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.