Where did 70 degrees go?

I woke up today and decided to get a quick start on taxes. "Quick". Meaning getting my stuff together for when I would be able to file taxes. Seems that anyone who want to itemize education or medical expenses has to wait until mid to late February. Well, another surgery, more doctors visits, and physical therapy from last surgery means I'm itemizing. I ended up getting lost in a sea of IRS mumbo jumbo trying to figure out what credits we qualify for. I haven't even had a shower yet. Stupid cold Monday.

But I officially overdid it this weekend. There has been a lot of 'owing' going on today. That's right, I just made the word 'ow' a verb. So much for trying to get laundry finished. But it was a good weekend filled with the smiling (mostly) but sometimes screaming faces of my two favorite girls and their baby brother, as well as friends I miss (even if some were just here for a quick math lesson). Not from me of course. I can show you how to do you taxes, but I will not be useful for anyone's math tutoring needs if they are over the age of 14. Which reminds me..I saw a newscast Friday about how some schools are eliminating cursive writing from their curriculum. I was shocked. They still teach cursive??! Who uses cursive other than when they have to learn it?? (Being too lazy to pick up your pen when printing doesn't count) That was an archaic practice when I was in school. Teachers promised we had to learn it because we would have to use it in high school. They lied.

So despite meaning to bring my camera with me this busy weekend, I only managed to take a few photos with my horrible camera phone. Sammy is #1 of course, but this little guy, Tucker, is pretty dang awesome, too!

poor, poor Sam

So, I have to apologize AGAIN for anyone near the Williamson Road/HWY 150 area around lunchtime today. That noise was not someone torturing a cat, there was no baby being fed to a lion, and the world was not coming to an end. But try and tell Sammy that, and he would just turn his nose up at you. Sammy had his nails cut today, and my geez it's always such an ordeal. Anyone who didn't know better had to be reassured that the pet nurses were not torturing him, they were not in fact pulling out each of his teeth sans anesthesia. Just clipping nails. I always try to warn any of the new pet nurses or ones who may not have dealt with Sam and nail clipping before...but I fear I never warn them quit enough. If you dare to even get the clippers within 6 inches of his paw, he howls and screams. I may have even heard a "help me mommy!!" today. Dramatic much? Thank GOD his vet knows him so well and is patient with him. He may be neurotic and dramatic, but he's my baby.

Trying to calm him down (not choke him, I swear)

We went straight to the park after the vet. Since I haven't been able to walk him like I used to before surgery, he has had a lot of pent up energy, some of which has been expressed negatively...like yesterday when Mike was over. He did not behave well at all. So to to walking trail we went. We walked 1/2 a mile....I know I know-sad. BUT I only meant to walk a slow 1/4 a mile. So, accidentally and successfully walking 1/2 a mile, some backwards (holding on to my husband of course) for the first time since surgery ain't too shabby.

looong day

 

 

So, after the vet, the park, and a bath, Sammy feels much like I do. P double O P'ed.

new purchase!

I am so excited about my recent purchase. It may look like a torture device, but it's called a Body Back Buddy. It helps you find pressure points and ease tight muscles yourself. I used my amazon.com gift cards I have gotten from Swagbucks. I put a widget on the right side of the page for anyone who wants to try them. Basically, just using their search engine and answering polls has added up to almost $100 in amazon gift cards since mid November. And now my Body Back Buddy is on its way!!

Sun!

Have you BEEN outside?! If not-run! Go now (that is if you are experiencing the same beautiful weather I am...those of you under 2 feet of snow should probably stay in...) Such an great day.

 

Just the fact that the sun is out and it's above 40 degrees outside makes me feel better. I kicked butt today in PT. Sweat and everything. I would love to take Sammy out to enjoy the weather, but if we plan on taking advantage of an even NICER day tomorrow at the park with hubs as well, I suppose I should rest. PT thinks I should be good to go and released from under her wing in just a few more weeks-YAY! So...3-4 months of crutches turned out to be 4 weeks, and 3 months of PT just might turn into 4 weeks. Awesome.

