Tarsal Tunnel Syndrome, What The Heck Is That?!

hmmmm, TTS part 2?

2010-12-27T22:17:00.000-08:00

well my foot has been acting up in the past couple weeks so it's off to the specialist again to see what is going on!! I'm sure we'll need to MRI the leg again and see what's happening.

I recently(about 6 weeks ago) was kicked by a horse in the knee and I'm wondering if that has anything to do with it. I know that the nerves run from the knee to the ankle and so maybe that is why my TTS seems to be flared up. Anyways, after the initial TTS from a blow from a hoof to my ankle, I'm not going to mess around with this or wait to get it checked out!

Anyways I will update this when I see the specialist. Fingers crossed I won't have to have surgery or anything.

Update Sept 24 2009

2009-09-24T15:06:00.000-07:00

Well I've totally forgotten about this as so much had been going on for the past 4 weeks.

Let's see, I went to Vancouver Island to spend a week with my mom at the end of August because she had been in the hospital 2x's related to two small strokes.
I spent time with her while she recovered from that but while I was there I had my own drama to deal with! My pony Frosty ended up colicking very bad and we were making arrangements for her to be put to sleep. It looked like there was no hope for her but some how she managed to pull out of it and is doing grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeat! it's been 2.5 weeks since it happened and she is back to her happy, sassy and healthy self.........and might I add, she's 31 and in excellent shape and health. In all the years I've known her and even with her previous owners, she's been extremely healthy --most horses I know have had the vet out quite a few times for something but not her, she's been very hardy! LOL I LOVE IT and have been so lucky with her that way................but I guess even the healthiest beings can get sick once in a blue moon!

There was a combination of things that probably contributed to her colic episode, a lot of stress from a new horse, being moved into a new paddock(though not new to her as she used to live in it about 5yrs ago), was fed some corn which may not have digested well in her tummy causing a lot of gas. Anyways, it was a VERY stressful and emotional week to say the least and I don't want to ever feel that way again!

I came back from my visit and was very ill, I actually was so over stressed from my trip that I had a small break out of shingles on my nose. The unfortunate part of that is that my right eye was also affected and my previous herpetic ulcers flared back up and I had weird numbness in my eye and down my entire nose! Very bizarre but still had the severe pain at the very end of the nose where the blisters were. YOUCH is all I can say. that took about 1.5weeks to get over and then I was fine for about a week and then this past week I came down with something. I'm thinking the flu but hard to say, whatever it was......YUK, no FUN at all! Today I'm finally starting to feel like a human being!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyways that's enough about the mom, pony and shingles/flu!

As for the ankle I had an ankle specialist appointment on Sept 10th and was given the thumbs up to not return unless my ankle flared up again. So far so good, Dr Chi is very happy with the results of surgery. My ankle is pretty good, I need to keep up with my physio exercises and be careful with how much I do but other then that I'm back to most of my activities. I've been riding quite a bit(well when I'm not sick!) and it's great to be able to ride for an hour or two but I'm very careful with the ankle and don't put it in the stirrup all the time. The stirrup iron seems to really trigger the nerves on the bottom of my foot(like the ball of my foot) so I have to watch that one still. I need to get some wider riding boots, I can't wear my ariats anymore, they're too narrow for my left ankle. My foot still is puffy and that will last for a while, most of that is due to the blood clots I had. The damage to the valves in the vessels allows back flow of blood which ends up pooling in the foot due to gravity. I have to wear my compression stocking for another year or so.........though I hate it and sometimes forget to put it on(esp when the weather is hot and I want to wear shorts/capri pants).

My physiotherapist gave me the thumbs up to stop going(Sept 9th that was) and just keep up with my home routine. again unless my ankle flared up and I needed some therapy on it, I was good to be on my own! WOOHOOO!
Though I have to admit, I'm missing it like crazy -- it was hard work but I like having Chris there to help me, encourage me to push myself within the physical limits ---and ya, it was fun to go for the most part! haha!

My ankle is feeling a bit sore today but that is because I have been dog sitting and having lots of stairs to go up and down. oh ya, it's been a real treat while being sick too but I couldnt get out of the job because they had left already and well, no one else can do it.

I will update this once in a while but for the most part I think this blog is getting the thumbs up to not need updates so often!

Thank you for reading my blog and all the support ---it's been quite the journey and though it's not over yet, I'm very happy with the surgery and physio I had. It's up to me to keep up with the stretching/exercises and don't OVER DO IT! It's soooooooooooooo nice to not have the daily intense pain that I had prior to surgery.

take care and stay healthy!

Post-Op Days 132 -138 - Weekly Update for Aug 24 - 30

2009-08-28T16:39:00.000-07:00

Day 132- Monday Aug 24- I had physio and wow it was tough -- I was totally soaked in sweat by the end of the 40mins. haha! I did the elliptical trainer, a bunch of calf stretches/raises, balancing on the ball thing, resistant band exercises..........ugh, TIRING! After that I went down to the ranch and went riding, I had a great ride on Karma! :-)
Later that evening my ankle was a bit sore from physio but not too bad.

Day 133- Tuesday Aug 25- Boy I was tired from physio and riding the day before so I lounged around the house, did some laundry then head down to the ranch for a little bit. I didn't stay too long as I was really tired. HA HA! No energy to ride

Day 134- Wednesday Aug 26- woke up early so I could get to the barn to be there for the farrier. Then I had to whip up to physio and work my butt off again doing the same stuff plus added a new exercise to the mix. Totally pooped but then decided to go back to the barn and go riding! HA HA HA! I rode Karma for a while then got a text from helene saying she could come riding so I waited and rode with her too. Phew, I SLEPT reaaaaaaaaaaal good that night, I was out for the count. The ankle was tired but not sore so that was good progress considering it had a major work out.

Day 135- Thursday Aug 27- went to the ranch and rode Karma, she was a super star. I had so much fun riding her around the perimeter trail then did the waterfall trail and cantered some of it. Kinda felt like I was doing xcountry phase of an event, well minus the jumps! ROFLMAO! I also took her into one of the empty pastures and did some cantering, gaiting in there and she was having a good ol time and doing every perfectly. :-) Phew, what a great ride with her.
I put her away then checked Mercury's foot as he'd nicked the back of his heel the day before but it looked great, healing up well. I decided to bring Nikon up and groom him, then tacked him up and went to the round pen to do some ground work. I took my helmet and bridle just incase I decided to ride him. .......... well I did and he was super. I rode him in there for a few minutes to make sure he was listening well then we had our first adventure around the perimeter trail! YAHOOOOOOOOOO! What a good boy, he was so good, didn't misbehave or anything, he walked out pretty well, I didn't have to nag him too much(he's just learning to go forward with leg pressure and saying "walk on"), he even gave me a TINY bit of GAITING(Oooooo ya, that was so cool and smooth) through the back section of the trail. I think the best part though was on the pathway back to the barn and I asked him to move out a bit and so he gaited a few steps then came the small hill just before you get back to the barn/riding arena.........he CANTERED up the hill with me when I asked him too. HA HA! It was super smooth and he was so well behaved, no cheekiness/trying to buck! ha ha! I'm so impressed with him, that was his 3rd ride under saddle and we made it all the way around the perimeter trail by ourselves and sanely/calmly!
I got back to the ring, walked him around for a minute then got off and gave him a lot of scratches/pets and praise. :-) Untacked, hosed him off a bit(which he was a super star for) and then groomed him up real good before putting him back out for his dinner.

I got a phone call and it was Helene saying she was heading to the barn.........haha, so I said I'd stick around and watch her ride. ah yes, long and tiring day at the barn but it felt good. A real good test of my foot as I rode both Karma and Nikon in the saddle and put my foot in the stirrup!! :-)

Day 136- Friday Aug 28- Today I woke up early, had a cup of coffee and watched "Adventureland" haha! Stupid movie but oh well, it was entertaining while I woke up. My mom called and she's out of the hospital finally YAHOOOO, so that means I'm heading over tomorrow to stay for a week to help her out. She has 2 Dr's appointments this week so I'll take her to those. I'll get to see some friends while I'm there and go see/ride Frosty/Heart and my friends in Cobble Hill.

Day 137- Saturday Aug 29-

Day 138- Sunday Aug 30-

Post-Op Days 125 -131 - Weekly Update for Aug 17 - 23

2009-08-17T22:34:00.000-07:00

Day 125- Monday Aug 17 - Physio @11:30, it went really good, my ankle felt good afterward. I had to go check on the cats before heading to North Bend to do a few things. I went to the ranch later on around 4pm and worked with Nikon in the round pen then took him to the ring and rode him for about 15mins, he was awesome. I even rode him out of the ring down the pathway and back.
Helene came around 6pm and we rode together, though I finished up with Nikon and got on Karma so I could do some ring work then do the waterfall trail.

I came home and relaxed before calling my mom on the phone as she was released from the hospital tonight. My aunt came down to stay overnight with her so that is good

Day 126 - Tuesday Aug 18- went to the ranch and had a great ride up the hill on Mercury. I went with Julie and Toah, a trainer from Arizona. after the hill ride we spent some time doing lateral work in the round pen and that was fun but tiring. haha!

Day 127 - Wednesday Aug 19 - went to physio and it was tiring but good. After I went to the ranch to help out with the vet etc... , busy day at the ranch!!

Day 128 - Thursday Aug 20 - went to the ranch and went riding with Julie and Toah again, we had a lot of fun riding the waterfall trail. We took a break after that and then went riding again but over to the RIVER~ YAHOO~ Now that was awesome, we had a great time riding through the trail and then into the river. Karma was a bit silly on the way over but once in the water she was a super star. We were all tired after all that riding and called it a day. haha! My ankle did pretty good considering how much riding I did. :-)

Day 129 - Friday Aug 21 - I woke up early and head down to the ranch so I could go over to the river again with Toah. We explored all sorts of trails, went over big longs, up and down steep hills and finally found the access to the sandy part of the river. We cantered through the sand, went into the water for a bit then head back to the ranch as he didn't have that much time to ride. Phew, I was ready to crash n burn! haha!
Though later on I got a text from Helene saying she could come out around 6pm so I said OK....haha, I left the ranch for a little bit then went back and did some round pen work with Nikon before Helene came to ride Mercury. I hopped on Karma again and we did the waterfall trail plus some toodling around the property.
boy I was beeeeeeeeeeat! oh well, went home and chilled out for the rest of the evening. haha!

Day 130 - Saturday Aug 22 - I went down in the morning to ride with Julie and Pepper(ranch owner), we had a nice ride through the waterfall trail and the perimeter trail. Then I helped Julie in the ring for a bit.
I had to leave around 12:30 because I needed to go let out some dogs for a client--actually was staying the night as well.
Adam & I went to Bellevue for a bit then head to Issaquah for dinner. I was falling asleep around 7pm haha!
I was happy that my ankle felt so good considering my busy week of walking and riding.

Day 131 - Sunday Aug 23 - Adam and I just hung out and relaxed. The week really made me tired plus dog sitting overnight takes its toll as I don't sleep good at that house. haha!
the weather was nice and so we enjoyed some time outside.

Post - Op Days # 118 - 124 - Weekly Update for Aug 10th - 16th

2009-08-13T22:28:00.000-07:00

Day 118 - Monday Aug 10 - Physio @11:30am, boy I was stiff from not having physio the week before but Chris was happy to see that my ankle did pretty well. we added a bunch of new exercises and they were fun but needed a lot of agility and strength. I was so tired after that, man I came home to lounge around for a bit. HA HA!
I had to go to Issaquah to take care of JB and then I toodled around Issaquah for a bit before heading home.
As the day went on my ankle got sore and so I iced and put heat on it to help. the physio session had really put the ankle to the test and will be interesting to see how it feels Tuesday.

Day 119 - Tuesday Aug 11 - Woke up with extreme pain in the foot, I could barely stand on it without the shooting pains. Oh it was a bit depressing as it felt just like it used to before I had surgery done. :-( I had to hobble around and go down to Issaquah as I needed to go take care of JB. that was a real chore but I did it and raced home to elevate/ice and put some heat on the foot. YOUCHHHHHHHHHHHH! I was a total head case LOL crying, feeling all depressed about the foot etc... it wasn't pretty! HA HA! it was a long day for sure!
oh and I had to start my other cat sitting job but thank goodness the lady lives in the building so it was very close!!

Day 120 - Wednesday Aug 12 - I woke up and was very happy to feel NO PAIN, just some stiffness but thank GOD it was better after a good night of rest! PHEW! I had physio at 11:30am and ofcourse Chris felt horrible about my foot getting so bad the day before. we toned down the new exercises and went back to some basics to make sure I didn't experience the harsh pain again. At the end of my session he put ice on my foot for 15mins to help bring down the swelling that was left from Monday/Tuesday. oh and he wanted me to get some proper supportive insoles for my shoes as he thinks that contributed to the pain I had on Monday/tuesday.
After physio I went to Issaquah to drop the key off to JB's owners as I was finished the job! YAY for money! ha ha! I went and got the insoles for the shoes.....ah yes, much better!!

Day 121 - Thursday Aug 13(TODAY) - no physio, just a day to relax but happy to report the foot felt fine after yesterday's physio!
I stopped by the ranch for a bit and was about to leave when the caregivers found one of the horses with a huge gash under his front legs(right inbetween) so that was 2hrs of helping/watching the vet cut and then suture the huge wound up. Poor Ziggy, he's a lucky boy that he didnt do more damage. I guess he tried to jump the fence and didn't make it, got hung up and ripped open his chest area. YOUCH! he'll be ok, just a bit sore and rethinking jumping the fences hopefully!

I went over and checked on the 2 cats in the building, they're pretty darn cute! Though it does feel weird not having to go look after JB!

so later in the evening I got a call from my moms neighbor saying she was in the hospital because she suffered another stroke. ugh, not what I want to hear!!! I guess she was on the phone with a friend and her face started to tingle all weird and so she got the neighbor to take her to the ER. Yup, sure enough it was another stroke and so she's been getting all sort of tests done(CT, MRI, EKG etc..) to see if they can figure out why it happened again.

Day 122 - Friday Aug 14(Yesterday) - I went to the ranch and had a short ride on Karma in the ring on the new foot(oh la la, top of the line footing!). After my ride I went to lunch with a few of the barn people --we went to the Thai place and it was goooooooood! LOL

I spoke to my mom on the phone, she's at the hospital still waiting for more tests to be completed to see if they can figure out why she had another stroke.
She sounded pretty good all things considered so that is a relief -- I guess part of her face feels numb and has drooped again(same as her stroke last year).
Nothing too exciting as the weather was sort of weird, on and off with rain.
later in the evening I watched " I LOVE YOU MAN" , pretty amusing movie. haha!

Day 123 - Saturday Aug 15 - didn't do too much.....just hung out around here

Day 124 - Sunday Aug 16 - again, just relaxed around this area. I had to look after the cats in the building. I called my mom at the hospital and talked to her for a little bit, she sounded pretty good, just bored and tired -- wanting to go home!!

Post-Op Days # 112 - 117 Weekly Update for Aug 3rd - 9th

2009-08-13T21:52:00.000-07:00

SORRY I forgot to update this for last week!

Day 111 - Monday Aug 3 - take care of JB, I think I went riding with Helene! oh and no physio because they were booked solid.....ugh, not good! Had to make sure I really kept the ankle stretched and did my exercises.

Day 112- Tuesday Aug 4 - take care of JB, rode Mercury

Day 113 - Wednesday Aug 5 - take care of JB and go meet a new clients that lives in our building who has 2 cats she want's me to look after. Went riding with Helene

Day 114 - Thursday Aug 6 - take care of JB

Day 115 - Friday Aug 7 -- Helene, Julie and I went for a ride and it was a lot of fun! take care of JB still and start new cat sitting job but every other day -- so first day will be Sunday!

Day 116 - Saturday Aug 8 - Take care of JB, stop by RRR to watch some of the Greg Eliel clinic!!

Day 117 - Sunday Aug 9 - Hung out with Adam, take care of JB , started new cat sitting job -- very cute cats, Butters and Frankie! ha ha!

Post Op Days # 105 - 111 - Weekly Blog Updates

2009-07-30T21:40:00.000-07:00

Ok so now that we're starting to trickle out of the craziness of multiple Dr's appointments etc... and I'm finding it harder to remember to do this daily --I've decided to do weekly updates in one post. If I happen to remember to update it daily, it will be in the weekly post so you can just check back throughout the week.

#105 - Monday I had physio and it was hard plus the fact the weather has gotten insanely HOT -- mid - high 90's and supposed to break over the 100F mark during the week. YUK!!!!!!!!!! That is too darn hot for this neck of the woods. ha ha! Chris added some new things to the routine so that was good but they sure make me work hard and sweeeeeeeeeat!
I had to go to Issaquah to pick up a key for a sitting job that I start this week --- YAY!
Hung out in the house for most of the day, though I did swing by the barn for a bit.
Took my 7.5mg of warfarin @ 8pm
I head over to the gym in the main building so I could watch the Bachelorette finale! HA HA! I barely pedalled the bike because I didn't want to overdo it since my physio was so tiring and the damn heat was making me sweat bullets. oh such an entertainig show! ROFLMAO

#106 - Tuesday I had a dentist appointment @ 11am --- teeth cleaning and of course they found a tiny cavity and a stupid CRACK in one of my molars..........ohhhhhhhhhhh no! So ya, I have 2 appointments next week to deal with those issues! Grrrrrr!!!!
I stopped by the ranch to see who was out there and it was a ghost town because the temperature had shot up to 98F! But I decided to give Karma a bath.......hehe, now that felt good for her and I! I spent about 2hrs there(thank goodness for the fans in the barn, otherwise I wouldnt have lasted very long) then head home.
Just hung out in the house for the remainder of the day to stay cool and sane! LOL
Took my 10mg of warfarin @ 8pm

#107 - Wednesday I had physio @ 11:30am --oh man it was hot out, we're talking up to 102F! Definitely short and tank top weather, otherwise my clothes were soaked in sweat from doing nothing. EW! Physio felt like torture because of the heat, even though the building has A/C my body wasn't happy and felt pretty stiff actually so we addressed that with a fair amount of massage etc... ah yes, that FELT goooooooooooood!
After that I drove to the barn and hosed off Mercury and Nikon because they needed it to cool down a bit. Poor horses were soaked in sweat from the heat!
I came home and hide in the house...........ugh, too hot out
Took my 7.5mg of warfarin @ 8pm

#108 - Thursday(Today) I had an appointment with Dr Chi at 11:30am --- that went well, he's happy with my progress and will see how things are in 6 weeks from now. He said I could ride but to not over do it!!!! I mentioned a few nerve sensations in my foot so we'll keep an eye on that as I worry we may have long term issues with pain. :-(

After that I head home for a bit before having my ultrasound at 3:45pm --- that went good, the clots have broken right now to hardly anything, just some small residual blood that has hardened along the wall of the vessels. The lady wanted me to make an appointment to see the vascular specialist about going off the warfarin! YAHOOOOOOO! I'll still have to do the blood tests in a week or so to see if I have any of the blood clotting disorders but if those are negative I'm warfarin FREE! YAY! oh that would be so nice! haha! Anyways I'll let you know how that goes tomorrrow.

