Unicorns and rainbows

peace, quiet, and SLEEP!

...and everything else bright colored a Lisa Frankish!!! I have joined the world of the living!!! I ventured out to run errands with the hubs today. As I was standing in front on the frozen food section at Super Target, I suddenly was in so much pain that all color (if any was still there after this week) left my face. My husband said, 'Honey, you were in bed dead for a week, now you're running around everywhere. Of course you're in pain.' Well dang it, Einstein...why didn't I think of that? So completing the errands for the week in one day was probably not the best idea for my hip. Its sore, and my iliopsoas even more so. Luckily my wonderfully strong husband carries pretty much all but 3 bags of groceries from the car and has been for...a long time. Sammy and I are watching 'Weeds' reruns together, super pleased that I no longer am making crazy sounds from my nose and lungs. Peace at last!

but on the bright side..

This week may have been awful, unproductive, painful, and exhausting, but I did get to spend some awesome time with Sammy. I gotta say, any smile that may have been cracked was due to him. Not only was he completely amazed at the funny noises I could make (blowing my non-blow-able nose, wheezing), but he was super happy to bring me his favorite toy to cheer me up. He's going to be pretty mad when I clean up this room and his daddy comes back to take his spot in the bed. I know I'm getting better because I really want to decontaminate everything, wash all the towels and sheets, wash the dog who I am sure is covered in my germs, and clean everything. Yesterday I was more focused on breathing than worrying about cleaning. but this week of no PT has actually made me feel....stronger? Probably because I haven't been sore from PT stuff. I deserved the break, but I would have rather taken it while healthy. The ceiling vent was blowing air right at my face, which makes me INSANE even when I'm well. Add in sinuses so irritated and dry that the gums in the top of my mouth burn and I wake up crying-I totally flip. I climbed from the bed to the top of the dresser and moved that darn vent at 6:00 this morning. I tried to get my husband to do it when he came in to get Sam and go potty, but apparently all I was able to mutter was 'light...fix the light...burning....light'. Which doesn't surprise him at all because, well, I'm insane in the mornings. But I was glad that my monkey climbing stunt while half asleep, sick, and without my glasses did not end in tragedy.
 I'm missing a lot of things this weekend...parties, dinners, bars, fun stuff. I spent a long time trying to figure out how to fit everything in, and then once I realized I couldn't and felt badly about it, I got sick. Ironic. Isn't that how it always works out?

goodness

this is rough. the only sleep i got was from 8am to 11am this morning. it's hard to sleep sitting up. i have officially been through 7 rolls of toilet paper (out of kleenex..) and i'm talking hardcore toilet tissue-scott brand-not that sissy small roll crap. it took me this long to even get the energy to turn on the computer to send an email i needed to send today. freaking ridiculous evil sickness. i'm gonna be really mad if this thing doesn't start to get better and i have to go to the doctor. it's delaying PT, life, studying, everything. ugghhhhhh. i can't even bring myself to capitalize. day 5 of hell.

survival tools

 

 

 

snuggle-bug

it got me.

I have no idea why I thought I would skim through another cold and flu season unscathed...but I haven't actually been sick in over a year. I was liking the new trend. But dang...my record of avoiding/fighting off germs is over. I have succumb to a very evil cold virus (I hope that's what it is). Whatever causes my left eye to constantly tear, an insane amount of sneezing, sore ears, swollen glands, and the most raw sore throat ever...that's what I have. I am just crossing my fingers this evil does not make its way to my lungs. I left off last time excited about my PT graduation. What that meant was that instead of paying $100 per session (after insurance) for my PT to walk me through and monitor me, I have been set free to do it on my own in their gym. So I have enough strength and the right form to be alone now. Which is great. I also had my measurements done and all but 1 of my range of motion and hip flexion was back to normal! And the one that is off is only off by a few degrees. This image shows just a few of the things measured, and the third image, lateral hip rotation while sitting, is the one I'm a tad off on.

I would like to add that when I was being measured, I had all of my clothes on...don't know what's up with the guy in these images...eesh.
That's actually quite distracting.