4 weeks

Yesterday was exactly 1 month post-op for me. Whoohoo! Pt exercises went well last night. Still having a lot of upper back issues that makes it hard to sleep, but I'm trying super hard to not go to the chiropractor for it. I'm also trying super hard to not kill my neighbor. He's wearing on what little patience I have. I swear that ever since we moved here I've been creeping a little closer to the brink of a nervous breakdown. I snapped on this idiot once, I feel that it's going to happen again. Between the guy upstairs who apparently tap dances at 6 am each morning while dropping bowling balls on the floor and the *&@^#$&* that runs down the stairs sounding like a herd of elephants shaking my entire living room, then jumps into his obnoxiously loud car with the huge muffler that shakes the entire building while he revs his engine...
The new nursing student, who had her mom and family here the other month moving her in. Her mom approaches my husband while he's taking Sammy out, explains that this is the first time her daughter has ever lived alone, asked if the neighborhood was safe and quiet so she can study, ect. ect. Husband, being the nice (apparently safe, non-rapist/predator/psychopath looking) guy that he is lies and tells her we like it here. Sweet little timid nursing student ain't so sweet and definitely isn't quiet. As soon as her mommy dearest hit the road, it was party time for her. Loud, screaming, Thursday night parties. I sure do hope husband runs into nursing students mommy again soon...
Then Cheech and Chong downstairs...ugh, I'm just going to stop right there because I'm just making myself even more angry. I would like to give a shout-out to the nice quiet little lady across the walkway, who is super quiet. Our relationship is based on a few smiles while passing and a possible 'hello' every now and then. Other than that, we don't bother each other. More than I can say for the rest of them.
On a lighter note, I really am enjoying this yoga ball my mom gave me for PT. And Sammy is amazed that there is a ball bigger than he is in the living room.

Spay Day 2011 Online Pet Photo Contest

Spay Day 2011 Online Pet Photo Contest

Vote for Sammy! And help animals in need!! All at once!!! At $1 a vote, you can help the Humane Society and so many pets as well as the important work that the Humane Society does. Sammy is adopted-and your next family member should be, too!

How can you say no to this face??

Errrrr..I was mountain biking in Peru...

I got 'the question' again the other day. The one the keeps coming from casual acquaintances when they see me on crutches and don't know I had surgery ..."WHAT DID YOU DO?!?!" Well, there has been more than average ice/snow issues, so they all assume (paired with the knowledge of my superior gracefulness) that I fell.
When I answer 'hip surgery', everyone seems disappointed. I'm told to give a better, more exciting answer...
sky diving?-way too generic.
skiing?-too predictable.
zumba class?-see above. (my coordination skills precede me)

AH HA! Mountain biking in Peru. I would never do that...and it sounds exciting and fun. Definitely my new reason for crutches.

But all of the times that I answered with the truth, not only were people disappointed with the reason for the crutches, but also quite disappointed with the answer to the follow up question: "Why did you have to have hip surgery?!"

See, most people under the age of....hmmm...lets say...60, who have to have hip surgery...have an athletic, legitimate reason. Runners, bicyclists, dancers, football players, hockey players.. ect. I am NOT an athlete. Lets run down my attempted athletic endeavors:

• swim team (okay-I was actually good at this one at the time. I could swim before I could crawl)

• dive team- umm...yeah.

• soccer-no one explained the rules to me. I could kick the ball, but at age 5, I didn't know why I was supposed to..

• t-ball-if my parents had not been there to tell me when to run and when to stop, I would still be running in circles...

• gymnastics-never,ever could do a cartwheel. At around 5-7 years old, children are supposed to have maximum dexterity for flipping and such. Me....not so much.

• ballet/tap/jazz-very fuzzy recollection of this, but I can assume it didn't work out...

• Jujitzu- I loved martial arts. I'm not quite sure why I never went for more belts...hm.

So, when I answer with "I have no idea", they are double let down. I mean, I have plenty of ideas of how I could have torn my labrum and stomach muscle, but most people know when it happens and can quickly get it fixed. Not me.

Anyways, I came up with the Peru excuse just as soon as I went crutch free. That's right, no more crutches. This morning, we had a stare off. 'Do I need you?...Will I get yelled at if I go to PT without them?'
But when I realized that the only way to carry my drink and my protein bar was to not use my crutches, I left without them. And when I got there, my PT said it was okay. Yay! Progressed pretty well in PT today with some new exercises. But I was super out of it. Pretty sure I left my brain by my crutches near the front door. I super-duper improved on my hamstring flexibility though. Woot!

