything finally settles down (i.e. stiffness at night, edema, etc.). I should keep going to physical therapy as long as my insurance will pay for it. Right now, that will end on Thursday, so we'll see what happens. After that he said that in a real world I would continue with my exercises twice a day, but realistically, he said I need to have a life too.

So, it's important that I continue to be diligent but if I miss a day here and there or only get one session in I shouldn't beat myself up about it. I hope that the PT continues. Last time it ended, I continued to kill myself with the exercises only to lose flexion. Intellectually I understand that this was due to the scarring, but emotionally that had a negative impact on my morale. But if it does end at the end of this week, I have a plan. It's good to have a plan.

Physical Therapy - Day 13

I wasn't sure how today would go since it was difficult to do my exercises at my usual level while I was at my scrapbook retreat. But, things went really well. I love the cage! I'm still struggling with going down the stairs, but I have some things to do to work on it.

I'm going to the surgeon tomorrow so we'll get his opinion on how things are going. I think the therapist is happy, I'm so-so (really, did you think I would be overjoyed?!!), and I hope the surgeon will be thrilled (not a chance, but there's always hope). I continually to be moderately optimistic.

Wish me luck.

Scrapping, Scrapping, Scrapping

I had a great time at the scrapbooking retreat - as always. I managed to complete 20 pages of my Austria album so it was a successful trip. Kimberly and I can't wait for the spring retreat. Many thanks to Sandy (Kim's Mom) who graciously cooked us dinner and offered her home to us for the night despite the fact that she was heading out for vacation the next morning. Not to mention she bought me my favorite 1% milk rther than that fat free blue skim milk they all seem to favor. Ugh! Spring is right around the corner - I hope!

Physical Therapy - Day 12

Well, I certainly need to learn how to celebrate incremental improvements. This entire week my knees have been stiff and have made me miserable. Just thinking that things aren't getting better drives me crazy. But, there have been some major improvements this week:

1. Two weeks ago I couldn't use the elliptical without huge compensation. I simply didn't have enough flexion. Today Jeff told me I didn't need to use the Nu-Step anymore to warm up. It appears I've graduated to the elliptical!

2. I also graduated to the larger (and thus less stable) bosu ball.

3. I was able to make some pretty good revolutions on the spin bike, keeping the knees straight and the ankle/foot was close to being right. My hip was still raised to compensate, but Brent said it was the best it has looked since the surgery in June.

4. I took on several new exercises:

• Wooden Wedge - used to stretch the hamstrings
• Stair stepper - 1)stepping up with one leg leading and stepping down with the same leg leading. 2)And, stepping up with one leg and stepping down on the other side of the stepper with the opposite leg - just like doing stairs. This is okay with right leg, and as expected, less than stellar on the left.
• Used the True Stretch Machine - This is way cool http://www.truefitness.com. I did two exercises here which you can maybe see on the placard. I did #6 and #8 on the first line from the top with real people in the pictures. I was surprised I could get my left leg up there. Jeff opted not to stretch me himself today, but rather I used this cage.

Very strange how things can feel so yucky but yet the results at the end of the day are okay. If I look at it through rose colored glasses, it all looks okay. We'll see what the surgeon says next week.

As for now, I'm all packed and heading for my scrapbooking retreat. Yes, I packed my leash. No rest for the weary!

Grrrrr

My knees were more stiff than they have been since the manipulation. WTH?

Hope everyone got out there to vote today. Keep your fingers crossed.

Physical Therapy Day 11

Things were pretty stiff this morning as I went through my exercises a home. PT was at 5:00 tonight and things hadn't loosened up much. Things went okay with the normal stuff. Jeff did some different stretching manipulations which I hope pay off. But, the bike went as crappy as it has been. Discouraging.

Halloween, Physical Therapy 10, and the Weekend

This post is all out of order, so please bear with it!

Friday's PT went pretty darn good. I seemed to do a little better on the bike. I just keep plugging away.

While we were in Disney, Renee and Jeff asked if we wanted to go to the Dine with the Devil event at the Appalachain Brewing Company on Friday night. While I'm not much of a beer drinker, we had a really good time. First, I don't think it sank into us until Friday that we needed to come up with costumes. So, Brent and I were both on the intranet trying to figure out what we could pull together with stuff at home. Although I was partial to going as static cling, Brent suggested I wear my chef's jacket and hat and he would wear an apron and his hat and be my sous chef. Well, that worked as well as anything else with a whole lot less trouble.

