7 weeks post op

I had two instances of my knee buckling/jamming during my trip to Seattle, but was reassured that it was likely just due to some muscle fatigue from all the extra walking I was doing. I did definitely give my knee a workout with all the walking. Seattle is a beautiful city.

Things are going well in PT. I am starting to feel some more strength in my planks, though they are still hard as heck. Today's new exercise was hamstring curls with the exercise ball. I remember watching a patient do those during my second PT session and saying that I was so impressed because I couldn't really do them before my surgery. I was told to do 20 today. I broke them down into 4 sets of 5 reps, but I did them. woohoo! I also added hand weights to my step ups/step downs. I asked again when I would be able to go on the elliptical machine. Neal told me it was likely I'd be on it when I get back from DC (two weeks from today). I can't wait for that. Once I know I can do the elliptical machine, I'll be much more inclined to head back to the gym.

Ahead of Schedule

I haven't posted in a while but wanted to update my loyal readers (and myself) on my progress with my knee. Of course I'm not running or anything (remember I was told no running for SIX MONTHS - UGH!!!) I am now 6 weeks post op and starting to see some noticeable improvements. I was in PT last Tuesday and asked when I should expect to stop limping... when I was told that technically I shouldn't really be limping anymore I started working through my discomfort and trying really hard to correct my gait. I'm not perfect, and still have the most trouble after either a lot of walking... or when just getting up after sitting for a while... but my gait is getting much much better. I continue to be challenged with new tasks during therapy. Today I graduated from wall squats to ski squats and from calf raises on both legs to just on my surgical leg. I have also upped my leg press weight to about 135 lbs for both legs and I can't remember the weight I did for just one (but it was level 4 on the machine - probably around 60 lbs, since 135 was level 7).

I went from no resistance on the bicycle to level 5 today and get 2.5 miles cycled in 10 minutes. Instead of doing single leg balancing, I am now doing single left leg balance while raising my right leg up straight behind me and reaching forward to touch the floor with my right arm. Good thing I have a martial arts background that really helps my balance. I also walked backwards on the treadmill today to work on my leg extension.

The 'torture stretching' as I like to call it has gotten easier to handle, and today I came VERY VERY close to kicking myself in the butt with my foot. My therapist said I was two finger widths away (that's about 1 inch). We didn't measure the degrees of extension, but surely at least 145 (which was my goal).

We also added some step down drills to my step up exercises. This was exciting since I am getting very frustrated about not being able to go down a set of stairs normally yet. Hopefully that will start coming.

My scars are healing nicely for the most part... I'll have to post some newer pics soon. I notice that my knee is still quite swollen, but according to the PT it looks pretty par for the course for where I am at post ACL surgery. In terms of my actual progress he told me that I am "ahead of schedule" - that's exciting to hear. A new sheet with my new home exercises based on some of the updates we did in today's therapy session (like ski squats, step downs, and balancing floor touches) was given to me today - and it says "Advanced L/E exercises" at the top left corner. Ahhhhh.... ADVANCED! I *must* be making progress! woohoo!

17 days post op - helpless to hopeful

Well I am getting close to the 10% mark on my recovery period. I was told 6 months - so if my math is correct that is 365/2 or roughly 182 days. Rounding down to 180 days, that means that every 18 days is 10%.... tomorrow is day 18 post surgery.

I've made some really good progress (though definitely not as fast as I would like). On May 11th I got on the bike and could not pedal all the way around. On May 14th I got on the bike, could only pedal all the way around going backwards, but after a few minutes also managed to get the pedals all the way around forwards. (I never really thought about the flexion in my knees when riding a bike before this whole ordeal). May 19th (yes I spent part of my birthday at PT) I got on the bike and was able to go all the way around on the first try. It was still quite a bit of a stretch, but not as labored as the time before, and I actually got the RPM up to about 45. Pitiful for a normal knee, but pretty darn good for my knee just two weeks after surgery.