Hip pain 0, iliopsoas 3, back 5.

Waste of a day

I have accomplished nothing today. Nothing. I'm gonna cook dinner later and do PT exercises....but other than that..I got nothin'. Oh wait-I did brush Sammy's teeth. And I used my $5 Amazon-on -Demand credit to purchase some 'Real Housewives' episodes that Bravo apparently refuses to release to Hulu . We have gone almost a year without cable. That is a HUGE deal for my husband. But we are avid Netflix users, both by mail and on the Xbox. But Bravo is selfish...they don't understand my obsession with the housewives. So I am really behind! And his beloved television is slowly dying. It seemed to be happening at a really slow pace...and then the television guy came and told me that soon the entire thing would be tinted pink and hard to see. As soon as he said that, the television jumped into super speedy breakdown mode. Husband might cry.

A maintenance man come in today and gave me about the best complement a person can. He said our apartment was 'impeccable-one of the cleanest he has seen'. I was elated. Which confirmed by obsession with cleanliness which my husband hates. But, he's the one who cleaned last. I still am not allowed to vacuum..mop...bend to clean...yadda yadda. So...even though he never cleans to 'my standards', as he puts it, he did pretty well. Then again, maybe everyone else here just lives in squalor.

Ahhh.. he's learning. And after dinner last night, a wonderful one made by him, I informed him of what a great housewife he would make. And then he gave me the finger.

The storm of 1993??

We read that the snow coming this way in a few days could be compared to the storm we had in March 1993. That was when my house lost power for a week...when as soon as middle school opened again, I got there any way possible since they had heat...when we had to play musical houses to get showers...when my dad got frostbite...when we walked to the grocery store. As an 8th grader-it was also a lot of fun. Probably some of the best sledding times ever. But the colder it got and longer we went without power, the more irritable my parents got. Plus, school was out for a while, and I'm sure my sister and I drove them insane. But now, they're saying it will just be rain. How do we go from 'a repeat of the storm of 1993' to 'rain'? I mean, Wikipedia called it the "1993 Storm of the Century". It shouldn't be so lightly used as a comparison!

Friday at PT I moved from the yellow thera-band to the red (woo-hoo!) and went a lot faster on the bike. I feel like I'm progressing well. Still working on a few positions. Ones that I had perfected last year after surgery and now feel like I'm back at square one. I can no longer do bird-dog for very long at all. And my hamstrings are all seized up. Arg. Week 4 is approaching-the so called 'honeymoon phase'. Which means whatever I think I can do, I need to take a step back and think first so that I don't delay healing.
Yesterday while at my parent's for my mom's birthday, I tried to go crutch-less. I brought them, just didn't want to use them. That quickly changed.

Mommy's Real Pain in the Neck

I have a lot of mommy friends. And I can only assume that some of them experience the 'mommy pain in the neck syndrome'. I'm talking about that neck pain that radiates down your back and makes it hard to breath. That my friends, is your trapezius muscle. It isn't as mean as an angry iliopsoas, but it can make life hard. Moms are predisposed to trap pain. Between juggling a baby on their hip, a diaper bag, a purse, turning their body in ways it shouldn't be turned to catch an out of control toddler or get groceries in the car....you get the point. Not only that, but your traps hold so much stress. Another thing moms deal with. You literally can feel them tightening up during stressful times. You really have to take time to massage this muscle in order to get it to calm down. This is a good start. But you also need to incorporate stretches. One of the best things is to have someone massage the muscle.

I'm not a mommy but I do know how awful trap pain can be. My PT is helping me work on it while working on my hip rehab, cause she's awesome.

Three weeks later...

And I FINALLY got a good night sleep. I didn't set my alarm, and I ended up sleeping for over 11 hours. Pain is exhausting. Mind you, hardly any of it is actually from my hip. Except when trying to shave (see below...). I did tons stretching before I went to bed, some from my PT and some from this site. And it made a huge difference. Anyone with iliopsoas pain or back pain should try the sphinx stretch. PT exercises last night took me an hour to complete, and after I was pretty sore (4/5). But thanks to my new found knowledge of the iliopsoas, I stopped the pain before it got too bad. I've made pretty awesome strides so far.