Anyways...I was supposed to go to a session to run through the routine my PT want me to do at the gym...but then my body was taken over by snot. I'm so glad my PT knows me and trusts me, because in about the time span of a week I had to cancel because of my car breaking down and then because I'm sick. And it makes me angry...I can't do my PT home stuff because I literally just randomly break out into violent sneezing and snot runs down my face. Too much info? How about the fact the just in this post, I've had to Clorox Wipe the laptop 4 times because of said sneezing seizures?
But I can stretch, which is better than nothing. I'm am trying so hard to not get my husband sick. Poor guy doesn't need anything else to deal with!

graduation day

I GRADUATED FROM PHYSICAL THERAPY TODAY!

.....

 and I'm super duper exhausted.

and that's all I have the energy to say...besides

 WOOHOO!

nighty night, right?

My relationship with sleep has never been a healthy one. Never. I've always hated sleep-at least at night. Going to bed meant no more fun. Especially since as far back as my memory will go, laying down in the bed meant worrying about the next day. The uncertainty of what was to come. I tried to make sleeping more fun when I was younger... I still have a Kodak Echtachrome slide where I put two wooden chairs together and laid on them, with my legs folded, and went to sleep. In fact, up until my hip/pubalgia issues, I slept 'Indian style' (is there a more PC term for that now?) For the last couple of years sleep has been the enemy because of pain. Pain is so much easier to ignore when you aren't laying in silent darkness. And I don't do pain pills. Pain pills make most people sleepy...they make me anxious, my mind races...and the pain never subsides. So that was never a solution. When I was young, I would wait for my dad to get off of work and come home, which was about midnight. I would walk down the stairs and be as quiet as possible, scared I might be in trouble for staying up but willing to risk it. I would tiptoe down the stairs, trying to hard to avoid that one spot near the bottom that would always creak. A lot of the times my parents would think I was sleep walking. Apparently sometimes I was. But during the times I was awake, I would get so mad trying to convince them that I wasn't asleep. Very frustrating. But I was apparently able to carry on entire conversations in my sleep when I was young, so the confusion is understandable. One year, we got a Nintendo for Christmas (that's right, echrachrome and Nintendo...right after the wheel was invented..) I LOVED Mario. I was the shiznit at rescuing that dang princess. And I never understood why once I did it, I had to go back to a harder beginning and do it again. At some point, I started having night terrors about Super Mario. Full fledged night terrors. Sweats and straight up insanity. Needless to say, I had to take a break from video games. In preschool, I hated the mornings so much, I tried to make them easier for myself. I would put my clothes on for the next day before I went to bed. Then I would have one thing taken care of-one less thing to worry about! Brilliant. But I looked kind of ridiculous going out with my clothes so wrinkled. All of these unhealthy sleeping habits had brought me here-to age 29. I still hate going to bed, because I hate waking up. Not like the 'oh yawn, I'm still tired' hate to wake up...but more like for hours before I need to wake up, I dream I already have. And I go on with my day, and inevitably screw something up horribly. I'm either late for work, or late for school, or have somehow done something that might give other people clues into the fact that I totally don't have it together. Then I really wake up and am super relieved that it was all a dream. But really that was just a dream, too. And by the time I really have to wake up, I'm so damn confused and stressed out I can't function. BUT-I hide it well. And if you disagree, don't burst my bubble. Last night, I finally get to sleep between 1am-2am. Not an easy task. At 3 freakin' 30 in the morning last night, my husband jumps up, screams, and grabs my hand. I just lay there in amazement as he turns around, finds the cold side of his pillow, and acts like nothing happened. This morning at 7am, he asked if I was ready to get up so we could take our broken car to the shop. I told him I would rather die. And I meant it wholeheartedly. He then asked me if I remembered him screaming and grabbing my hand last night. Really?!?!? Do I, the person whose hand was grabbed and ear was screamed in remember?!?!? "Well,", he says, "I had a dream a German Shepherd was chasing me and about to bite my face." And from one sleep walking, sleep talking, night terror having, am I asleep or in the real world wondering, pre-clothes putting on, screaming in the middle of the night person to another, I understood.
'night.

