Progressing

Not a whole lot to really update you all on at this moment, at this juncture, in this space of time. Things are progressing. Did have a doctor follow up last Thursday 11/12. He thought it all looked good and I was progressing nicely. I was aware beforehand and he reiterated that the graft itself is at it's weakest 2-3 months post surgery. I don't really know all the medical science behind it but as part of the healing process with the graft, it's strong at first, becomes weak, and then begins to strengthen again.  So for now I am in a bit of a holding pattern with what I can and can not do with the knee/leg.  As it is, I still have a few more months to go before I can start to jog again because of the meniscus repair. But I have been using the cycle at the gym at work and will continue to do that. I am progressing to new exercises at physical therapy as I really try to focus on balancing on the leg without having to shift all of my weight over to counter balance. I do a lot of squats, a lot of steps. It's still difficult for me to control my leg going down and I am pushing to get better at that. But otherwise, I am completely crutch free at this point and able to get around to where I need to go. It still has feels, not painful, sometimes sore, but where the left leg just feels like a leg with the absense of feeling, the right leg still feels like, well for lack of a better description, that it got cut open and operated on 2 months ago.

Long story short, I'm progressing. Trying to get my range of motion further along so I can use both legs to go down stairs. Working on leg strength so I can balance better. And feeling a little less worried about the soon to be winter, ice, and snow season. Winter is coming. Oh and I almost don't have to think about what it takes to get out of my car yet, almost.

Getting There

It might take me a while, but I'll get there.  Slowly and surely.

Left the crutch in the car today for first time.  Well, left it in the car yesterday when I got home. I'm still walking with a hitch so I'm not confident to give the crutch up completely. (I should just be walking with a cane but I don't want to spend money on a cane).  Knee definitely feels a little more sore the more I use it. I can get used to that if that's the way it'll be. I suspect the more it heels the the better it'll feel. I'm coming to grips with the fact that several holes were drilled thru it. ha.

At the last PT appointment, was the first time he physically worked on bending my knee more. Oh man that shit hurt so bad. No pain no gain. I know. And I know it needs to bend more. But man, as I laid there and he did his thing, it definitely hurt!  After he was like, how do you feel, and I'm all like great if you don't do that again!  Knew that day was coming, it came.  Will have to brace myself for next time, which is tomorrow at 1.

But anyway, just a quick update that I'm sorta walking now. It's still not pretty. I can almost imagine what it will be like to run again but I'm definitely a few months away from that. I have been getting good at doing the stationary bike, and getting it to revolve all the way around front and back. Still positive that I'll make a full recovery by next summer. Just hoping I won't slip or anything this winter, that would suck!

Trick or Crutch!

Still progressing.  Still using the crutch. Despite having a decent day last week without the crutch, my PT guy basically advised that I should use a cane (or the one crutch) until I can actually walk normal without a hitch. I'm still hitching quite a bit though each day is still getting better. Slowly but surely.  

I had hoped to be able to walk the neighborhood sans crutch for trick or treating over the weekend, but couldn't. I put on my running gear (which was nice since I hadn't in forever :sadface:) and took to the streets with my kids as an "injured" runner!  Hilarious, I know!  It was actually my first time around the loop since the injury. As tired of running the loop as I started to get, I'd do just about anything right now to run it again.  Couple more months.  Got a couple comments about my costume from other parents.  "Costume".  

I'm still icing almost every night and I'm still working on my exercises at home. I've kicked up my PT to go twice a week now. I'm a little frustrated that I'm not further along than I am but I still know that it's part of the process. Can't believe that it's almost been two months since the surgery and that time is still doing it's part. I hope by the end of this month, if not sooner, I'm more confident and comfortable walking. I should be.

There was a couple significant knee injuries in the NFL that I'm keeping my eye open on MRI results today. Hoping for the best for those gentlemen.

"Injured Runner"

Pumpkins!

First No Crutch Lap

And on the 87th day of using crutches, I was able to do a full lap around the parking lot at work (a half mile).  It's not exactly pretty but I made it.  I've been getting a little more comfortable walking on this leg the past few days or so.

I can't exactly say that I left the crutch at home or in the car. I used it to get to my desk this morning, but that's as far as it's gone.  Tomorrow I will plan to leave it in the car.

As this month has gone by I've had it in mind and have been hoping to be able to walk on Halloween for trick or treating. Assuming the rest of the week progresses like this, I should be in good shape and even more ready for that.

Hopefully as a few more weeks go by walking will feel normal again cause right now it certainly doesn't. Feels like about a 75/25 split between the knee and leg needing to be stronger and sturdier and my mental psyche of whether or not to trust it.  Time time time, every day is better!

Almost There

Not quite off the crutches. I'm trying. I've been using 1 crutch since Thursday 10/15 and I'm mostly okay on just 1. Definitely still feels weird and I'm concentrating on every step. Doing my best to step consistently. To not shift my balance too much as I go. To land my foot exactly the same. To bend my leg exactly the same. I've never been good at consistency.  I can get around the house a bit without the crutches but it's not exactly pretty.  I'm sure my PT guy will prefer to see me walk in with no crutches tomorrow and I'm trying but I'm just not quite there yet!  Sometimes it just feels like it bends weirdly. Some of it is mental, I understand that. I certainly don't want to re-injure it before it's healed. I'm willing to accept some degree of elongating the recovery if the result is less setbacks. That being said, I'm 80+ days into this now and I'm of course looking forward to giving up the crutches completely. Obviously I want to! Ultimately my goal is to be able to walk on Halloween. It's crazy, I was just thinking how this whole ordeal really put a damper on my summer, and it did, but it's crazy to think that it's almost November already. I can't exactly say the past three months have flown by, but they have gone by, and that's saying something!

It's Nice To Almost Walk Again

I am slowly easing into full weight bearing on this right leg. I'm still using both crutches. I have been able to use only one in times of need, like carrying a plate of food. I can do some walking without but not enough to quite ditch the crutches at home. It's only been a couple days. Though I'm not quite yet there it's nice to be able to at least crutch walk and not be wary of any weight. It's coming. Slowly but surely. One day at a time. One step at a time.

I should also note that yesterday I was able to get my first lap in around work since the surgery.  It was great to finally get outside and get some fresh air!

Doctor Follow Up

Had my four week post-op follow up yesterday.  The one I had been waiting for.  Doctor opened with "Are you ready to ditch the crutches?" -- UHH YEAH that's what I've been waiting for!  Got the green light to ditch them.  It should take about a week to transition off of them.  I began walking on my leg as soon as I left that room.  I'm still putting a good amount of the weight on the crutches, but it's so nice to be able to start the transition. I don't remember exactly how long it took for me to go from 2 crutches to 1 pre-surgery but that's what I'll be working on the next few weeks.