• Cooked two meals from scratch this week. I don't know about your kitchen, but in mine, that includes a lot of bending, stretching, mixing, lifting.
• Done at least 10 loads of laundry. It doesn't always end up where it belongs, but it gets washed, dried, and folded.
• Done some minor cleaning. 
• Drove on the interstate and for more than 15 minutes.
• Perfected the art of opening a swinging door while using crutches.

I attempted to shave my legs (TMI-I know) but that didn't work out too well. My hip was not happy.  Goals for the next week include perfecting the superman yoga position, single leg bridges, and 10 minutes on the bike. I also hope to move from the yellow thera-band to the red.

Brita Filter versus Zero Filter

The reservoir in our Brita pitcher cracked-which I can hardly complain about since it lasted over 6 years. So we needed to buy a new pitcher/filter system. I had read a lot about Zero Water and so I looked into the price. Found a pretty awesome 23 cup water dispenser for $39.99 at Target plus a $15 rebate. Even though $39.99 feels like $3,999.99 right now, a water filter is something we won't go without since I always get kidney stones. No need to tease them by adding hard minerals! Coolest thing about Zero, well, besides the clean water, is they give you a TDS meter, which measures the total dissolved solids in the water. I was so excited to test our tap water versus the Brita versus the Zero. Zero water obviously has a TDS of  0...cause that's kinda the point.

The test:

Left to right is tap, Brita, Zero

Zero Water is in fact, zero TDS

Brita is 37 TDS..not bad.

 And our tap water is 58-which isn't too terrible

But perhaps the best part is that zero water has no smell or taste...like water should. Ever had fresh spring water out of the ground? This is the closest to it. Even the Brita water had a smell. And I don't want to drink smelly water. Sammy is a fan, too. I poured out his water from the Brita and replaced it with Zero Water and he dank it up. And before you think to yourself that it's weird that I give my dog filtered water, let me just say that if it isn't good enough for me, it isn't good enough for him.

I was so excited about our new filter that I fell on my butt getting from the living room to the kitchen. I no longer have to use crutches when walking around inside for distances. If I had been using them, I think the fall would have been worse. I slipped on Sammy's bed. Hard. Lots of bruises. But my hip is fine. Everyone was worried about me slipping on the ice we've had...

Chiropractor today...back is still no good. Day off tomorrow, no appointments! Pain right now before doing any PT is about a 3/4 in my iliopsoas. Damn iliopsoas.

yeeeoooozzers!

Sunday night was filled with tossing and turning-one position would hurt my hip, another would hurt my back. The back pain I was experiencing before hip surgery had reared its ugly head again. So, I drove myself tot he chiropracter Monday morning.

And my back felt tons better.

But later, I was in a lot of pain around my iliopsoas muscle. Whether this was from driving or my chiro, I don't know. And I would be lying if I pretending that at some point yesterday I went "ouch, my iliopsoas muscle hurts". What actually happened was a period of panic. Of  "OMG that @#($*& pain is BACK!". I have been dealing with this pain for YEARS. But, my PT explained it all to me. She's kinda awesome.

Iliopsoas muscle: I DESPISE you. I realize that between loads of scar tissue, a torn rectus abdominis muscle, a torn hip labrum, you hate me as well. You are sick of constantly working and I understand. But dang, you're killing me. This very second, in fact. So, if someone who has been through similar issues as me is experiencing 'groin pain' near the top of the thigh, I'm here to tell you that it's okay. It's just that dang muscle being angry. PT will help. But, don't panic. There is definitely no reason to hyperventilate and cry about it, doomed with the feeling that surgery did not work. I totally, totally didn't. You just have to stretch that sucker out. I hope.

My awesome husband is going to take me to PT next time, because while I can do it, driving hurts. I wasn't even able to do my exercises yesterday after the chiro + driving.

Thank goodness for him, family and friends, and my PT. Current pain after PT 5. Pain this a.m. 0.

And I would just like to add that being at home so much is made tons better by this guy:

Hip Surgery photos

There's a DVD, too! (yes, I'm serious-no, I haven't watched it)

Right hip arthroscopic debridement of focal synovitis with local chondroplasty.