I had to stop in and start my cat sitting job in Issaquah -- cats name is JB and he's super cute. I fed and filled up his water, cleaned his litter box, played with him for a few minutes then did the house plant and outside plant watering. Oh those poor plants are having a hard time with this heat. I gave them a good drink but no doubt tomorrow they'll need it again!

I decided to go down to the barn after that and gave Karma a groom then hopped on for a few minutes. Ugh ,it was soooooo hot out, like 102F! I had to hose her and myself off after that, we didn't do anything but sweat doing nothing. HA HA HA!
I left there and came home to get the heck out of the heat and shower!
Took my 10mg of warfarin @ 8pm.

#109 - Friday I went down to the ranch to go riding with Helene, we had a great ride --well minus Karma sinking in the water and going down on her knees. THank goodness that horse has such a great mind and doesn't panic! We sat there for a minute then I was able to rock her back out of the water and up on all 4's! HA HA! Wow, talk about bizarre! We tried again and made it through with no problem so that was great.
We finished up our ride and hung out for a bit with Julie.

I had an appointment with the vascular specialist at 2:45pm in Bellevue so I went to that and the Dr said I was fine to go OFF THE WARFARIN! YAHOOO!

I head back towards home but stopped off to do JB before coming home to relax as all the driving in Friday traffic is not my idea of fun! HA HA!

It felt really weird not having to take my warfarin @ 8pm! haha!

#110- Saturday we didn't do too much just relaxed and stayed out of the heat ---though the weather had cooled a bit, it's still too hot for my liking.
I stopped over in the afternoon to do JB and then we had a bite to eat in town.

#111 - Sunday(yesterday) I was supposed to meet up with Helene and Julie for a ride but missed them and so I ended up riding around the ranch with Pepper(the owner). We had a nice ride around the perimeter trail then did the waterfall trail(Karma was fine, no sinking LOL) and then we head up the access trail to where it opens up to all the old logging roads. We turned around and came back because I didn't want to ride too long as that was the longest I had been on horse for over 3months.

I came back and did the perimeter trail one more time to cool Karma out as she got sweaty from the climb up the access trail. I hosed her off, groomed her then put her away.

I decided to do some ground work with Nikon, a 2yr old Rocky Mountain gelding that Pepper owns. He's a lot of fun but still learning how to be a horse and respect humans so we spent time doing that. He was being so good I decided that Sunday would be the day I RODE HIM! haha! I was wearing my helmet of course, I got him to stand next to the mounting block so I could lean over him to see how he'd react(we'd done that before). He was fine so I swung my leg over and sat on him bareback and he could careless.
I decided to kick it up a notch and see if I could make him walk around the ring a bit with me on his back and YUP we did it! What a good boy, it was so much fun. He wasn't too sure about why I was squeezing his sides to make him walk but he didn't fuss, more like he didn't get IT! HA HA! we made our way around the ring without any problem so I was really happy about that. I was almost done when I heard the ladies coming back from their ride and so I waited so they could see me on Nikon. Julie was thrilled to see me on him and Helene rode Mercury into the ring to toodle around with us for a minute. Then I said "HEY you want to ride down the pathway to the Llama's and back?" haha, so I did it, I rode Nikon all the way down to the Llama's and back bareback with the halter and he was soooooooooooo good!

I was really impressed that he was so cool and calm about everything so we'll work on some more ground work and I'll keep sitting on him a bit so he knows that's what happens.

ANyways, we groomed the horses then put them back out in the field before heading home for the day.

I was tired but nothing too bad so I was happy about that. It's easy to forget and overdo things but I can't risk it with my ankle so have to do little bit everytime.

It's just nice to be able to work with the horses again, esp with the approval of the ankle and vascular specialist.

I went home, Adam and I head out to meet up with his friend John in Issaquah plus I had to stop in and check on JB so I did that while Adam stayed at the coffee shop.

Post-Op Day # 104 - Fabulous Sunday Ride

2009-07-30T21:25:00.000-07:00

Ok, so I totally remember what I did Sunday morning.......haha, I went riding with Helene and we had a fabulous time!
She decided to try Mercury out and boy, that was great MATCH! :-) I saw a totally different person on and off the horse which was really nice. Mercury is such a good boy, esp for his age so it's nice for Helene to have a horse to deal with that isn't so opinionated and bossy like GG!

Plus the fact he's way smaller then Godiva that seemed to help Helene with be able to feel more in control and ofcourse get on and off from the ground if she wanted/needed to! YAY!

I helped her out in the ring for a bit and she did really well getting Mercury to walk and gait in there. She felt very relaxed, happy and eager to be riding him which is a change from dealing with Godiva. Godiva is great if you can handle/ride her almost everyday but even then shes' an Alpha mare and can have a lot of "tude" LOL

Anyways she took Mercury out of the ring and did some gaiting on the pathway as the gaited horses do much better there then in the softer ring footing. She had him gaiting so well and so I went in and got Karma ready while she toodled around with Mercury in the ring.

I got Karma ready and head out to the ring for a few minutes then we did the perimeter trail once then decided to do the waterfall trail. This was Helene's first time riding Mercury around the property and they had a BLAST! Mercury is so level headed and will do pretty much anything you ask of him and even if he's not sure he doesn't loose his mind over it. It's so nice to have a horse like that, they THINK before reacting!

We did the waterfall trail then took a side trail to check it out then head back on the perimeter trial to call it a day. I have to be careful how long I ride for, don't want to over do it! It takes a while for "riding muscles" to come back haha! Oh ya, I feel out of shape that way.

We untacked them and gave them a good groom before calling it a day. It was so nice to see Helene so happy and so we talked about it then decided she should ask if she could transfer her lease over to Mercury! :-)

I zipped home and had a shower so that Adam and I could head out for a bit.

the weather was starting to warm up quite a bit so we didn't stay outside too long but still it was nice to enjoy some time together <3

My ankle felt pretty good, even with the riding etc... and walking around. It's so nice to be able to walk pretty much anywhere now..........LOL I never want to use crutches AGAIN!

I took my 10mg of warfarin @ 8pm.

I was pretty darn tired and ready for bed around 10pm! ha ha!

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 103 - Last Saturday

2009-07-30T21:21:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday is a total blur to me.............hmmmm all I remember is Adam and I went to Chiptole for dinner, I stayed in Issaquah and walked around Target while he went to the range!

I know I took my 10mg of warfarin @ 8pm

I think I might have stopped by the ranch to give Karma a groom but Im not positive. HA HA!

Oh well, I'm getting older, that's my excuse for my brain fart(s).

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 102 - Last Friday

2009-07-30T21:10:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I know I stopped by the ranch to give Karma a groom and of course there was a bunch of people going on a trail ride. Ugh, oh well I said no because A ) I know it would be too long/ too much for me B ) I had physio at 3:30 and needed to have energy for that because its getting tougher!

So ya, I gave Karma a nice grooming, hung out for a bit then head home to clean up and stay cool. The weather was starting to warm up quite a bit and we had warnings for a heat wave in the next few days.

Physio was soooooooo tiring, OMG! I thought I was going to pass out it was tough doing all the strengthening type exercises plus doing the elliptical trainer for 10mins. I hate that machine.......hehe! Chris could tell i was having a hard time but was good letting me have a bit of "wiggle" room on some of them. :-) He's good about pushing when I need it but also knowing when I'm too tired and could end up hurting myself from fatigue.

I left there in a sweat and needed to come home for a rinse.........ah yes, that felt GOOD!

I got a text from Helene and I said I could meet up with her at the ranch if she wanted to. LOL back again I said, I'm happy to go down and help her out with Godiva.

I was there till about 7:45pm, we had fun and of course I needed to get home to have dinner and to take my 7.5mg of warfarin @ 8pm

Phew, I was tired from all the fresh air and physio but it was all good plus I knew I could sleep in on Saturday morning! HA HA!

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 101 - Last Thursday

2009-07-30T21:05:00.000-07:00

Well I did it again, I forgot to finish the updates the other day so now I'm so far behind! HA HA!

Last Thursday I know I went riding on Karma around the waterfall trail with Emily and Jenny....boy it was fun! I didn't ride too long because I'm so out of shape but it's great to be back in the saddle a few times a week if I can do it.

I can't remember hardly anything so this will be it.....haha! Oh and I know I took my 10mg of warfarin @ 8pm!

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 100 - Physio Fatigue!

2009-07-24T20:57:00.000-07:00

Well Wednesday I slept in a bit again, I couldn't believe how the tiredness from the weekend seemed to be lingering. I was worried I was coming down with a cold or something!

Thank Goodness it was soooooooooo nice and cool out, I almost thought it was going to RAIN!! haha!

Adam and I had some left over fajita's for lunch so that was good.
I did some laundry from the trip plus a few other things around here before my afternoon phsyio session at 3:30pm. I was looking forward to it and of course seeing Chris back after his 2 week break for surgery.

Physio was good but exhausting --- wow I sure got a good work out! We did the regular exercises plus add a couple new ones and then finished up the day with 10mins on the elliptical trainer --though I did about 13mins because I got talking to the lady on the stationary bike about her knee surgery. haha! I had a good case of "noodle legs" after and had to take a quick break before leaving the building. haha!

I zipped down to the barn to see what was going on and give Karma a brush, as well I worked with Nikon for a few minutes in the ring.

I came back home to rest then later on Adam and I went to the North bend grill for a bite to eat.

I had my 7.5mg of warfarin @ 8pm

I watched a couple episodes of House before taking a nice walk around the short block with Adam......YAY first time in over 3months that I could do it. The temperature outside was amazing, refreshingly cool!

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 99 - Draggin My Tail

2009-07-24T20:50:00.000-07:00

Tuesday was not pretty.......... was so damn tired from the trip and boy did I sleep in. haha!

When I finally got up I lounged around in my PJ's for quite a while enjoying the cool apartment as it was pretty warm outside.

I had an appointment at the ACC clinic to do my INR test at 3pm and my INR was 2.6 --awesome! I was relieved, I thought for sure it would have dropped after my exhausting weekend.

I left Issaquah and decided to stop by the ranch to see who was out there.....it was very quiet, too hot for most people, just one trainer was there so I stayed for a bit to chit chat and gave Karma a quick brush.

I left there and head to the grocery store to pick up a few things before coming back home to stay cool.

We had some fajita's for dinner and then relaxed for the evening --- I wasn't motivated to do anything that required energy.

I took my 10mg of warfarin @ 8pm

I was so glad to be back home.

Post-Op Day # 98 - Bye Bye VI!

2009-07-24T20:40:00.000-07:00

Well Monday morning was busy, we woke up on the earlier side so we could get Jill to the Duke Point Ferry Terminal for the 10:15am ferry. She was just going over night and would be back to my moms the next day because she flew back to Ontario the following day.

We left the terminal and head back to my moms place so that I could drop her off and take the car so I could go down to the barn to visit Frosty again.

I had to go to the vet office first to pick up a tetanus shot and pay my bill from the Friday appointment.
I head over to the barn to see her, I didn't have too much time to do anything so just gave her some carrots/apples then talked to N&S for a few bit before heading back to my moms to make sure all my stuff was packed up.

I needed to be down in Victoria for 6pm check in time so I had a bit of time in the afternoon to chill out and actually my friend Reyna came over for a short visit so that was nice.

A friend of my moms offered to drive me down to Victoria so that was nice, one less thing for my mom to worry about plus the fact she had multiple trips to Victoria coming up in the next few days.

I got my stuff together , I said goodbye to mom and Reyna -- I think that was around 4:55pm.

It was nice of Diane to drive me and we had a fun chit chat on the way down! haha I love that lady, shes' so funny!

I got checked in and waited to board the Clipper ferry to head back to Seattle.

I took my 7.5mg of warfarin @ 8pm with my tasty "Vegetarian basket" that I had on the ferry.

Thankfully it was a smooth sailing and we made it to Seattle around 9:45pm. I was tired but happy to be back in WA State and ofcourse glad to see Adam!!!!

I flopped into bed and was OUT like a light....oh man, the bed felt good! HA HA!

well it was a fun but tiring trip for me ---but I did it CRUTCH-FREE! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!! Only took 3+ months to do it. haha!

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 97 - Ride Em Cowgirl

2009-07-24T20:32:00.000-07:00

Well I was super tired Sunday morning and slept in a bit! YAY! Dang that felt good!

I got up, we hung out around the house for a bit then decided to head to Cobble Hill so I could go visit Frosty.

Mom and Jill dropped me off for about an hour to go give Frosty a groom. I brought her in, groomed her then decided to tack her up and go for a ride! :-) I rode in the ring for a few minutes then head out for a short trail ride around the back. It felt great to ride her again(and ride after more then 3months off), I hadn't ridden her since 2004 I think so it was a lot of fun.

I came back, untacked, groomed and put her away. I was tired after it all but it was worth it for a bit of enjoyment with ma pony!

Mom and Jill showed up, we stayed to chit chat with Norm and Sandy for a bit then head back towards Duncan. My mom was taking care of a friends house in Maple Bay so we head out that way to do that before heading back to her house in Duncan.

We got back to Duncan and hung out for most of the day, it was pretty darn hot out so it felt nice to be inside where it was cool!!

later on we planned to have Chinese for dinner so that was yummy! We also watched 2 movies that night, none of us were motivated to do anything else!

Took my 10mg of warfarin @ 8pm

I was definitely ready for bed, it was a long and tiring weekend for me but I was glad I came over for the wedding and decided to take Frosty out for a ride.

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 96 - Time To Celebrate!

2009-07-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

Well I slept in, boy I was soooooooo tired from Friday haha! I hung around the house in my Pj's for quite a while....haha, think I finally got dressed at 1pm! LOL

I had some lunch with my mom and her friend Jill. We stayed inside because it was so dang hot out again.

I had some time to fart around checking email etc.... before having to get showered and dolled up for the wedding. I bought a really cute black N white dress here in WA, State so wore that, plus some very cute shoes with an inch heel. Yup, I wore both shoes ---though I did take my walking boot with me in the car just incase! :-)

The ceremony was at 3pm and I needed to leave earlier to go pick up my friend Angela, she was my DATE since Adam couldn't go to the island this time.

I pick her up and we head over to the Merridale Cidery where the ceremony was, they didn't have very good signage for the wedding(not my friends fault). Finally we figure it out and start walking down the hill to where the tent was and I nearly died.....it was steep but worse part was everyone was SITTING and waiting for the bride n groom.

Angela and I get to our seats and then we hear the music start.......oh man talk about CLOSE CALL! HA HA! OH well, we made it and it was a fabulous ceremony. Tessa looked phenomenal in her dress and Brendon looked sharp in his tux.

I took a bunch of pictures so I'll have to put a couple up for you to see :-)

The ceremony finished, we got to walk up and congratulate them before everyone started to head back up the hill to where they were going to do their wedding photos.

We didn't know that we had about an hour or so before the reception started so we decided to head out and go get a cold drink/quick snack at Timmy Hortons in Mill Bay.

After that we head down to the CFB Wardroom which is part of the Naval base in Esquimalt. Wow, that place was beautiful! They had appetizers and a bar for the guest to get some bevies etc.... before moving into the dinning/dancing hall. Neither of us had anything to drink or eat at that point becuase we had Timmy's instead! HA HA!

We all moved to the hall and then the evenings festivities began. Lots of toasts, speeches etc.... and then we had a wonderful buffet dinner! mmmmmmm hmmmm fabulous food!
Oh and we had 4 other people sitting at the table with us and they were SUPER COOL! We had so much fun with them.....haha, we all kept saying that our table (#6 )was the best table there. haha!

I took my 10mg of warfarin @ 8pm! YAY ME FOR REMEMBERING! haha!

We watched Tess & Brendon have their first dance etc.... it was so awesome. After a short bit everyone got up and started to dance the night away! WOOT WOOT! Even Angela and I got up and danced for a while, though neither of us were in great shape with bad ankles! HA HA! Oh well, we did pretty good all things considered.

We stayed till midnight then head back up island home -- I dropped Angela off then made my way back to Duncan to my moms to sleeeeeeeeeeeeep! YAY! Phew, what a wonderful day but wow tiring too!

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 95 - Off to VI!

2009-07-22T19:51:00.000-07:00

Well we got up super early.........EWWWWWWWWWww! I had to be downtown Seattle for 6:30am check in so that was no fun. haha!

I didn't sleep well ofcourse as I worried about oversleeping and missing my boat. haha!

We left the house at 5:45am and got there so I had plenty of time to check in and be on my way to the island for Tessa's wedding! Said bye to Adam, told him to behave......haha, na, he's a good guy, I don't have to worry about him. :-)

The ride over was smooth and I read for a bit but was too tired to do that long, my eyes didn't want to cooperate! YAWN! I didn't nap or anything, I was tired but not tired enough to risk getting a kink in my neck.

I had a yogurt basket on the way over............lets see it had a granola bar, a blueberry yogurt, an apple juice, an apple sauce -- I didn't eat it all, too much for that early. I even had a tiny bit of coffee, boy I was alert after that.

I arrived in Victoria at 10:45am and my mom was there waiting for me :-) I drove home as she gets so tired from all the driving ---just doing it on the way to get me was enough for her.

We got back to her place and I helped her do a few things around the house for a bit. I just relaxed most of the day, though I did go to the barn later on in the afternoon for a bit. It was nice to give Frosty a good groom and hang out.

I went back to my moms and chilled for the rest of the evening because I knew Saturday would be a tiring but fun day.

I had to go pick up her friend from the bus stop around 6pm, she was in Victoria shopping for the day so it was nice to chit chat with her for a bit at the house.

We had a yummy dinner, I took my 7.5mg of Warfarin and watched some TV in the evening -- I think I crashed out around 10:30pm. I couldnt believe I lasted that long without a nap since being up so early in the morning.

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 94 - Better Pack My Bags!

2009-07-22T19:46:00.000-07:00

Well it's been almost a week since I updated this......opps, oh well I was away for 4 days!

Anyways, just a quick recap of last Thursday.

I went to the barn to visit, did some grocery shopping to make sure Adam had some stuff for while I was away in Canada and ofcourse I packed my bags for the trip to VI.

I did my ankle stretches/exercises, stayed inside as much as possible as it was hot out!

Took my 10mg of warfarin @8pm and hung out for a bit with Adam before leaving bright n early Friday morning on the Clipper to Victoria.

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 93 - Happy Hump Day Haha!