The only other take away other than everything looking good and him saying to not overdo the flexion quite yet (I'm at 82 degrees ROM as of the last PT appt Weds) was that it will take a while to get back to jogging.  With a normal ACL repair it's about 10 weeks. With an ACL repair with Meniscus it's closer to 4-6 months. (That's me)  Which I expected to hear.  Good news is that 1 of those months is already over. So projecting out 3-5 months from now puts me into the January-March range before I can get back into running.  That's fine.  I'm content to just be able to get back to walking at this point, and that should be soon.   I'm not expecting to be ready for kickball by Spring season, but possibly, hopefully Summer. And at the end of the day, if it takes me longer to return to be able to play longer into the future, I'm fine with that. IIWII right.

October!

I made it to October!  Two months have gone by since my initial injury and I'm happy to see days fall off the calendar.  This is a process.  This takes time.  Every day is a bit better.  The path is long. Won't lie.  I've been getting a little sick of this. But it's okay. It's going to get better. It gets better each day.  Can't wait til I can put some weight on this leg to kick start the next step of this recovery process. I've been having dreams about walking lately. Then I wake up and tighten my quads and do some leg raises and fall back asleep. It's a pattern. But not forever.

Quick Update

Still living that #crutchlife counting down the days until my follow up appointment a week from Thursday. The swelling is going down slowly and slowly. Still swollen. Still tight. Bending it has been tricky and every day I try a little bit more and more. This early stage of PT has felt a bit like a holding pattern since I still can't put weight on the leg. It's annoying and will prolong the recovery a bit but it's better to be cautious with the meniscus repair since I'm going to be relying on that cushion in the future quite a bit once I get back to running and playing. But for now, I'm just hoping to be back to walking by Halloween!  August was long. September has been longer. Bring on October!

I've been following ACL injuries in the NFL this year closer than ever before. There were 25 complete tears in the preseason and so far no complete tears during the season. Kiko Alonso of the Eagles did partially retear his. There's been a couple MCLs and knee bruises. Big Ben avoided an ACL tear this past weekend but did damage his MCL. So it's good that there haven't been any yet during the season but all of this has certainly changed my perspective a bit. I watch the games slightly different. I notice all of the knee braces that linemen wear. I scan for injury updates when I see a player go down clutching their knee.  My team, the Falcons, are 3-0 and flying high. I can only hope the players stay healthy!

Many players who previously tore their ACL have been playing great this year. Tom Brady. Carson Palmer. Tyrann Mathieu, Jamaal Charles, Adrian Peterson, Rob Gronkowski, Darrelle Revis, Eric Berry, Travis Benjamin to name a few.

First Week Of Recovery

Been a minute since I've posted so let me see if I can bring us up to speed.  In my last post I talked about the surgery and how weird that experience was. Now let me see if I can appropriately recap the past ten days...

The first couple days after surgery were definitely the worst.  I didn't put many steps on the fitbit meter the day after surgery!  I spent most of the day on the couch. Oh, but I did go in for a followup with the doctor. We got our first look at it under the bandages. And it didn't look all that bad all things considered.  The doctor did confirm that I had some meniscus repair and that I wouldn't be able to put weight on my leg for four weeks. We asked about driving and he said that I could when I was feeling able to. He also drained some blood out of the knee cause it was pretty swollen and felt super tight. Flexion was a bit difficult and I had quite a ways to go with that, but I was able to straighten it and that was a great place to already be at.  If you can't straighten your leg after this surgery they basically have to do the surgery again.  That'd be awful! After the appointment we were on our merry way back home to rest, feeling a little bit better.

First look day after!

So pretty!

On Sunday I was able to keep my podcast on schedule, publishing episode 19. I used a bunch of songs that referenced doctors and knees, haha. I had planned to return back to work on Monday but by Sunday night I didn't feel quite ready to return. I emailed my boss and asked for a couple more days to recover. I did work from home on Monday and was able to get caught up on some of my work. I took Tuesday off.  On Tuesday I remember thinking that the previous 5 days or so just slipped by, even though I had spent 98% of that time on the couch. It was time to get out of the house! By this point I had weened off the painkillers. I believe I had 1 at night Monday and Tuesday but other than it not feeling super awesome, it felt alright. Still pretty tight. Earlier in the day on Tuesday I went out to see how it would feel driving. The leg was a bit ginger but I drove around the neighborhood a bit. Driving wasn't all that bad so I planned on driving to work the next day. Wednesday morning I woke up and drove into work. No problems. 

The first day back at work was a bit rough. Playing catch up never is fun. We have a lot going on. I felt super tired about half way through the day but was able to, somehow, power thru the day. My oldest started Kindergarten the day before surgery and since she's right next to where I work, I get to pick her up. I managed to crutch into the school to pick her up that day and every day since.

On Thursday I had another post-op followup with the doctor to remove the staples. The doctor again reiterated that I needed to keep using the sticks for another three weeks and that he would see me again on October 8th. (basically the day I am counting down to now). The knee was still swollen but he said that it was looking good and that I was doing great so far. It felt great to get the staples out. I had been looking forward to it for a few days at this point!

No more staples!

I had Friday off as part of my 9 day schedule. I had my first post-op PT session in the morning and because I can't start putting weight on the leg we started pretty simple. A lot of leg lifts and working on the flexion. The leg lifts were really hard the first couple days and have been hard. I wasn't able to lift it at all the first couple days in recovery. He gave me some pointers on how to work on a few of the exercises and everything went well. Starting over is a bit tricky considering how far I had progressed before surgery. Every day gets better. I go again today after this post gets finished.  After PT, I returned home and took it easy for the day.  At night I met up with some kickball friends and went to the WAKA end of season party.  I got voted the Prince of kickball lol. I was so confused when they said my name. All like, what's this for?? haha..

Let's Party!

Hanging with The Box!

With some of my favorite people from other teams! -- Terri is hilarious!

I always hate the last day of kickball cause I don't get to see everyone over the winter. With our team not playing Fall ball the off-season has come (and in my case especially) even quicker than I would like. But them the breaks. It is what it is to borrow an oldie but goodie.  At the end of the night I was super tired and headed home! We hung with the neighbors, the Cocoa bunch, on Saturday and on Sunday I enjoyed one of the best days of football I've had in a while.  Both of my teams (Falcons and Patriots) beat local teams and their obnoxious fans had to stick forks in their mouths by 5 o'clock.  It was glorious.

This week so far has been pretty manageable. I'm super busy at work so that has made the time go by pretty quick.  We have some fun weekend plans for Saturday so that will be nice.  And as I mentioned before, I am basically counting down the days until October 8th when he'll say that I can start putting weight on this leg.  It was tricky the first time starting to relearn how to walk after two plus weeks, I imagine it will be as tricky after four weeks. I need to keep working on flexion and getting the swelling to go down more and more. In time these things will come. Everything has gone as expected. Every day is slightly better than the previous. People at work that I see in the halls wondered why I was using two crutches after they had seen me get down to one. I had the surgery yo! No, it didn't get worse. It got fixed!  Now it just needs to heal up a bit more so I can progress towards the end goal.  It's definitely uplifting to know that there is a light at the end of this tunnel and that I'm not where I was a month ago, in a holding pattern waiting to get the surgery.  I'm staying as positive as I can. Like I said, every day is better, and new days come all the time!  I'll write again soon. I definitely missed being able to do a 5k at lunch time today with the weather cooling down.  Some day again. Some day.  I'll get there.  It may take a bit, but I'll get there.  Love you all.  Thanks for reading!