With each course one or two beer samples were paired with the food. They didn't just serve their brews either, there were other micro brews served. They described each beer in great detail and talked about why it was paired with the food. Very interesting and pretty darn good.

Thursday, the day before we were invited to trick or treat with Gwen. Well, let me rephrase that. It was my year to stay behind and pass out candy while Brent walked along with Gwen, Kera, and Chris. I don't mind. I really enjoy seeing all the kids dressed up. Gwen was beautiful as an angel. She was so excited about the whole thing and it's great to see her have so much fun. Kera made a yummy stir fry for dinner and a delicious "smores" cupcake. All very delicious.

Bent suggested we go to Middletown Saturday night to see Rocky Horror Picture Show. Yes, I was a RHPS virgin. But no more. I went out and looked to see what we needed for a prop bag and Brent said we didn't need one; we should just sit back and enjoy the craziness. Well, some woman was handing out prop bags to those who didn't have one. It only included rice, confetti, a rubber glove, and newspaper, but we had fun participating. I'm convinced that some people really have nothing in their lives except this crazy movie. They knew every participatory line and when to deliver it. Very fun night.

Sunday was a lazy day which included dinner at Mom and Dad's. My mom made pork and sauerkraut and I always think this is the time of year for that dish. Dad surprised the heck out of me. Each year Kera gets him a much loved Wine Loves Calendar. He found a recipes in the calendar for poached pears in a reisling sauce which was then reduced. The pears were topped with creme fraich and hazelnuts. My oh my. Fantastic! Huge kudos to my folks for a great dinner.

Physical Therapy - Days 8 & 9

We had another beautiful weekend and I'm holding onto summer with both hands. I did my exercises on Saturday and took Sunday pretty much off. Brent and I went to Wildwood for a quick 1.25 mile walk before heading off to dinner with friends. If you like Italian food and haven't tried Dolce Vita in Enola, give it a shot. It's BYOB and the food was pretty good.

Things were a bit tight on Monday. I struggled with seat setting #6 on the Nu-Step and my knee was killing me on the bike. I just cannot get my stinking left knee around without sacrificing form. I always think about what my yoga instructor, Cindy Zubritsky always said. Push it a little further, as far as you can with no sacrifice to form. That would be me on the bike. I'm reconciled to the fact that for now at least my left hip is going to come way up, I do my absolute best to keep my knee coming straight back rather than compensating by bending it in, and my ankle/foot just can't do exactly what it's supposed to.

Tuesday was a really good knee day. The right leg was great and the left leg was at least loose enough that it didn't feel like I was dragging a weight around the middle of my leg. By 7:30-8:00 at night they were tired and a bit stiff, but on the whole, it was a good day. I have my home exercise regimen down pretty good. It takes me about 40 minutes in the morning to do the exercises on my stomach and back. During the day I am very conscious about pulling my knees in as far as I can while I'm sitting. I try to do 30 of the exercises where my knees are pulled in and I stand up and sit down. Then, at night, I do the standing stretches and the ones on my stomach. I am going to start trying to at least rock them on the bike trying to get them around.

Today seems to be another good day. My knees were pretty loose going to PT this morning. Jeff commented that he's puzzled as to why the left knee isn't doing better on the bike. Apparently you need between 100-105 degrees flexion to make it around okay. He feels that I'm very close to getting that with this stinking left leg, but I am really struggling. At the end, he thinks it's the hamstrings being so darn tight. He asked what I did yesterday at home. I went through everything and he was stunned. He said I am certainly doing more than I need to and that he wished even half of his patients would do as much.

I have approved PT sessions 3 days a week through November 18. I guess I just keep pushing on and hope this knee comes around.

Phystical Therapy - Day 7

Today marked my 3rd PT day this week and now I'll be going 3 days a week. Jeff said I'm easily getting about 110 in my right knee; don't know about the left but I'm sure it's not close to that. That being said, however, he's not displeased with the progress I'm making on the left.