I thought Monday was over?

Good times with friends and fam this weekend, too good as I ended up quite sore from sitting in a car for too long Sunday. And today I was going to write about my PT day of measurements, range of motion tests, and percentages of improvements and such...however the car decided I was not going to be able to make it for the appointment. It's not good when a car makes the noise my bike used to when I would put paper in the spokes. Therefore, all I have for today is a GIANT SAD FACE and all of the bed linens from both rooms washed. Going to go back to studying the MAT stuff and sulking now.

how to not look like a creeper

It was quite obvious this morning that I wasn't going to be able to walk with my husband and Sammy. I went to the park anyway and while they walked, I chilled on a bench. After laying down on the bench, I realized I needed to take some steps in order to not look like a pervert/creeper/weirdo/homeless/dead person in a park full of children.

1. Try to not dress like a creeper/weirdo/homeless/dead person before you leave for the park. I failed miserably at this task by wearing brown yoga pants with a blue hoodie.
2. If you end up wearing a hoodie because you ignored step 1, do not place the hood over your head. I had no choice but to defy this rule. It was cold and windy!
3. Keep moving. Whether this means swinging your leg as you lay on the bench or bouncing your foot around. Otherwise, small children and their parents may think you're dead.
4. Do not be alarmed when approached by a pony. Act like it's normal...because more than likely, the person steering said pony assumes you are a weirdo. That's why he thinks it's okay to approach you with his pony as you lay on the bench in your hood. Play it cool. He will leave soon.
5. When the rest of your party finishes whatever it is they're doing, quickly join them. When the small children and parents see that you are actually accompanied by a cute doggy and husband as you get into your four door sedan, you will seem less like a creeper/weirdo/homeless person.

* I'm not afriad of homeless people. But I am assuming middle to upper class parents and their children do not want to see a homeless person sleeping on their park bench.

My view from the park bench

 

yes, I was serious about the pony

 

 

beautiful day

shut it.

I'm about to ceremoniously rip my husband's shaving mirror off of his shower wall. By ceremoniously I mean with extreme force and anger. At 5am today, I'm pretty sure he knocked it down, picked it back up, it fell down again, he said some choice words, put it back, AND IT FELL AGAIN. I had to try and convince myself not to kill him. The wall of his shower where said mirror is attached? Behind my head. I sent him a text this morning that read:
'babe. i love you but if you EVER make than much noise at 5am again, i'm filing for divorce.'
to which he replied:
'um yeah. i don't know what was wrong with me this morning. love you.'
Normally when he is ridiculously loud, he denies it and blames my light sleeping. The fact that he agreed today is just proof that the happenings in the apartment this morning were unacceptable. How in the world am I supposed to complain about all of the loud idiots around me if I live with one? (love you babe)
PT kicked my tail today. Well, I kicked it's tail, but now it's taking revenge. Super owwww. And, of course, after knowing just how hard I worked at PT and how well I did, instead of promptly going home to rest (as I was told), I went to Super Target. Then came home, where I found my long lost Body Back Buddy from amazon which had somehow made its way through the blizzards of Texas and to me. yay back buddy!

BOOM BOOM BOOM BAANG

NEIGHBOR PERSON. I HATE YOU. MEANING: I DON'T WANT TO HEAR YOUR MUSIC!

