Finally back 5/20/13

Here it is May 20, 2013 and I can finally say I am back. Oh, there is still a limp, and I'm not as quick as I was, but now the problems are just getting exercise. No longer does the exercise lead to anything more than sore muscles. This means I'll be back to dancing more and boardgaming less, that work on the house and the business will not be delayed because I can't do what needs to be done for pain. It has been a long and interesting journey, one I do not recommend to anyone else, but I have learned so many things - both about myself and the communities I find myself within. I have managed to surround myself with awesome people, intelligent, thought-provoking, stimulating folks. And please don't tell me to listen to my body - all it ever seems to say is "Can we take a nap now?" I love that my life has not been boring, although I could have done with less pain. This is likely the last post here, if you wish to catch up with me then find me at a dance or boardgaming, I'll be glad to say hi and chat a bit.

Current Frustration/Progress

So healing has been proceeding, surgeon was seen on the 16th and seems happy with progress.  We discussed how the leg is sensitive in three spots, where the screws protrude - likely to remain so.  I stated that the sensitivity was not significant enough to consider a surgery to remove the hardware, I suppose we will discuss it again in Feb at our final appointment.

Tuesday saw the PT guys, who focused on myofacial (?) release of the knee area.  At the end of it I was bending the knee 130 degrees, almost where the right knee gets, with no pain.  It was awesome.  Sadly, by the time I finished errands and got home the knee felt as swollen as before and has not really wanted to do such a deep bend again.  I go to PT again in 2 weeks and am really hoping that by then the knee will have recovered to a nice bendy move again.

As a side note, halloween costume this year - yeah, I got one.

New mower assembled and tested, #7 down

The new electric mower arrived Tuesday, I finally took the time today to unpack and assemble it, find an extension cord and give it a try.  It worked well, as did I.  I think this is #7 on my top 10 list, still not half way to recovered but making progress.  Now to start getting the non-working gas mowers to the repair shop to get an opinion on fixing vs freecycle.  I also need to pick up a longer extension cord as 50' only gets me 25' out of the garage.  Why haven't I put in an electric outlet by the front where the light switch is?  I'll just add that to the to-do list.

No update on the Top 10, but not for lack of trying

Well, I was going to start mowing today, put on the grungy clothes, went out, filled the push mower (run it dry each year), added oil - and nothing.  I have now spent more time trying to get it to run than I had planned to spend mowing.  Shouldn't be surprised, this mower is 5 or 6 years old and that is typically when they stop running and I buy a new one.  I now have two non-running push mowers and one riding mower that needs work.  So tonight I will head out and see about buying a new push mower, and try again tomorrow.

Guy says goodbye

Today at 2:30pm Guy died.  He was well loved during his life, but over the past week he had gone downhill in his health.  He was no longer happy here and so I decided it was time to let him go.  Love is hard.

5 Waltzes on Sunday and still moving on Monday

Had a great time being the Dance Chair Minion at the FSGW Sunday Night Contra last night.  Had five great, slow, straight waltzes with partners who were ever so gentle with me.  I did put ice on the leg when I got home that night, and took some ibuprofen.  Got up Monday and while the leg was sore, and stiff, it still moved.  PT went well, they are working on periostalis (?) now, the swelling of the membrane around the bone.  I would swear when he was done today the leg felt better deep down than it has in months.  No pain meds today, probably some to sleep.

Oh and removed the just-in-case chair from the shower - number 9 on my list.

2 Contras and 2 Waltzes were 2 Much

Saturday evening was the Frederick Contra Dance, my home dance and I volunteer.  It was also Summer Tunes which meant a wall of sound to dance to.  So I did.  In the first half I danced a Contra and the Waltz, then repeated in the second half.  Went to the after dance party and was offered ice packs, which I used.  Sadly, the knee still felt as though I had pounded on it all evening when I got up Sunday.

Sunday evening I was shadowing Penelope in training for being the acting Dance Chair next Sunday.  I danced two waltzes and I suspect had my knee not been stressed from Saturday it would not be fussing at me today.

All my dances were great, with wonderful partners who really took care to be gentle with me.

And now a note from Guy, the cat:  All this dancing is getting in the way of her being present and available for me when I wish to be petted, fed fried chicken or simply wish to complain about life in general.  I really think that you folks need to limit this dancing thing, oh and that boardgaming thing as well.  I am fine, although not getting enough hand-fed fried chicken.  If you wish to visit, please bring me some fried chicken and feed it to me, you will still have one hand free to pet me after all.  And all you do with her is talk so you don't need your hands for that.

Okay, so now you know where he stands on the whole recovery process. Firmly in the middle of the forward path.

Dancing was okay

Yay, I danced last night and was functional today.  I managed to meet a friend for a late lunch, then was client productive while sitting.  I also went upstairs using the left leg first.  This might just be working.

Danced tonight :-))))

Went to the English dance at the Glen Echo Town Hall tonight and danced, or at least committed a reasonable impersonation of a dancer.  Danced 6 dances, the last two in a row, and thanks to my gracious partners and fellow dancers did not throw anything to far off beat.  Felt marvelous while I was there, and hopefully the iced knee afterwards will keep it feeling decent tomorrow.

