Cattipuncture, cold packs and quasimodo

Sorry it's been awhile since I've posted. I wanted to give a status update. I'm just beginning to feel human again. I'm still on crutches and my knee still resembles a small melon -- but that's better than a really big one. But my range of motion is slowly increasing. I got a little freaked out earlier this week because I'm not progressing nearly as quickly as I thought I would. The thing is -- if you don't bend and straighten your knee adequately after this surgery, it can literally get stuck. Something about adhesions. And then you need more surgery to unstick it. And yeah, that's pretty much the LAST thing in the world that I want. I'm trying my best to avoid the land of regrets. You know, like why did I do this? Um, a little late for that. And instead, trying to send positive vibes and think good thoughts and take my drugs and work on bending and straightening. Bending and straightening. Oh, and did I say that I have to bend and straighten my leg a lot? Yeah. That. Because that really is my whole life. That and doing little things. Like using only one crutch so I can carry my coffee mug (yes, I'm very bad and still am drinking coffee and don't try to talk me out of it either) to the kitchen. Or carry an ice pack ALL BY MYSELF. Every time I do something like that, I expect the room to burst into applause, like I'm the Dixie Chicks stepping up for yet another Grammy. Except that usually my audience consists of Kali and Henry and they sort of look at me like, did that trick involve putting food in my dish? Because if it didn't, it didn't happen. (Henry's motto: I eat; therefore I am)

But sometimes I do have an audience. Like Cesa, who has been a real hero, bringing me ice in the middle of the night and allowing me to turn on the "box" as she calls it (TV) when I wake up in the middle of the night in so much pain I literally can't think to just sort of have white noise. It works. She even says, "that's great!" when I sort of do a Quasimodo limp to the bathroom or something.

Last night was my first night alone, and I think I did OK. I won't go into the whole drug thing again, but I think I'm finding the right balance of pill popping. I'm trying to scale it back during the day when I can better tolerate the pain. And I'm timing my "workouts" so they hit at the optimum time after drug taking. . .I can tell that I'm having a little less pain because sometimes when I take a full dose, I actually feel a tiny bit high. It's kind of amazing that I don't feel that, given that I'm taking class one opiates. But amazingly enough, most of the time I don't. And I'm begin diligent about not letting myself go. Because if I go too long in between doses, the pain comes on strong and then it's hard to get out of it. . I'll blog later about the exercising.

Jeez. I thought I'd sit down to write a quick catch up and here I am blabbing again. I don't know who, if anyone, is still reading this thing. But I have to say it's very therapeutic to get this stuff out. And obviously, I'm not editing, which also is kind of fun. So you can tell from my tone that things are going decently. I guess I'm edging into that place of accepting that I will not/am not going to simply get better over night. duh. And I keep saying, hey, if I can go for a hike in six months, or boogie board, or ride my bike to the office (without having to crawl the next day) it'll be worth it. Right? Right? Hey, is anyone listening? Oh well, better go take my coffee mug to the kitchen soon.

I'll blog later about getting staples out. Good pics on that, ya'll. . Oh yeah, one cute thing. Sort of. I was getting my second session of acupuncture (which I ADORE) and Kali decides that it would be a good time to sit on my belly. She likes doing that because it's warm. And I like her doing it -- because it's warm. So, I'm all needled up and laying there and she's purring and I'm feeling blissful and very in touch with the universe, when Kali notices these little metal things protruding from my skin. You can guess what she does next. She starts batting out the needles. "SUSAN," I hell. She runs in and kicks Kali out and then jokes that she's never done cattipuncture before. Funny. At least I thought so. Ok. that's my cute cat story of the week. Mostly I included it so I could put it in the title.

One more thing: when I was freaking yesterday, I made my friend Betty wait while I sent out a bunch of emails and calls and I got an appointment to see the physician's assistant tomorrow. Man, do I feel better. I just really want to make sure I'm progressing as I should be. Plus, I really, really want to go to UCSF physical therapy. I've been to them before and the staff is excellent, especially this one therapist, June. I guess if you want something done in the medical system, you really have to be vocal. In the end, I may not be the most beloved patient, but I just want to make sure I heal correctly. I don't intend to do this again. Not until I have Alzheimer's and am able to completely forget about this experience.

I'll try to bring you up to date on my blog in the next few days. I have a bunch of posts I've started but never finished. I still haven't posted the drama of the transfusion. . which I want to post just for the record. Well, my buddy Oren will be here soon so I get to shower!! (I'm not ready to shower without another person in the house to make sure that if I fall I really CAN get up.)

PS I 'borrowed" this picture from here: http://www.missioncreep.com/hagen/vision/crutches.html Man, if that hasn't been sold, maybe I'll buy it. . .