long time no see! it's been about a week and a half since my last post, my apologies for leaving like a one night stand. If I recall, the last post was a sad day. Since then, things have gotten back to its regularly scheduled program. I started work, continue to eat a lot, and PT has cut down to 2 times a week. Coconut misses blogging too!
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| Since surgery, I've learned the importance of flowers, even if you have to get them for yourself to brighten up a day! Every day that I was stuck at home, I woke up to beautiful flowers that naturally lifted my spirits, literally! |
Let's start off with being back at work- I was happy to be back with the babies, but not happy about the size of the unit (that's what sheee said). Boy was I struggling to get out of the nursery to walk to the stock rooms and round little corners in confined spaces. I could tell that 12 hour shifts were a bit much for a 5week post op knee. I wore a full leg TED hose to control the fluid distribution. Even packed my jar of cocoa butter. But when I craved a cocoa butter scar massage, forgot that the knee was trapped under a full leg ted hose! Walking was a bit of a struggle when I would first get up, but loosened up after a couple steps. I sat down every moment I had a chance to, and with that, would rest the left leg on a more elevated swizzle chair. Parents probably thought I was weird as I charted cirque de soleil style. i wonder what Soleil Moon Frye is up to lately. Anypunkybrewster, I forgot what the last couple of hours during my shift felt like- extremely tired eyes that cause minor headaches. But I also blame my hair buns/ponytails. So it was kinda my fault to schedule back to back 12 hour shifts because come the second day, lefty hated me. It was swollen, sore, and indented where the scars were. Won't be doing 3 in a row for a while, not until the end of April. Thank God I had 4 days off after those back to back shifts. So here's how lefty celebrated being off:
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| watched some march madness with Shar at Krolls (south loop bar I always wanted to go to) along with greek wrap and tater tots (it was on a Friday so no meat) |
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| dim sum and then some at Phoenix with the rents |
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| Peruvian food at Ay Ay Picante with the GGWild girls... they serve their food with french fries! |
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| part of my PT playground |
On the PT end, things are moving along smoothly, literally! I'm up to the highest setting on the total gym with squats. Even doing left leg squats on level 10! I can feel the muscles burning when I reach that 90 degree deep bend followed by the push back up, but that's what's needed to build that muscle again. More unique planks and hip raises are squeezed into the mix of things. At my last session I got the okay to do the elliptical! That felt good because it's the machine I used weeks before my surgery to prep the left leg muscle for the grafting that never happened. Squats on the balance board have started, as well as lunges. I have to do 5 sets of 5 lunges on each leg that outline an asterisk on the floor. Feels good to get those muscles burning again, but at the end of the day, it gets hard to get comfortable for sleep. I end up doing butt stretches in bed just to figure out what a good sleeping position would be. I don't know how long my PT sessions will go until with 2 times a week. Kim said running can't start until 12 weeks post op. But I have to admit that sometimes I do a trot, or 2, or 3 just to catch the bus. Don't get me wrong, I use the CTA bus tracker so I know what time to leave, but when I refresh it after I get off the elevator, it seems like i lose 5 minutes and end up scurring 2 blocks to the bus stop. When the weather gets nice, I bike to work. I asked Kim when that would be allowed but she told me to ask Dr. Edwards first (my next appt. with her is April 7). She brought up the stop and go and getting on and off the bike. Woops, forgot about that! All that stationary biking when to my head! On the shoe end, I have been wearing normal gym shoes to work instead of my usual MBTs. But I feel like I'm getting shin splints! Wearing the MBTs is like balance boarding while walking, so I opted to tone down on the double workout by busting out my old running shoes from 3 shamrock shuffles ago. Wanna see one of my views at PT?
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this is what I look at when I'm at my table, it's right at the head of it so it's the only thing can stare at when Kim does my leg bends to the butt when I lay on my tummy
Forgot to mention, there's a lot of Bosu exercises mostly for balance and stability. Random factoid: BoSu stands for "both sides up". Vince told me that, then I mentioned it to Kim. Funny thing is, Kim pointed out that on the flat side of the BoSu, it says something along the lines of "you should not stand on this side". Next time you run into a BoSu ball, look for it on the flat side. I'm doing fine with walking, not so much crunchiness felt when I take initial steps. It's amazing how the minor hip exercises and core strengthening relates to the overall movement of the surgical leg. The muscles are like a team that have to work together to move forward. literally! Here is my progress with the walking: |
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| 16 minute walking mile? I'll take it! |
Remember weeks ago when it was a pain and struggle to get the heel to touch the butt? not anymore! Kim easily bends it down for 10 second holds, 3 sets. Before, it took a couple of warmup bends until i could touch the heel to butt as I sweat profusing under my arms and at the hairline. Now i only get red when it happens, AND I can do it on my own, look!!!-
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| hard to get this pic but we did it! |
So I've gotten through 2 weeks of work, not quite a full time week just yet though. Last Tuesday I was cancelled for 8 hours, so I worked a "princess" shift (4 hour shift). That would be the ideal shift! knee was fine and not so fatigued when I got home. Had one day off after that where I went to PT, then scrumptious food with Sarah. We went to a Korean restaurant for bi bim bop, soup, and banchan (those lil dishes you see in the middle, refillable, mostly kimchi based...i just made that up)
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| get yo' banchan...get yo' banchan....get yo' get yo' get yo' get yo' banchan! (Sing to the tune of "get yo' freak on" by Missy Misdemeanor Elliott) |
I was craving something sweet after the meal, but Sarah said Koreans usually top off their meals with fruit for sweetness. She mentioned a Korean cafe that served shaved ice, but that was gonna be too much for our tummies because we ate all of the above. All of it and some refills. I mentioned that I had never had a shamrock shake. So our desination was McD's, but on the way there, an Ann Sather's was spotted where cinnamon rolls came into mind. We struggled to parallel park, but got to the door of Ann Sather's only to get rejected- the door was locked because they closed at 2pm, what the frick? So we proceeded to the original plan after getting thrown that curve cinnamon roll. Got my shake!
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heaven. even without lactaid!
2 back to back shifts followed that day off which weren't bad because it was the same assignment each day. Probably won't go to deliveries for a while just because sometimes you have to rush to them. Coming back to work, I felt like I was just there. But when I was at home recovering, the time went by so slow! It's really nice to be back to see my lovely coworkers. They welcomed me and made me feel like I was missed. I was already asked the first day to make name signs, which I miss because it's my creative release. It's good to feel useful again! |
So that's what's been going on during the 5th-6th week post op. Lots of changes and movements and improvements! Still have a lot to work in with the knee, but patience is the key!!! Also have to work on keeping a PRN lactaid with me for more shamrock shake momentos. Here's the 6th week post op pic:
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| post op day 42 pic |
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