When I was at my visit on the 14th, the PT told me I needed to ween myself off the crutches or I would probably be taking them with me on our CA vacation. Needless to say, on Friday the 15th I went cold turkey. I have not used the crutches since the 15th (except for a little balance going down the stairs into the garage once). I am still walking with a limp, but there are some times when the limp is not as significant. My main concern really is the 'instability' I feel with the knee. The whole reason I had this surgery in the first place was to give my knee stability back (since that is the job of the ACL). My knee feels pretty wobbly - most evident when I try to do one leg balancing on my repaired leg. I have been told this is not unusual, but it is still disconcerning.

PT has upped their game with me too - I am doing harder things like wall squats (ouch that really hurt my knee cap when I first attempted those), and step ups - yep that's right, stepping up onto the repaired knee, good leg knee up, and then back down. The ultimate goal with the step ups is to allow me to start climbing stairs normally again (right now I go one step at a time which is getting frustrating).

On May 18th, Cullen practically ordered me to get myself out of the house. This was actually a challenge for me, because since the surgery I have felt very helpless - when your ability to move around easily gets taken away from you, it's very difficult to just get back out there. I admit it, I was scared. But I got out, and it was really nice to know I could do it, even if it was just a short trip to the local coffee shop. It was still a piece of normal life that I had taken back. A small victory.

Tomorrow I go back to PT and am supposed to be fit with a brace - one of those lovely metal hinged knee braces. You might cringe at the thought, but I am super excited. I can't wait to get it because I think it will help a bit with support and provide a bit more confidence for me to do some of my exercises as well as just walking around more.

Keep thinking good thoughts for me! I have gone from feeling helpless to feeling hopeful.

More baby steps

I have been encouraged by the PT to take some unassisted steps around the house, which I've been doing here and there. I go to the PT tomorrow morning and then straight to the surgeon for my post-op visit and stitches will be removed. I am anxious to hear what he has to say and see how my progress stacks up.... I am scheduled to be in California two weeks from yesterday, so I am hoping that I see big improvements over the next week and a half or so.

ACL Surgery - Baby Stepping Recovery

On April 24th at black belt prep class I was performing the technique "crashing wings" on my partner. While I did the technique correctly, two things went terribly wrong that evening. First, I didn't do it at full speed/power - because I am not in it to hurt my partner... Secondly, my partner not being the brightest banana in the bunch held onto me instead of break falling. Result? SNAP SNAP SNAP - it sounded like cracking knucles in my head. At that point I realized, oh goodness, that sound is my knee! After falling to the floor, holding my knee and screaming NO! NO! NO! I managed to get up with help and walk around a little. Maybe I was going to be OK afterall... I took my ankle brace off and proceeded to the cubbies to get my flip flops on. At that point I felt my knee kind of slide from side to side in my leg. That instability is a very strange feeling. I had Cullen drive me home after my body went through a bit of a shock and we went to the PCP the next morning to see the doctor on call (Saturday). The doctor checked me out and said I'd probably be fine because I didn't have any pain (despite my complaints regarding stiffness and instability). He gave me a brace to wear and told me to wait a week, if it wasn't better then they'd probably order an MRI. I didn't want to wait a week, so I went to the orthopedic surgeon on Tuesday. When he saw me he said "I don't think your ACL is torn" -- WHEW! What a releif.... but then he said "I think you tore your Meniscus" Either way it meant surgery. We booked surgery for May 4th and had the MRI on April 3oth. The MRI was not my friend - it confirmed the opposite of the surgeon's suspicions... meniscus ok, ACL, shredded.

Surgery went smoothly with an allograft procedure (yep I've got cadaver tissue in my knee now) and a bit debriedment of damaged cartilage below the kneecap. Waking up from the anesthesia was hard - it made me nauseous so they gave me phenergan for that - which made me extra groggy. It took me an hour to eat four saltine crackers so that I could take some pain meds. Over the next 24 hours I came to find that the pain meds (oxycontin and vicodin) did not agree with me. Doctor prescribed another called Ultraset - that was even worse! I decided pain was better than complete nausea/dizziness/disorientation. So I've been on Alleve since May 6.