Slacking

I owe some posts. I know.  I've been thinking about them, but thinking isn't doing.  I'll try to write something more real soon and maybe post some pictures of this prettyness, but everything is going ok.  Still a bit sore at times. Still a bit swollen. Still crutching until 10/8. Started PT last Friday. Got the staples out last Thursday.  I'll write more later but have felt bad about not posting anything in a bit and figured a short update was better than the silence!  So look for my next post to talk more about what the past two weeks has been like recovering from this surgery.  Until then, have a great day!

The Surgery

Meant to write this earlier. Of course. But as I sit here watching the first weekend of NFL football I know I've already gone way way late on my deadline. I've been too lazy to do it but I've been thinking about it so hopefully this turns out ok.

Here I am Sunday, a full 4 days since having ACL reconstruction w\ hamstring graft surgery.  Right now I feel okay. I was finally able to lift my leg yesterday and it is not easy. Can't wait for another week to go by basically :)  Before that, here's a flashback to last Wednesday when I went in for the procedure.

Wednesday morning we dropped V off at school and I enjoyed a couple last chance steps before the upcoming inevitable. Into the school and out. I wish I had taken some video of how far along my progress was with walking. All I have are my memories. It'll do. I was due for arrival at the Bone & Joint Ambulatory Surgery Center at 8:30am for a 10:30am procedure.

Got there, signed papers, Sat in waiting room for about 4 minutes. Got called back. Changed into hospital gown. Got to put on a sock sleeve type thing on my non-operating leg. Just in case anyone forgets I suppose. Okay.  Confession: I wore bright red undies just in case, as well.

After getting my vitals all checked she said my blood pressure was a little high. Um, yah. I'm about to get all chopped up here! Ha. at one point the guy across from me was told that his blood pressure was abnormally low and that they may need to give him something to increase it a bit. He said that's what they had to do last time, somewhere else with something else.  Must take a lot to get that guy angry in his normal life. He probably just goes about his day not really giving a crap about much either way. Good for him.

I got the IV inserted into my left hand and of course still felt like I had to pee a million times even though the last thing I had was a big gulp of water at 10:30pm the previous night.  I think I had a brownie at about 9:00pm. That was my last food.  Sara came in and sat and waited with me shortly around 9:15am when I was already prepped and basically ready to go. I still had to pee a few times.

Nearly an hour later the anesthesiologist asked me if I could read magazines in the backseat of a moving car. Um, hm. It's been a while but I can. But it's not awesome. So no, not really.  I also confirmed that the epidural anesthesia would be fine. Typing this paragraph in is making me hazy. Just thinking these words again. Anyway, few more minutes went by and then I got the back/spine epidural put in and Sara had left before that and now I was on my back and about to go. They even asked me my name, date of birth, and procedure that I was having done.  One last time.

I got wheeled down into the operating room and wow this will sound cliche, okay maybe not. Back step - Right, by the way, before all this the anesthesiologist said that with the epidural I could watch the procedure on TV. Well, that wasn't possible either way cause I didn't have my glasses and I am so so very blind. I was blind for a couple hours during this part of the story so that doesn't make any of my abilities to take in and observe my surroundings any easier. So okay, the cliche part is... When they opened those doors and wheeled me into the actual operating room all I saw and remember was seeing like a dozen of those movable bright lights, like the ones you see at the dentist but obviously way bigger and brighter. The lights were moving all over the place. There was a whole team of people in the room too. They lifted me off the bed and into, ha, or rather, onto the operating bed or whatever. Who knows what they put me on. I sure don't. They could have tossed me down the river at that point and I probably wouldn't have cared much. I was along for whatever ride was about to happen.

I think I remember the surgeon saying hello early on but its very fuzzy. He did stop by the pre surgery staging area waiting room earlier in the day and told us he was doing three ACL surgeries that day. Jeeze. This guy. I asked which one I was and he said 2nd. I "guess" that's good. Who knows.

I don't remember much. Early on, if I had glasses, this would have been the spot where I could have watched the exploration part of the surgery on TV. I never even saw a TV. They could have had it pointed right at me and I wouldn't have known. Usually when I can't see, I just close my eyes and go to sleep. I like sleeping. So I took a little nap.

At one point, I woke up. We were most certainly not done. I couldn't feel anything. I imagine they noticed I woke up cause they gave me more of something that felt cool down my right side. That sensation started in what seemed like my right shoulder and just went down. Yeahh. Whatever. I didn't even care what was going on down there but I did think about it and knew that's why I was there. I was pretty comatose. I can't remember if my face was covered, or not covered, or how much I could actually see in the room. Maybe I tried to look at it at one point? I can't remember.  They even started banging on my leg a couple times with something. That was strange. I could definitely feel that it was a bang on my leg, but it didn't feel like anything. It was like a tap through my core with no effect. I cant even speculate as to what part of the process that may have been. It would be cool to get a copy of  the procedure on DVD if that's possible.

It seemed like from the point that I woke up until it was all over, not a lot of time went by. It could have been only 5 minutes. I'm guessing it was longer. That was so strange. When it seemed over, I thought, that's it? We're done? Ha. They rocked me off whatever it was they put me on and back onto a bed to wheel me out of there. I believe the nurse told me that I had been back there for an hour and forty minutes. Sure I was, sure I was.

My post op nurse was blonde. I'm sorry. I can't remember any of their names throughout the day. There were at least four or five of them. Five. Maybe more. Very strange post-op experience. My entire body was numb from my belly button down. I of course felt like I had to pee immediately. But I couldn't lift my legs. Either of them. I can't remember when I was given the immobilizer with ice for my right leg. It could have been immediately after, it could have been immediately before I left.  Either way, my only job at the moment was to wait until the feeling was restored in my legs. I was able to wiggle my toes. I had to pee. I was given a snack and drink. I got crackers with cheese and cranberry juice. The juice tasted great but I didn't drink all of it. My stomach felt fine as I ate the crackers. Slowly I became able to move my left leg. I was still without glasses and did my best to try to squint and see if I could see the nurse. I was directly across the nurses station and I could barely tell which one was mine. Haha. I had to pee.

They said I would start to feel the pain first in the bottom of my right leg. They were right. Ooh. Yow. Okay. This is the spot where they chopped a slab of meat off my hamstring to make a new ACL. Okay, so that's that.  A few more minutes went by and I could move my legs a little better but not good enough to get moved to the next outgoing station. I also had to pee before I could leave. Which I was totally on board with cause I really had to go!  Finally she took me to a rest room and I used a walker to get up and get to where I needed to be to do my business. I was ready! I was here... but nothing happened. haha. Maybe in a few more minutes I could go. It felt like she was waiting for me at the door, which I'm sure she was, but that doesn't make things easier for me in general. She knocked on the door and said that it was normal to be unable to at first . Half my body was just put to sleep after all. I got moved to that next phase room and just sat in a chair there. They brought Sara in and she gave me my glasses and I could see again!