2009-07-16T14:48:00.000-07:00

Ok, so you're thinking Hump Day what the heck? It just means it's the MIDDLE of the week, you know the Wednesday Hump you can't wait to get over because you know the weekend is coming! LOL

Well the day started off with physio at 11:30am -- phew what a work out that was, I was very tired by the end. We did the regular exercises/stretches, the elliptical trainer for 10mins this time and some new exercises which incorporate a rubber resistance bad around my ankles haha! Those really made my legs work and feel like I had noodle legs! haha! I guess my next session will be with Chris again as he'll be back. I liked Rachael alot but who knows maybe I will have her again at some point.

I left physio and came home for a bit to let my legs rest while I had some lunch.

I decided to go to the ranch to see what was going on and so I stayed there for an hour or so before leaving. It was pretty darn hot out again so I wanted to get indoors where it was cooler!

I came home and hung out inside for the rest of the day plus I had to get my bag packed for my trip to VI this weekend.

I did some ankle stretches to keep everything limber plus I was curious to see how my legs felt after my intense physio! LOL

We had some dinner and I took my 7.5mg of warfarin.

After Adam was done work we decided to go watch the new Transformers movie which was really good actually.

Boy I was beat when I got home and it was time for bed!!

Post-Op Day # 92 - Too Much

2009-07-16T14:24:00.000-07:00

Well Tuesday I woke up and did my ankle stretches/exercises before heading out to see a client in Issaquah. I was there for about 30mins then head out to get some frozen mice for the snakes from PetSmart haha!

After that I whipped over to Ross Dress for Less to cruise the aisles for a few minutes. LOL It's fun to look at everything in there but very time consuming so I made sure to get out of there quick because I had the frozen mice in the car! I didn't need those things thawing out haha! GROSS!

I picked up some lunch before heading home for a bit to see Adam. We had lunch then I went to the ranch for a few hours.

I worked with Nikon on some ground work and he was really good but ofcourse I was POOPED by the time I was done. TOo much for one day for me, its amazing how tiring it is for my body. I think the physio is partly to blame as I'm having to do a lot more cardio/strengthening so it's making my body fatigue quicker.

I head home and flopped on the bed and was OUT for quite a while. I woke up and felt like crap but had to stay up for a bit otherwise I wouldn't sleep later on when it was bed time.

I took my 10mg of warfarin @ 8pm

I made some dinner, we hung out here for the rest of the evening before I called it a night at like 10:30pm! HA HA!

Post-Op Day # 91 - Work For It

2009-07-13T19:09:00.000-07:00

Well this morning I got to go back down to the ranch to watch the trainer work with Nikon as well he got me to try a few things so I can work him a bit. I spent a couple hours there and then had to whiz back to the ridge for my physiotherapy at 1:30pm.

My physio went really well, my ankle felt really good and she was happy that my knee hasn't been as sore. we did the stretches and worked on a few new exercises as well we added the elliptical trainer into it! It felt pretty good but wow after 5mins I felt out of breath haha, boy I need to work on some cardio!!! I did that then rode the bike for 10mins so by the time I was finished my legs were pretty tired and we called it a day!

I head to town after that to go to the bank, pick up Adam a few items from town then a quick stop in at the thrift store(too much fun for me to go there).

I came home and have been hanging out, Im POOPED! LOL Oh well that is ok, atleast my ankle and knee feel really good.

Well its almost time to take my 7.5mg of warfarin @ 8pm. Not sure if we're going to the transformers movie tonight or not as I have to be up early in the morning and the movie goes till about midnight.

Anyways, thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 90 - Hangin At The Ranch

2009-07-13T18:55:00.000-07:00

Well Sunday was not too bad weather wise, a bit overcast but no real heavy rain! PHEW!

I had the dogs to do in the morning before I left the clients house so I did all that and then head home around 11am.

I was very tired because I never seem to sleep well at that place but oh well that is life -- I need the money! LOL

I came back here for a bit to relax, do some laundry then organized some stuff in my closet LOL

I got a text from my friend Helene that she was going to the ranch around 2pm so I was excited to go down and see her.

I head down to RRR and hung out for a couple hours. Helene & I got sort of side tracked because there was a trainer out and he was working with a couple of the horses so we decided to watch. It's always fun to watch and learn as much as possible from any trainer.
Helene did groom Godiva and then let her out in the ring to tear off some spunk later on --actually the trainer helped her with GG for a bit so that was cool!!

After we were done there I came back home and had some dinner with Adam.

I was pretty darn tired again so I just hung out in the house for the rest of the night. I hate not having much energy but it'll come back as I'm able to walk better.

I took my 10mg of Warfarin --- the nurse upped it for Sundays to 10mg so we'll see how that does with the INR.

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 89 - Rain Rain Go Away!

2009-07-13T18:44:00.000-07:00

Well Saturday morning it was raining cats n dogs.....ugh, I know we need some rain but it was coming down pretty darn good!

I did my ankle stretches and it felt pretty good, same with the knee it had been much better!

I started my dog sitting job and so I let them out for a potty break/play time in the back yard for an hour or so. After that I came back home to go with Adam to Bellevue as we wanted to go to the jewelry store to see what they'd give us for the earrings.

They offered $380 cash so we took it, we've had the earrings for over a year and no luck selling them as its harder to sell heart shaped items.

We left there and went to the shooting range to check out a few things for Adam then head back to Issaquah to grab some dinner at Chiptole.

We did that then Adam went to the coffee shop before heading home so I could get organized to get back to the dogs and stay the night.

I was pretty darn tired so head back there early and stayed in for the night.
I made sure to take my 10mg of warfarin @ 8pm

I let the dogs out for a bit again and then we watched some TV on the couch together. haha!

thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 88 - TGIF

2009-07-10T20:16:00.000-07:00

Well its Friday once again and the weather is very warm! PHew, sweating to the oldies again! haha! Well actually more like MJ's songs as I bought a 2 disc set from Costco the other day with all his hits and love to crank it in the car --- Heeeeee Heeeeeeeeeeeee! HA HA! Hard to sit still listening to his stuff.

Speaking of Michael Jackson, I still find it bizarre he died but actually am relieved for him because I know he had many demons to deal with over the years.
I feel bad for the kids though, how horrible to loose their father at such a young age. :-(

I actually watched his memorial service online the other day and wow, it was very nice --- lots of his songs sang, many people spoke about him( I loved Brooke Shields, she was amazing!) and the worst part was the very end of the service. They had a bunch of people(including his family) singing Heal the world and We are the world then after that MJ's daughter Paris spoke and it was heart wrenching, she didn't say much(my daddy was the best father etc..) but wow, made my throat tighten up! Bla, it wasn't nice to see her so upset.

Anyways, I will remember him for his amazing voice and dancing ability --- a truely talented entertainer!!!

Today my knee felt pretty good so YAY for that! PHEW, what a week I was having, NOT FUN!

I woke up pretty early and had some coffee while waking up haha -- though I ended up getting a major coffee buzz with some heart palpatitions which sucked but it went away after I drank a bunch of water. haha! weeeeeeeeehawww!

I got organized and went to the ranch for a visit, I stayed for 1.5hrs then came back home to rest up. I didn't want to overdo it on my leg just because it was feeling better.

I had to make a few phones calls to set up a vet appointmet for Frosty during my visit on VI so I got that done. Im a bit anxious to get over there and see what the vet has to say -- umm ya, Frosty started to LEAK MILK last week and I'm totally freaked out about it. Unfortunately she could have been exposed to a few young colts at one farm while the leasers had her!! YIKES. I'm on the fence right now between worry and anger but I have to stay sane because I don't know what is going on yet and the vet will figure it out.

I'm praying to God she's not pregnant because she is a maiden mare and having a first foal at 31 is not a good thing. I'm just lucky that she's in excellent shape/health so God forbid she does foal atleast she's got that going for her.
Anyways I'll let you know how that all goes next week. Fingers crossed its a hormone issue or something!

Like I don't have enough things to deal with with my own health.....haha!

anyways I spent most of the day inside because it was pretty darn hot out!

I had a salad and chicken for dinner so that was tasty. Adam had some veggie pasta/stirfry left overs instead because he doesn't eat salad LOL or rabbit food as he calls it.

I took my 7.5mg of warfarin @ 8pm and now I'm just chillin like a villian! HA HA!

I'm hoping the knee behaves over the weekend and it continues to feel better this coming week so I don't have to worry about it for the wedding.

We're heading to Porcello's Jewelry tomorrow to see what they will give us for the diamond earrings we've been trying to sell(they're beautiful but I can't wear earrings because my ears get irritated).

I also have to dog sit tomorrow so I get to see my buddies Angus and Harley again. :-)

Well we're just going to hang out for the rest of the evening ,we might go for a walk around the block as the temperature is finally cooling off.

thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 87 - Step Up and Pedal!

2009-07-10T18:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday(thursday) I had physio @ 1:30pm -- I made sure I did all my stretching exercises before I got there.

I had a new physiotherapist as mine is out having an operation and will be out for 2weeks. The new lady is very nice and she worked on my ankle stretches. Boy she could massage deep......YOUCH! HA HA! I mean it felt good afterward but wow, during it was painful but I think that is because the calf muscle has a lot of knots in it from shortening up.

She worked over the incision as well but not like the calf, PHEW, I was relieved. No worries I told her when it was too painful to endure! HA HA! I dont like to be tortured, HONEST!

She had me walk over to the step block and do the exercise Chris and I had started the last couple times. She showed me a way to bend more at the hips and bring the knee up which actually elivated some of the pain from the knee so that was GOOD! I did 15 reps of that one on each leg, phew my legs were feeling like noodles after that! haha!

We did some balance work(standing on 1 foot) then she wanted me to try to eliptical bike for 10mins at a very easy pace. It felt pretty good actually, made the knee move without excessive force.
I was definitely tired after my physio session but the knee seemed a bit better so I was very happy -- My ankle felt pretty good too!

Later in the afternoon I noticed my foot was a bit puffy/swollen from all the physio stuff but nothing to be alarmed about plus the knee seemed to be less sore.

I came home for a bit then head out to the ranch for a visit. I watched a couple people ride then head home so I could make my chili and speghetti sauce.

Got home and FIRED UP THE KITCHEN....haha, pots, pans everywhere, tomato sauce, paste, tomatoes, spices, chili pepper, hamburger meat.........gez louise it was like a cook off! HA HA!
Browned up the meat then seperated it into 2 parts, one for the chili and the other for the speghetti sauce.

Adam was looking at me like I was crazy haha! I don't think he's seen me whipping up so much stuff in the kitchen so early in the day! :-)

Let those simmer for a while, had a taste test...mmmmmmmmmm mmmmmmmmmm!

I had some laundry to do before getting dinner organized -- stirfry with veggie pasta

I did my ankle exercises while I waited for the laundry to dry.

We ate dinner a little while later, I took my 10mg of warfarin @ 8pm and then finished up some stuff around the house while Adam went for a walk.

I put some ice on the knee and ankle for a bit to see if I could get the swelling to go down before bed.

Anyways, it was a better day thank GOODNESS!
Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 86 - Good To Go

2009-07-09T21:55:00.001-07:00

Well Wednesday morning I drove the rental car back to Issaquah and then picked up our car........yay, good to go!

I drove to North Bend to get a drink before driving by the ranch to see if anyone was there. Everyone was gone so I stopped in for a few minutes to say hi to Karma while it was nice and quiet out there!

I left and head back home to rest as my knee was driving me crazy again.

Later in the afternoon I did my ankle stretches to make sure it didn't cease up on me as I didn't do as many of them on Tuesday due to my knee being so bad.

I napped for quite a while and then later on Adam & I went to the North Bend Grill for a bit to eat, I had soup because I wasn't that hungry(hmm pain could be a new diet?! HA HA).

I took my 7.5mg of warfarin @8pm

Post-Op Day # 85 - I Give Up

2009-07-09T20:52:00.000-07:00

Well Tuesday was hell, my knee was insanely sore but I had to drop our car off in Issaquah to get serviced so I had no choice but to deal with it LOL

I dropped our car off then got a rental car so I could get home and so we had a car to use till the next morning when our car would be ready.

I whizzed home and had a rest, iced/heat on my knee for a bit then decided to stop by the ranch for a few minutes to see who was there. Nothing exciting going on so I didnt stay long and came back home to lay down!

Ugh, another day wasted away by pain! I GIVE UP, this sucks HA HA!

hmmm I took my 10mg of warfarin @ 8pm

I think I was in bed by 10pm

Post-Op Day # 84 - Breaking Point

2009-07-07T13:23:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday(monday) was not fun at all! My stupid knee was bothering me so much Sunday night I didn't sleep much plus I felt feeling hot so had to use a cold face cloth to keep cool.

I woke up, had a shower and got ready to head to Issaquah to the ACC clinic to get my INR testing done --- thankfully the INR was at 2.2 which I was relieved because I've been more active especially with the addition of physio to my weekly exercise. The lady upped my dosage for one day to 10mg instead of 7.5mg because she doesn't want my INR to drop any more as the increase in activity had dropped it a bit(it was 2.5 before).

After that I went to Ross Dress for Less to see if they had any hair clips and or shoes for the wedding but I was in a bad mood(from the knee pain) so I left there and head home to get some lunch before my physio at 1pm.

I got to physio and told Chris how bad the knee was, he was a bit concerned that it had gotten worse and that it was so painful for me. He did all the stretching with my ankle first then he did an ultrasound treatment on the knee to see if that would bring down the inflammation. It felt sore during that and still was very sore afterwards so we did minimal work on the block(standing on a small block and lifting my weight with the bad ankle). After 15 lifts on the block I was done, I couldn't handle it any longer and sort of had a melt down. :-(

I was getting frustrated and upset at the same time because it felt like I was going back 10 steps instead of improving. I was trying to hold back the tears and managed to do it for a bit but then I was working on some stretches at the wall then couldn't do it any longer and became a big emotional mess! HA HA! How embarrassing and Chris felt bad about it but said it was totally normal to feel this way. LOL Bla, what a crappy session plus my ankle was much stiffer due to not being able to bear as much weight on the ankle due to the stupid knee pain.

We're going to try a few more things to see if we can get the knee issue resolved before getting Dr Chi to take a look, see if I need an MRI on the stupid thing to make sure nothing is torn in there.

I left physio a mess and I felt bad that Chris felt bad........haha but I knew he didn't think I was mad at hime, just that I was frustrated as heck with the ankle and knee.

He'll be away for 2 weeks and so I'll have another physio lady working with me ---hopefully we can get through this knee issue and back on track with the ankle recovery!

I left there and came back home to lay down, I was so exhausted(mentally/emotionally/physically) and just wanted to sleep it off! HA HA!

I napped then woke up but didn't feel much better and the knee was extremely sore so I got the ice pack, took some tylenol and laid down with that for a bit. I also felt hot, like I was burning up so not sure what the heck that was all about. I asked Adam to feel my head and he said I felt a bit hot. My stupid thermometer needs a new battery or I would have taken my temp to see what it was at.

It wasn't even hot out yesterday, the exact opposite so I know it wasn't from the weather.

Later on I decided to get out of the house for a bit and went to the barn to visit -- I stayed there for about an hour or so but still wasn't feeling great so head to North Bend to pick a few items up then came back home to crash out again.

Umm ya, it was a real crappy day to say the least :-(

I had a salad for dinner, made Adam some fajitas and then watched an episode of House while icing my knee.

Took my 7.5mg of warfarin at 8pm

I head to bed early because I just didn't have the energy to stay up.

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 83 - Completely Useless

2009-07-07T13:10:00.000-07:00

Yup, Sunday I was completely useless because my knee felt like it was on fire -- the pain was so bad, even Tylenol wasn't doing much for it. Heating pad, ice pack, thank GOODNESS for those but still they don't totally wipe the pain out. :-(

I slept in because I was so miserable...............ugh, totally sucked!

Once I got up I had a shower, that felt good but didn't take the pain away ofcourse.

I just lazed around with the foot up for a bit.

I took my 7.5mg of warfarin at 8pm

I had my INR test scheduled for Monday morning then physio at 1pm -- I wasn't looking forward to physio.

In the evening Adam pushed me around the block in the wheelchair to get some fresh air :-)

Anyways, the day wasn't fun so I'll just finished this up now. haha!
Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 82 - Happy 4th of July!!!!

2009-07-07T13:00:00.000-07:00

Well Saturday morning I finished up my dog sitting and head home to figure out what the plan was for the 4th of July.

My knee was very sore still so I wasn't in too good of a mood -- poor Adam, he's been so awesome through all of this medical crap.

I did my ankle stretching exercises though they aggravated my knee a bit but still needed to do them or my ankle will start to cease up again.

It was VERY hot out on Saturday so we spent most of the day inside where it was cool.

Around 11am I heard a bunch of noise and looked out the window to find hundred's of people walking by our building with kids on bikes all decorated with American flags etc... it was so cool! I took a few pictures of the kids plus the old fire truck that drove by honking/beeping its horns/whistles HAHA!

The day sort of whizzed by and it was time for people to start letting off fireworks --- man, it went on for HOURS. It started around 6pm with the odd one going off but by the time 8pm came it was non stop till about 11:30 then we'd hear the odd one go off till Midnight or so.

It was awesome, we could stand on the patio and watch fireworks going off in all sorts of directions up here on Snoqualmie Ridge. :-) No need to drive anywhere to watch a firework show, we had a grand one going on in our own neighborhood! haha! I took a few pictures so I'll post them on here.

I made sure to take my 10mg of warfarin --- its easy to get busy then glance over at the clock and go "OH CRAP its 7:59 or 8:01" haha!

I was in bed around 11pm and watched the fireworks from my bed looking out the window. my knee was so dang sore so I called it a night.

Adam stayed up, I think he went over to see if the pub was open but they closed it down early.
Thanks for checking in and Happy 4th of July to all the Americans who visit my blog!

Post-Op Day # 81 - Finally Friday

2009-07-04T11:25:00.000-07:00

Well the week was finally coming to an end...........ugh, what a week of pain! ACK!
Friday my knee felt a bit better but still tender when I walked and so I made sure to rest the leg as much as possible(doing heat/cold on it plus Tylenol).

I slept like crap at the clients house but that is typical for some reason I always worry about oversleeping there and so I don't get much rest(my brain seems to worry all night long haha).

I stayed there till about noon , the dogs had a great time outside while I threw the ball for them.

I decided to come home briefly to give Adam a veggie sandwich for lunch then head to the barn to see Karma. I groomed her then took her in the ring to do some groundwork. After that I hand grazed her for a few minutes then put her away.

I came back home and put my foot up ---dang knee was starting to get sore from walking/standing too much. Popped a Tylenol, cranked up the heating pad and lounged in the nice cool house for a bit.

I did my ankle stretches and that felt pretty good -- rubbed some Vit E over the scar and massaged it really good.