July update

I saw the surgeon, Dr Nascone, on the 17th.  He seems happy with my progress.  Sadly his timeline for recovery is 6 to 12 months and he suspects I'll be on the slower side of that.  I almost agree with him after today as my knee was not happy about all the sitting and walking it was forced to do yesterday.  Hopefully it will be a bit more comfortable tomorrow and I can get back to giving it full workouts.

Top 10 Ways to Know I'm fully Recovered

10.  Able to use the bike with both legs pedaling - Accomplished on most days as of 7/12/12
9.  No longer have to plan out all the steps in getting a shower and dressed, the in-case chair gets removed - removed on 8/7/12 as it was in the way of getting a shower
8.  Able to wear jeans - can do as of 8/20/12, although tight on the knee by the end of the day
7.  Started the outside work, including mowing and weeding - started 8/31/12
6.  Good days and Bad days aren't determined by my knee
5.  A momentary pause when I stand rather than a minute
4.  Able to safely use stairs (up and down) with alternating legs
3.  Can sit and work for more than 1 hour at a time
2.  Able to schedule client appointments without thinking about my stamina
1.  Able to dance a full night's contras on time. (Yeah, I couldn't do on time before but I can try again)

0" reached

Last Wednesday at PT, with just a bit of pressure from the therapist, my left leg went to full straight!!  Now we work on bendy stuff.

This past Monday the therapist worked on scar tissue at the kneecap and below.  Felt so weird, the swelling started that evening and went back to overstuffed sausage for Tuesday and Wednesday.  Today I got it to reduce a bit and got on the bike.

Both legs made full revolutions for 9 minutes at almost full speed for me.  Dancing can't be far behind.

Wheee!!!

Showered tonight standing up!  Also took 10 steps without a cane!!!  Tomorrow see new PT about getting leg to fully straighten and bend - probably going to be hurting tomorrow night.

June 1 and oh is this frustrating

So, here it is June 1 and I am so frustrated.  Yesterday switched internet providers and spent a good bit of the day vertical, did my exercises and then had two legs aching and paining all night long.  Various gels did little to assist in getting them to quiet, nor did muscle relaxer or pain meds.  Thus spent most of today asleep.  How is this progressing forward towards dancing again?  I so want to dance, even a slow walking waltz would be a joy.

On the plus side, I am walking better, using the cane more for stability and less for support.  I am up to six minutes on the bike, no left leg.

May 18, after the 4 month anniversary

Yes, On Monday I was back to my upbeat self, feeling as though all was possible.  Sadly on Tuesday and Wednesday I had a bug of some sort, no energy, no stamina, no appetite.  Managed to get out of bed enough to care for Guy and make sure I had water.  Thursday I say an out-patient therapist - uses laser and percussion therapy, I do the exercises at home.  We'll see how it goes, whether I improve over the coming weeks.  Today I'm feeling pretty good, did my exercises, got on the bike and worked on flexing and stamina.  Plus, weighed myself and I'm down to 190 - not recommending this as a weight-loss strategy but it is nice to know that there is a downward trend on size.  No, I don't think I'll look better smaller - I know my knee will appreciate fewer pounds pressing down on it.

Carpooling to the Friday Night Dance to listen to Swallowtail and watch the dancers.  I'll have a cane and a walker but no wheelchair this time.  Got to wean myself away from them.  Hope I don't overdue it.

May 14th

So, yesterday was supposed to be the day I continued building on 3 days of walking, sitting, and being vertical for more time each day.  Instead at some early hour of the morning my quads and hamstrings exploded with spasms and cramps, my knee felt like it was the size of a basketball and there was no relief for hours, even with pills.  It became a misery day trying to shuffle enough to feed the cat and myself.  I tried pep talks - 12 years ago you ended up finding out who you thought you were married to wasn't and you got through that; 7 years ago you found out about lumps and breast cancer and you got through that; 3 years ago you found out about slipped disks and sciatic nerve pain and you got through that - and I learned that I am lousy at pep talks.  Instead I spent a lot of time thinking that less than four months ago I spent a delightful evening at the Baltimore Mid-Winter Ball dancing to Perpetual eMotion playing and Will Mentor calling and right now I can't bend my left leg more than ten degrees and barely shuffle and dancing seems so far away.  Yeah, sometimes life just plain f***ing sucks.
Not to worry, I'm sure by tomorrow I'll be back to my old cheerful, upbeat self, but right now I am so tired of the pain, the immobility, the frustration,.  I still sometimes dream of walking and dancing and I'm happy and then... I wake up.  Yeah - told you I suck at pep talks.

Major Progress Reported

Don't look now, mainly because it happened 2 hours ago, but Leslie walked down and back up her driveway using a cane!  She has been approved for driving next week after Wednesday.  She is gaining her mobility, can dancing be far away?  Well, yeah, considering that the walk took 20 minutes.  We are talking a really slow waltz and I'll be sitting and resting directly afterwards.  Perhaps I'll be visiting the dance and folks in the near future, ease my way back into dancing.