May 7 I went for my first PT appointment. I learned some exercises to do at home. I've been doing the dilligently.
May 9 we took the surgical bandaging off - knee doesn't look that bad, but is swollen.
May 11 I had my second PT appointment, but my car doesn't want to work now. I really needed to get there, fortunately between my mechanic and my co-worker I got there and back - whew! The first thing I did when I got in was to hop on the bike. I can't even peddle all the way around yet because of the swelling, but I am almost there. The PT encouraged me to try some walking around the house without crutches. Surprisingly enough I'm able to do it (though I think that has a lot to do with the super tight ace bandage wrapped around my knee.
May 12 (today) I am spending most of the day icing, elevating, and trying to hobble around a bit without crutches. It's 1 week until my birthday. I'd love to be able to walk around 'normally' by then! A week after that it's off to California, so I've got a lot of work to do until then.

Recovery from a torn ACL is long and hard! I asked some questions yesterday about different forms of exercise. I probably won't step onto an elliptical machine until 6-7 weeks out. A treadmill - well that's like 5 months away. Can't go back to karate for at least 6 months. Brutal. I am of course missing my black belt test which was scheduled for August 15th.

I will try to post updates on here as to how I am doing, what I am doing, etc. It might help ME realize my accomplishments as I go. Cullen claims he sees improvements when I don't feel they are there.... It's very frustrating. Though I know the hobbling/walking without crutches from the couch to the kitchen or to the bathroom is a huge accomplishment. I guess the next few weeks/months will be all about baby steps.

Status Update

It's been quite a while since I updated this blog... I think facebook has gotten in my way. So let's see if I can come up with some interesting tidbits to share with you all...

Cullen and I have continued to work on our martial arts skills - in March he'll be testing for advanced green belt and I'll be going for my Provisional Black Belt. August will be the big Black Belt exam.

I went to the doctor a few weeks ago and just found out that I have hypothyroidism. I'd like to think it's a partial contributor to my difficulty with my weight. (Gotta have something positive about finding out something is 'wrong' with you, right?) Anyway I am supposed to take some medication once a day and then have my blood rechecked in two months.

Next week I'll be traveling to Arizona (another state I've never been to before), for the American Auditory Society meeting. I noticed in the program that there will be a bunch of folks I know from St Louis and from Memphis there, so it should be fun to see them all. Then two weeks later I'll be headed to NY to take on my godmother responsibilities at Heidi's baptism. I am very excited to meet her, she's so cute =)

Life is busy busy busy. Cullen and I don't seem to have enough hours in the day to get everything done that we would like to. We are both looking forward to the summertime... we'll be taking a 1 week vacation to D.C. for sight seeing, fireworks, and my cousin Pam's wedding.

I think that's all for now.... CHEERS!

The Sneaky World of Medical Billing

Ok so I went to see my ENT back in October for allergy related problems and an ongoing sore throat. The date of service was 10/03/08. I get a bill in the mail dated 12/19/08 in the amount of $15 for this date of service. I find this bill quite peculiar, since $15 is my co-pay amount, and I KNOW I paid my co-pay when I was there. Usually I wind up losing receipts like this one, but I actually managed to find the receipt from that co-pay. I thought surely it was just an error on their part, perhaps because I was changing my name on that date and they may have filed it under someone else's name by mistake?

I call this morning and am told that when the insurance paid my claim the amount I was responsible for waws $30. So I still owed $15. I tried to find out what exactly the $30 was for, but the account rep couldn't tell me. She said she didn't have that kind of information. When there is a balance above and beyond a co-pay for a doctor's visit I usually get a statement from my insurance company in the mail, so that the doctor's bill doesn't come as a surprise. Since I never received such a statement, I decided to call my insurance company (wanted to make sure that my benefits hadn't changed or something).

When I called I found that there were TWO claims for 10/03/08. Strangely enough they were BOTH for the exact same dollar amount.
B I N G O! The ENT had billed my insurance twice for the same visit, and the insurance company didn't catch it. So they paid each claim individually, and of course for EACH claim, I have my co-pay responsibility. So you double that, and sure enough the balance on my end would be ANOTHER co-pay amount. I immediately figured this out and informed a rep who is going to go back and cancel the second claim as a duplicate.

At this point I figured it only right to go back and call the doctor's billing office to let them know what I had found out. The woman I spoke to said she would look into my account and call me back. (HUH! like I need to be called back about this, noooooo!) I am sure that the ENT billing and my health insurance will get it figured out. My sleuthing saved me $15. Too bad for the ENT office, it cost them quite a bit more. If they would've just taken their money and not sent me a bill for $15, nobody would have been the wiser. Too bad for them.