He approved my exercise plan for non-PT days, just adding the bike in for those days. I tried the regular bike today and it was a real chore. I have to concentrate on every movement my left leg/ankle/foot makes. Whew, it's a lot of work! It's getting closer, but even if I keep my knee coming back straight, get the correct ankle/foot movements (all of this really makes my knee bend and it hurts!) my hip is still rocking to compensate. Oh well, I guess it just takes time.
Not to mention I'm supposed to take a day off over the weekend. Wahoo! Another guilt-free day off. The important thing is that Jeff feels I'm definitely making good improvement so I think I'll just bask in that for awhile!

A Good Knee Day

Finally. For the first time in a very long time I can honestly say I'm having a pretty good knee day.

Last night was achy and a bit painful so I popped some Advil and Tylenol before bed. I slept pretty good from 11:30-5:30. I know there were a few times I sat up to turn over and a few heat flashes in there, but all in all, it was pretty sound sleep. I gingerly got out of bed like always and was surprised that the knees were feeling pretty loose. I did a series of exercises, got a shower, and now, at 3:00 today, they are still feeling pretty loose.

I spent most of my day in meetings, trying to keep my legs pulled in as far under the chair as I can manage for as long a period of time as I can tolerate it. I'll go through another set of exercises tonight and then hit PT hard again tomorrow.

I'm afraid to hope I'm on the right track and things are finally going to start improving!

Physical Therapy - Day 6 - Tuesday

And another day begins in PT. I prefer doing it in the morning. Perhaps I just became accustomed to it right from the get-go following my surgery. But, despite not being a morning person, I seem to be able to force myself to get up and get 'er done without too much trouble. It's later in the day that I struggle.



The squat machine may not be a hack squat machine. It may be one of these. Regardless, no matter how much time goes by I still don't like it any better.

We picked up my dog collar last night so I was able to do the knee bending and knee extension exercises. Today I learned a trick that might just keep my crazy wacky feet going in the right direction. Since my feet want to turn to the inside, if I position the strap on the inside of my leg it forces the foot to turn out a bit. Not that I can see it of course!

Today was the last of my week long appointments following the MUA (manipulation under anesthesia). Jeff wants to go to 3 times a week and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the insurance will extend the therapy. So as of now I'll be going again Thursday morning this week and then M-W-F next week.

I really wish I could go every day. I need the structure and reinforcement I get there to keep me not only physically on track but mentally with the program too.

Conversations With Gwen

Every time I have Gwen, I wish I could record our conversations. Here's a brief sample from Sunday.

We took bread down to the pond to feed the ducks and geese. One duck came flying in from the left, skimmed across the water, but was still separate from the rest of the water fowl:
Gwen: Come on duck, get in there with the rest of the herd!

You may know about the drama of Gwen's latest hair cut. She's such a girly girl and was not happy that her hair ended up way shorter than she wanted it to be.
Me: Gwen, something looks different about you today. Did you get your hair cut?
Gwen: Grandma, that girl just didn't know what to do with naturally curly hair like mine. She didn't even know that it's long when it's wet but the curls make it shorter when it's dry.

We talked about the fact that it's a good thing that hair grows so even though she wasn't happy with it right now, it would grow. On the way home from lunch, Gwen was looking in my rear view mirror:
Gwen: Grandma, I think my hair looks a little longer already. My hair grows really fast. Really it does.

In preparation for the Daily trip to India, Gwen has been struggling to take some pills for typhoid. The pills seemed to be a good option as opposed to a shot, but she is really having a hard time swallowing the things. She got some of them down, but still has a few to go.
Gwen: Grandma, I just can't take those pills. I tried taking them with tic tacs, raisins, and yogurt. Then applesauce worked. But now, those pills just go to the side of my mouth and won't go down my throat.

Yeah, those crazy pills have a mind of their own. As does the lovely Miss Gwen.

Physical Therapy - Day 5 - Monday

I wasn't sure how things would be after taking Saturday off. Sunday I did the general leg lift stuff, and when I went to bed I did the bending stuff. This morning things were tight, the left leg especially.

