Tuesday, August 26, 2008

Victory!

It was a fabulous day.  I went to physical therapy this morning and was so excited because my knee has been doing so well this last week.  It is as if this last week was the turning point.  I am still a ways from 100%, but I am doing so much better.  It is great.  So I really pushed myself at PT and everyone was impressed.  Yeah.  And then I went to see my doctor.  He was very pleased with my progress.  So much so that I don't have to come back unless I have concerns.  He did reiterate to me that 2/3 of people recover with PT, whereas the other 1/3 continue to have problems or dislocate again and require surgery of some sort.  Here is hoping that I am in the majority.  He even said I can start getting back into normal activities, as tolerated of course.  And I can go back to work (part time to start).  I am so glad that things have turned for the better.  And he said I don't really need to wear my brace unless I am in a situation that is high risk for my knee.  Good bye brace!  I haven't really been wearing it anyway, it is just that now I have the doctor's approval.  After almost 5 weeks I am back.  And it feels good.  I still have 2-3 months before I am back to where I started, but at least I am closer.  Much much closer.

Saturday, August 23, 2008

Movie Review: Mummy 3

I saw this last night.  Not my favorite.  The first 45 minutes were essentially an introduction.  Too much intro for my taste.  And, it was rather predictable.  The good news, they did not take themselves too seriously, since it was rather cheesy.  I did laugh a few times, mostly in moments that were not intended to be comedic.  And the previews were good.  I kinda want to see the new movie with Vin Diesel now.  And Rent is coming to theaters only in September.  Wait a second, didn't Rent come out a few years ago.  Yes.  Yes it did.  The difference, this time it is an actual broadway recording and has an appearance by the original cast.  Hmm.  And then there is Disaster Movie.  Reminiscent of Scary Movie, don't you think.  Apparently they have also made Date Movie and Epic Movie.  Although I haven't seen any of these, and don't intend on seeing Disaster Movie, I do remember laughing more during the preview for Disaster Movie than all of The Mummy. 
Not a great reflection on the movie if the previews have a more lasting impression than the feature presentation.
2 stars.

Thursday, August 21, 2008

Speed walking to the max

I have become somewhat of an olympic nut. This is mostly due to the fact that I am currently a cripple and have nothing better to do with my time that watch 24 hours a day of olympics. So what to my wondering eyes did appear last night? Olympic Walking. Yes, you read that right. My dad called me to tell me to look at channel 23 for some great entertainment. It was quickly decided that this would be my new calling. It is kindof sad, see everyone is racing but not really going as fast as they could. It almost hurts to watch them want to catch up, but not able to because they aren't allowed to run. Just a quick jog would take them to the front of the pack. I am not even asking for a sprint, just a quick jog.
Basics of the race:
- 20km (excessively too long)
- you must only walk
- it is all in the hips
- apparently this is another sport in which you only wear your underwear. It seems that with such a long race that you would want something that would prevent possible chafing.
- at the end you fall over. (I kid you not, pretty much everyone did this).
- it is very anticlimactic since it takes several kilometers to actually catch up with someone. No surprise endings here.
I remember speed walking with my roommate our freshman year.  We walked to the library.  It was awesome.

Next sport to watch: Trampoline.

Monday, August 11, 2008

Generalized state of my life.

I guess I should update on the knee saga.  I started physical therapy last week.  I did not cry when I hurt myself or during any of those days that things hurt so bad right at the beginning.  I did, however, cry during PT.  I think the difference is that it was self-imposed pain.  I have to do about 45 minutes of PT twice each day.  It hurts and makes my knee swell.  I am not sure if it is productive or not.  I think I am getting some strength back.  I have walked up stairs a couple times normally (while holding tight to the handrail and experiencing some pain).  Down stairs is a completely different story.

After PT last week I went over to get my new patellar brace.  The PA came in to look at my knee briefly to determine if the swelling is down enough for the new brace.  No, it is not.  I did get scolded for not wearing my immobilizer.  I don't like it.  It slides down and rests on my knee cap which happens to be painful.  He said that unless I am on very familiar ground I should be wearing my immobilizer.  I sometimes follow his advice.  I just don't like it.  I try to be very careful.  The swelling seems to be down a little, I am hoping to be able to get my new brace sometime this week.  Here's hoping.

The bruising is down quite a bit.  I don't look nearly as yucky.

I wore heels to church yesterday.  That was probably a bad idea, but they looked cute with my outfit.  I think I will stick with flats for a while longer.  In good news, I have become friends with all sorts of new people because everyone wants to talk about my leg.  They may be using me for my entertainment value.  We will have to see.

In other news, one of my best friends got married this weekend, and it was absolutely wonderful.  I went up to Idaho for the wedding.  I caught the bouquet.  I think this is number three.  Third time's a charm, right?

Friday, August 01, 2008

Happy happy day

I went to the doctor today and it was all good news.  I don't have to have surgery, unless I injure it again (more than once a decade).  Also, I am going to start physical therapy next week to get my strength back.  In the mean time I am clear to move it as much as I can tolerate.  I just watched most of a movie with it bent 90 degrees!  And, next monday or wednesday (depending on how fast the swelling goes away) I will get a special patellar brace that will hold my knee cap in place.  And it will allow me to bend my knee and walk and everything.  Yeah!  I still have a while to go to get my strength back since I stretched/tore a bunch of ligaments.  The pain is getting much less, which is wonderful.  And the swelling is down enough that you can actually tell that I have a knee cap in there somewhere.
It was a good day.