They gave me some hot tea to help with the needing to go pee pee part. We waited a bit as the nurses continued to fill out more paper work in front of us. That folder was huge. At every station, the nurse had at least a half dozen to a dozen pages to fill out. Nope, they aren't paperless yet, Nope, you aren't. Who knows how much more time went by. It was around 2pm or shortly after 2pm. and it was time to try to go pee pee again. I got to the spot and was able to release. Sweet sweet glory release of pee. Wonderful.

A few more papers to sign. No more "Needs to Void" labeling for me and I was on my way. Another nurse wheel-chaired me to the car. Again she seemed to be going really fast, but for all I know it was a slow ride. I managed to get into the car and we went home. I got into the house and onto the couch. (Where yes, I've spent most of my time since, haha. jerk).

It all didn't exactly feel wonderful that first night home. Definitely worse than when I first got injured. It's been one of the stranger things, the feeling that it feels worse, but it's fixed, it just needs time to actually heal now.  I think I need to wrap this post up now though and talk about the first couple days after surgery in another post. I also had a followup with the doctor the day after surgery that also went well, but I've mostly been chilling since getting home. Each day is better than the previous. I'm able to straighten it good and flex my quads somewhat. I'm nervous about bending it. I can some. I was planning to try to go into the office tomorrow but I'm not sure. The doctor said I can drive when I feel comfortable doing so. Right now I can barely lift my leg and I'm still taking pain killers so I can't drive quite yet either way. Sara is willing to drop me off at work but we'll see. It's all a big hassle. I know. I'll just continue to wait and be patient until it all gets better. It will get better. It will.

Look at me, I'm ready for you to cut this knee.

Night Before Surgery

Here we are!  I go in for surgery tomorrow at 8:30 and the operation is at 10:30.  I'll be getting my ACL reconstructed with a hamstring graft from the same leg.

I'm trying to take mind snap shots of how this feels right now so I can remember after tomorrow morning. I know I'll be restarting my recovery to a degree but at least I'll have a new ligament to teach and train instead of these fizzled out torn up ends.  I keep forgetting to post an image from the MRI, maybe next time :)

It's been nice to sort of be able to walk the past couple weeks. It's been nice to be able to carry things around as I move around with one crutch. I'm not exactly looking forward to returning to two crutches and a backpack for my thoughts but it'll be alright.  Every day will get easier. And once I'm on the other side of this I'll at least have an end in sight instead of a peak and a valley to get through.

Oh right, as for the kickball playoffs. We did what we typically do. Win our first. Lose our second. It's been a couple seasons now since we got to the finals. It just makes me itch harder and harder to return. Next Spring?, maybe but maybe not. Next Summer?, hopefully. It all depends on how the rehab goes. I plan to stick to the script and not push too hard too fast and not take it easy when I'm not supposed to. I've been doing my pre-surgery exercises multiple times daily and like I've said, I've been walking (albeit gimpily) for a while so it's definitely getting used.

So this is it!  This is the big night!  No food or drink starting pretty soon and I'll head in for that surgery in the morning!  #somanyexclamationpoints lol.  It's all good.  Of course I'm nervous, but I know it will go fine. Just the typical anxiety I have about everything ever.  Hopefully my next few posts after surgery are written in a way that makes sense.  I was going to write sensical but apparently that's not a word. That's nonsensical to me. English, gotta love it.   Anyway, I wish I could write how this feels now in a way that would capture it but language is limiting. There's no way to describe it. I can only hope that my rambling will trigger the memory in my head like certain smells do occasionally or when certain songs remind you of a time period of your life.

Anyway, enough chat. Time for more hat!  Let's do this. Go ahead, fix me up docs!  See you on the other side!

Playoffs!

Kickball playoffs start tonight. This will be tough to watch too :)  We managed to finish the season at 6-3 (2-3 after my injury) to hold onto the #6 seed.

We face Faces Loaded @ 6:30pm tonight in Lincoln Park. The lineup is locked and loaded and we are looking forward to our rematch.  We won 15-5 when we played them previously this season and it was the last full game I was able to play.

If we are able to squeak past Faces Loaded, we will once again (in all likelihood) face off again against There's No Crying In Kickball. They knocked us out of the Spring playoffs (and are the Spring season champions) and beat us in a closely contested match up a few weeks ago. Assuming we win our first game and they win theirs, we will hope to finally knock them down a peg.

If we are able to win both games, we will advance to the semifinals next Thursday. If that's the case I am giving myself about a 2% chance of even making it to the game as I will be a day removed from surgery and not very interested in moving at all. But I'm not ruling it out. Let's hope The Box wins so I have to think about it all week.

There's no clear cut favorite here. Loaded Faces is good but not that good. Dr*nk again got lucky against us last week when we were missing 11 players. Crying is good. Menace's defense is really good and they score in bunches. son of a pitch can beat anyone. Wham Bam has two great pitchers. Can't count out Home Run or BUST. Balldozers is a solid team from the limited number of times I've seen them in action. Manatee and Whi$key are better than their records. Let's do this!

Wish I could play, but I can't so I'm looking forward to seeing how it all shakes out.  Someone better tell me how it goes next week man.

Click to expand these....

Surgery Date Set

Had doctor followup this morning. He was happy with my straightening, bending, and walking progress. We set a next Wednesday date (9/9) for the surgery so that I could come back in for that followup and see him before his end of month vacation. Sounds good. Let's do it.

Once I have the surgery, I'll have a couple more weeks on crutches before I can start getting back to where I am now. Each step I take forward before then will help me after the surgery.

Let's chat more hat, let's do it.

Monday Morning Walk And Talk II

Big News, on Friday I was able to take my first steps.  This is huge!  I'm not exactly walking around yet but I have been able to transition to one crutch and it has made a huge difference already.

I'm going to keep this short for now and maybe I'll circle back later to expand a bit. We lost Thursday night to finish the season 6-3. It was a pretty bad game for us and playoffs start this week. Let's bounce back. I went and watched my work's company softball team win their championship Friday night. Sara and the girls went to PA for the weekend and left me home alone. My sister moved to the area Saturday and some great friends of mine were able to help. My Aunt Maria visited Saturday night in between traveling back to Rochester. The girls came back yesterday afternoon.

All in all it was a great weekend and being able to hobble around with one crutch now is making some things much easier. I have a followup with the doctor tomorrow and I suspect we'll set a surgery date. As many steps forward as I can take between now and then the better. That way when the surgery knocks me back a few steps I won't have as far to go.  Lets do this.