I had a nap because I was pretty zonked plus the heat was getting to me. LOL Even with all the fans cranked up, it was a hot day!

I woke up later on and drove back to the clients house to let the dogs out for a bit. I threw the ball, cleaned up doggy do(haha, such a glamorous job) and then let them lounge around outside for a good hour or so. I had a few things to do inside so did that then put the leg up for a bit as it was starting to ache like crazy again.

After a bit I head back home but decided to stop and get my hair cut first --- it was time to get it a bit shorter in the back. Finished up there and then came home for a nice cool shower..........ah, it felt AMAZING! Haha! Gosh it was so hot out yesterday, I had all the fans cranked right up -- this is where I wish we had A/C in the house(TG for the A/C in the car for driving).

I hung out with Adam, we had a bite to eat, did a few things around the house and then I rested my leg for a bit before heading back to the clients house for the night.
Took my 7.5mg of Warfarin @ 8pm

I got there, let the dogs out for a bit, watched a couple medical shows then went to bed......soooooooooo tired and my knee was so freaking sore. Popped a Tylenol before bed haha!

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 80 - Laid Up

2009-07-04T11:13:00.000-07:00

Well Thursday was not fun, my knee was so sore I could barely walk -- even resting my leg didn't help the pain. UGH! I took a tylenol to help with the pain, put a heating pad on it so it would sort of dull it out a bit.

I stayed in the house for most of the day(it was super hot out anyways) except for when I had to go let Angus and Harley out mid-day for a potty break. I started dog sitting Thursday and will be staying overnight till Saturday --maybe Saturday night too.

I managed to get up and down the stairs at their house but then needed to rest the leg. I can't believe the amount of pain coming from my knee, it's almost worst then my ankle was the first 2 days post surgery. I was so tempted to take a 1/4 of a percocet to take the edge off but decided I better not because I was taking Tylenol.

I'm going to continue to take Tylenol, put hot and cold compresses on it and stay off it as much as possible till I go back to physio on Monday.
I made sure to do my ankle stretches but just the ones I could do while sitting.

I came back home for a bit to hang out with Adam and have dinner. I couldn't do anything else really.
I took my 10mg of warfarin @ 8pm then head back to the dogs to stay overnight. I let them out then parked my arse on the couch to watch some TV so I give my knee a break. I think I went to bed around 10-10:30pm.
I didn't sleep great because my knee hurt so much plus the house was hot(even with a fan directed at me, ugh, so hot).

That's it for Thursday, it was horrible and I just wanted to cut my leg off! HA HA!

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 79 - Sooooo Sore!

2009-07-01T21:18:00.000-07:00

Well my knee sure was sore this morning and stayed that way all day! ACK! I had physio @1pm and that went pretty good. My ROM improved a bit so that was great even though my knee felt like it was going to explode.

I told Chris and he looked at my knee, moved it around a bit to see what was going on and ya, he thinks the ligament is being pulled a bit by the way my foot wants to hit the ground when I walk. We're going to really work on getting the foot to hit the ground flat instead of it wanting to use the outside edge. Other then the knee pain, the ankle felt really good and moved quite well. He massaged the incision site again and it didn't hurt as much(PHEW haha) but I think thats because Ive been doing it everyday to help desensitize it.

He told me to get some Vit E capsules to rub on the scar to help soften it a bit and hopefully make it lighter(its quite thick). That really feels good when I massage the ankle and makes it easier.

We did the regular exercises plus added a small step block to the mix so that was interesting. It was a hard one to do but it didn' t seem to aggravate the foot so that was nice.

After physio I came home for a bit to help Adam with a few things then head to the ranch to give Karma a groom.

I groomed her then hung out with the girls on the deck while soaking up the sunshine! haha! I left around 6:15pm and whizzed home because we had to go to Issaquah to meet a guy who was going to buy Adams watch.

We met up with him at the coffee shop, the exchange went down(haha, gangsta style) and then we grabbed some dinner at Chiptole.

We came home and are relaxing with the windows/sliding door screens across, there is a LOVELY breeze tonight. The weather lately has been so nice but today was almost perfect and the evening temperature is divine!

Took my 7.5mg of warfarin @ 8pm --- trying to get this updated so I can watch a couple House episodes before bed. haha!

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 78 - Tired on Tuesday

2009-07-01T21:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I was pretty darn tired plus my knee was sore so I didn't do much. I stayed home for most of the day then stopped by th e barn for a few minutes to give Karma some treats.
After that I went grocery shopping then came home to make some sloppy joes! Mmmm haven't had those in a long time. haha!

I did my ankle exercises atleast 3 times so that was good, even though my knee was a bit sore I was careful not to overdo the walking without the crutch.

I napped a fair amount too, I was just tired and needed to recharge a bit.

I made sure to take my 10mg of warfarin @8pm

Boring day, oh well. haha!

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 77 - Getting Better

2009-07-01T21:05:00.001-07:00

Well Monday I had my physio with Chris again and it went really well. He took the ROM measurements at the start and they were way better then the previous time so that was a great way to start the session and week!

He gave my foot a good workout, massaged over the incision(YOUCH) , I did the exercises from the previous session and had a few new ones to add into the mix. The ankle felt pretty darn good so he said to use the one crutch if I needed it but to start to practice walking without either if I felt like I could do it. I told him I had done some walking without them on the weekend and it went pretty well. Though I did notice my knee bothering me again, so my stupid foot wasn't hitting the ground right and was pulling my knee as well. We're working on correcting that but its' going to take time.

After my physio I went to the ranch and gave Karma a good groom. I hung out for a bit then head home as I was pretty tired.

Adam had to go meet up with a guy so I stayed home and got the dinner started(tilipia w/stirfry).

We ate dinner then took a short walk to the grocery store to get him some creamer for his coffee then I called it a night.

I took my 10mg of Warfarin @ 8pm -- watched a few episodes of House while elevating the foot.

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 76 - Up Up and Away

2009-07-01T20:54:00.000-07:00

Well I do remember Sunday but that is because it was a very good and fun day.

I went down to the ranch to give Karma a groom and got through with that but then decided to be naughty and RIDE! haha!

I tacked her up in a western saddle, led her to the ring, managed to mount from the offside(easier on my ankle), rode for about 5mins in the ring(walk/gait/canter) then did the perimeter trail once before heading back to the ring, dismounting on the offside(again easier on the ankle) and then called it a day. I think I rode for 15mins total but it was fun! I untacked, groomed her and then let her graze for a few minutes while I watched a few other ladies ride.

I felt pretty good all things considered but I know I need more time yet till I get back to riding consistently. My whole left side is so out of whack, I felt like I was falling to the right side a lot and so I need to strengthen my left ankle/leg/hip and upper body. All the time on the crutches really took a toll on my body, it's very crooked so I need to get that worked out before riding.

Anyways, I stayed at the barn for a while then head home so Adam & I could head to Bellevue to do a few things.

On the way back from Bellevue we decided to try the new pizza place in Issaquah called Tutta Bella and it was quite good actually. We both had a Calizone(think that is how you spell it?) and it was very tasty.

We head home after that for a few minutes then head out to check out the river -- that was fun except the stupid ground was so uneven so it was very hard for me to navigate.

I took my 7.5mg of Warfarin @ 8pm

We came home and called it a night -- I was tired from the fresh air, riding and a fair amount of walking without my crutches. I made sure I did my ankle exercises before bed to give it a good stretch.

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 76 - Hmmm I Forget!?!

2009-07-01T20:50:00.000-07:00

haha! I can't remember what we did on Saturday --guess it wasn't anything too exciting.

I know I would have done my exercises for my ankle, been outside when it was cool enough and taken my 10mg of Warfarin @ 8pm.

Hmm ya, good memory --this is why I need to keep this updated daily! haha!

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 75 - TGIF

2009-06-26T10:59:00.001-07:00

Well its FRIDAY.........yeah, thank goodness I know Adam is very happy the weekend is almost here!

I have physio today at 2pm so I'm anxious to get there and see how it goes again. I know Chris will be happy that I did all my exercises and that I was able to walk without the boot/crutches for a short distance. :-)

I'm going to take the 2 dresses back to Ross today and see what they have for shoes....I have a couple pair here but I'll just take a peak while I'm there anyways. haha! GOod way to get exercise and kill some time.

I'll come back later to update how my physio went but hope everyone has a wonderful FRIDAY

Ok, so yesterday after I took the dresses back I had my physio and it was AWESOME! My foot was really moving well and I was able to walk with my runners without my crutches. Chris was so impressed! haha! He did a massage on the incision to help break up the scar tissue a bit, that hurt a little bit but nothing too bad. I have a few new exercises to practice, like doing sort of a lunge stretch and then standing on one foot at a time. I could actually stand on my bad foot with all my weight for quite a while -- even Chris was surpised that I could hold it that long.
Though that exercise definitely makes the nerves act up a bit and send some weird sensations through the foot.

He wants me to use one crutch now just to help with balance while I'm walking but I'm allowed to practice walking without it as long as I'm on level ground and not overdoing it. :-)

I left there feeling so good and decided to go to the ranch for a visit. I even walked without my crutch while I was there. Everyone was so happy to see me walking around haha!

I decided to halter, lead and groom Karma all by myself --after I gave her a good groom I took her for a short walk to the car for treats. It was so amazing to be able to actually walk and lead a horse! :-)

I don't think it will be too much longer till I CAN RIDE AGAIN! YAAAAAHOOOOOOOOO!

Ah yes, yesterday was a VERY VERY VERY GOOD DAY :-)

I left the barn and came back home to show Adam my new walking skills haha! We stayed here for a bit then head out to Chiptole for dinner.

I took my 7.5mg of Warfarin @ 8pm

I watched a few episodes of House and called it a night. I was pretty darn tired but felt so happy about my foot. :-)

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 74 - Walk This Way

2009-06-26T10:40:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday was pretty awesome, I was able to WALK with my running shoes without MY CRUTCHES! Hallelujah haha!

I did all my exercises 3x's yesterday and that really help get the ankle moving and loosened up. I decided to drive to town to check out the thrift store because they always have a ton of purses and neat stuff in there.
I went and looked around for about 20 minutes, saw a couple items but I didn't have any cash on me or my check book so I had to pass on them. I figured if they're still there when I go back then it's meant to be! HA HA!

I left there and drove over to the outlet mall to look for some shoes -- I need new runners because the ones I have are "barn shoes" now. I have a brand new runner(just one) from my mom because she needed the other one but because at that time I was wearing my walking boot I only needed one! Now I need a pair so I can use them all the time and for physio.

I parked the car and took just ONE crutch with me so I could practice walking and I did really GOOD! I got tired quick and took sitting breaks but I did it, I walked around the one store and didn't see anything so moved on to the next store(Nike!).
I went in and tried on a bunch of shoes, it was fun and the guy was really helpful/patient with me.........haha, I tried on a LOT of shoes to find the right ones.
I finally found a pair and they were on sale(like $25 , so cheap) so I bought them. :-)

I walked back to the car with the bag--that was sort of entertaining because I forgot that I'd have to carry them back. haha! It wasn't pretty but I made it and put them in the trunk.

I thought about what other stores I wanted to check out while I was there and decided to go to the Dress Barn -- I love that store!
Plus, Im still on the fence about a dress for Tessa's wedding so I figured Id go see what they had in there.
oh man, they had so many nice dresses and the ladies were awesome, gosh I think I tried on like 25 dresses! HA HA HA! It was very fun and some of them were stunning!!!!!!

we narrowed it down to about 3 that I really liked, I had about 6 ladies there helping me decide. haha!
In the end it was the blue or the black n white dress -- I decided on the black n white one which is ironic because the other 2 that I bought at Ross are black n white. I like this dress better then those 2 so they're going back today to Ross! haha! Great thing was, the dress I got at the Dress Barn was on sale so it was the same price as the other ones--about $25, so really I couldn't go wrong!

I think I was there for 1.5hrs......haha, those ladies were so funny -- Id say "I guess I can't find the right one so I'll just go" and ofcourse they'd go looking for something else in the store and bring it back and I'd change my mind about leaving and start trying more dresses. haha!

So finally I pay for the dress, head to the car and sit there in a daze for a minute because I'm EXHAUSTED! oh my GOD I was zonked from all the moving around. I waited a few minutes and then head back home to REST --but ofcourse had to put the dress on so Adam could see. haha!

I had a nice nap to recharge......phew, boy I needed that! I got up, tidied up some stuff then made fajitas for dinner. MmmmmmmmmHmmmm!

I took my 10mg of Warfarin @ 8pm then watched a couple episodes of House while Adam went skating in Bellevue.

I was very happy to get to bed last night but wow, what a day! I couldn't believe it that I could walk without my boot and crutches like a NORMAL PERSON AGAIN!

Well thats it for yesterday, thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 73 - Move It Move It

2009-06-26T10:22:00.001-07:00

Well Wednesday I had my first physio session and it was AMAZINNNNNNNNG!
When I got there Chris(my PT) was very concerned about the ROM in my ankle, it was very poor and would need a fair amount of work to gain a normal range back.

He used a special measuring device to chart where the ROM was in my ankle --- the up and down ROM was horrible, it measured in at -15! He said that was really bad and needed to get that improving asap! Most of the other directions we checked seemed not too bad, definitely nothing that wouldnt come back after a little bit of time.

He showed me some stretches to do, as well he stretched my ankle in a bunch of ways to see if it would help and boy did it EVER! It was kind of gross at first though because my ankle popped quite a few times and that was a big part of my stiffness in ROM. I guess my ankle bone had locked up because of all the time in my walking boot. After the jointed released it was a totally different foot, it would MOVE quite a bit! YAHOO! We were both shocked how much better it moved after that happened.

We did some exercises with me walking on the floor barefoot with my crutches --taking baby steps to make sure I was using my left foot correctly. Basically a rolling motion from heel to toe and same with the other foot---it has compensated for the bad one so it wasn't even walking properly.

I was still experiencing some odd nerve sensations in the foot, esp the heel but nothing I couldn't handle. As the session when on the foot got used to holding more weight on it and the nerves seemed to get used to it.

the hour session whizzed by and we rechecked the measurements for ROM and well, we were amazed by the up and down improvement! It went from - 15 to + 2 , I was so happy I could cry! haha!

I will go 2x's a week for about 6weeks-- I know I will be in very good shape by then!

I left with a HUGE smile on my face and my foot felt so much better. I got home and showed Adam, he was really surprised to see that I could almost walk on my own again(without the stupid BOOT).

Oh and I DROVE WITH just my regular shoe on my foot too...........heck ya, it felt great to be able to push the clutch pedal like normal people do! HA HA!

I was in such a great mood I had to go to the ranch to visit for a bit and show off my new walking skills. haha! I had a nice visit, watch a few people ride then head to town to pick up a few items for dinner.

I took my 7.5mg of Warfarin and took an tylenol as well because my foot was a bit sore from physio but a good sore. :-)

I just hung out for the rest of the evening but I tell you, I felt really optimistic about the ankle recovery which was so nice! Finally some light at the end of the TUnnel(haha TARSAL TUNNEL).

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 72 - Dress Up

2009-06-23T08:54:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday I had my INR tested and it was at 2.5 -- perfect! Phew, I was so worried it was going to be too low due to all the exercise I did while on VI. I don't go back for 2 weeks now to get tested again......yay!

After my test I drove to Ross Dress for Less and spent quite a while in there looking around for shirts etc... and then it clicked in my head that I don't have anything to wear to Tessa's wedding on July 18th! EEEEEEEK! I decided to go through the dresses and pick out a few to try on!

Ok, so that was quite the task, remember I have my stupid walking boot on and crutches still.....haha so it takes me a while to get around, let a lone "slip" in and out of dresses. haha!

I managed to find 4 dresses to try to pushed my cart to the dressing area and got the lady to help get me to a fitting room. the first two dresses I tried didn't look good on me, I was bummed out with the one dress because it was the one that really caught my eye when I was going through the racks.

the other 2 dresses looked awesome on, I loved both and couldn't decide which I liked best -- and Adam wasn't around for his opinion so I thought "hey, buy both, see what Adam thinks and bring one back" Perfect idea!!

Btw, I'll post a picture of the dress on here

I took the long way home, the scenic route and stopped at a drive-thru coffee shop that has SUPER TASTY Chai Latte's! mmmmm hmmmm!

one more quick stop to fill a RX for my Warfarin, waited the 15mins for it to be ready -- just sat in the car enjoying my chai latte and listening some tunes! haha!

I was excited to get home so I could begin the fashion show! HA HA! Poor Adam, he was busy working and I kept saying "what do you think about this one" --- he was good about it, he'd stop and say why he liked each one, which one he liked more. :-) I trust his taste plus I couldn't go wrong with either choice!

We decided on the one we like and so I'll take the other back this week. I'm looking forward to the wedding and visiting the island again even though we just got back last week. haha!

Anyways, I was pooped from all the hobbling about, trying dresses on etc... that it was time for a short nap to recharge! PHEW, I was running on EmPTY!

After my nap I was determined to find a pair of my sandals but couldn't find them in the closet so I figured they were in the garage. I went down there and got totally side tracked with sweeping, moving some boxes around(Umm ya, neat freak haha) then eventually found the box with the shoes! YAY!

I came back up and was whipped again..............gez louise, I had no energy at all yesterday! I think I have a bit of a cold or something, just feeling extra sluggish this weekend/week.

I watched a few episodes of House and then decided to make dinner --- Tilapia, rice and veggie stirfry mmm mmm, very good!

Took my 7.5mg of Warfarin @ 8pm

I didn't stay up late, my body needed sleep so I hit the hay!

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 71 - Sleepy Sunday

2009-06-21T17:06:00.000-07:00

Well I slept not so good at the clients place last night but I never sleep that well at that place for some reason -- think its the bed and then I worry about oversleeping and risk the dogs doing some Opps in the house! Never had one yet but don't want to start it! LOL

I woke up, let the dogs out for a while to play, threw the ball and tried to stay awake till it was time to drive home. HA HA!

My client was coming home around noon so I left around 11am that way I knew the dogs would be good just incase they didn't get home till a bit later.

I came home, had some coffee cause I needed a good kick in the pants to wake myself up -phew, didn't work too well either.

We've been in the house all day because it was raining hard, there was even thunder for a bit but now it seems to be clearing up which is great.

I'm so tired I can barely keep my eyes open.......haha, what a waste of the day. I don't care, Sunday's are for hanging out with Adam and doing whatever we want, including SQUAT! Roflmao!

I did have a nice talk with my dad on the phone earlier today for Fathers Day so that was cool :-)
My mom called me this morning too.....today was talk to my parents on the phone day!