Just past the 6 week post-op mark. Everything is looking good! One more PT appointment until I'm set free to do it on my own at their gym. Yay! I've seen some major improvements pain wise as well as PT wise lately. There is just one exercise that is killing my hip, leg, and soul. Single legged bridges are my arch-nemesis this week. I can lift my right leg to do them, but it's super hard to lift my left leg. Supposed to have some awesome weather coming up, so I hope to get back to the park with little man and walk. Ugh..now back to studying :(

A few things

1. Packers won! Looks like I picked the right team despite not caring!

2. Confused about how my husband can down over half a large bottle of whiskey and still wake up and function the next morning. Come to think of it, I have never seen him hungover. I've seen him drunk and peeing in his closet, but not hungover. (p.s.-we were not living together during this stunt) (p.s.s. if you happen to know said husband, it would be best to not mention this incident)

3. Body Back Buddy is still not here :(

4. Sammy is apparently not a Jack Russell Terrier mix. In fact, there is officially no such thing as a Jack Russell Terrier. He is now a Parson Russell Terrier mix. And one day soon I plan on testing him to find out exactly what went into making this awesome little guy so great (besides his habit of sleeping with his tongue hanging out. see below.)

He's obviously read the "How to be Insanely Adorable Handbook" from cover to cover.

5. Second post-op check up from the doc today. Lookin' good! Of course I still don't have full range of motion and I have some ouches and obstacles when I'm tweeked and contorted, but these are all normal things. He also checked my evil iliopsoas. It's tight and angry, all right. Doc confirmed (no crap, doc.) Does this mean I'll be released from PT earlier than expected?...it just might ya'll, it just might.

6.  DO NOT go to the grocery store the day before the Superbowl. Also, DO NOT go to the grocery store the day of the Superbowl. ALSO learn the words to the National Anthem before you sing it AT the Superbowl.

7. MAT study guide is making me feel uber dumb. And the fact that I just used the word "uber" makes me feel slightly pretentious. Doc (sports medicine doc, mind you, not a shrink) told me that I was really smart and that he has always thought so. Then he told me that I was way too smart for my major. I kinda went '..thanks!....wait what? What does that mean?!' So now, instead of feeling happy that someone who is very smart thinks that I'm very smart, I keep analyzing the fact that he thinks people with my major aren't smart. I know TONS of super smart people who majored in what I did! And it isn't an easy major! Gawd-it isn't like I majored in 'business' or something... (see what I did there-KIDDING!) Lordy, lordy.

Superbowl!

Woo-hoo!! Actually, I don't really care about football. No one in my house watched it much when I was growing up. The television was pretty much busy playing my VHS tapes. My usual demand was 'Wiz of Oz, daddy!' with some 'Labyrinth" and 'Never Ending Story' mixed in. But the odd thing now is that when my husband and I go to my parents house during football season, they are BOTH usually watching-and caring. Which just makes my husband look at me like I'm a weirdo. I mean, how could I have grown up like this and now not care about football or sports in general?! He doesn't beleive me when I tell him that I didn't grow up watching sports. When I call my mom to talk while my husband is watching the game, and I hear HER watching it as it echoes through the phone!

Don't get me wrong, I have spent many a weekend watching the Panthers lose play. I do get a little irritated when it's a sunny 65 degrees outside and my husband wants to sit on the couch and watch 6 hours of football. He's a lot better now-he goes to the park with us and takes couch breaks to fold laundry-and I am a lot more tolerant of sports. I do have a few things I refuse to bend on. One of them is golf. Golf is the most BORING thing in the entire world. I'm not going to watch it on television.

The one thing I like about football is the Superbowl! Friends, drink, hilarious television ads! Yay! Sunday when I'm in a room full of northerners at the home of my friends from PA, I will be pulling for Green Bay. Simply because no one here is! It's like the Charlotte area is a miniature Steeler's Nation. Truth be told, I don't really care. And my friend/hairstylist extraordinaire will probably be too busy yelling at me about my roots for me to hear the game. Note to self: borrow a hat.

I'm at week 5+ from surgery and things are going well. This is the second time I've broken a sweat at PT. Which means I'm feeling good enough to work hard enough to break a sweat. Iliopsoas is hurting (4) and my hip finally calmed down a few days after way overdoing it over the weekend. Luckily, it's a balmy 38 degrees and raining, so there isn't much chance of me overdoing it today. And, on a sad note, my Body Back Buddy is reportedly delayed for delivery due to a natural disaster or unforeseen adverse weather condition. God speed, Back Buddy. God speed.