3 Months, 15 Days and counting

So, finally decided to do some research on tibial plateau fractures and discovered that I certainly didn't follow the standard pattern.  It is prone to becoming fractured in high speed accidents such as those associated with skiing, horse riding and certain water sports.  Note, dancing is not mentioned anywhere.  The articles also state that a displaced fracture will take months to heal with a long period of time non-weight-bearing.  As I have now been weight-bearing for 20 days I'm hoping this means I'll be back to functional soon.  I have yet to find an article that gives any specific time frame for healing, it seems very dependent upon the person and their overall health and activity level.

Realizing it has been since January 15th that I have been dealing with this I wanted to take a moment to say "Don't do this to yourself!!!!!"  I realize that accidents happen and that means we had no control over what happened, but really - all this from dipping someone?  Geeez, who would have thought.

I also have had several times to think and realize that less than one month ago I was hopping on one leg, hoping I didn't touch the other leg down in error, and waiting for when I could start weight-bearing.  It is still 3 days to go till the original date the surgeon had suggested for weight-bearing so I hope that means I am healing faster than he anticipated.  I also hope it means that I will be back to dancing soon.

I did attend the Frederick dance this past Saturday and had a marvelous waltz.  If you can get to my facebook page the video is on there, but I'm not sure how to grab a link to here.  Let's just say that waltzing with a wheelchair requires coordination and lots of friends.  It was a grand evening with an opportunity to say hi to so many of friends, to listen to the Avant Gardeners playing and Kim Forry calling, to see folks dancing - a joyous evening.

I picked up the cane at Walmart last week but felt so rotten, in an over-stuffed sausage joint way, that my PT Brandi took pity on me and we didn't use it.  Probably start with it this week.  Looking forward to the progress it means I'm making, and dreading as I feel certain the joint will regret the lesser support.

I have also been in the process of being weaned off of the Oxycontin since the 21st, and the weaning process is a very strong argument for never getting on the stuff in the first place.  About the time I start to feel as though I've adjusted to the lower dose it is time to drop the dose again.  It leaves me feeling exhausted, stuffed sausage joint, achy feeling for days.  I struggle to do my exercises, frustrated because I simply can't get the knee to flex or straighten.  Well, in about a week plus I should be off the Oxycontin altogether and have a feel for how my system really is.  That should be interesting to discover.

And with all of these self indulgent thoughts I am also reminded on a daily basis of all the wonderful people I have within my life.  I look forward to regaining my mobility and putting this into my past as an interesting path on the journey of life, one hopefully never revisited.  See you soon, I hope.

Whooping it up

Well, I would be if I weren't so darned sore and tired.  Went out today with a friend and used the walker to navigate down and then back up the steps outside.  Did use a wheelchair in Walmart - visited three out of four corners I think.  Did pick up a cane so I just know what my PT is going to have me try tomorrow.  Right now, sitting in the bed with the leg on a pillow, icepack on top; glad I made it, glad I didn't stay out any longer.  Thank you Christine for a delightful shopping trip.

Latest on the healing front

Brandi, the Physical Therapist, just left after a very good session.  Using the walker I was able to get out the door, then down the steps and out to the driveway.  Rest, and then back up the steps and into the house.  Will I do this on my own right now?  Nope, but after a few more times with her probably.  She also got my knee to 96 degrees of flex - whew.  Cannot do that one on my own, needs the extra push.  Still working on getting the leg straighter.

Yesterday I got on the scale and discovered I've lost a few more pounds, although feeling the leg muscles I think I know where most of that weight loss is.  It will come back as the leg gets stronger, and wait till I get back to dancing.  :-)

Guy has been a sweet cuddler the last few days, asking for cuddles at all hours, nay demanding them.  Sweet in the afternoon, not so much at 6am.

Sitting on the front porch outside today, knowing I got there through my own energy, felt so nice.  Feeling the leg supporting more of my weight, bending and doing more of the needed effort, all of this leads to a bit of a glow as I rest.  Looking back to January and that quick moment that led to this, the length of time to get here, the time to go till I'm back to that ability level - 2012 is going to be an interesting year.

Oh yeah, that whole cutting back on the meds thing - that means forget a good night's sleep. 

I've mentioned it before but I'll probably keep saying it until I feel I've said it enough, and some of that will have to be in person - Thank You.

I want to thank all those who've been there for me along the way.  The folks who donated funds and stuff to give me some peace of mind financially.  The folks who donated time and effort working on the house to give me a place to move back in to.  The clients who bore with me while this went on during tax season and beyond.  The folks who sent healing thoughts and prayers.  I am surrounded by wonderful people and lead a fortunate life.

I really want to thank my brother Keith, who did the lion's share of the work and all of the coordination on the house, my sister Felicia who came down twice, once for the house and once to help me settle in, my father Eldon and step-Mom Ginny who helped on the house and found the awesome porch lights, my aunt Sandy who called and sent cards to let me know I was always in her thoughts.  I have a great family!

Okay, enough mushy stuff - time to get back to work on client stuff.