My Knee....week 5 post-op

I can't believe how well my knee is doing!

Here's a quick run down:

Scott was off the week of my surgery, and God bless him, he took care of me and the kids. It was very frustrating being on crutches. The problem is, you can't carry ANYTHING! Even if it's light. It's too awkward, when you have to concentrate on not falling and using the crutches properly!

Aside: LOVE MY ICE MACHINE!

But, by day 4, I was only using one crutch and went crutchless around the kitchen. By day 5, I got rid of them, deciding they were more of a liability than an asset.

My parents came up for the second week after my surgery. I still couldn't drive. My knee got tired easily, and let's face it, so did the rest of me! I'm no spring chicken ;) so it was so nice to have my parents there to help take care of the house and kids. Mom walked the kids to school everyday. Dad drove us around to all the places we needed to go. It was great!

My sutures came out post-op day 10, and I drove home from the doctor's office :) I was thrilled.

My leg was feeling pretty good. The bruising in my calf was the worst part. Well, that and the brace. I loathed that brace.

When I started PT, I was able to take it off :) - 2 weeks post-op.

My poor leg shrunk! I knew it would happen, but the atrophy of my quad was just so sad. I've lost 3 lbs and I swear it's all from my quad.

Oh, well. It'll come back.....eventually.

Post-op day 14, we went to the arboretum because my parents had never been, and I really wanted to take them. Surprisingly, I walked all over that place and wasn't in pain. I could feel the swelling getting worse, but after we sat and had a nice lunch, it felt good enough to finish the whole tour of the place.

During weeks 3 and 4, I've built up my strength and balance. I can get in and out of the car normally.

Now, I'm 5 weeks post-op, and my range of motion is almost back to normal. I'm up to 145 degrees! :) I can run my errands and go all day without my knee feeling tired.

I still have lots of strength to gain back and going down stairs doesn't feel the best. But it'll come :)

Getting Into Halloween

This last week, I realized that I hadn't done any baking for Halloween!

I have 3 different type of Halloween cupcake pans and about 20 Halloween cookie cutters. And I was running out of time to use them, considering you only should probably use them once a year.

 Ian mainly decorated the pumpkins, Payton the ghosts. Ian took two to his teacher. Payton said her teacher doesn't eat sweets :(

 The kids don't enjoy spreading icing very much. I think they get frustrated with it. So Mommy, ends up helping with the icing a lot....

Ian was very hung-ho about both the cupcakes and the cookies this year. Payton less so, but eventually decided to join in the decorating.

My knee

 

My knee....

Picture of my torn ACL

On September 5, Scott and I were playing a little one on one basketball game at the gym. I went up for a rebound and was going to put it right back up, but my knee didn't like the way came down and twisted. I ended up on the floor writhing in pain for a minute or two:( After the initial pain subsided, I could walk, but knew I had seriously done something to my right knee. We showered and came home so I could ice it. When I stepped out of the car and my knee slid out and back in, I was pretty certain I had torn my ACL....again. You see, 15 years ago, I was skiing (with Scott) caught my ski in a mogul and severed my left ACL. So, the injury occurred on a Wednesday. Friday, I saw the orthopedic doctor. Saturday, I had an MRI. On Monday, I had my follow appointment which confirmed what I had thought - complete ACL tear with a meniscus tear as well! My doctor said I had to gain my range of. Motion back and the swelling had to go down before he could operate. And he suggested that I have an allograft because for the 30 and 40 year old crowd ;) recovery is easier with an allograft.

 

So I went to pre-hab - physical therapy before surgery - so my knee would be ready for the new ligament.i only went once to get a regiment of exercises and then practiced them over the next two weeks.

 

Day of surgery was Tuesday, Sept. 25. The surgeon was pleased with how it went. I took quite a while to recover from the general anesthesia....it always makes me nauseous. And I don't remember much else from that day because I couldn't keep my eyes open! I slept we'll even though I was in a Continuous Passive Motion Machine all night.

 

I am now sitting in my CPM machine, icing my knee. Scott has been a trooper taking care of me and the kids :) And Payton and Ian have been trying to fetch things for me. I am very appreciative of all my friends who have offered much help and have been very supportive.