Just goes to show you that just because you receive a bill in the mail, doesn't mean it's right. Fight for what you think is yours! This time it was only $15, but what if next time it's $150, or worse, $1500. I've learned to check everything twice (just like Santa).

Some Holiday and Winter Pics

Snow and ice make for horrible driving, but pretty winter scenes!

We had some fun decorating the outside of the house with icicle lights over the entry and garage, white lights on the two pine bushes, a wreath (creatively) hung on our front door, and candles in the windows.

We had fun inside the house too - hanging our stockings by the fireplace and decorating the tree. The bay window in our living room is a perfect spot for it. That was one of the first things I remember saying about this house "... and we can put the Christmas tree there..." heehee. On December 11th, we hosted the ASLS faculty/staff Christmas party. Our clinic manager is retiring, and wasn't in attendance so the signs some are holding are for her. It was fun to have everyone over!

Our Beautiful Niece

Well we received a few pictures of Heidi Lynne today. Amy gave me a web cam for Christmas so I am REALLY looking forward to watching her grow even though I'm far away. Thought I would post a picture. She's soooo cute, and has her mom's nose =)

It's A Girl!!!!

Amy gave birth to a healthy baby girl - Heidi Lynne - at 5:44 AM today Dec 17th. Heidi weighed in at 7 lbs 2 oz.

I am sooooooooooooooooo excited for Amy and Joe! What a wonderful early Christmas present (as Amy's due date was Jan 1). When she was already 2 cm dilated on Tuesday we began to think she'd be early.

Sadly I won't be in NY this Christmas, so I won't get to see the brand new baby, but Heidi will get lots of love from her Aunt Tina in March.

Love to all!

Tina

It's Beginning to Feel A Lot Like Christmas...

Well the semester is officially over, I've posted all my grades, and I'm really looking forward to three weeks off. (Mostly off - I do have to put together my pre-tenure dossier and do a bit of work on syllabi for next semester).

Today I wrapped presents and shipped them to NY. This will be the first year I won't be spending the holidays in NY - pretty sad, but I'm sure this Christmas will be great nonetheless. Cullen and I put our tree up in our new house the day after Thanksgiving. We strung lights outside (I've been wanting to do that ever since I was a little girl). I hosted our annual faculty Christmas party this past Thursday night - it was quite a success. It was really fun to show off our new place to everyone.

I've started making Christmas cookies. And I'm pretty much addicted to listening to Christmas music. I just LOVE Christmas.

I've still got a few more gifts to buy, and Cullen and I will be working on Christmas cards this weekend. That's probably my least favorite thing - having to address all those darned envelopes! ugh! I do like keeping in touch with people though.

We've got snow outside and freeeeeeeeeeeeeezing temperatures. I certainly hope if the weather outside is frightful wherever you are, that the 'fire is delightful' =) I am so corny!

Happy Holidays All!

P.S. I am VERY soon to be an Aunt - Amy is likely going to have her baby in the next two weeks =) Can't wait!

ADT is now on my poop list

Ok so you all know Cullen and I moved into a house over labor day weekend. The house is equipped with an ADT security system. Apparently we still need to subscribe to monitoring to make full use of the system, which we have gotten MANY things in the mail about... just haven't gotten around to that yet. In the meantime, the system was still working the first week or so we were in the house. Then one night (of course these things have to happen in the middle of the night, right?) it starts beeping it's trouble signal. In a dazed confused mess we somehow figure out how to get it to stop. A few weeks ago we had some cheese burn in the oven which set off a smoke detector attached to the ADT system. OMG that smoke detector was so obnoxious. After getting into a slight panic, and finding out that even unscrewing the alarm from the wall didn't stop it, we managed to push the right keys to get that one to stop too. Last night at 3:00AM the stupid thing starts beeping again. I can't figure out why - it doesn't say anything different, just the time and the word "Memory" (which popped up when I got the smoke alarm to stop). So I tried the same keys that stopped the smoke alarm and it worked... or so I thought. 4:30 AM the alarm goes off AGAIN. I finally call the 1 800 number for ADT and the woman I spoke too wasn't terribly friendly and she certainly didn't seem to sympathize with the fact that we were being woken out of sleep in the middle of the night by the stupid beeping. I did manage to get the beeping to stop by finding the master code and pressing it in twice. When I asked her WHY it was beeping she said she couldn't tell me. Of course the error was a "phone" error, but she said she couldn't give me any more information because we weren't being monitored. We could shut the entire thing down if we can find the panel box where we have to disconnect some wire (don't know where that is) and the plug (which I *think* I located in the basement).