Right now I think Adam is getting his stuff organized to walk then maybe he'll go to the shooting range for a bit. I'm happy just hanging out, I have no energy for anything today :-(

Well unless something exciting happens I'm calling it a day --- too many blogs too type, not enough sleep.............hahaha but hey I made some $$$ so that is good.

btw, tomorro morning I go for my INR testing so we'll see if I'm still over 2.0 --- I did a lot of physical activity on VI, hopefully it didn't drop it too low. haha!

thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 70 - Dog Sitting

2009-06-21T16:55:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday I woke up at a decent time, hung out with Adam for a bit then had to start my dog sitting job. I love this client's dogs, Angus and Harley are the best -- adorable, smart and cuddly!

I went over at 1:30pm for 1.5hrs to let them out, throw the ball and watch a bit of TV -- ah yes, some medical shows! haha! I watching ER shows and Dr. G, the lady who does autopsies. ROFLMAO, morbid aren't I now!

After the dogs had enough romping time I put them back up in their room and head out for the afternoon to spend time with Adam, that was around 3pm.

We decided to go to Issaquah for lunch(Chiptole) and maybe wash the car --but nope, didn't do that cause the weather was getting nasty.

We went to Target to get a digital antenna then up to Adams favorite coffee shop, Caffe Ladre on the Issaquah Highlands.

I stayed in the car because I had a splitting headache again and didn't feel like getting out, esp when there's noisy kids yelling and running out front of the shop! UGH!

We stayed there for about 10mins then head back home -- my head was pounding so I chilled out on the couch for a bit hoping and praying the headache would go away.

My whole body was sore/stiff so I don't know if this is some sort of bug or what but I don't like it.

it was time to take my warfarin and then I figured I'd probably call it a night and head back to the dogs to stay the night.

I said good night to Adam and went over to the house to watch some TV for a bit then crashed out in bed till morning.

Well that is my excitement for the weekend --- Adam, dogs, sleep, food and nasty headaches.

Post-Op Day # 69 - TGIF

2009-06-21T16:45:00.000-07:00

Thank God It's FRIDAY........I was really happy it was Friday for Adams sake, boy he was tired from the trip, dealing with the hiccups and feeling like crap all week.

I woke up and head out to the ranch around noon to watch some lessons -- Fridays are my favorite because it's a busy day out there!

I stayed for quite a while, the weather was very odd and we even had a torrential downpour at one point which was SOOOOOO loud on the covered riding ring. It was so nasty out that it was time to break up the party sort of speak. haha!

I was starving so I went to Subway for a quick sandwich and happen to see our old neighbor Ann so that was cool. :-)

I stayed there for a few minutes trying to wait the rain out then head back home to see how Adam was doing.

Adam was looking better which was a relief, he didn't look so hot on Thursday. I know he was looking forward to Friday being over with.

I finished up some laundry and a few things around the house but nothing too exciting. I was pretty tired and had a wicked headache for some reason which seemed to be on and off all day!

I don't remember what I did Friday night, I think I fell asleep early because of the headaches ---Tylenol seemed to help a tiny bit but I'm still not sure why I had them. I rarely get headaches. *Scratches head*

That's it for Friday........borrrrrrrrrrring, oh well you don't have to tell me about it. I can't wait to be able to ride and walk around the block again.

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 68 - Ankle Specialist Appointment

2009-06-21T16:32:00.000-07:00

Well Thursday morning I had an appointment with Dr. Chi, he thought the ankle looked better but was concerned about the lack of mobility. We talked a bit and decided I needed to start physio asap now that the DVT's are getting much smaller and that my energy levels are up.

I will go this Wednesday for an hour assessment at the physiotherapy place on Snoqualmie Ridge --right behind our place, can't get closer then that!!! I'm sure it will feel like torture for the first while as the ankle is so stiff, the skin feels so tight and the nerves are still very angry!
Oh well, no pain no gain..........right, hmmmmm thats why they made pain medication I think! HA HA!

I will go back to Dr. Chi in 6 weeks, hopefully by then there will be a significant improvement with range of motion, strength and hopefully the pain issues due to the nerves will subside a bit. No guarantees though, that is the risk we took with surgery to hopefully get that pain reduced to where it's bearable -- maybe if I'm really lucky it will be gone.

All in all Dr Chi was happy to see I had made some progress on my own as I can put some weight on the front part of my foot and wobble around the house a bit. Though he said I wasn't doing myself any favors by doing it as it was putting my whole body out of whack and not doing anything good for the arch, heel and ankle.

After the appointment I grabbed a bite to eat in town then drove to the ranch to hang out for a while. It was nice to see everyone again and of course tell them all about how Frosty was doing. :-)

I left there around 6:30pm, head to the grocery store to pick up some food then head home because i was tired!!

I took my warfarin at 8pm then hung out watching Dr. House episodes for the rest of the evening till bed time. haha!

Well that's it, it'll be interesting to see how the physio goes this week :-)
thanks for checkin in

Post-Op Day # 67 - We're WHIPPED!

2009-06-21T16:26:00.000-07:00

Wow, Wednesday we were both so tired but Adam had to work so that was no fun for him -- especially because he still wasn't feeling well. :-(

I was so exhausted from the trip, I did hardly anything..........haha, I think I managed to do 2 loads of laundry but that was it. I just wanted to sleep, sleep and more sleep but forced myself to stay awake for as long as I could before crashing out. haha!

On the upside, I had my first shower STANDING UP since the day before my surgery, April 7th. YAHOO, it felt so good to be able to stand up and shower rather then having to do the sitting like I had been before. Its a bit scary standing up because I can't put my left foot flat so that makes me a bit unstable but I can put my hand on the wall to help balance myself.

I did remember to take all my medications, esp the warfarin 7.5mg at 8pm.

Well that is it Wednesday was a blurr

Post-Op Day # 66 - See Ya Soon

2009-06-21T16:02:00.000-07:00

Well Tuesday we were leaving on the 7pm Victoria Clipper so we had to get our stuff organized during the day. Poor Adam had the worst case of hiccups, they went on for HOURS!
It was so bizarre plus he had a bit of a cough so that was triggering the hiccups when they'd finally stop. Ack, he was a mess!

I got the stuff packed up and decided Id take advantage of the decent weather and the few hours I had left to go visit Frosty one last time.

My foot was definitely tired Tuesday, all that moving about over the weekend, the bike riding etc... so I didn't move around too much at the barn.
I didn't have time to groom so just put Frosty in the round pen and free-longed her for a few minutes so I could get some action shots.
I can't get over how amazing she looks for 31, its crazy -- she really doesnt even look half her age or ACT IT! LOL I love it, she has a real ZEST for life :-)
I'll add a bunch of pictures for you to see!!

After I left the barn I decided to go visit The Cowichan Therapeutic Riding Association in Duncan. I worked there for 6yrs(till 2001 I think it was) , I miss it so I try to visit whenever possible. My ol boss Michelle was working so that was great, it was fun to chit chat with her for a few bit before heading back to my moms.

I got back home, Adam was finishing up work for the day, gathered the rest of the stuff and head out with my moms friend Mary down to Victoria to the Clipper terminal. :-)
I made sure to take my 10mg of Warfarin in my purse so I could take it at 8pm! Phew, good thing I remembered! LOL

The boat left on time at 7pm, the ride home was smooth and we got back to Seattle around 9:35pm so not too bad.

It was great to see my mom for a few days, she's progressing so well with her stroke recovery(been over a year now).

We're going back to VI soon for my good friend Tessa's wedding on July 18th so it'll be nice to see everyone again so soon!

Well that's it for the VI trip, we had a lot of fun, saw some friends, had a nice visit with my mom and saw Frosty quite a few times! :-)

Thanks for checkin in

Post-Op Day # 65 - Time To Chill

2009-06-21T15:34:00.001-07:00

Monday was fun, we got up and Adam wanted to go for a swim in the Cowichan River so we got our stuff together for that. I decided to ride my moms trike down to the river instead of trying to hobble with the crutches or see if the wheelchair could get through the rocks.

It was a lot of fun, I rode the bike quite a ways, thank goodness for a strong good leg because it was doing almost all the work(left foot was more of a passenger haha). The bike fit all the way down the trail which was cool, though scary going over the narrow foot bridge --boy if you don't line it up just right you could have a bit of a wipe out. It does have hand rails but still, you wouldn't want to deal with a ooops like that.

We got to the access part and I got of the bike and managed to wait while Adam got the bike down to the river bed. It was awesome, we parked it a few feet from the edge so I could sit on it while Adam swam plus it was handy for the clothes! HAHA!

Adam had a lot of fun in the river, the water was just the right temperature --cool enough to be refreshing but not numbing. LOL

I got Adam to take a picture of me on the bike haha!

We head back home to clean up before heading downtown Duncan to one of our favorite stores, Wall Street. I wanted to see if they had any Peter Grimm hats, I have one in green but thought it might be cool to get one in black or tan. they had a ton of hats but I ended up getting a different brand(forget right now, hat is downstairs) --very cute black one with some studs and stones on it.

After that we went back home and had a tasty spaghetti dinner with my mom :-)

We hung out around the house for a bit then head to the barn to see Frosty. We took the camera with us this time so we could get some good pictures. :-) Adam was nice enough to take some of Frosty and I.

I took my 7.5mg of warfarin while I was there.

We stayed there for a while then head back to Duncan to my moms. My leg was very tired from bike riding and being at the barn but good tired.

Post-Op Day # 64 - Food, Friends and Frosty

2009-06-21T15:28:00.000-07:00

Well last Sunday we had a nice BBQ at my moms place, the weather was fabulous and some good friends showed up!

We just hung out on the deck, ate some yummy burgers, nibbled on veggies and chit-chat -- it was nice to just relax and kick back with some friends and family.

After the BBQ Adam & I head to Cobble Hill to see Frosty -- yay! We spent quite a while down there, I gave her a good grooming with my friend Sandy.

I think by the time we got home it was 10:30-11pm! haha! Oh well, I was ready for bed after a long day.

The ankle felt pretty good from all the moving around so that was a relief. I "wobbled" around almost all day at the BBQ so the ankle got a really good work out.

I made sure to take my 10mg of Warfarin with me to the barn so I wouldn't miss my dose or take it late.

That's it for Sunday, we were zonked!

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 63 - Vancouver Island Here We COME!

2009-06-15T12:46:00.000-07:00

Well Saturday morning we finished getting our stuff together for our trip to Vancouver Island, BC, Canada. I also had to organize the cats stuff because we didn't have anyone set up to come check on them but they're fine for 4 days.
I put out extra water bowls and put the self-feeder out so they had acces to whatever they wanted food wise. I put out 2 litter boxes because I know they'll fill them up! LOL we left a couple fans on to help keep the apartment cooler for them.

We left our place at 12:30pm so we could grab a quick lunch at Chiptole before heading downtown to get the Victoria Clipper. We had to be there for 2:15pm check in but the boat didn't leave till 3:15pm.
We checked out bags then went out to stand in line for the boat -- LOL we got on the boat second because I'm special - haha, not but really because I am on crutches :-) The ramp wasn't too bad down to the boat, I was really worried I might slip and fall.

The ride over was smooth till we got to the Strait of Juan De Fuca, boy the boat was bouncing really good. haha its sort of fun when it's like that, I don't mind it at all.

We arrived to Victoria around 6pm and my mom was there to pick us up. I drove home to Duncan which is about an hour or so drive. It was nice to finally be at the house, the day seems so long and tiring when you're traveling.

I took my 10mg of Warfarin at 8pm.

We didn't do much, just hung out around the house for a bit and then took a quick ride around the block in the wee-chair(my mom has one here). My ankle felt pretty good considering all the moving about.

The weather was amazing all day, the evening temperature is to die for!

We went to bed pretty early because we were so tired and wanted to get a good rest so we could do some stuff on Sunda(including havinga BBQ with some friends).

Anyways, thats about it for Saturday :-)
Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 62 - Wobble Wobble!

2009-06-12T19:25:00.000-07:00

Well today was a very good day because I did a bunch of my stretches with my foot and it felt really good.
I was able to SORT OF WALK(er wobbled) a few steps without my crutches today~ YAHOO! It was amusing because it's not pretty to watch, very odd because I can't really put the foot totally flat yet but can use the toes/ball of the foot to take enough pressure to push off so I can sort of take a step.
My knee can't straighten out either so its super bent when I "walk" -- I'm such a gimp, I'm wobbling my way to health! hah

I'm very excited, this is just the beginning of getting off my crutches finally and I know Dr. Chi will be happy to hear this when I go this coming Thursday for my appointment. If this keeps up I should be able to walk without them all the time in a week or two -- can't wait to put the crutches in the garage. haha!

After excitement I thought I better get some packing done so I'm not doing it last minute tomorrow morning. :-) We leave at 3pm tomorrow and get in around 6:15pm to Victoria - my mom is picking us up.

We've planned a BBQ on Sunday so we can have some friends over, the weather is supposed to be good too(about 22c). I'm not sure who's all coming but I invited the regular crew. haha! I'll try to take some pictures on Sunday if I get a chance.

After I got most of my packing done I head to the barn for a bit -- I watched Julie ride Hollywood and work on some desensitizing exercises with a pop bottle. Hollywood was quite afraid of it at first but by the end was good.

I left and went to North Bend to pick up a small thing of milk and whipped home to rest up. I still have some packing to do but not much. Need to have a shower, do my nails, get the cats stuff organized for the days we're not here and then chill.

It's almost time to take my 7.5mg of Warfarin.

I probably won't be able to update this for a few days so enjoy the weekend and I'll write when I can.

Take care and thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 61 - A Pretty Good Day

2009-06-11T22:08:00.000-07:00

Well today was Adam & my 6yr wedding Anniversary YAY! It's hard to believe it's been that long already, loving every minute of it too.
I'm very blessed to have him in my life, he's definitely my soul mate! <3

I had my INR testing this morning @ 9:45am, it was 2.3 so that was good news plus I get to wait 10 days till my next test! YAHOO, I'm liking that ideal a lot and soon we'll be doing 2weeks in between test. :-)

I zipped over to The Grange to pick up a fly mask for Frosty so I can take it with me on Saturday to the island. I'm so excited to see the ol sassy pony--don't worry I will take oodles of pictures.

After that I drove to see a friend/client of mine who has a nice farm in Issaquah -- it was great to see him, I haven't seen him in a couple years now. I spent quite a while hanging out, watching him and the workers doing some reno's on the house.
I even got spoiled and was able to go down to the old office and get some Zilco(synthetic harness/endurance tack) goodies. He gave me 2 bridles, a tack hanger, some bit hangers, it was so cool, sort of felt like a horsey shopping spree! HA HA!

I finally left there and head to Ross Dress For Less to cruise the isles for a bit -- didn't find anything worth while but wow sure got a good work out walking around -- oh and yes, very amusing I was pushing a tiny shopping cart at the same time. I'd push it in front of me about 3 feet then hobble to it, push it again -- haha, I did that for about 30mins or so.

After toodling around in there I head back home, gosh it had to be around 4pm at that point.

Boy I was pooped by the time I got home, ready to crash out plus I was feeling a bit anxious, not sure why.
I spend an hour or so playing with my new bridles.......haha, too funny! I was trying to figure out which one I wanted to keep for use here and which one to take over to Frosty. DECISIONS DECISIONS.....ack! ROFLMAO!

We had a bite to eat then we watched an episode of House before Adam decided to go skating. I told him to go, I'm so tired tonight and ready to head to bed now.

I took my 10mg of Warfarin @ 8pm -- we're sticking to the same dosages T/Thurs/Sat 10mg and M/W/F/Sun 7.5mg because it seems to be doing the trick. :-)

Well sorry I'm not too exciting but I'm so ready for bed.

thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 60 - Time Flies By

2009-06-10T22:17:00.000-07:00

Well today was spent outside at the ranch watching lots of people riding! Julie rode Mercury and Karma, Jenny was teaching quite a few students so it was a busy day at the ranch!

I hobbled around quite a bit today so I was tired by the time I got home at 7pm! Long day to say the least! oh well, its always nice to be outside in the fresh air and chit chatting with the ladies at RRR.

I came home, had a shower then laid down for a few minutes - I probably got too much sun today too. ack!
Got up, took the 7.5mg of Warfarin and then vegged till now.

My foot feels pretty good today, I did some more stretching and it seemed to lay flatter when I wanted to bear more weight on it so that was very good but ofcourse the weird nerve sensations were there too. haha!

Well off to bed! I have my INR test tomorrow morning then off to visit a sitting client of mine that I haven't seen in a few years. :-)

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 59 - Busy Bee

2009-06-09T18:41:00.000-07:00

I was busy as a bee today(dodged a few bees buzz around my head too! LOL) , the day started off by taking the car to Issaquah for an oil change.
I had to leave the car for an hour so I decided to hobble as far as I could before I got tired......haha, I didn't make it that far, maybe 2 blocks and then decided to stop at McD's for a drink.
I sat there, read the newspaper to kill some time then head back to pick up the car so I could go to PetSmart to get our snakes some food. Mmm frozen pre-killed mice HA HA! Gross, oh well the snakes need to eat too.

After that I drove to the Grange(feed/tack store) to look around, oh yes its way too much fun in there. It's a popular place, I even saw one of the boarders from the ranch. I burned a good 30-45mins looking at all the bridles etc... before heading out with a cheap synthetic bridle for Frosty.

Whipped home to drop the mice off then went to the barn because Julie was going to ride Mercury and Karma. Hmmm that didn't happen, enough said! ha ha! WOW!

I was there for a few hours hanging out with Julie and Jenny plus I had to visit Karma and Olivia(Godiva's filly from last year) before I left.

I got a bit of exercise while I was there so that is good, I need to get that foot working better!!!

I left the ranch then head to the post office to send a card to my dad for father's day(he's in Ontario, Canada) because it can take a bit for it to get there plus we'll be away till Tuesday next week and knowing me I'll forget to do it and it'll be too late!

Now I'm home, tired but good tired --- just enjoying some time with ADAM! <3

My eye feels about the same today, it's still red and itchy but not any worse -- I put drops in it 3 times so far, one more to go.

I'm going to watch a couple episodes of House(oh yes, Im so hooked) and then take my 10mg of Warfarin @ 8pm.

We'll probably go for a stroll around the block in the wee-chair tonight because the weather is AWESOME today! Not too hot or cold, just right -- I wish everyday was like this.

Thanks for checking in :-)

Post-Op Day # 58 - Eye Knew It!

2009-06-09T18:13:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was exactly 2 months since my surgery, sometimes it feels much longer then that! haha!

I went to the eye Dr at 10:15 and yup, I was right the eye was starting to do the same thing as last time. A tiny ulcer showed up so I caught it much sooner then last time, last time there were 6 ulcers. As well there's some inflammation of the eyelid so I have to use the prednisolone drops again for a week, 4 times a day.

I have to keep an "eye" on it(haha) and if it doesn't get any better or gets worse go back asap and we'll try something else.