Relearning To Walk

Relearning how to walk has been one of the more interesting and challenging experiences of my life. I injured myself on July 30th and put hardly any weight on my right leg for 2+ weeks. On August 17th after my followup with the doctor, he advised that I start putting weight on the leg. (still wish I had bumped that appointment up earlier since I had a two week gap after the MRI was done and that but oh well).

I started physical therapy on August 19th and learned the initial set of exercises I needed to work on to strengthen up the rest of my leg. Some people do not need surgery as a result of this injury if they are able to walk and are not trying to play sports. For me, I've always played sports and I know I'll need the surgery to return. In the meantime I needed to work on regaining leg strength to be able to walk. Quad strength being a lot of the focus.

Before the PT appointment on Wednesday, I worked on crutch walking Monday and Tuesday. It made quite a difference. Before, I had to use all upper body to get from place A to place B. Now, I could sort of walk, albeit with the aide of the crutches and pretty slowly. But it was a start!

I was slightly nervous for the PT since I knew there would be some bending of the leg in ways it may have not been quite comfortable yet. And it did. But it wasn't so bad. I did some knee bending and some leg lifting. I was given a print out of the exercises to work on and left with the homework assignment of doing those three times a day. Not too bad. He also said I need to ice it down every night which I had not been doing.

On Thursday I asked Matt if he wanted to do a lap outside. Fresh air breaks at work has been a daily ritual for us to take a step away from our desks, breathe in the good air, and stretch our legs a bit. It had been almost three weeks since I was able to take a lap around the property and I was ready to snap that streak. One lap around the entire premise is a half mile, so it's a decent amount of distance. We did it, slowly, but it felt good. Later Thursday I went to my kickball game and the bars afterward to celebrate victory and at the end of the day my fitbit "printed" out a 3.47 mile for the day. I had gotten up to 2 miles a couple times before but this was my best day so far.

Of course with that being said, I was pretty sore for the rest of the weekend. It got tricky doing the exercises at times. A couple nights over the weekend I did wake up in the night with it not feeling so awesome. A couple It's Always Sunny episodes were quality medicine as I was able to transfer some brain energy to laugh at those idiots. That helped. I had to buy four new tires Friday morning for my car to pass inspection. That didn't help. We had a pizza party Saturday night with some friends. That helped. (Thank you again Sara for making the pizzas). And generally, I took it pretty easy over the weekend. I wasn't able to go to Magnaball (wasn't planning to), but I watched the live streams each night and that was super awesome! All three nights were fantastic. The boys are on fire.

Yesterday I went for my second PT appointment. I was able to use the stationary bike. I got full rotation on the pedals but wasn't able to pedal all that fast. That was nice. I showed him how I had been walking on crutches and told him I over did it on Thursday. He asked me to show him how I walked without crutches and I just stood there. Not quite ready for that. I'm hesitant because I don't want to fall. I'm slightly hesitant to somehow make this worse before it's repaired. I haven't tried without crutches yet so yeah I'm a bit nervous about that. He showed me a couple new exercises I can do now to work on shifting my weight from side to side (formerly my goto dance move) and extending up from my tippy toes distributing the weight evenly. I'll work on those and try to attempt some without crutches walking at some point.

To a lot of people, having PT before surgery seems a little different, but I understand why. I need to strengthen everything else up in my right leg prior to surgery so that after surgery that strength is still there while my new ACL gets ready to take over it's functions.

The doctor had said last week that I didn't need to wear the leg brace all the time so I've been keeping it off when I'm just at home.

I have another followup with the doctor next week and another PT appointment this week. Hopefully by next week the doctor likes the progress he sees. My daughter starts Kindergarten on the 8th and I do not want to miss that, but they are welcomed to open me up the following week if everything looks good to them.

Relearning to walk is one of the weirdest things I've ever done. I don't recommend you try it.

Wham Bam Right In The Box

I'll keep this short cause no one wants to read a 20 page kickball game write up!

This week's matchup vs Wham Bam Thank You Clam was a game I had been looking forward to all season. We love playing against Clam, especially when we beat them. It had been a while. Alan was missing from the game but their two headed pitching monster of Rich & Hank were both there. As long as Jesse made it to our game, I had planned to let him roll the entire thing. Wham Bam was undefeated this season. Heck, they were undefeated last season. The only game they lost was the Spring championships.

Craig somehow won the rock paper scissors. We held serve and kept them scoreless in the first. Jimmy lead off and got on base. Mike bunted and got thrown out at first. Jimmy got to third and the defense attempted to make a play. The ball scattered into left field and he got up and got home. 1-0.

The score stayed 1-0 until the top of the 4th. With 1 out and runners on 1st and 3rd Wham Bam popped up to Jesse at the mound and he reacted and tried to get the runner at first out before she could get back to the base. The ball got her square in the back and it was close, but she had already gotten back. The runner on third scored as a result. It was a close play and he knew the run was on him. 1-1.

In the bottom of the 4th Alex lead off and got on base. Jimmy and Mike followed and got on base. Bases loaded. No outs. Steve showed that he was human by ripping the ball to the monster and getting out. A couple feet to the left or right and that would have been two runs! The impressive part of the play was Alex not leaving third and getting tagged out as a result of the play. Alex received 2 box points on the spot for not leaving the base and not getting out. Craig knocked in Alex on the next play and we were up 2-1.

Jesse and the defense played two more great innings and we ended up winning 2-1. Jimmy played the full game at catcher as well. They both could have used a break during that game but sometimes you gotta just ride your horses to water instead of bringing water to your horses.

We hung for quite a bit after the game and our team made appearances at both bars. I've been able to crutch walk as of this week which has been interesting and I'll be writing a post about that soon, (I'm trying to play catch up here!). All in all, I put 3.5 miles on the fitbit thursday. It was a good day!  And we Wham Bam'd Them Right In The Box.

Miss Daisy at the wheel

Steph and Joel loving it

Alex trying to figure out the Box Point to Ball Point conversion.

Jimmy & Jay celebrating the Box success

Chris and Jesse after Jesse superb outing!

The Box @ lionheart! 

Camping

Meant to post about this earlier in the week, but hey better late than never!

Last weekend we joined Carrie and Kevin @ Whetstone Gulf State Park to camp! Originally we had 2 nights in mind, but switched to one night after my mobility situation got a bit altered. It seemed manageable.

We left and arrived early Saturday morning. It was a couple miles down the road from Snow Ridge Ski Area in Turin, New York where moe.down is held. Kevin, Carrie, their little girls, Kevin's brother Jay, and Carrie's sister-in-law Kristen were there to greet us.  Yay we made it. The girls didn't rest on the drive at all. And it was time to get out of the car.

It was a great day. I started off with some insurance studying and put that down after a few minutes. Carrie, Jay, Kristen and her dog went hiking. Sara, Kevin, and the kids went to check out the beach. Our camp sites were pretty sweet. We were right in between the beach and the bathrooms.