Hopefully I will be rid of my crutches in a couple of weeks and on the long road to recovery.....it'll be 9 months before I'm cleared to run or jump again.

 

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Plano Balloon Festival 2012

We went to the Plano Balloon Festival on tonight. This was Scott's first time, but the kids and I have seen a morning launch before. It was pretty warm when we went, but we wanted to get there early, set up our spots, and eat supper. The parachute team was great....I was impressed that they all landed in the same spot (at different times).

Then the balloons started inflating....

And launching....

The kids weren't crazy about taking pictures, but we made them take them anyway :)

We had a little break between the launch and the balloon glow, so we got some icees to help cool off. in the middle of consuming our dessert, Ian calls my attention to his ice that he's been chomping into. 'What's this, Mommy?' It was blood! So I check his mouth to see where it's coming from....and he lost his tooth! Scott found it on the blanket he was sitting on. Talk about crazy!

The balloons then started inflating for the balloon glow. At first we thought this one was tweety bird with a cat in a barrel, but no. It was a pirate, but it was funny to hear Ian saying Tweetie bird without his tooth :)

I think I was most impressed with the balloon glow. It was quite spectacular.

 

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School: Day 2

So yesterday, there were no tears. My eyes got a little moist when I saw a mom at the gym with a one year old on her hip. It made me remember how sweet the kids were at that age And then I remembered how much they really depend on you ALL the time also, and my eyes dried up pretty quickly.

 

But, it is a little sad when your youngest goes off to kindergarten. It's the end of one stage of their life and the beginning of another.


 

Well, day 2 of school, parents aren't allowed to walk their kids down the hall. I should have prepared Ian better for this. We get to the doors to the school and I tell Ian I can't go in. All of a sudden, his eyes become puppy dog eyes. They start to well up with tears, and his lower lip curls out a little and begins to quiver. And what do I do? It's like I become his mirror image. I'm trying not to cry. Instead, I try to start to reassure him.

 

Payton doesn't even miss a beat. She's right there filling her role as big sister. She says, 'Don't worry Ian. I'll walk you to your class.'

 

I explained to Ian that they won't let me go in, and that he's a big boy and can do it by himself. Meanwhile Payton is still reassuring him that she'll make sure he's ok. Ian's not quite so happy about it, but....

 

Ian Finally goes along with the plan, and off they go through the doors....with Payton's hand on Ian's shoulder ushering him along.

 

Whew! Thank you Payton for helping Ian and I get through this morning without the a cry-fest.

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First day of school

Today was Ian's first day of kindergarten and Payton's first day of second grade. The kids were both very excited to start school again. (maybe just as excited as Mommy :) They both got to pick out new backpacks. And they each picked out a new shirt to wear. Daddy didn't get much sleep the night before, but woke up anyway for the first walk to school.

 

We walked Ian down to his classroom first. There were no tears. There was barely a wave, and off he went into his classroom.

 

Next was Payton. We walked her to her class. The teacher told her to read the instructions on the board, but before she did that, she put away her backpack and lunch. She sat in her chair, surveyed her surroundings, and then peered at the board....much to her momma's chagrin.

 

When I picked the kids up in the afternoon, they were bubbling over with excitement. They both loved their teacher. They both had a great day :)

 

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Chihuly exhibit at the Arboretum

I finally got a chance to take the kids to the Arboretum for the Chihuly exhibit. If you are even remotely able to go to the Dallas Arboretum, you should....if nothing else, just for this exhibit. The glass works of art are amazing! And they are set in such a beautiful setting.

Payton and Ian really enjoyed it. It was, of course, hot, even though we got there early. We've been to the arboretum many times, so we just skipped around to all the glass pieces.

The scale and colors of the pieces enhanced the gardens, surprisingly.

One of my favorites was the big glass balls.

Out if all the beautifully crafted pieces, Ian liked the blues rocks in the creek, the best. Don't get me wrong, the blue rocks were cool. But when you compare them to some of the other pieces, they seem very humble.

Payton liked the big, chaotic, curly structures.

I'm looking forward to cooler temperatures, so I can spend more time wandering around. The exhibit is there till November :)

 

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