Anyway to say the least, Cullen and I are both exhausted thanks to our stupid ADT alarm system.

Pics of the New Digs

Here are a few shots of the interior and exterior of our new house, we just love it!

Bad Business

So I received a bill from Atmos Energy yesterday. This was my final bill for gas usage at the condo. I had called them about two weeks ahead of time to schedule transfer of my gas from the condo to our new house. When I called I was told the order was put through for the date I requested (August 29th). So when my bill came in the mail for service from August 19-Sept 3, I called to find out why I was being billed 5 days beyond the date my service was to be switched. Apparently they went ahead and turned on my service at the new house on the requested date, but didn't get around to switchin off my service at the condo until 5 days later... bear in mind the condo and house are within 1 mile of each other. So I essentially ended up paying for two places over that 5 day period. Not that it ends up being a ton of money, but just on principle I really feel like they wronged me. Of course I called to find out what the deal was and was told that "legally" they have 3 business days to complete work orders. Nobody told me this when I scheduled the switch, and when I told the woman that on the phone last night her response was "well you should have asked". Why in the heck would I ASK if service would take a few days to complete if I had no idea that would happen? Am I to presume that a company intends to take their own sweet time fulfilling an order unless otherwise told so?
When we asked (oh yes Cullen spoke with the company rep too) if there was anything they could do for us, we were told no. I understand the 'legality' blah blah blah, but that's just bad business in my book. If they planned on not completing the order on the day requested, they should have warned us to that effect. Furthermore, after noting the discrepency they COULD have gone back and pro-rated our bill, of course they did not. So we will go ahead and pay the bill and get on with our lives but let it be known that Atmos Energy doesn't seem to put the customer first.

Living the American Dream

Well despite some major drama with the moving company (long story), Cullen and I closed on our new house on Friday. So, we are now officially home owners. We were very busy this past weekend (thank goodness it was a long weekend) with unpacking and shopping and little house related projects like laying flooring in the laundry room and mowing the lawn. When we get all settled we'll be sure to post some pics of our new digs =)

Our Future House

Cullen and I searched and searched and searched and happened upon this gem of a house. We made an offer yesterday, received a counter today which we accepted, and so we'll go under contract today to close on the 29th ---just in time for the closing on my condo. We are very excited! I'll post more pics after the move is completed...

Homeward Bound?

Well we have some exciting news to share... I got an offer on the condo this weekend, so we are officially under contract. Only problem is we close on the 29th (of THIS month). Crazy!!! So we are starting our house hunt tonight. I don't think we'll find something and close in time to move in before we close on the condo... but miracles can happen, right? Anyway wish us luck on our hunt :)

Another Starbucks Victim

Ok, I'll admit it... I've patronized more Starbucks stores than I can think of. However, my opinion of Starbucks changed today, because today my all time favorite coffee shop closed it's doors, thanks to the new Starbucks that opened up around the corner last year. Dazbog Coffee in Greeley, CO was forced to shut down, having lost too much business after the Starbucks monopoly came in. It wasn't enough that Starbucks had kiosk shops in Target AND Safeway within the same shopping center... nope they had to go even further and open a full service shop with drive through right across the way. Sigh. No more Dazbog... Cullen and I spent some time in there together when we first started dating. We spent hours in that shop, drinks in hand, planning our wedding and honeymoon. The service in there was always second to none. Dazbog, you will truly be missed!

Natural Wonders

Yesterday we drove through the Russian River Valley to Armstrong Redwoods State Park. This was an AWESOME park. The trees were so majestic and beautiful, and the camera doesn't do this place justice. We got some good hiking in, including a pretty steep trail thanks to my silly desire to tackle a trail that was labeled as "strenuous". Next time I come up with a bright idea like that, I've instructed Cullen to remind me of this trail. Below are some shots, my favorite is the last one.