I crutched over to the beach after a couple minutes of hanging back and sat in the chair to watch. After a bit we went back for lunch. We returned to the beach later in the afternoon and the kids played for a long time. After dinner and much fire action and Jay's nighttime story to the girls, it got darker and darker. Darkness and sleeping proved to be an interesting experience.

In the morning we played and packed up our site. Sara was my true MVP for the weekend packing up all of our stuff in the car and helping me when I needed things. We vacated our camp sites and then went to the beach for a couple hours. The girls were worn out and fell asleep pretty quick on the ride home. I survived. Ha.

Our campsite. Our red tent is on the left!

We'll save this hike for another time :)  They had signs posted advising to stay off trail after 3pm. 

Sand action!

Pretty quiet little spot! :) 

Marsh it up!

Time to head home!

Group shot!

More playing before we leave!

Whetstone Gulf State Park Map

MRI Results Followup

Meniscus is good. PCL is normal. ACL is completely torn. Lateral meniscus looks okay. Still a good amount of fluid in there which is creating the tightness disallowing me to bend it completely.  I need to work on getting the motion back.

Not everyone needs to have surgery. There are three groups of people. Some live their entire life not knowing the ACL was torn at one point. Another group of people can walk but can't trust it during sports. The third group of people have a knee that buckles when they walk and need to have surgery. I feel like I fall in this third group but I haven't really tested it out much since the injury.

It's to my favor that the meniscus is not damaged.

The biggest risk for the surgery is the stiffness.  Near normal range of motion is preferred prior to that.  The plan is now to start PT and work on the motion.

So that's where I am now. In need of finding a qualified physical therapist close to me. I need to start putting some weight on it.

Here's the actual analysis of the MRI:

EXAMINATION: Right knee MRI without contrast
CLINICAL INFORMATION: Jumped and landed awkwardly on 7/30/2015; felt pop and the knee buckled; persistant pain and swelling; difficulty with weightbearing; no improvement with conservative treatment; evaluate for anterior cruciate ligament tear.
TECHNIQUE: A routine right MRI exam was obtained.
COMPARISON: None.
FINDINGS: The body and posterior horn of the medial meniscus demonstrate a poorly defined globular region of mild/moderate increased internal proton density and T2 signal intensity. There is no associated disruption of the overlying meniscal articular surfaces. The anterior horn of the medial meniscus is unremarkable.
The lateral meniscus is normal in configuration and patterns of signal intensity.
The anterior cruciate ligament demonstrates moderately severe diffuse abnormal irregular oval thickening, diffuse moderately severe increased T2 signal intensity and a severe irregular wavy configuration.
The posterior cruciate ligament, the medial and lateral collateral ligaments, the iliotibial band, the biceps femoris tendon, the popliteus tendon, the infrapatellar ligament and the visualized region of the quadriceps tendon are intact.
There is a large right knee joint effusion. There is no definitely evidence of intracapsular loose bodies. There is a moderate medial synovial plica.
There is apartially fused secondary ossification center at the superior-lateral margin of the patella. The overlying articular cartliage is intact.
There is slight impaction of the central osteochondral surface of the lateral femoral condyle associated with moderately severe underlying subchondral intraosseous inflammation/edema.
There is mild/moderate poorly define increases subchondral intramedullary T2 signal intensity involving the posterior half the tibial plateau, lateral greater than medial. There is no assicated significant depression of the overly osteochondral surface.
All three compartments of the right knee joint are well-maintained. The visualized osseous structures are otherwise normal in configuration and patters of signal intensity for the patient's age.
There is mild to severe superficial and deep soft tissue inflammation/edema overlying all regions of the right knee. The visualized soft tissues are otherwise unremarkable.
IMPRESSION:
1. There is a large right knee joint effusion.
2. There is evidence of an acute, complete tear of the anterior cruciate ligament.
3. While the body and posterior horn of the medial meniscus demonstrate evidence of mild internal degeneration, there is no evidence of an associated linerar medial meniscal tear.
4. There is a slightly impacted osteochondral fracture involving the central region of the lateral femoral condyles associated with moderately severe underlying subchondral intraosseous inflammation/edema.
5. There is a mild/moderate diffuse osseous contusion involving the posterior half of the tibial plateau, lateral greater than medial. There is no associated significant depression of the overlying osteochondral surface.
6. There is a moderate medial synovial plica.
7. There is evidence of a developmental bipartite patella.
8. There is a mild to severe superficial and deep soft tissue inflammation/edema overlying all regions of the right knee.

The Box's Resolve

I had hoped to write a different story this morning, but we came up short in our much anticipated rematch against the team that knocked us out of last season's playoffs and went on to win the Spring League. However, not without some drama!

Yesterday was a beautiful day for kickball. I parked in a handicap spot and click clacked my way over to the field. Jennie and Brendan helped me with my chair and crutches while I shimmied down that hill. We watched Menance and Ballhawks play and listened to Ballhawks's terrible music. The sun was shining. The weather was sweet. Like everything else it made me want to move my dancing feet.  Oh wait, that's Bob Marley, and not what Ballhawks were playing. I'll just leave it at that. We assembled and were ready for our rematch against There's No Crying In Kickball.

I lost the rock paper scissors to Anthony as he did not respect Craig's authoritah. His regular catcher Pat wasn't there so he took over catching duties and left the pitching to Muscles. Flash backing to when we lost in Spring to this team, I was mighty impressed Anthony's arm didn't fall off when he pitched 19 innings to lead his team to a Spring League victory. I would have liked to win Spring of course, but I wasn't sad that I didn't pitch 19 that day.

Anyway, we lead off the game but didn't put anything on the board. They scored 1 in the bottom of the first. Craig had told me earlier in the week that his shoulder didn't feel right after his Tuesday night game. He didn't look too comfortable out there but wanted the ball in his hands. Know the feeling. The second inning went scoreless as Jesse rolled it in there nice and tight.

We broke through in the top of the 3rd as Dave crossed the plate on a Mike Silver RBI. Cool, tie game. In the bottom of the third the wheels fell off our wagon. The walls of our pool collapsed. The tetris pieces came too fast. The grinds got all up in the fresh coffee. The blue screen of death shut your computer down before you could save your term paper. The phone stopped charging. Craig walked a couple girls and was clearly struggling with his shoulder. Crying started scoring runs. We got risky in the field on a play where the ball dropped into left center and then our defense started throwing the ball around, allowing baserunners to advance even further. Things got a bit ugly there. We managed to scrape out a few outs but the damage was done. Crying put up 5 and now we were down 6-1. Craig's day pitching was done as he was clearly in pain.

"Don't take my picture" - Craig

The next two innings went scoreless thanks to great defense and great pitching from Jesse. It's great to have Jesse back. We got on base a couple times but weren't able to get one across the plate. We had to take an automatic out at the end of our lineup due to only having three girls (you need four).

Ercan makes a great play! And she's out!