I've noticed today I didn't have the aching behind the eye nor did I have any headaches -- YAY!

I came home then did some more work with the foot, getting it to stretch a bit and it's definitely getting a bit better each time :-) I can move the foot quite a bit more now and take more weight on it - though the foot still doesn't want to lay flat.
Oh well, can't expect it to fix overnight so I'll just keep doing a bit each day. I really hope the pool opens up soon, it will be very good for my foot plus hey, I don't mind hanging out by the pool in the heat.

I'm really hoping that by the time I go to see Dr. Chi next week he'll be happy to see the progress I've made.

I went to the barn yesterday for a visit..........haha, well actually to watch them breed Morgan and Godiva for the last time(3rd times the charm hopefully).
They're both Rocky Mountain horses, he's a lovely chocolate color with silvery mane and she's a black beauty! <3
It was quick(minute man comes to mind haha), he was a gentleman, just the way the studs should be and Godiva, well she was in La-la Land with an after glow! HA HA!
Fingers crossed next April or beginning of May we should have a foal! :-) It's always exciting to wait those 11months and see what pops out!!!!!!!

Helene was there too, so we hung out for a little bit after the breeding because Helene walked and groomed Godiva before having to leave.

I had to go to North Bend to do some grocery shopping, I was pretty quick about getting what I needed so I could get home.

I made Tilapia and we had some pasta with veggies, it was tasty!

I took my 7.5mg of Warfarin @ 8pm and kicked back with the foot up and watched The Bachelorette........haha, ok so I'm hooked on those stupid shows but they're entertaining.

It was a quiet evening, I was pooped and went to bed pretty early.

That's it, so thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 57 - Ugh I Don't Feel So Good

2009-06-07T21:24:00.000-07:00

Well today was another super boring day plus I wasn't feeling that good.

I was so stiff/sore still and my stomach was bugging me a bit so I was in no mood to do anything!

The most productive thing I did today was do some more stretching and exercises with my left foot. It seemed a bit better today with flexing it up and down so that was cool. I tried to make my heel drop a bit then bring it back up, it didn't move much but hey a bit is better then none!

I did that for about 15mins, was able to shimmy around a bit with the foot bearing some more weight but again the weird nerve sensations would happen and would make the foot twitch every now and then.

After that I laid back down and vegged out, I felt like DOOOOOOO DOOOOOOO so no need to move around and feel like I was going to fall over or get sick.

My stupid eye was bugging me still, I can't wait to get into the eye dr and see what is up!

Mid afternoon we were going to go for a walk around the block but I only made it half way before feeling like I was going to explode! Adam was nice to whiz me back in the wee-chair so I could come back upstairs with the bathroom was! UGH! I laid back down for a bit to see if that would help.

Later on we went out for a bit, I was feeling a bit better by that point but not fabulous.

We were going to get the car washed but missed the dang thing, forgot it closed earlier on Sunday.

Adam wanted a coffee so we went to Caffe Ladre and sat outside for a bit, enjoying the lovely cool weather again.

We made it back in time for me to take my 7.5mg of Warfarin and then I've been chilling since that time.

I still feel a bit off but atleast it's better then this morning! PHEW!

Post-Op Day # 56 - Saturday Stroll

2009-06-07T11:15:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday was very nice and cool out!

We slept in a bit, neither of us were that motivated to get up -- esp me, my body has been so sore/stiff this week, I really need a trip to a massage therapist or chiropractor.

After we got up I tried to work on putting my weight on my ankle, see how it felt. It felt very bizarre, my foot wants to roll to the outside. When I do put weight on it, it feels like the whole ankle is being pulled in a direction it shouldn't go but really it's where it's supposed to be.
I managed to stand a bit but my left leg had to be way out front of the right one to do it.

I'm going to work on it a bit each day that way the foot will get used to stretching a bit.
I'm also going to work on starting to make the drop while holding my foot up in the air ---so almost like I was putting my foot in the stirrup and dropping my weight into the heel. It's very tight right now so I have to do a tiny bit at a time so I don't hurt it.
The nerves start getting all aggravated and I feel weird pins & needles, numbness, tingling, just a weird variety of sensations.

I worked on that for about 15mins then decided that was enough, I don't want my ankle to swell up bad or end up with a lot of pain. Especially since we want to be able to go to Canada next weekend! YAY!

we decided it would be nice to go for a ride in the wee-chair around the big block by the police station. We had a nice time, I had fun whizzing down the hills haha, boy I was going pretty fast on some of them, thank goodness for my brakes. :-)

We got back to the house, put the chair away then head out for some late lunch/dinner at Chiptole. Lunch was super yummy then went to Bellevue to the shooting range so Adam could pick up some ammo for one of his pistols.
After that we head back to Issaquah so he could get a coffee up at Caffe Ladre. We sat outside for a while just chilling out and enjoying the lovely cool weather ---we know it's not going to last so better enjoy it! Haha!

I think it was about 8:30pm by the time we got home, good thing I was smart and took my 10mg of Warfarin with me just incase we didn't get home for 8pm!

I put in some laundry and watched a few episodes of House --omg, I LOVE THAT SHOW! I never knew what it was about before, I just happen to see an episode while dog sitting and loved it. Now I can watch any episode I want online. :-) I love medical related shows, this one is very interesting. Check IT OUT!

I head to bed around 10-10:30pm because I was so tired and my eye was bugging me a bit. I'm pretty sure my ulcers are back. I'm going to go tomorrow hopefully and get them checked by my optometrist.

Well that's it for yesterday...........booooooooooooring but atleast I got to spend the whole day with Adam :-)

thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 55 - Fresh Air & Horses

2009-06-06T13:20:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I went to the barn around 1pm and watched everyone ride! The weather was nice and cool, a nice break from the hot days earlier this week.

It was fun to watch the lessons and hang out with my barn friends.........I miss being there and riding but always nice to visit!

All the fresh air is great for me plus I do get to hobble around a bit so I get some exercise too.

I think I was there till about 6pm then head to North Bend to pick up a cold drink.......mmm iced chai latte, dang it was good!

I got home and elevated the foot for a bit while laying down -- I used to nap all the time when I first had my surgery but now my body has more energy so I don't need to nap as much while is nice. Don't get me wrong, naps are soooooooooo nice! :-)

I took my 7.5mg of Warfarin @ 8pm then we decided to go to the North Bend grill for a steak dinner. Mmmm hmmmm! It was so good, I've never had a bad meal there in the past 2.5yrs that we've lived in this area.

We came back home and I was zonked, most likely all the fresh air earlier in the day and then a big meal. haha! I should have went for a walk around the block in the wee-chair but was too tired.

Yesterday I was also having bad headaches which I rarely get so I was a bit worried about that plus my right eye was feeling sore. I have this feeling the ulcers(from previous case of shingles) in my eye might be flared up again........ack, got to get it checked out because I might need to take my medicated drops again. haha, just what I need, more things to deal with right now.

I'll keep you posted on that situation, fingers crossed its not that, maybe some allergies or something.

Thats about it for yesterday

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 54 - INR Is Just Right!

2009-06-06T13:08:00.000-07:00

Well I went to the barn for a visit Thursday morning, the barn manager was going to try riding Mercury and so she wanted me there to help her out.

I was so impressed with how she rode and handled him, it was pretty awesome to watch actually. She doesn't normally ride English(2 yrs ago she did) and so I was worried her comfort level might not be as good as it should be but boy she proved me wrong! :-)

I stayed at the barn till 2:15pm and then had to whiz to Issaquah for my INR test! HA HA!
My INR was 2.8, that is basically perfect(YAY), I was really worried it might be too low after all the exercise while dog sitting but nope, it was right where we want it. :-)

After that I decided to go to Fred Meyer to look around.........hehe, I rode in one of the electric chairs, it really does make it so much easier for me. I can't hobble around in those stores very long or carry anything so the e-chair is great(and FUN). haha!
I picked up a few things there then head back to the car to unload(had a helper too).

I called Adam to see if he wanted anything from town and we decided I should pick up some stuff to make Fajitas! MMmmmmm! I drove over to safeway and drove another electric chair(more power then the F. Meyer one haha) to pick up the items I needed.

By the time I got help to the car and was on my way home I was exhausted and my foot was a bit sore! it was soooooooooo HOT out! I was sweating so bad, I couldn't wait to get home and relax.

I just lazed around the house for the rest of the day with my foot up, I was so out of it -- too much heat, I just wanted to sleep it off.

I layed down and by the time I woke up it was time to take my Warfarin(10mg). haha!

We stayed in for the rest of the night, I went to be real early! PHEW!

Anyways, thats it for Thursday!

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 53 - Anti-Coagulant In Effect!

2009-06-03T20:59:00.000-07:00

It was another very hot day, phew where's the AC when I need it?! haha!

I had a good sleep in MY OWN BED(YAY), thank goodness my body can't handle anymore of that other bed, its stiff as a board!

The other day I cut my leg on something but not sure what. It bled but I held my finger on it and it finally stopped so that was that.
This morning I guess I bumped the scab off and was sitting here checking my email when all of a sudden I thought I had a bug or something on my leg.
I reached down to rub it(not looking) and noticed blood on my hand when I brought it back up! YIKES! I looked down to find blood running down to the floor and a puddle about the size of 2 quarters! Holy crap!
I'm so lucky this chair has one of those plastic mats under it or that blood would have been all over the carpet(YIKES).

I quickly grabbed a tissue and wiped up the mess while placing a finger over the small cut and finally it stopped bleeding.

What a creepy thing to see --- haha, I laugh about it now but it was bizarre. I'm going to mention that to the lady at the ACC appointment tomorrow but I'm sure it's ok -- I mean it did stop as soon as I put some pressure on it for a minute. I'm going to have to watch that cut, make sure I don't bump the scab again.

I guess the Warfarin anti-coagulant is doing its job!

After that ordeal I had to go let the dogs out for my client so I did that and stayed there for an hour.
I needed to go to the bank in North Bend but decided to make a quick stop at the barn. The trainers were gone so I stayed long enough to visit Karma and Mercury then head to town to the bank.

Quick visit to the bank then head back home to retreat from the heat! YUK!

I didn't do much all afternoon, just not motivated to do anything. haha!

Time seemed to fly by today(it's fine by me!) and it was time to take my 7.5mg of warfarin @ 8pm.

We're heading out to the movie tonight so that will be fun and the theatre will be nice and COOL.

I thought my ACC appointment was first thing in the morning but its at 2:45pm, I don't mind that one bit.

I'll let you know how that goes tomorrow

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 52 - Home Sweet Home

2009-06-02T19:49:00.000-07:00

Well today was the last day for dog sitting --- well sort of, my client called to see if I could just let the dogs out tomorrow for a potty break at noon so that is cool.
I'm not about to turn down some $$$, the medical bills keep coming in. BLA!

I'm glad to be done(I love this client & her dogs though), its a good work out with the stairs and playing with the dogs in the back yard.
Its good exercise but still more then I'm used to. I'm very curious to see what my INR is going to be on Thursday --fingers crossed its still about 2.0!!!

I'm sooooooooo looking forward to sleeping in my own bed. haha! There is nothing like my own bed, I swear every other bed is too hard or soft.

My foot is sore today, it was feeling quite tight today, like something was inside of it pulling the skin tighter and tighter -- probably some swelling but nothing too bad as my foot looks the same as it has for the past week.
The compression stocking really helps keep that under control which is so nice. :-)

I'm going to take it easy for the rest of the week -- I know it doesn't sounds like I do much but it takes a lot of energy to move around. LOL up and down the stupid stairs with crutches isn't fun but I can do it, I have to.
I'll tell you this, my abs are getting one heck of a work out with all of this! HA HA!
My arms are getting really strong too, not that they weren't already but with all the lifting etc... its a great work out.
Adam often jokes that we should make some exercise video's for people on crutches -- he's always thinking of ways to make $$$$$. HA HA HA! I love how he thinks. :-)

I'm just kicking back in the house right now but we may go to a movie in Issaquah but not positive.

Well its time to take my 10mg of Warfarin

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 51 - Hot Diggity Dog!

2009-06-02T19:28:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was pretty low key, just spent the day over with the dogs because it was too hot to do anything outside.

My ankle was a bit tender from all the exercise but nothing to worry about.

On the way back to the house I decided I needed a hair cut(I was overdue for one) and got it done in an A - line bob.
It looks soooooooo good and I love how light it feels, my neck gets a nice breeze on it now --perfect for the hot weather!
The A-line bob is short in the back and then slowly tapers down so its longer in the front. I like it a lot because you kind of get the best of both worlds, short and longer hair.
I'll add a couple pictures

I came home for a bit to see Adam and then had to go to North Bend for a few things.
My friend Helene called to see if I was going to stop in at the barn and so I did for a few minutes.
We didn't do much, it was so hot out plus I had to head out.
Helene gave Godiva a brush and then took her out to the ring to free longe her. :-)

I went to North Bend to grab some stuff for dinner then came home so Adam and I could eat together.

Adam decided to go to the shooting range afterwords so I stayed home until he got back later.

I took my 7.5mg of Warfarin and put my foot up for a bit as it was a tad swollen and sore.

Adam got home then gave me a ride over to my clients house so he could help me put out the big trash and recycle bins from the garage. There's no way I can push or pull those things when they're full, I'd end up on my rump! HA HA!

We said good night and I headed in to hang out with my buddies Harley and Angus. :-) I was exhausted so I watched some TV with my foot up then zonked out.

Anyways, thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 50 - Sunday Entertainment

2009-06-01T15:54:00.000-07:00

Well Sunday started off with the 5am wake up to let the dogs out for 30mins or so, I watched some TV then head back to lay down till 9:30am.

I stayed with the dogs till noon and head home to see Adam.

Adam had mentioned that his friend Patrick wanted us to go out for lunch with him.
He was over at the local Pub with some friends so Adam pushed me over there in the wee-chair.

Wow, talk about entertaining, Patrick and his buddies had been drinking for a while and were in fine form. haha! Oh yes, the typical rowdy, dirty mouth talk about women, watching women drive by or walk by with comments on their body parts! HA HA!

We stayed there for an hour or so then head to another local pub for a hamburger. This place has really tasty burgers but it's sort of amusing because this place is ummm interesting! Looks like it belongs in Drunken Duncan. haha!
Umm ya, Im sure you're thinking "why the heck would you eat there if its that ghetto" haha! We've heard from a few people that it has very good burgers and we were both very satisfied with our burgers.

We stayed there for another hour or so, the boys were definitely were feeling good! haha! Adam and I were sober so it was amusing to watch this.

After we were done with lunch we head back to my clients house so I could let the dogs out.
Adam waited in the car as I don't bring him into the house at this place.
I tried to be as quick as possible but Harley decided to make me wait!
Harley is very offish with me right now because of my crutches, he does not understand what they are and gets very timid. The other dog Angus could care less, he loves me to pieces :-) and thankfully the other dog will follow Angus if I call him in.

After 15mins of trying to get Harley in, he finally followed Angus and I got them back into their room. I was pooped from doing the stairs and trying to get Harley in the house.

Poor Adam was drenched in sweat by the time I got out to the car because it was so hot out and it took me way longer to do the dogs.
Isn't that how it always works? I swear when you're pressed for time, things go wrong and take twice as long to do. haha!

I came back to the house with Adam for a bit, had a nice cool shower to freshen up and stayed inside.

I stayed home till 8pm --took my 7.5mg of Warfarin before heading back to the dogs for the night.

I was so tired I almost fell down the stairs(it was scary), my crutch slipped on the carpeted stair and dropped out of my hand.
I slipped a bit but managed to catch myself in time with the railing. PHEW!
I was able to reach down and pick up the crutch and make it up the rest of the stairs safely.
I definitely needed to get to bed, my body was fatigued and my foot was a bit sore from being jarred when I slipped.
I'm sure I will have some bruises on my arms.

I went to bed around 10pm, it didn't take me long to fall asleep. LOL

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 49 - Hiding Out

2009-06-01T15:36:00.000-07:00

Well as I said I get up early when looking at the clients dogs because it's what they're used to.

I was up at 5am and let them out for 30mins or so, I watched some TV then brought them back in and went to lay down for a bit. Back up around 9:30am for the day and let the dogs outside again for another hour or so. In the morning, it's so tiring going up and down the stairs, my body is still in sleepy mode! HA HA!

I hung out till about 1pm and then went home to see Adam --it was soooooooooo hot out so we stayed indoors for most of the day. It's hard to be out in the sun for any length of time, esp for me I get so tired and hot trying to hobble about on my crutches.

Adam and I went to Issaquah to Chiptole for dinner and it was yuuuuuuummmmmmmmy! It felt good not to cook(I made a super tasty Tilapia, stirfry and rice dinner on Friday), I was so tired from doing the dogs and not getting a great sleep.

We came back home and lounged in the house for a bit then I had to head back to the dogs.
Adam dropped me off because he was going to go skating in Bellevue and needed the car.

I just let him keep the car so he could do whatever he needed and then he could just pick me up Sunday morning.

It felt like such a waste of a day but the weather is too hot to be outside mid-day so either early morning or evening time is best for any type of activities where you're going to break a sweat. haha!

I took my 10mg of Warfarin @ 8pm. I'm curious to know what my INR will be on Thursday, I'm sure it's gone down with all the extra exercise I'm getting doing the dog sitting.

I watched some awesome shows on crime investigation, autopsy's etc... haha, yes, I love that kind of stuff, its so fascinating!
Oh and I also watched this super cool show called Ice Road Truckers, wow talk about scary stuff. These guys drive big big rigs on ice roads that are over huge lakes. it's so scary to think that they're driving on about 36" of ice but you think about how heavy those big rigs are and that doesn't give you a lot of peace of mind. haha! You could hear the ice cracking as they drove over it, I'm sure I'd crap my pants if I was in one of those trucks. haha! Of course they get paid well because it is such an important but dangerous job. Most of the runs were to the De Beers Diamond mines, huge pieces of equipment that they need to do the work up there.
Anyways, check it out if you get it on your digital TV.

I went to bed around 10:30pm I was soooooooo zonked and needed to get a decent sleep. The bed and pillows there suck so that doesn't help matters!

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 48 - TGIF!

2009-06-01T15:20:00.000-07:00

Well I've been super busy over the weekend so I forgot to update my blog plus I didn't have as much access to the computer or time to sit down! LOL

Ok so Friday was so hot out, my goodness the weather changed and now we're complaining about it being too warm instead of too cold. haha!

My ankle felt really good Friday, esp since I was quite active(INR will probably go down) --- I drove the car to the barn and to North Bend, I cleaned my grooming kit(it was nasty!) and then started my dog sitting job.

I stopped at the barn to see who was there and it was very quiet -- just the stable crew and Jenny, the eventing trainer. I talked to her for a couple minutes then she had to head out with 2 horses for a show.