After getting our fill of the old redwoods, we grabbed a late lunch in Guerenville and then drove up to Calistoga to see an "Old Faithful" geyser. You're probably familiar with "Old Faithful" in Yellowstone, but something you might not know is that to be called "Old Faithful", a geyser has to errupt on a regular schedule. There are only three Old Faithful geysers in the world. One in Yellowstone, one in New Zealand, and a third in Calistoga, CA. We stopped in Calistoga to watch the geyser, which erupts regularly every 30-40 minutes. We stayed to watch two eruptions, each lasts about 3-5 minutes. We also learned that Old Faithful geysers are used to help predict earthquakes. Hopefully we'll get out of California before another quake hits. Below is one shot of the geyser.

You're On Our Honeymoon, Charlie Brown!

Yesterday we visited the Charles M Shulz Museum.... really cool place. Learned all about CMS (aka Sparky) and saw the display "Baseball as an Allegory". Hey - I just realized Cullen and Charles have the same exact initials! HEEHEE. We ate lunch at the Warm Puppy Cafe and watched hockey skaters at the Snoopy Ice Arena. Next week there will be a seniors hockey tournament with teams from the US, Canada, and Switzerland. Below are a few pics we took outside the main exhibit areas...

Beautiful Sonoma County

Today we drove through a good portion of Sonoma County. We started out in Windsor and drove through Healdsburg before heading west on Dry Creek Road ( this is a very narrow twisted east-west county road through the heart of northern Sonoma). Our first stop was a fluke - we ended up at this amazing lookout point at Lake Sonoma. These first three pictures are from that point. There are no close up vineyard shots here as we didn't take any, but passed through MANY vineyards. I'll try to take more later.

After getting through the heart of wine country we found ourselves driving through a dense forest. I managed to pull over once to get a good shot or two of some redwoods which are the next two pictures. We drive out of the dense forest to find ourselves basically at the ocean's edge on California Route 1 (Stewart's Point). That was a truly amazing experience.

We are awed by the views, I took many pictures, though don't feel they really do the landscape justice. Below are three of them. We luckily find a spot to stop (without having to pay to park) and walk down to the edge. We have a seat above the waves pounding the rocks below us, a very scenic snack. A golden eagle flies literally within 10 feet of me, but my camera is off so I miss a great shot. There was one stretch where it was actually a bit scary as you are so high up on the cliff and have nothing between you and the surf below. My mom would have been terrified. Despite getting a bit motion sick from the countless turns and bends in the road, it was a fabulous drive.

Greetings from San Fransisco!

San Fransisco is such a wonderful city! It does remind me a lot of NYC though. Yesterday we spent some time on the cable cars, walked around Fisherman's Wharf, had dinner at a killer Sushi/Japanese restaurant, and walked around Union Square. We ended the day at one of the MANY Starbucks (just like NYC). Today we went all over the city. Walked on the Golden Gate Bridge, ate lunch in Golden Gate Park, visited the Japanese Tea Garden, Went down to the Pier and walked the Embarcadero, and finally took the Cable car back downtown. Tonight will be a nice dinner at Le Colonial, a French/Vietnamese place. Below are only a few of the many picures we took...

Monterey Bay Aquarium

We spent most of July 4 at the aquarium. I took lots of pictures of Jellies because I think they look cool. The bottom picture is my "finding Nemo" shot.

Greetings from Monterey

We are having a fabulous time in Pacific Grove. These are a few pics to peak your interest. I am pretty proud of the bottom picture. I woke up early and caught a rare sunrise over the bay. Apparently, morning fog and low lying clouds are almost a daily phenomenon in the summer along the bay, but our first morning was completely clear.

We're Married!!!

After waiting out our long engagement, June 28, 2008 finally arrived. Despite the heat and humidity, our wedding day was absolutely wonderful. Cullen and I both feel very happy and very blessed to have each other as well as to have had the opportunity to share our special day with such great family and friends. We hope you enjoy the few shots that I posted (courtesy of Daniel T Eig). I'll most likely update you all after the honeymoon...