Sarah R lead off the top of the sixth and got on base. Steve got on base after. Craig popped out. Alex got on and pushed Sarah across home. Ercan got on and Steve scored. Still only 1 out but now we are only down 6-3. Jimmy sacrificed allowing Alex to score. 6-4, 2 outs. Dave safely reached base. Jay safely reached base. Mike Dengler safely reached base and Ercan scored. 6-5! Oh right, Jay and Dengler both got walked as Muscles started having issues finding the strike zone. When Dengler got walked, which allowed a run, Muscles got super pissed about the ball calls at Rob (Menace) who was reffing. I guess that was the drama part I promised. Anthony took over pitching and got Silver to pop out ending the game and securing the Crying win. We shook hands and congratulated them on their victory.

Afterward, many of us went to Cafe to hang for a bit. Thanks Steph for driving me to the door (and back to my car after!). It was super great to hang for a bit. Cafe was crutchable enough. Topics of conversation included, rotated, and weren't limited to things like Fall league, Box Soccer team, Chris wanting another blog post, how close we came in our game today and how much we wanted to win that one, Jay being all sad faced, dirtyness and the lack of dirtyness, knee machines, apple being the devil, fried green beans, when the next party is going to be, who are we playing next week, and a bunch of other things. Harrison even joined us for a bit. It was great to hang for a bit!

The Box!

That's all I got. We showed resolve. We can come back from being down. We've got the undefeated Wham Bam next week so that should be interesting. It still sucks not being able to play but being able to hang with my friends makes it manageable.

I managed to log 2 miles on the fitbit yesterday and that seemed like an accomplishment, even though 5-8 used to be the normal. This is the new normal. Other than this kickball recap the week went fine. Had a couple far away meetings but I'm getting a little more used to dragging myself around. We're going camping this weekend so that should be interesting. And I've got that follow up appointment Monday morning which is all I've been waiting for since getting the MRI done on the 3rd.

At this point, I just want to have a game plan so I can start attacking this. This will get tougher before it gets easier. That's my expectation. Sooner I get there, the sooner I can get past.

Thanks for checking in. I know everything doesn't revolve around me. But inside my giant head, to me, this is all a pretty drastic thing. I expect to have to click clack crutch for several more weeks but I can't wait until the day comes where I don't have to. Obviously.  Someday that day will come, until then, you'll hear me coming from a ways away. In my case at least, the thunder comes before the lightning.

Have a great weekend! Let's hang out again real soon!

Suzy & Larry

Suzy & Larry They're my guys If they can't do it I certainly can't Suzy & Larry Wherever they go I go too and so do they If Suzy & Larry Can't do it Neither can I Suzy & Larry By my side All day long and All night too Suzy & Larry Are some real cool dudes

Monday Morning Walk And Talk

Kind of like Monday Morning Quarterback but without the quarterbacking or walking.  Just a quick check in here.

I guess I went in the wrong door Friday morning when I went to the town clerk for my handicapped parking permit. There I went in the door, only to find 8 steps between me and where I needed to be. Irony. But no problem. I can do nice and easy stone and concrete steps. Got my red temporary car parking thing and went home. Off from work, this was my big adventure for the day.

Saturday we visited with Nancy and Andy and it was super nice to get out of the house for an afternoon. I'm finding that most places are handicapped accessible enough. With a little grease under these arms (actually that'd be bad), anything is accomplishable. I got some sun and watched my kids play in the pool, even though my view was impeded by a bare chested Andy sunbathing at times.

Yesterday's big adventure was a trip to Joe Bruno Stadium to catch the Hudson Valley Valley Cats take on the Lowell Spinners. I ran the Fathers Day Home Run 5k in June which gave me four free tickets to any game. The box office gave us tickets for section 320 which was way down the right field line. Okay. After five innings of sitting in the sun and staring at the sun we moved to behind the third base dugout and into the shade. The home team won and we got to see a couple home runs and double plays. The best part was at the end of the day last night when my fitbit only gave me two stars for all this efforting. Some day I'll get five stars again, someday.

Couple quick comments and observations I've learned during my 10+ days of no walking.
-- I have learned to appreciate dry hands above almost everything else. I typically do not mind washing them and letting them air dry, but these days I've really got to take a minute and make sure they are completely dry.
-- People aren't mind readers. And that's ok. I've got to just ask for things. I'm not used to it.
-- Pockets and backpacks are crucial. I can't carry anything. But I sure can if I have somewhere to put it!
-- I say thanks a lot because I am very thankful, but I've really stepped up my 'thanks game' the past couple weeks. I'll continue to be thankful. Most all people are very helpful. It's nice. Yes, there's a lot of inconsiderate people in the world but let's not give all of mankind the thumbs down quite yet!
-- I took a shower Saturday night and my daughter asked me if I just got back from a run. I wish honey, I wish. They understand I'm injured and that they need to be helpful, but they do not understand why it's not magically fixed yet.
-- The past day or so my right knee has really wanted to do stuff. It's a little tired of just sitting here, but that's it's job now. Like it or not!
-- My left leg is going to be great at pivoting in basketball when this is all done. This is the training it's always wanted I suppose.

Otherwise, all things considered, everything is going well. I'm anxious to hear what the doctor has to say next Monday and don't like waiting but it's all part of the process. Patience!

You've got to crawl before you can walk.
You've got to stand before you can step.

Have a great week, I'll post again soon!

keyword being temporary!

It's a Walk Off!

After a tiring journey to that far away place for an afternoon meeting I regained some stamina and drove down to Lincoln Park after work. I shimmied down the hill while Ercan carried my chair. Some of my favorite people from other teams came over and checked on me. Their support means a lot to me. We're one big kickball family.

My team, like always, began to slowly assimilate as we were about to face off against the team that runs the league, All About That Base.  Scouting report like always with them is to be mindful of the base runners and don't kick it to Elyse in left field :). They will keep running. It's best to get the ball back to the pitcher and force the play to stop! It only looked like they had 4 players from their original squad, but still.

They won the rock paper scissors and elected to be the away team like always. The game started out slow. My other main pitcher was unavailable for the game. My main monster/shortstop player was also unavailable due to injury.  We just got word earlier in the day that the other girl on my team that got knee bonked by a bulldozer girl in the game before the game I got hurt, found out her diagnose. Torn ACL & MCL. Ouch! We're not having great luck this season in the injury department!

Craig took over pitching and pitched fantastic. Earlier in the day he officially became our team's co-captain which is something I certainly needed to suss out sooner than later. He's fully capable, able, and willing which were my three conditions. I've got faith in him to keep the ship afloat and on taget.

All About That Base's lead off runners got on base each time they were up but he managed to pitch out of those jams every time. It stunk not being able to go out there and throw but I was happy to give Craig the opportunity to roll, an opportunity he always clamors for when he plays for my team and I subsequently hog all the innings. Ha. He's fully capable throwing it. He might not have the corkscrew english I put on my pitch, but he's got the bounce which can be trickier to kick anyway.