I find that PT is a very strange thing. Sometimes when you think things aren't going so well, they really are going okay. Perhaps this has been a continuing theme with me, but since I had to have the manipulation, I do feel somewhat vindicated. Anyway, my left knee struggled with the closest seat setting on the Nu-Step machine this morning. Very tight, somewhat painful. The other exercises, with the exception of the squat machine went well. I have a hate/hate relationship with this machine. Same problems as Friday: legs don't bend enough, butt doesn't go down far enough to increase the bend, and $#@! legs struggle to push myself up. Grrrrrr. The balance ball thingy went great. No problems standing without holding, and I was able to go from side to side without holding on much. Going back and forth required some holding on, but I think I'll do okay with that too.

Then came the stretches on my stomach. The therapist was giving me a little extra push which hurt, but he seemed really pleased. He said he thought for sure I was over 90 degrees on the right and very close on the left. That's a good thing.

Jeff worked with me then and as expected is very pleased with the right knee, not as pleased with the left. But, he did feel as though we've made good progress on the left knee. I have to buy a dog collar tonight to use as a strap. Jeff wants me to do the "lay on your stomach and bend your knee up using the strap to bend it more" exercise three times a day.

Ugh, there's a couch thing in the ladies room, but the thought of laying on that for anything is like a germophobe's nightmare. I guess I can bring a sheet or something in to cover it. I'm supposed to do this morning, noon, and night and I suppose I can bite the bullet and do it once at work. Yuck.

Tomorrow morning is my last scheduled PT session but Jeff is hoping to get it extended so I can go in 3 times a week. I really hope this is approved because I finally think I'm making some progress. I'd like that to continue. I'm clearly not where I need to be yet and seriously, I need to continue.

Relaxing Weekend

Wow - a Saturday where I didn't have to get up and get with the PT program. A night where I didn't have to kill myself yet again. Where to start. Hmmmm. How about the hot tub for breakfast. Putter around with some laundry, run a few errands, yes a leisurely day. Out to El Rodeo with the neighbors for dinner and then to the movies to see Secretariat. A good, clean, interesting family film. All in all, a great day.

Sunday morning was spent with the lovely Miss Gwen. A chatty breakfast at home, a word search, and a few puzzles in the puzzle book done together. We gathered up all the lawn ornaments and made a parade on the picnic table before putting them away in the garage. Gwen brought bread and we fed the ducks and geese. I can tell the migration started. Lots of geese and honestly, I don't think we ever fed them at the pond before. Quite a noisy bunch! Gwen sketched out two halloween cards she wanted to make and we did get one done before leaving for Isaacs for lunch. Gwen loves Isaacs...and Old Country Buffet. I picked the lesser of two evils! LOL! It was a great start to the day.

My folks came over for dinner and as the "gentlemen" had their cigars and drinks, Mom and I opted for hot fudge sundaes at 3B. Yummylicious.

Oh, and I also finished watching the Blind Side. I started it Saturday before dinner and finished watching last night. What a great movie.

All in all, a fantastic weekend.

Physical Therapy - Day 4 - Friday

I'm sore. I think it's because I'm trying to consistently sit in my chair with my knees drawn back as far as I can get the little suckers. Not to mention the challenging PT!

Hit PT this morning and worked with Juanita and Jeff overseeing. Someone else set up the Nu-Step this morning and I wasn't really paying attention. She started the seat at position 8. I did my 3 sets of 5 minutes each, moving the seat forward each time. By seat position 6, I was grimacing. While the pain in my left knee wasn't terrible, it was definitely challenging and my left knee was really stretching tight with some pain. Afterward Juanita told me that yesterday I did them at position 10-9-and 8. No wonder it was challenging today! But, it is progress isn't it?

Two new items were added today: a hack squat machine and a bosu ball.

This squat machine isn't exactly like what we used, but close enough. I hated it. It was hard to keep my knees at 90 degrees, hard to keep my feet from turning out, and hard to get my butt low enough. My legs are typically pretty strong, but I had a really hard time moving and then getting low enough. And did I mention it hurt?

I've seen the bosu balls before but never used one. Obviously the rounded part is on the floor and you're standing on the flat part. Good for core work. Actually I had pretty good balance on the sucker, and then I went side-to-side and front-to-back. It wasn't bad.

You wouldn't think it would be hard to lay on your stomach and bend your legs up to your butt. But, aside from the obvious knee issues, my traitorous feet just don't go right. I couldn't figure out what it should feel like so I could repeat it, but it appears as though my feet were turning in. I don't know. Actually I'm confused about this other than the fact that they just weren't coming straight back. It's hard to fix something when you a) can't see it, and b) can't tell what it should feel like.

