Archive of Marcia's Musings May 6-12, 2002Sunday, May 12, 2002
Pure Excitement!!
Hold yourself down now . . . I did fifty reps of the exercises today!! Yeah!!! Yipppeeeeee!!!! I know-- that's a lot of excitement for one day but, believe it or not, it still has to increase by another ten of each exercise. Yes, yes-- all that excitement packed into one day around here was apparently too much for me to take since I ended up in a nap for more than an hour today. Yeesh!! I am really not a good healer, ya know?
So little excitement . . . so much time.
Ah, but work awaits-- tomorrow is another day so let's see how that goes, okay?
Thanks for your patience, tolerance and concern. Have a nice night!
Saturday, May 11, 2002Very Brief . . .
If only because nothing is happening to me!! Argh, I'm bored!! I have lots of books and projects and stuff to be working on but I have a problem: I don't want to work on them or read them or do them!! ARGH!!!! I've done a little bit of the quilt tying that I needed to do but not nearly as much as needs to be done. I have the concentration of a pea and I think that's my biggest problem.
I've done my "exercises" several more times today than yesterday which is good. Once with Brian, once with Brian on the phone making fun of me (but not for the whole time and he and Shelley Bowman were laughing with me, not at me!), once with Brian watching to make sure that I was doing it right and once without Brian helping. That poor guy has been working his tail off!! He washed the kitchen floor and table (that had leftover spray adhesive from my quilts on them) and he did the laundry and made me lunch and dinner-- yes, I'm going to owe him big when this is all said and done!!
And More From The Peanut Gallery
This from Jackie Clark again:
From: Jacqueline ClarkYes-- did anyone else catch that? "Physical terrorists"?!?!?!? ARGH!!! What an image!!! Do I need that right now? I don't think so, Jackie!! Yikes!! ;>)Marcia,
Glad you are back to posting--you
hardly missed a beat.Just remembered the therapy part.
You haven't lived until you have
worked with a physical terrorist.
I remember working out in the same room
with Charles Barkley, superstar of the
Houston Rockets. That was a stitch.Good luck,
Jackie****
Have a nice night folks and, again, thanks for all the support!
Friday, May 10, 2002Progressing Well . . .
Well, there was less sleep but more exercise during the day so I think that's a good thing. Brian "helps" me by staying with me to do it which definitely adds to the "Fun Factor" that's needed to make exercise interesting.
I called to get the regular physical therapy set up-- Whew!! That was quite a process but I am set up for the next five to six weeks there, too. Should be tons-o-fun, eh?
Our friends, Pat and Nathan called earlier today and are going to be bringing Chinese take-out for dinner tonight. Should be fun to see them and am definitely looking forward to good food this evening.
Again, thanks for the outpouring of concern and caring-- its so nice to hear from so many of you! Take care and, hopefully, posts will be a little more content-rich as we move along.
Have a great evening!
Thursday, May 9, 2002All's Well
Just a quick post to let you know that I'm okay-- I survived the surgery (how's that for drama?). Originally, Brian thought the doctor had told him that there were five procedures that were done on my knee yesterday. Today, when we were in the follow-up appointment to have the dressings removed, the doctor explained in detail everything he did and it turned out that he did nine (yes, 9) different procedures!! Everything from a horizontal meniscus tear to ACL repair to bone spurs to cartilage frays to...well, you get the idea. (Brian saw the pictures so you can ask him about the details!)
No wonder I'm sore and swolen!!
I've gotta keep it elevated as much as possible (which isn't easy when I'm working in my office) and continue to ice it for another few days. I'm doing pretty good on the crutches, too, which as you know was a concern for me.
Thanks to All!!
So many of you have written emails to Brian and me with your good wishes for a successful surgery (done!!) and quick recovery-- from your lips to God's ears!! Thank you all so much for the outpouring of concern!! I've been given hints and concerns and chidings and prayers and it has all been appreciated! Thanks so much!!
******
On that note, I need to go elevate for a bit. Anything that'll help, right? Thanks again to all of you-- have a nice evening!
Wednesday, May 8, 2002
Tuesday, May 7, 2002Quilting Update
There's an update on my quilting page: Brian's latest handi-work. He's a good carpenter, ya know? He'd make my daddy proud!! Thanks again, sweetie!!
A Wreck
No, I haven't had any panic attacks yet but its been close. Work is done-- afterall, its going to only be tomorrow that I'm not working . . . I hope. I've had a couple of cross-overs with doctors (GP and Ortho)-- the Ortho mentioned something about antibiotics last night at the pre-op appointment but then didn't write a prescription for them. I didn't know if I'd missed something and was supposed to be getting a prescription from him for something antibiotic-like. The GP was because of a prescription that needed to be refilled today-- not tomorrow, not Thursday-- today!!! He was in the office in the morning but then left to do a surgery (I think he delivers babies yet) and was expected back by 1:30 at the latest. At 2pm, I still hadn't heard anything but I didn't get upset about that until 2:20 when I called and was told to start the process all over again with the refill that was needed. AAARRRRGGGGGHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I've had a lot of nice emails from people since Brian and I told you all about the surgery. This morning, the day before surgery and the day I needed it most, I received this email:
From: Jacqueline ClarkIt was nice to hear encouraging words that early on the day before surgery-- thanks again for writing, Jackie!!Dear Marcia,
Sorry you have to have surgery but hope it relieves your painful knee. I had a lateral release and some other
relatively minor work about three years ago, and found
that even on crutches I could immediately walk better.