The game was tied 1-1 for many innings. We play 6 inning games. In the bottom of the 6th we were unable to break thru. In the bottom of the 7th we were unable to break thru.  If we are still tied after 8 innings we go to a kick off. A kick off is where one player kicks from home plate, and the closest kick to second base wins the game. Let's not do that. I believe our team has only had to do that once or twice since I've played.

In the bottom of the 8th, Steve Rodway (batting .826 this season) lead off and got on base. Craig kicked a moon ball to the pitcher for the first out. Jay got on base but got hung up on the base paths when Frank kicked and ended up out at second. With two outs, Steve on third, Frank on first, Alex came to the plate. Get a kick Alex. Just get a kick. Alex poked it into right field and that was that!  We won!! Walk off style!!

The win felt good. It was much needed for our team.  There was a couple B.S. calls and I may have ran my mouth a tiny bit but it all worked out in the end. There was an obstruction call at first base made against us at one point and not called the same way against the other team. I know these things happen and I can relate since I ref a lot, but it did feel annoying that it wasn't called consistently.

Craig pitched all 8 innings and only allowed 1 run. Frank and Steve do what they do and got on base nearly every time they were up. Alex went 3-3 and delivered the timely hit at the end.  Dave and Steve played a great two headed monster at short/monster.  Only one ball dropped due to 'lack of calling it' which is how they scored the only run.  All in all, a good game for us to get back to our winning ways and show us that we can do this without some of our key players.  I was proud :)  Elyse even dropped one in the outfield and I've never seen that in my 6 years playing WAKA Kickball!

After the game my team enjoyed watching and videoing me scooting backwards up the hill.  Hey at least I can still make people happy with my infectiously awesome attitude about life! Most of my team went to celebrate at Cafe Hollywood. I went home. I'm not quite ready for that full crutchlife out and about on the town and I hadn't yet got my handicap parking permit for my car.

It was great to get out and see everybody even if I had to just watch. This is what I do now, I recap our games. Lol. Even if the walk off win was more of a scoot off for me, it felt really good to win!

The Box celebrates victory!

The DL

The week has been going by relatively smoothly as I await my follow up appointment. I'm getting slightly better with the crutches and have been doing a good chunk of reading.

Tonight will be interesting as I'll have my first kickball game on the disabled list.  I still haven't figured out who will assume some of my captain duties but hopefully after tonight someone will volunteer.  I plan to get to the games and set my lineups, but there could very likely be a point where I physically can not. I'm more concerned about how I will shimmy down the short hill to get to the actual field tonight than setting a perfect lineup. Should be interesting. I'll probably end up asking that all our games get moved to Field 5 so I don't have to do go very far after this week. Maybe. 

We play the team that runs the league tonight. They're beatable but only if we limit our mistakes. I've got plenty of back up players to take over for me. Perhaps my team can rally the rest of the season, the old fashion way, and win it all for the disabled captain.  That'd be just great, if we win this season, and I don't even get to play.  Oh well, I'd still be happy, even if my heart is just not into it right now.  We've got a lot of work to do to get to that point.  First things first.

MRI

Okay quick last post and I'll be all caught up for now.

I got a call Monday on my way home from work at about 5pm. She said I was approved by insurance for the MRI and that they had an opening that night at 6pm. Naturally, I said, let's do it.

Sara got home and wasn't exactly expecting the quick change of plan. It was downpouring. We scurry'd the girls (yes, that's what you have to do with two little girls ages 3 and 5) into the car as quick as we could. And pushed off for my new favorite place Bone & Joint.

I got into the MRI pretty quickly and got to sit in Bessy for 20 minutes. First time getting an MRI.  It was interesting. I was given ear plugs and basically meditated listening to the sweet sounds of that MRI taking its image slices of my knee. Bessy was basically singing a song to me. And I listened.

Thankfully I only had to put my legs into that thing.  I'm hoping to avoid having to go in the other way anytime in the future.

After a bit I was all done, given the disc, and we headed home. We stopped at Moe's and V got to eat the only food on her food chain, quesadillas, so naturally she was happy.  M finally got over the fact that daddy buckled her seat belt when we left from the MRI and put a smile on her face.

So now the initial appointment is done, and the MRI is done. I just have to wait for the next appointment to hear what the doctor has to say. I mean, I can see what I think I see on the images, but I'm not a doctor.

Otherwise, the knee feels kneey.  I'm not putting any weight on it and don't want to. Thankfully I can move my leg around and I can bend it and straighten it pretty decently.  It is what it is, amiright.

Added 2015-08-17: MRI Results Followup

Getting Around

Took it easy for the weekend, oh wait no I didn't. We had a team party Saturday night and I hopped around until 6am!  Getting around is proving to be not exactly an easy thing. I'm new to this crutches game but need to get better and better.

I've been able to put pressure on my foot, just can't stand on it. I can tap it and move it around. I needed to see if I could drive, so I gave that a try on Sunday.  Drove down to the pool area and watched my kids play in the sprinkler for a bit. Driving seems possible now, but I wouldn't want to exactly have to slam on the brakes. I'm just going to be extra cautious and typically only drive the 1 mile to work and back.

Monday at work was a learning experience. I laughed when I saw my first calendar entry for the day. The 9am company wide wellness walk that occurs on the first Monday of each month. Yeah, skipping that. I had another meeting that morning at 1030am in the, let's just call it the far away place from here out. I left super early, with my backpack of course, and headed over to the far away place. Stopped at the rest room and was still 10 minutes early.

It wasn't easy but once I got going with the crutches it wasn't too bad. What I dislike is, "crutching" with my head down. I like to walk and look at where I'm walking, not at my feet. Oh well. I've kind of adapted the attitude of, I'm handicapped, you watch out for me, I'll make sure I don't fall view so far. It won't work all the time, I've still got to be aware, but for now I'm making sure I am not falling by concentrating on my crutch placement.

I like to blend in. I'm sure people know my walk, and when I'm walking by. But now, I'm the guy with crutches. I stand out like a crying baby and you can hear me coming from that far away place.

It's new though. I'll adjust. I'll get better. In the back of my mind I know that the more adjusting I can do pre-surgery, the better. I know it will be a different story immediately after. The better I get now will help tremendously then.

For now so far, I get around. It just takes forever and I really have to limit my trips and think about them before I do to maximize their efficiency.  Be happy you can walk if you are reading this.  I'd like to plug my phone in right now, but it's a process.

I'll talk about it more in a future post, but since we're talking about getting around, up until last week I was averaging 15-20 miles a week running for the past 16 months straight. I'm used to going for a run when I have any free time. I became a runner and am registered for two half marathons this fall (in sept, and oct).

Slightly burying the lead here, three posts deep and at the end of the third but aside from the day to day living, missing kickball sucks, but missing being able to run every day basically sucks more.  I skipped the day of my game and the day before after finishing my second August challenge on Tuesday.  I was just about to heat up in my training and was enjoying running in the summer heat. I ran 5ks on my lunch break!