I finished up on the Sci-Fit on seat position 8-7-6. Jeff was really pleased with the form on my left leg. Hip down, knee straight, and the ankle moving the correct way, with the knee flexing the way it is supposed to - a good finish. He said it's the first time that my knee was flexing on this bike the way it should. I'm really happy with my progress there.

The best part of the whole morning was Jeff telling me I did a great job and that I should take tomorrow off and have a light day on Sunday. He's definitely high on my list of favorite people right now, although he did end by saying we'd hit it really hard again on Monday. This never happened during my previous therapy and I drove myself crazy trying to do two sets of PT every single day for four months until I was just physically and mentally beat. Jeff said sometimes it's best to let the inflamation settle a bit and that I wouldn't suffer any setback this way. I am so looking forward to the weekend and I will be ready to do whatever it takes again on Monday.

Physical Therapy - Day 3 - Thursday

I think things are going well and the therapist seems pleased. Walking requires some thought to get that left leg straightened out, but it's coming along. I don't expect to undo 56 years of funky walking right away!

Today we stretched out the hamstrings and then got on this thing called Nu Step http://www.nustep.com/. I try to concentrate on keeping my left hip down on the seat, the knee coming back straight, and not rolling my ankle. I did 5 minutes each at 3 different seat locations, continually moving forward. It was a little ouchy at the end.

Then I laid down on the table and bent each leg up 10, then lifted the leg straight for 10 and repeated it for 2 sets on each leg. So far so good. Then he added a strap to my leg and had me bend it as far as I could then pull the strap and hold for 15 seconds. Not too bad, right? Yeah, until you continue to pull the strap 2 more times and hold for 15 seconds each. I did 3 on each leg and I have to tell you I left 3 wet marks all over the sheet where my forehead and wrists just sweat ....um...wait, lightly perspired...yeah, that's better. Holy moly.

Then I sat up on the table and he stretched them. This was nothing like my previous physical terrorist where I would end up crying, but it did stretch until it hurt. I was able to help stretch it back further, and Jeff was pleased.

I finished up on this funky recumbent bike, or at least one very similar. It's different than the recumbents I've used at the gym before. It sits more upright but your legs are stretched out. As no good deed goes unpunished, and I did so good yesterday, I started with my seat position one more notch forward. Good so far. Another one of these deals where you go 5 minutes and then move the seat forward again. So, at the end I was as far forward as I've been so far. He liked it so well that for the last minute we moved it up yet one more notch. Yikes. Yeah, that hurt, but I was glad I could do it. I practiced actually pulling my toes up as I made the revolution up, and that really made the knee stretch. Again, Jeff was happy with my progress


Tonight we iced since it was a pretty strenuous workout. I'm scheduled for 8:30 in the morning tomorrow. Just another day in paradise!

Physical Therapy - Day 2 - Wednesday

I continue to be impressed by Jeff Conforti. Despite the surgeon telling me he bent my knees to 120 degrees during the manipulation, they are getting roughly 95 degrees flexion when cold right now. We have discontinued me pedaling my spin bike at home until I get 100 degrees flexion in the left leg. This is because while I have managed to spin, I have sacrificed form to compensate for the fact that I don't have the flexion to really spin correctly. By lifting my left hip, bending my left knee inward, and dipping my ankle down I was able to make the revolution. But I was not making the revolution by correctly bending my leg and not compensating. I hope what I just wrote makes sense when you read it.

Anyway, today we tried to start out on the elliptical but it was evident within the first 2 minutes that it wasn't working due to the lack of flexion. Again, I had to compensate too much form to do it correctly. We nixed that and began doing some stretching exercises, again trying to stretch the hamstring. While I was face down doing one of the exercises, I sensed someone coming to my side. She said, "Donna Gault, I know that's not your last name now. How are you?" It is a small world. Who knew little Shannon Benner would grow up to be such a beautiful physical therapist?!! But I digress. We then went to some equipment and ended up on that funky bike. The good news is that we were able to move the seat forward one more notch at the end. Jeff thinks that we reached 95 degrees flexion today and I'm happy with that. I've got to take every little bit of progress I can as I feel I am all but starting all over.