I decided I should clean my grooming kit because it was very nasty from all the dirt/mud/scurf from the winter months! I pulled out the milk crate to sit on in the wash area so I could clean the brushes properly. I got pretty wet while washing the stuff but oh well, it dried in 2 seconds because it was so dang HOT out!

I stayed for a bit after I did the grooming kit and lounged on the deck with a yummy Talking Rain Twist mmmmmmmmm and to my surprise Helene showed up! YAY! It was great to see her, I guess we were both thinking the same thing that day, stop in and see who was at RRR!

We talked for a bit, then went to say hi to the horses and head out. I went to North Bend to pick up a few items then head home because I had to organize my stuff to stay overnight at my clients house.

The dog sitting job was from Friday till this Tuesday morning so I had to get my stuff ready to take over.

I head over and yup, it was going to be a weekend of exercise ---the stairs alone make me sweat up a storm. haha! Like 15 stairs to get up to the room where the dogs are, so I figure in a day I go up and down those stairs 10times.

I just chilled out with the dogs watching TV -- I threw the ball for a bit outside then thought I better lounge and elevate the foot for a bit.

I took my 7.5mg of Warfarin @ 8pm.

I stayed over, slept not too good because Im always paranoid about over sleeping and waking up to Dog crap/pee everywhere! HA HA! I'm always up at 5am when I sit for this client, I know they're early risers so the dogs are used to getting outside for a potty break.

That was my exciting Friday! HA HA!

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 47 - Four Week Ultrasound

2009-05-28T17:05:00.000-07:00

Well the foot feels pretty good again today, it was a tiny bit tender this morning but that worked itself out so that was nice.

This afternoon I had my 4 week ultrasound and they said the clot has reduced a fair amount in size, esp on the one side. Its pretty cool how you can see the blood moving in the veins on the machine. The guy showed me the one vein that is clotted up pretty good still but you could see a tiny bit of blood getting through -- YAY!

He said by the time I go back, I should be much more mobile and that will help the clot breakdown quicker as there will be a better blood supply.

I go back in 2months for the 3months follow-up so that is good.........unless I have any weird cramping in my calf or anywhere else before that time(KNOCK ON WOOD!).

Its pretty darn warm out today so I'm seeking refuge in the house where its nice and cool with the fans going. I may go out later for a ride around the block in the wee-chair.

We might go to a movie tonight but not sure, depends on what Adam wants to do.

I have to take 10mg of Warfarin tonight

Well that's about it, Im happy with the results from today --phew, we're slowly making process! :-)

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 46 - Test Drive

2009-05-27T20:21:00.000-07:00

Well this morning I decided I was DRIVE MYSELF TO MY INR testing! :-) I did good, ofcourse it was so busy with traffic at 8:25 when I left the house! Oh well, I had no problem getting from our place to Issaquah!

My INR was at 2.2 so not too bad but would be better if a bit higher so the lady put me back on 10mgs 3 days and 7.5mg for 4 -- she figures the driving and better mobility are making the INR drop a bit so we'll see how it is next Thursday.

The driving is giving the foot a nice work out, I try to go the easiest routes possible so I have less clutching to do! haha! After driving the past 3 days in a row my foot is good, not much swelling(thanks ol lady compression stocking LOL) and hardly any discomfort. It's really good for my calf muscle to get some work so driving is actually a good thing for my left foot.

I still can't put all my weight evenly on my foot if Im standing up(with crutches for back up) --my body keeps leaning to the right!GRRRRRRRRRR! Oh well, I think its a combo of my foot being super sensitive on the bottom and my brain keeps saying "Its not going to work, don't lean all the way" haha!

I'm gonna work on it, I'd love to be able to walk without my crutches in 3 weeks or less but I'll take it at the speed Im comfortable. Life will be so much nicer without my stupid crutches, all I want is for them to go in the closet or garage and COLLECT DUST FOREVER! HA HA!

I just hung out around the house today, I was tired from the morning but a good tired so I had a nap to recharge! Oooooooooo I love naps! :-) haha!

I took my 7.5mg of Warfarin and am heading outside for a bit with Adam -- we may do the block as I haven't been out in the wee-chair for a while and it's a lovely evening for it! :-)

Tomorrow is the ultrasound at 2:45pm so I'll let you know how that goes tomorrow

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 45 - Errands

2009-05-26T19:52:00.000-07:00

Well this morning I had a few errands to do in North Bend so I hopped in the car. My foot feels pretty darn good driving, I had no issues from yesterday :-)

I went to the bank then to Safeway for some groceries--haha, drove the motorized cart around and had someone help load the stuff into the car.

I wanted to stop by the ranch for a minute but had food that needed to get in the fridge/freezer so couldn't do it. Oh well there's always tomorrow!

I just hung out at the house today....borrrrrring!

Took my 10mg of Warfarin(i have a couple 10mgs/per week) @ 8pm and we'll see what my INR is tomorrow when I go for my ACC appointment at 8:45am.

I'm really hoping its around 2.7 or so, not any lower or higher --definitely not like last Thursday when it was 3.4!

I've gotten quite a few bruises since my last visit there --nothing alarming thankfully.

Well time to get Adam some dinner, I'm making him some fajitas! mmmmmmmmmm!

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day #44 - Memorial Day!

2009-05-25T10:00:00.000-07:00

Well this weekend was the Memorial Day long weekend -- yahooo! Adam has today off which is awesome --just what he needs, an extra day to recoup and rest from his trip to CA!

I have to head out in a few minutes to go help show Mercury to a prospective buyer(YAY, fingers crossed) so I'll be down at RRR for a bit. Though I'm not going to stay too long, I'm so tired again today and don't need to be in the sun for too long or over do it!

Ok, time to update this:

Yesterday as always I was in the barn time warp and half the day was gone by the time I realized it! HA HA!

The people came to see Mercury, I think they liked him but Mercury was VERY lazy and didn't want to do anything --he was extremely trotty which drove me nuts not being able to just hop up on him and show him that he can indeed gait very well if ridden right.

The sunshine was making him dozy too so that didn't help, I think he was on vacation mode(haha) after 4 weeks off of riding. In a way I can understand it.

Not sure if they'll come back again or inquire more seriously but oh well, what can we do about it. Nice people though and they have 92 acres(gasps! LUCKY!).

I had a fun time at the ranch, I even had a sandwich with Julie and some friends of hers who came for a visit. THough I did get TOO much sun on my face and paid for it later on. Ohhhhhhhh the heat, I came home and put ice packs on my face to help stop the burning sensation. oooooo, lesson learned WEAR SUNSCREEN and find shade. I did wear a hat(Thank goodness) and unfortunately the deck(where I sit with my foot up at the ranch) was packed with people so I took a chair that was free(er, ya in the sun most of the day).
I did get up and stand/lean againts the cabin in the shade for 20mins but not nearly enough. ACK! NOT doing that one again.

I finally drove home and had to lay down for a bit. Most of the day was laying about resting but I felt pretty good all things considered.

My ankle felt great after driving to and from the ranch :-) YAY for being able to drive a bit.

Adam went out for a bit and I stayed home, took my Warfarin 7.5mg and watched The Bachelorette! HA HA!

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day # 43 - He's Back!

2009-05-24T06:24:00.001-07:00

Well Adam made it home safely yesterday morning --ofcourse he was super tired from getting up around 4am! EWWW!

I didn't sleep well Saturday night so felt like dog doo first thing so we both laid down for a nap.

We got up later and hung around the house for a bit, it was quite warm outside!

My ankle was feeling pretty good still since the driving on Saturday afternoon! :-) I'm happy about that.

Later on we had a nice steak dinner at the North Bend though I was bummed because I had to give most of my broccoli to Adam, too much VitK is bad for my INR! haha!

It was nice to finally have Adam home --- even though he was gone fro 4.5 days , it felt much longer but I survived. LOL

We went to QFC to pick up a few items before heading home......the hobble around the store was more exercise then I had energy for yesterday UGH! Where's the motorized cart when I need it!?! HA HA! hehe, I do enjoy the one over at Safeway, it makes shopping so much easier and fun *evil grin*.

Took my 7.5mg of Warfarin @ 8Pm

I didn't do anything exciting last night, I was jut too tired and couldn't wait to get to bed for the evening. haha!

Thanks for checking in :-)

Post-Op Day #42 - Out For A Drive

2009-05-23T17:32:00.000-07:00

Well this morning my foot felt pretty darn good, I think the compression stocking is a good thing after all! I still think it's hideous, hmmm maybe I should draw some horses on it! :-) haha!

I noticed a bunch of bruises on my arm and leg that weren't there before, I think I did it at the barn yesterday(scratches head). I'll keep an eye on that especially with my INR being at 3.4(higher then we want) on Thursday.

I went and checked the mail(took the car keys with me) and then decided to see how the foot felt driving again.

I drove around the block and it felt good so I decided to venture off to North Bend(this time no stopping at the barn).
I went to Blockbuster to get a movie, stopped at Safeway to pick up some creamer, then had a Chai Latte at Starbucks and finally back home. haha!
I was sort of surprised how the traffic wasn't too bad considering its the May long weekend here.

I got home, hobbled back up the stairs and have been chillin out in the house since.
It's beautiful out today, I might go for a wee-chair ride later but we'll see how I feel.

I haven't noticed any extra swelling or pain so that is good(knock on wood) -- test will be later on and in the morning.

For some reason I've been feeling anxious though, it started last night --don't know what that is about.
Maybe things are catching up to me finally? I don't know but I'll keep an eye on it. If I feel weird or anything I will call the Dr and worse case scenario 911 if I feel weak/chest pains/shortness of breath etc...

I've definitely felt more on edge since Adam left Tuesday and that is fair, I mean I'm dealing with so much right now and having him with me gives me a sense of safety and comfort.
This DVT isn't something to take lightly and even though they say the chances of any part breaking off now is pretty slim, there's STILL A CHANCE and that makes me nervous as heck -- I don't need a pulmonary embolism or stroke!!!

Hopefully this feeling will pass and I also have to remember that the new BC pills I started with the progestin only can often make people depressed. Hopefully this isn't that, I don't feel depressed, just anxious.

I'm very happy that Adam will be home in the morning and that we can spend Sunday and Monday(YAY for Memorial day) together :-)

Well about 2hrs till I take my 7.5mg of Warfarin. I'm going to watch my movie and just relax!

Thanks for checking in and check it out, I've had over 1000 views now! YAY!

Post-Op Day #41 - Day At The Barn

2009-05-22T21:23:00.000-07:00

Well today was not too bad, my ankle felt good considering this is the second day wearing my compression stocking.

This morning I elevated the foot for a bit but tried to move it as much as I could within reason --- like going to check the mail, I really tried walk the foot while using the crutches.

At 1:45pm I got picked up by Julie(barn manager and friend) to head to the ranch to hang out for a few hours. The weather was very nice, so it was perfect for lounging on the deck with my foot up.
I watched Julie ride her horse Hollywood for a bit then she brought Karma out to the crossties for a grooming.

After that we hung out on the deck and decided to order pizza for dinner :-). Alfonso(caretaker for the ranch), his son and our friend Helene(she leases Godiva, a black RMH) came as well.

We all chowed down(haha) on the yummy pizza before Julia and Helene rode for a bit. I took some pictures of Helene on Godiva so that was fun.

I'll get them uploaded soon for you to see plus one of Karma <3

I got home and took my 7.5mg of Warfarin.
I talk to Adam on the phone for a bit and look forward to him getting home on Sunday morning. I'm getting ready for bed now, I'm tired from all the fresh air.

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day #40 - Sock It To Me

2009-05-21T17:22:00.000-07:00

Well this morning my friend Helene was nice enough to take me to my ACC appointment and my INR was 3.4 -- on the high side so tonight I don't take my Warfarin and continue as normal tomorrow.
The nurse figures it was the progestin pills that made it high because it takes a bit for the system to get used to it. Hopefully by the time next Thursday comes it will be around 2.9-3.0. I have to keep an eye on bruising, any nose bleeds etc... if that happens, let them know asap!

After that we decided to go to the local feed/tack store -- hehe, fun lookng at all the goodies. We both bought a couple small items before heading out so she could show me her adorable farm house. We made a quick pit stop to a coffee shack(lol drive thru) and got a yummy Chai Latte --best one Ive tasted!

We went to her house for a little while and it was very nice and ofcourse we let the dogs out for a potty break. haha!

After chit chatting for a bit it was time to go so I can get to my ankle specialist appointment at 11:45am.

My appointment went well, Dr Chi thought the incision looked great and removed the last 2 steri strips(tape) from the lower part. I think it looks pretty darn good, I'll take some pictures and post them.
We talked about the DVT's and he even showed me the printouts that he got from Washington Vascular -- it was so cool, it showed grey shaded area on the places it was clotted.
There were 2 printouts, one from the inital ultrasound and the follow up one which showed a SMALLER CLOTTED AREA! YAY!

We spoke about recovery time, possible physio therapy(we'll see how it is in 4wks), getting more movement in the foot when its comfortable to do with/without the KAM walking boot and about wearing a compression stocking.
I told him I had a Rx for one but hadn't got it yet due to the ankle still being a bit tender.
He thought I was ok to get one and they had them at his office so I got fitted for one! YUK, I HATE IT! HA HA!
I call it the Ol Lady Stocking! HA HA! I guess I should be relieved that it's white and not ugly beige or black. hehe!
I have to wear it as much as possible because it will help with swelling and circulation as well so that is good.
It felt so bizarre to pull it one, my poor foot hasn't had anything tight on it since the morning of surgery.
It feels SOOOOOO TIGHT right now but I think once my foot swelling goes down a bit it won't feel so weird.
I asked about getting back to regular activities and how long that would be, esp RIDING --- I said 6 weeks and he thought possibly, could be less or more, just depends on how my ankle heals and how quickly the clots dissolve. Fingers crossed I could be riding by July, though that seems like FOREVER for me. Oh well, I'm not willing to risk it, I will ride when I'm 100% ready to.

Anyways, I go back to see him in 4 weeks unless I have any pain issues in my ankle/foot. Any other issues related to the clots I contact the vascular specialist/ACC.

Next week I have my one month ultrasound so fingers crossed it shows the clots are even smaller then last time. :-)

I'm just hanging out in the house, though the weather is amazing today but my foot needs to rest up a bit. It's adjusting to having the compression hose on it.

Thanks for checking the blog

Post-Op Day # 39 - Still Swollen

2009-05-20T22:15:00.001-07:00

Well today was basically a sit on the couch with the foot elevated day. My poor foot is so swollen, you can hardly see my ankle bone, the skin feels so tight too! I'm so glad I'm going to the Dr's tomorrow, I want them to check this out. Ack, fingers crossed its nothing serious.

I got outside once to get the mail and it was actually quite nice outside --kind of a surprise because this morning was very overcast and cold but it burned off for the afternoon. :-)

I had some salad(small one, cant eat too much green due to the Vit K) and Pizza for dinner while watching Pirates of the Caribbean! HA H!

I talked to Adam on the phone for a bit so that was nice, I miss him!

My friend Helene called to check on the time to pick me up for my appointment in the morning -8am pick up, 8:30am appt! LOL After that one we have a bit of time before my ankle specialist so we might go to the TACK STORE! muahahahah! Oh ya!

Took my 7.5mg of Warfarin at 8pm -- will be interesting to see what my INR is tomorrow. It was 2.6 on Monday so we'll see if we went up a few more points.

Well I'm really tired tonight plus my darn foot is annoying me!

Thanks for checking my blog

Post-Op Day #38 - Home Alone

2009-05-19T19:40:00.000-07:00

Well today the weather wasn't so nice so I didn't get out other then to check the mail. haha!

The foot was really swollen today, looks fake --- I don't even know what happen to make it so bad. I have to keep an eye on it, make sure I keep it elevated.

Adam left for the SeaTac airport just a few minutes ago to catch his plane to Fresno. he's going to visit the family for a few days plus to see his Dad as he missed is paternal grandma's funeral due to diagnosis of my DVT's at that time.
He'll be away till Sunday so I'm home alone all week -- I'll try to fill the days with some things to do, maybe visit the ranch a few times(the ladies are super nice and will pick me up), watch some movies.......haha, oh ya, what a life!

Of course I got a little emotional when Adam got picked up, -- I'm usually fine when he goes away but with all this health crap going on it makes me really appreciate him, how much I love him, how important he is to me -- you never know what can happen. I'm sure I'll be just fine but you know, its easy to think worst case scenario sometimes. :-)

Tomorrow I have to go to the ranch to help show Mercury to a prospective buyer--she came once before and wants to come back to groom, lead, ride etc.... just make sure she makes the right decision --to buy or not to buy! haha! Fingers crossed she does, it would be wonderful to have a great home for him.

Hopefully by the morning my foot will look better, not so swollen.

Anyways, almost time to take my 10mg of Warfarin.

Thanks for taking the time to check my blog

Post-Op Day # 37 - Sigh Of Relief

2009-05-18T13:48:00.000-07:00

Well this morning I had my ACC appointment to check my INR and it was at 2.6! YAY! Very good news, the lady said that was pretty much an ideal number. I'm so relieved, I was worried it might drop over the weekend again but it went up 3 more points! :-)

As my activity level increases my INR may drop a bit so we'll keep any eye on it and adjust the Warfarin accordingly.

Today the pharmacists at the ACC clinic put me on;
Monday 7.5mg Tuesday 10mg Wednesday 7.5mg Thursday 10mg Friday 7.5mg Saturday 10mg and Sunday 7.5mg.
It's pretty close to what I've been taking anyways, with the exception of the weekends, Ive been taking 10mg each day.

I don't think I have any plans for today, might get outside in the wee-chair for a bit to check the mail, zip around the block but other then that nothing exciting. :-)

I'm hoping to get back to the ranch a few times this week while Adam is away, it'll help make the days go quicker till he gets back on Sunday. And I always enjoy seeing my riding friends, the horses and enjoying the beautiful ranch.

Anyways my next appointments are on Thursday so it's nice to have a few days off of the Dr's offices! haha!

I might take some pictures of the neighborhood today, it's such a lovely day and everything is so pretty right now(I LOVE the blossoms)

Thanks for checking my blog

Post-Op Day #37 - Chillin At The Ranch

2009-05-18T13:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a lot of fun, I spent almost all day at the ranch hanging out on the lovely deck.

Julie(Barn manager and friend) came and picked me up so I could go down for a while -- the weather was pretty warm so I tried to stay in the shaded part of the deck while I watched the Arizona trainer work with his clients and their horses.