Of course I was on drugs! Felt great, that. But the
recovery was quick, and I recall that I hardly had to
take any pain pills after the second day or so.I know your situation is more complicated, but am hoping
it goes easy for you. These guys can do some good work.Best regards,
Jackie ClarkOn the negative side, one of the sales reps in my region told me had the same surgery and he had the opposite reaction-- that's okay, Jackie's opinion was rendered first so that's the one I'm sticking with for attitudinal purposes! One thing that my sales rep didn't have was the Vioxx on the day before surgery. The orthopedic doctors are doing this now since it reduces pain, swelling and inflammation. I'll try anything that will help!!
Practice, Practice!!
I've got to practice my crutch-walking. The doctor showed me a different way to do it so I need to practice-- that's a really strange thing to say, ya know? I've gotta feeling that I'll never break any land-speed records but, at least I can move without looking silly or falling over. (That's important!)
So Long For Today
I'll probably catch you on the flip side toward Thursday-- think happy thoughts, whatevers or prayers for me for tomorrow. Have a good evening tonight and Wednesday.
And I'll leave you with another email that was sent to me today-- I loved it!!
***********
THINGS I MUST REMEMBER WHEN I COME BACK AS A DOG
1. The garbage collector is not stealing our stuff.
2. I do not need to suddenly stand straight up when I'm lying under the coffee table.
3. I will not roll my toys behind the fridge, behind the sofa or under the bed.
4. I must shake the rainwater out of my fur before entering the house.
5. I will not eat the cats' food, before they eat it or after they throw it up.
6. I will stop trying to find the few remaining pieces of clean carpet in the house when I am about to get sick.
7. I will not throw up in the car.
8. I will not roll on dead seagulls, fish, crabs, etc., just because I like the way they smell.
9. "Kitty box crunchies", although they are tasty, are not food.
10. I will not eat any more Kleenex or napkins and then redeposit them in the backyard after processing.
11. The diaper pail is not a cookie jar.
12. I will not chew my human's toothbrush and not tell them.
13. I will not chew crayons or pens, especially not the red ones, or my people will think I am hemorrhaging.
14. When in the car, I will not insist on having the window rolled down when it's raining outside.
15. We do not have a doorbell. I will not bark each time I hear one on TV.
16. I will not steal my mom's underwear and dance all over the backyard with it.
17. The sofa is not a face towel. Neither are mom & dad's laps.
18. My head does not belong in the refrigerator.
19. I will not bite the officer's hand when he reaches in for dad's driver's license and car registration.
20. I will not play tug-of-war with dad's underwear when he's on the toilet.
21. I will not eat mint flavored dental floss out of the bathroom garbage, because I don't want to have a string hanging out of my butt.
22. I will not play "roll around in the dirt" after just getting a bath.
23. Sticking my nose into someone's crotch is not an acceptable way of saying hello.
24. I will not hump any person's leg just because I thought it was the right thing to do.
25. I will not fart in my owners face while sleeping on the pillow next to his head.
26. I will not come in from outside and immediately drag my butt across the carpet.
27. The toilet bowl is not a never ending water supply and, just because the water is blue, it does not mean it is cleaner.
28. I will not sit in the middle of the living room and lick my crotch when company is over.
29. Suddenly turning around and smelling my butt makes people put me outside.
30. The cat is not a squeaky toy so when I play with him and he makes that noise, it's usually not a good thing.(Sally said I should publish it!!)
Monday, May 6, 2002Organize and Prepare!!
I'm feeling like a Boy Scout in a major way-- I don't know if the Girl Scouts ever had the credo of "Be Prepared" or anything like it. Now that my office is cleaned up and ready to work in, as much as I don't want to not sew, I more than that don't want to make a mess in that room!! As a result, tonight I'm going to be organizing my clothing closet so that I can better find stuff when I'm standing on crutches in front of it. Also, it'll make it easier for Brian if he has to find stuff for me.
My shoes organization is easy: No High Heels for at least 8 weeks-- gee, that gives me so many choices, doesn't it? Yeckkkk!!!!!!!!!!! Okay, its worth it in the long run but you get the drift. I'll lay out the four or five pairs (out of 57!!) that I can wear so that Brian can pull them out of the closet for me easily.
I've got my vitamins for the week organized so that all he has to do is dump them in my hand twice a day. Each pill box is labeled "AM" or "PM" as appropriate with all required medications in each for the appropriate taking time.
Tomorrow night will be self-pedicure night. I'll also shower again for the umpteen-gazillionth time tomorrow night and in the morning. They want to make sure that the surgical area (from my hip to my toes) is as clean as clean can be!! I can't eat or drink anything in the morning so Brian will get coffee and breakfast at the outpatient hospital-- I'm sure he won't have a problem with that and besides, there has to be a Starbucks close by, right?
Prepared and More Prepared
I had a phone call from the surgery center today at work; that took about ten minutes giving them details of my life and medical history. Then, this afternoon, we went back to the doctor's office and went through many of the same things with him. He also gave me prescriptions for Valium (to calm me so I can sleep the night before and for muscle spasms afterward), Vicodin (so I can see bunny rabits instead of feeling pain) and Vioxx so that my pain is less severe and the swelling stays a bit lower. If he has to do the "lateral release" procedure though, all bets are off and he can't guarantee what my pain level will be like. Oh, yeah? Great!! Thanks sooooo much!! Isn't there some way to detach my leg so that I don't feel the pain and then, later, in about three weeks, we can re-attach it-- that would be okay with me!! YIKES!!!!
*********
With that said, I've got the fringe to do on my nephew's afghan and, of course, the clothes to re-organize. You have a nice evening, too!!
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