Physical Therapy

I mentioned before that I was going to try a new physical therapist. I met with Conforti today and I have nothing but good to say so far. He has his PhD. and what a different appointment this was. This wasn't like my other PT sessions where I wamred it all up and the therapist bent the hell out of me. He spent a lot of time checking out the biomechanics of my legs and explaining how things work. I've known for a long time that my legs are funky and that things don't necessarily work the way they should. He just confirmed it and while technically the new knee and all the muscles and everyhing line up, the way they really work doesn't. When he twisted my thigh out and my calf in, amazingly everything bent without pain. I don't completely extend my left leg when I walk. Undoing 56 years of walking a certain way is going to take a lot of concentration.

We talked about how I walk and how I sit and I will be trying to make adjustments. I don't know what kind of bike he had me on today. It wasn't a spin bike and it wasn't a recumbent. Regardless, we worked on form and making my hamstrings stronger. I know that when I'm on the bike my right leg does the work and I compensate on the left because it doesn't want to bend correctly.

I had first appointment on Tuesday, October 12 and will go every day this week and Monday and Tuesday next week. We'll see how I'm doing and more importantly what insurance will pay for. Crazy world where the right thing is determined by an insurance company and not the condition of the patient or the recommendations of the professionals. This will only get worse under Obamacare and was one good reason for doing this now.

Manipulation Under Anesthesia

I was scheduled for this procedure at the Surgical Center in Allentown at 6:15 AM on Monday, October 11. I love it when holdiays like Columbus day come at such a convenient time. We arrived home from Disney, went to GAWT in the Finger Lakes, then home again home just in time for this procedure. The surgeon assures me that this will break down the adhesions (scar tissue) and will give me 120 degrees flexion. I hope he's right.

I think the procedure itself took less than 5 minutes to perform. It took longer to do the IV and knock me out! I do know that he shot the anesthesia stuff into the IV, I kissed Brent good bye, and I don't remember going out the doors from the holding area. That's some powerful shit!

It was a long trip home. I had the ice bags from the surgical center, and Brent brought others so we switched them out on the way home. All day it was 20 minutes on, 20 minutes off. I know I cried for about 2 hours straight because my right leg hurt from the ankle to my hip. About an hour into it I took 2 darvocet which knocked me out and took care of the pain. I wasn't in any pain really for the rest of the night. I took one pill before bed just to insure a good night and really, I had the best night's sleep in a week.

All I can say is that I really hope this does the trick.

GAWT VIII

There is just nothing to a year, and with the Lost Summer, it seems like time is rolling along very quickly. It's gonna be Christmas before I blink. 2010 marks the eighth year for our family's Great American Wine Tour (GAWT). It is the best time to touch base with my cousins and keep those connections alive. This year we're doing Cayuga lake...you know...the one made famous in Cornell's song.

Here Bent, Rick, Dad and Mom contemplate their selections.
Memory and Marta were talking and comparing wines until I went to snap a pic and then I couldn't get them to face forward. Grrrr.
The guy doing the pouring was kind of funny until he slopped the wine all over my hand. Maureen, Paul, and Memory were intent on their next selection.

Only mine brither remembered to wear his GAWT shirt. Two years ago we had them made for everyone at Daily Screen Printing (a little plug).

We all gathered at the Cobblestone in Geneva for dinner. My cousins Jaqui, Paula and her husband Bill, and my Aunt Carolyn were unable to join us on the tour this year, but they did come for dinner.

Jaqui, or should I address her now as Dr. Brooks?, just finished her PhD. in physical therapy. Was this good timing or what? She made me feel much better about the upcoming manipulation procedure. She assured me that this was not the result of anything I did or did not do. She finds that the adhesions occur more with young patients who don't get the flexion due to scarring but regain their strength quickly. Unlike older people who regain flexion but take much longer to regain strength. She made me feel better about what was to come, telling me I would be very sore, but nothing like coming out of the surgery with the knee replacements. I pray she's right.

Disney's Wine and Food Festival

I attended this several years ago with Renee when we went to do the Everest Challenge. We had a total blast. We started on the Mexico side of the World Showcase and ate/drank our way to the American Pavillion. Thank goodness we wanted to see Big Bad Voodoo Daddy play because we were definitely feeling the effects of drinking our way 'round the world.