Image 1 is my hip joint.
Image 4-6 is the tear in my labrum. You can see him poking the small tear.
Image 2 and 3 are good examples of what your hip joint shouldn't look like. It's supposed to be shiny and white, not inflamed and red.
Image 7 is him cleaning it out and
Image 8 is how it looked after he shaved the inflammation off and smoothed out the tear.

No one knows how or why my joint was so inflamed. Surgeon and local Dr. both said they had 'never seen anything like that before'. Inflammation is normal with a labral tear, but not to the extent I had it. I really wish I knew how I injured myself!

Like I'm 15 again..

I drove today! I wasn't allowed to drive for a minimum of 2 weeks post-op, and then the snow and ice came...so I finally tried it today. And so far so good. It hurts, but I can make it the short distance to PT when I don't have a ride. I keep having the pain I did before surgery, which immediately sends my heart to my stomach. But the surgeon's office said it was pretty normal and not to judge anything until I'm 3-4 months out. Pain now.. about a 4. (I realize no one cares, but when I tried to keep up with it the old fashion pen and paper way, I accidentally threw it away.)

I started thinking about the things I can't do and don't miss at all, one of them being giving my dog a bath. What used to be pretty painless at our old place...is now hell. These bathtubs have no texture on the bottom, so he flips. If he even sees you walk by with a bath towel, he runs and hides while shaking violently. I don't miss that at all. And unloading the dishwasher. Horrible chore. But I pretty much miss everything else. I miss cleaning (because no one else can do it right), I miss vacuuming (husband refuses to do it every other day like I do), I miss laundry (ever since he started doing it, I never have clean socks). But all in all, he has been pretty awesome and picking up the slack, while working over 40 hours a week, taking me where I need to be, and making neither of our  cars get repoed. Way to go, husband!

I finished my book, A Lion Among Men (from the Wicked series), and have gotten some work done. Mostly when I'm trying to do it I end up on facebook or reading blogs. Now I for real have to study for the MAT. This shiny new Kaplan study guide has been sitting here for days, I can't bring myself to dog-ear, highlight, and make notes in it just yet.

PT

It has been 2.5 weeks since my hip arthroscopy on 12/29/10. Yesterday, I FINALLY got to the physical therapist. They closed due to the weather...which was best because, as it turns out, crutches suck on ice.

Luckily, Dr. Byrd requires out-of-town patients to meet with his PT team while in Nashville. Unluckily, this was about 12-24 hours post-op for me. I was a little....tired. But I left armed with the info I needed to get me through PT exercises until I could meet with my PT. And, being through PT before during my recovery post surgery last year, I knew the deal pretty well. Thank goodness or these last few weeks would have been wasted.

PT went well. Both PT and my Dr. here think crutches for 4-6 weeks post-op is a good plan. Awesome. sigh.  Next time we are going to get on the stationary bike along with the other stuff and see how it goes. Today, I'm pretty low on the pain scale, like a 1. Even though my pain scale is jaded...it's my scale. But, I am exhausted.

PTs are pretty much required to ask a patient their 'goals' for rehab. While in TN, I heard a lot of lofty goals being spat off...marathons coming in the Spring, yadda yadda. My goal? Work full time, school part time, working out, walking the dog, and sitting. All without pain. Doable? It better be. I call those things 'life'. And I want mine back.

hmmph..

I'm not really sure what I'm doing. Or why. I've been told by a few people that I should start a blog about the medical stuff I've been through the past few years. To which I reply, "Why would someone want to read about that?" I mean, I've lived it and don't find it very blog worthy. People usually blog about their hobbies, careers, babies, super exciting happenings in their life...
not medical stuffs. Then, after physical therapy today, I realized: it could help someone. I mean, not life changing help, but there could be a few people out there where I was 4 or 5 years ago, looking for someone, anyone, to understand. Having doctors look at you like you're a drug addict seeking pain pills (then, when you refuse them, the next 'logical' assumption: Munchhausen Syndrome). So, if this blog sits here, unread, for years....and then one person who has the same symptoms as I did runs across it-then it will be worth it.

Before I really start this, I have to come to terms with the fact that the things I've gone through and what I'm going through now are simply a part of my life. Right now, it pretty much is my life. But I refuse to allow it to have its own life. It cannot become its own 'thing', where it's bigger than I am and I can't see past it. I have to focus on healing and on the normal life waiting for me around the corner. That's a lot harder to do then it sounds.