Brent and I began out day attending one of the Lafitte tastings. It was very interesting...and the price was right! Most of the wine/food pairing meals were out of our price range but we thoroughly enjoyed this lecture/tasting.

We began with beer. Strange, I know. 15 Beers 15 Years had samplers of 3 beers, so we were able to try 6 different ones. I'm not much of a beer drinker and honestly, I only liked one of them. Which meant Brent, my poor beleaguered husband, had to drink the other 5. Poor guy.

This year they have passports which include all the different kiosks and their offerings. You can then get your passport stamped at each stop. Disney makes it very easy for you to spend vast quantities of money without really realizing it with their gift card deal. Just load the card up with $$ charged to your credit card then you can swipe their handy-dandy gift card through the reader making your food/wine transactions much quicker. Add that to the allure of having each kiosk stamp your passport with their unique stamp, and it's the recipe for a very expensive afternoon.

Everyone is so very happy to serve you the food and beverages of their country.

I had no idea that there was a drawbridge and that they brought the Illuminations globe out into the lagoon early in the afternoon.

Hey, ya gotta take a little break from the food and wine or you'll never get around the world!

Wednesday in the Magic Kingdom

Brent and Loren went to the Space Center giving Deb and I a free day to indulge ourselves in the Magic Kingdom. Deb is a huge Tigger fan so she was quite thrilled to find Tigger and Pooh hanging out. And that Tigger was in quite a playful mood. He took Deb's ears and put them on Pooh's nose! Silly tiger.

We couldn't pass over a little shoot 'em up at Buzz Lightyear.

We had dinner at the Wave and out plan was to go back to the Magic Kingdom for the electric parade and Wishes. But honestly, we were just too tired so we opted to head back to our hotel for some champagne and a little hot tub time instead. Yup. Disney has something for eveyone!

I'm Sorry Mickey!

Okay, I'll admit it. I'm a Walt Disney World junkie. I love it there. There is just so much to experience for everyone at any age. I like the different parks, the attractions, the hotels, pools, and great restaurants. This one time, I allowed myself to be seduced into going to Universal with the promise of the Harry Potter attractions. I'm sorry Mickey. I tried not to spend much (although the $121/per person fee for both sides of Universal and Islands of Adventure for one day was gasp-worthy), I tried not to enjoy it. Really. I. Did. But, Harry Potter's Forbidden Journey is just the most incredible ride I have ever been on. Ever. I'm sorry Mickey, really I am!

We arrived bright and early and Matt graciously sprang for the valet parking. Hey anything that helped save my knees even a little was most welcome. We started on the Universal side with a few pictures with some characters.

Although I'm not much of a Simpsons fan, this ride was very cool and definitely began the technology that would be used in the Forbidden Journey. Definitely worth doing this one.

ET wasn't open yet when we started, so we did Jaws and Twister. They're okay, a little dated perhaps, but hey, we walked onto every ride in these parks except for the Forbidden Journey. That definitely works for me. Since Jaws is one of Brent's favorite movies we couldn't resist this pic.

Over in Islands of Adventure you find the water rides, the roller coasters (okay, the Hulk was really a great coaster), and the kiddie stuff.

At Matt's suggestion, we had a wonderful lunch at Mithros. It was like eating in a cave. Very cool! Then it was on to Harry Potter. While I absolutely loved the Forbidden Journey, it seems to me that this area wasn't thought out very well. Although I loved Moaning Myrtle in the bathrooms, they didn't take into account the high powered hand dryers that would drown out everything in that cavernous echo chamber and poor Myrtle's moaning sounded like just another kid screeching. Many of the "shops" are just store fronts, not real shops and the real shops are waaaay waaaaay too small for the crowd. Olivanders had a huge line and even the main gift shop was tiny. What were they thinking? You can see from one of the pics below that this area was quite crowded.

We couldn't resist a butter beer even though it wasn't really beer. It had a head, and it tasted like a butterscotchy birch beer. Very sweet.

Regardless, when Kera asked what was the one highlight of our trip, I would have to say it was most definitely Harry Potter's Forbidden Journey. I'm soooo sorry Mickey!