My foot felt pretty good, I was able to keep it elevated(thanks to Helene's mounting block haha) while I was there.
I also got totally hooked on Talking Rain products --mmmmmm hmmmm, very tasty stuff. Peppers'(ranch owner and friend) son Cooper is working for Talking Rain and was nice enough to fill the ranch fridge with all sorts of drinks. :-)

It was a lot of fun to chit chat and watch everyone riding --of course I was a bit jealous but still, it's all good, I have to be patient! Haha!

Pepper decided to ride Karma(Rocky Mountain mare I usually ride), she's been off since I had my surgery, so over a month and she was awesome as usual! She was happy to get out there with Pepper and they had a great ride :-)

I had my camera and forgot to take pictures of them together but I did get some fabulous shots of Mercury and Nikon. I'll add a picture on here later.

I was at the ranch until 3:45ish(I got there around 11:45am) haha, yup, the barn "Time warp" was in action but that's ok, I loved being there and felt good.

Adam picked me up and we went for lunch then came back to the house --- I got a wee bit of sun while at the ranch(oooops, thought I had enough shade, guess not!) so it felt good to hang out in the house with the fans on.

The foot did pretty good but I think that's because I kept it elevated almost the whole time at the ranch.

I took my 10mg of Warfarin and have my INR test in the morning(today) so fingers crossed its above 2.3(that was Friday's #)

Anyways, thats about it for yesterday

Thanks for checking in :-)

Post-Op Day # 36 - Sunny Saturday!

2009-05-16T11:16:00.000-07:00

ll it's absolutely BEAUTIFUL out! Sunshine, a tiny breeze --ah yes, makes for a perfect Spring day outside.

My foot is a bit swollen still from yesterday's crash N burn -- I see lots of bruises on my arm and legs! haha! OPPPPPPS! Not going to do that one again, I've got to SLOWWWWWWWW DOWN to turtle speed if needed. :-)

Not sure what the plan is for today but I know we'll be outside for most of it. hehe! I want to stop by the ranch for a bit to visit, I hear they're having a BBQ later on. mmmm hmm!

I will come back later to finish this post. I hope everyone is having a great start to the weekend!

Updated - Ok so we got organized and went for a quick walk around the block in the wee-chair before deciding on what to do for lunch.

By the time we got home we decided to go to North Bend and get some Chinese food at Safeway and sit outside at the tables. It was great, the weather was divine and the food was very tasty- yup, I know not the most healthy choice but oh well we haven't had it for a while.

We head back to Sno-Ridge and went out for another walk, we spent quite a bit of time outside which was great!

We came back to the house and I had to put my foot up because it was getting very purple.
We never did stop at the ranch, just got too involved in the walking outside plus I was getting too HOT -- yes, I know I'm complaining about the heat! haha! I will try to go tomorrow for a short visit!

I zonked right out while I had my foot up and when I did wake up I felt so hot and kind of sick. I think I did get too much sun yesterday so I will be very careful about that if the weather stays this way for a few more days. I think the warfarin can make people more sensitive to the heat, I'll have to check on that.
I need to drink more H20!!!!!

I took my 10mg of Warfarin at 8pm -- only one more day of 10mg and back to get the INR tested, hopefully it'll be high enough and we can cut back the Warfarin to 7.5mg or 5mg.

Adam wanted me to go to watch a band at the local pub around 11pm but I didn't go, I felt like horse manure! HA HA!

I had a quick shower then was off to bed, hoping I would feel better in the morning.

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day #35 - Crash N Burn

2009-05-15T14:13:00.000-07:00

Well today wasn't too bad -- the sun was shining(YAHOO) and I had a few things to do today.

My ankle felt pretty good this morning so that was nice! I had to go get a Rx from the pharmacy so I took the wee-chair out for a cruise. :-)
I checked the mail first then head out to Mt Si's pizza to order Adam a sandwich then head to the pharmacy.
There was an issue with the insurance company not wanting to cover my warfarin because they said it was being filled to early but the thing is, the first Rx I had was for 30 (5mg) pills. Well Ive been on atleast 7.5mg - 10mg per day so you can see how 30 pills isnt going to last a month! Anyways the pharmacist was super and called Blue Shield and got it worked out so I could get 60 pills(enough for 10mg/day for a month if needed).

After that I head home for a bit to rest up. I didn't realize how late it was getting and I needed to fax off some info to the Blue Shield in regards to a billing issue for a surgery related issue. I was rushing around here like a chicken with my head cut off because I had 10mins to hobble a block and get it faxed.

I had all my stuff ready and I was reaching for the house keys and totally whipped out! YOUCH! Dang that hurt. Some how I managed to get my leg out of the way so I didn't hit it on anything(PHEW) but I wacked my knee , elbow and arm pretty good. Poor Adam was in the bedroom having a rest and came whizzing out because he heard the big thud and me yelp! HAHA!
I got up, made sure nothing was bleeding(haha) and head out to do the faxing.......such a trooper aren't I(or maybe STUPID, I dont know ---likely BOTH). I got there at 5:59pm, 1 minute till closing! wow, talk about getting down to the wire.

I was exhausted, sore and PO'd at myself for the fall but I hobbled back home and made my way up the stairs to the door. For some reason the stairs felt like they were never going to end -- funny how that happens when you're tired and PO'D! HA HA!

Ive been home for almost 2hrs now and I see bruises coming up(have to be careful on Warfarin), I feel a bit stiff/sore and I noticed my foot has swelled up a bit. It probably got jarred a bit when I fell earlier. Oh well, time to elevate it again and relax!

Oh and its almost time to take my 7.5mg of Warfarin tonight --- Sat/Sun are 10mg. I don't know how they figure this stuff out but I guess there's some sort of formula they're following.

Anyways, thats about it for today. I'm hoping the weather stays decent so I can go visit the ranch plus it'd be great to take the wee-chair out this weekend to one of the parks we like to walk at.

I thought I'd add a couple pictures to show you how purple my foot gets due to the circulation issues from the clots. It looks almost fake!

Thanks for checking up on me

Post-Op Day #34 - It's All About The Results

2009-05-14T14:21:00.000-07:00

Well today I had my ACC appointment to check my INR --last time it was at 1.7 but I'm happy to report it went up to 2.3! YAHOO! Hopefully it will stabilize or rise over the weekend as I go on Monday morning for my next test.

They kept my Warfarin at 10mg till Monday so that will most likely get it to raise again ---after all I was on 10mg for 3 days and it raise my INR 6 points!

Unfortunately yesterday/last night I had some sharp pain in my leg in the clot sites so I have to go for an ultrasound at 3:45pm to check to make sure the clots aren't any bigger. With my INR dropping to 1.7 over the weekend that raises some concern because that is not in the therapeutic range for DVT treatment and I wasn't on Lovenox.

The potential for clotting is higher without the INR being 2.0 or higher and not being backed up by the Lovenox injections(Low Molecular weight Heparin) -- esp with the pain being there and it wasn't before except when I first knew something was wrong(the week of April 30th).

I'm not going to get worked up over it, I'll go see what they find with the ultrasound today and deal with it. I'm hoping I don't have to go on the Lovenox again!!

I'll come back later and let you know what they find.

Updated: Ok so I had the ultrasound and they found no new clots so that is a relief! PHEW! The lady said it actually looked like there was more movement in the blocked areas so that is good too!

I'm supposed to call them if I feel any more pain but other then that things look good. I could have been the driving that made my leg get sore and have light spasms/cramps. Anyways, not going to be driving for a bit.

Thanks for checking up on me

Post-Op Day # 33 - Laid Up

2009-05-14T14:16:00.000-07:00

Well the driving on Tuesday definitely was too much :-( My poor foot was soooooooooo swollen and sore yesterday. ACK!
I spent basically all day watching movies with my foot elevated and putting some warmed towels over it to get the temperature up on it.

I also was experiencing some sharp pains where the clots are, esp when I would lay with my foot on the pillow on the same side. Normally I can put the foot that way without any issues but it was not liking it at all.

Took my 10mg of Warfarin and was hoping that by the ACC appointment this morning my INR would go up to atleast 2.0.

Anyways, that's about all for yesterday

Post-Op Day #32 - Destination North Bend

2009-05-12T18:06:00.001-07:00

Well I felt much better this morning then I thought I would after yesterdays cleaning frenzy. LOL

My ankle was good too, I was sort of surprised actually as I figured it'd be super swollen and sore.

I took my second progestrin pill and was fine --no sweating or feeling ill so that was good.

I decided that today I would venture out in the car, hopefully to North Bend(12min drive) to the bank and back.
I got organized and head out, half way down the Snoqualmie Parkway I thought Id better check my phone to make sure it had enough charge in case of an emergency or if I needed to call Adam.

I noticed a text message was there so I checked and it was Jen(a trainer at the ranch) and she said she would be at the ranch till 4pm. I decided I would go the back way to town and stop in at RRR for a bit.
I made it there no problem and stayed for about an hour to chit chat with the girls --it was nice to be out --esp since I DROVE MYSELF THERE! YAY!

After my visit I continued to North Bend the back way and made it to the bank(drive thru ATM) no problem. I deposited some money then head on my way home, of course by this time its so busy and that made me a bit nervous because I had to use the clutch so much more from all the stop and go's! Ack!

I could feel my left hip and foot getting a bit fatigued so I got out of there as quickly as I could and made it home in one piece! YAY!

All things considered it went really well, not bad for my first time going that far! :-) I'm going to do a bit each day, that way by the time Adam leaves for Fresno next week I should be fine.

I'm not going to drive him to and from the airport though, that is way too far for me right now -- I think we've got a ride for him one way so just have to work out the other.
Atleast he'll know I can get out to the ranch, to the store and most importantly my appointments while he's gone.

Anyways, not a bad day and now of course I'll rest my foot and see how it does till the morning. I'll take my Warfarin in 1.5hrs and be good till tomorrow.

Thanks for checking in on me

Post-Op Day # 31 - Sweating To The Oldies

2009-05-11T23:44:00.000-07:00

Well this morning I had my INR testing in Issaquah and my INR was at 1.7 --ack, it went down a bit from Friday's 2.0! Oh well, the lady said that it's normal for it to fluctuate a bit.
She wants me to take 10mg(2 - 5mg pills) tonight, tomorrow and Wednesday night, hopefully that will get my INR up into the 2.0 + range.

I picked up my progrestin BC pills and started those -- boy, I had an upset stomach for a bit and the sweats but thankfully that went away after 30mins. I think it was the hormones, my body was trying to figure out what I was putting into it! HA HA! My poor body has had so my stuff done to it lately!

I was pretty tired when I got home from my appointment and the pharmacy so I crashed out in bed.................zonked, woke up around 12noon and felt like crap but it went away pretty quickly.

For some stupid reason I got into a cleaning mode and had 5 different things on the go ---ugh, I hate that because I was trying to juggle it all. I would stop and go OH BOY, I need to get this done before the end of the day.

I had the laundry going, turned the bathroom upside down cleaning it, cleaned the cats litter box out, vacuumed with the dust buster in there(damn litter flicking cats ROFLMAO), tidied up the living room, re-arranged the bedroom funiture a bit(hmm yes, I'm a freak! LOL), made dinner(tilapia, stir-fry, rice) and cleaned up that mess! OH MAN I'M WHIPPED. I was sweating up a storm, drinking a ton of H20 and driving the cats batty by keeping them out of the bedroom while I was busy moving stuff around. That drives them crazy, they can hear me in there and want in to see what's going on(plus they love flopping/kneading on the bed & watching snakes in tanks).

I'm so mad at myself for doing too much but it was one of those things, once it was started it had to be finished.

My left foot was fine but wow, my good foot was aching like crazy from all the moving about. Yes, I know I don't need to mess up the good one too. :-)

Anyways, don't worry I won't be doing that again, it was way toooooooo much!

Oh and no worries, I did take all my medications on time! I managed to pop them in between cleaning! ROFLMAO!

I'm heading to bed now, it's way later then I hoped to be up so off to LA LA LAND! NIGHT!

Thanks for checking in on me

Post-Op Day #30 - Roughin It On The Riverbed!

2009-05-11T16:32:00.000-07:00

I forgot to update this yesterday so I'll do it now.

Saturday night I had to stay over at my clients home to look after her dogs, Angus & Harley. I sure got some exercising going up and down the stairs! LOL Oh well, I managed to do it safely so that was the main thing.

I stayed there till about 1pm and then Adam picked me up so we could get the day started together.

My ankle felt pretty darn good all things considered ---driving Saturday, up and down stairs, hobbling around the back yard throwing balls for the dogs! HA HA!

Adam and I decided to head to North Bend for lunch at Jay Berry's then we drove down the I-90 a bit to the Olallie State Park. The weather wasn't too bad so we decided to go down one of the short trails that lead to the river bed. Ok, this was highly amusing, getting down to the river bend took a LOT of navigating soft sand, rocks, roots......haha, I was laughing so much and that sucks because I always get weaker when I laugh. Adam was spotting me the whole way down and I managed to get down without any problems.

The water looked so nice, I love the sound of the water rushing over the rocks. Adam took a couple pictures of me so I'll upload them.

It started to sprinkle so we head back home for a bit, so I put my leg up to give it a rest.

I took my 7.5mg of Warfarin at 8pm, last day of that amount till the morning INR test!

Around 8:30pm we went for a nice roll around the block during a break in the rain ---the air smelled so good ---between the fresh rain smell and the blossoms on the trees....ah, so nice!

I wanted some icecream so Adam rolled me to the store and we grabbed 2 really cute single serving sized Vanilla Bean icecreams -- OH MAN, tasty stuff.

On the way home I asked Adam if he wanted to stop by the local pub for a beer(for him) and so we stopped in there for about a 30mins and watched Spiderman on the big screens HA HA!

I was tired by the time we got back so I just lounged on the couch watching a show I like, Brothers and Sisters.

I think I went to bed around 11pm because I knew I had an appointment at the Issaquah ACC to get my INR checked at 8am.

Anyways, Im really happy about how my ankle felt this weekend, esp because I had to do a bunch of extra stairs(they have about 16 stairs, I did them about 8 times) and driving the car.

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day #29 - Driving And Dogs

2009-05-09T20:58:00.000-07:00

Today was good, early start as we gave a friend a ride to the SeaTac Airport at 6:45am.
On the way home we stopped at the coffee shop, I had a yummy sweet chai latte and we shared a nice piece of coffee cake.

After that we head to home to have a nap, we were zombies from the early morning plus all week we've been so tired from all the Dr's appointments etc...

I woke up and needed to go do the dogs that I'm looking after, I stay overnight at their place.

I decided to see if I could drive myself there(its about 2mins in the car) and I DID IT! haha! I think its about 5 clutch compressions each way HAHA!

I let the dogs outside in the backyard for a while, I even cleaned up some dog doo! HA HA! Oh that was amusing, you know me I couldn't just leave the crap on the grass. ;-)

After that I hung out with the dogs for an hour or so, we watched TV on the couch -- the 2 dogs are allowed to sit on it so they snuggled up beside me while I watched some ER type show and another one on autopsy's haha! I know, I'm strange but I love those types of shows.

My ankle felt pretty good after the drive there, I elevated it while I watched TV.

I made sure the dogs went potty again before I left and then I came home to sit on the patio in the SUNSHINE! OH ya, it was gorgeous out today!

Adam and I went to Uncle Si's pizza for dinner, it's right behind our place and has AWESOME pizza - we had a Hawaiian, my favorite. I also had a yummy salad, gosh it was so good. I have to be careful how much green stuff I eat, it's usually high in Vitamin K and I'm not supposed to have too much because it promotes the clotting mechanism in the blood.

After dinner we went for a nice walk around the block --- the temperature was perfect, a light breeze blowing against the face! ah, perfection! I did a gnarly manuevre in the wee-chair when we went down a hill and around a corner --- it was like a fish tail you do in a car! I was laughing so hard. :-)

I took my 7.5mg of Warfarin and now I'm gonna have a quick shower before I head back to the dogs and stay the night there. Adam will drop me off and pick me up in the morning -- I just had to take this job for my client, any extra money right now is a good thing, darn medical bills are starting to pile up! ACK!

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day #28 - Bye Bye Injections!

2009-05-08T21:08:00.000-07:00

Today is May 8th so that means it's been exactly a MONTH since surgery -- wow time flies!

This morning I took my Lovenox before heading to my INR testing appointment at 8:45am in Bellevue.

I'm happy to report that my INR reached 2.0 WOOHOO, so I can stop the injections after tonight. hehe!
I have to take 7.5mg of Warfarin over the weekend and go Monday for testing to see if the INR is stabilized at 2.0 or hopefully a bit higher. I'm so relieved I'm at 2.0, 16 injections is enough for me -- my stomach is very happy, no more pin cushion treatment. haha!

This afternoon I had an appointment with my GP and we discussed birth control options as I had to stop my regular BC pills due to the estrogen in them.
I have a few options, get an IUD which will last for 5years or try a progestin only pill -- for right now I'm going to try the pill and see how that goes.

After my appointment I took the wee-chair out for a short roll to the store and back, the fresh air felt soooooooooooooooo good! It was actually NICE OUT! YAY!

My foot felt pretty good today, it was a bit puffy from too much walking around the grocery store yesterday. Plus I accidentally caught my KAM boot on the back of Adams heel(opps, poor Adam) and that jarred my foot really good!YOUUUUUUUUUCH!

I've noticed some muscle spasms in my foot, it doesn't happen that often, usually when I'm laying down in bed. LOL
My foot kind of jumps or the foot tries to bend at the ball of the foot which feels really odd. There's still odd sensations (tingling/numbness/mini shocks) throughout the foot since surgery, the nerves are still trying to figure out what to do.
I love how much I can move my toes, it's so nice to be able to exercise them a tiny bit --lifting them up and down to help the circulation.

I've also noticed that my leg from the knee down is looking very slack haha, oh the muscle tone is withering away on me. Oh well, I'll deal with "ol lady" leg for a bit, once I can walk it'll come back. HA HA!

Well that's it for today, I'm very pleased about the INR test today, I just hope it stays above 2!

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day #27 - Follow Up Ultrasound

2009-05-07T19:46:00.001-07:00

Today I had my follow up ultrasound and it showed the clot was the same size so that is good. They were checking to make sure it hadn't gotten any bigger since I was there last week.

I go back in 3 weeks for another one, they said that we might see a decrease in size but hard to say.

My foot feels pretty good, it still gets swollen/purple if I don't elevate it enough but I've noticed I can keep it down for longer periods of time. My toes move awesome, I can even move the ball of my foot a bit now. :-) Very good news, I think I'll be able to bear more weight over the next week or so --it'd be great if I could almost walk with my KAM boot by the time I go back to Dr. Chi on May 21st.

I took my Lovenox at 7pm and in a few minutes I'll take my 7.5mg of Warfarin. I have to do tomorrow mornings injection then go to the ACC in Bellevue for INR testing.

Guess we'll see what tomorrows results are.................fingers and toes crossed we're up to 2.0 INR!

I'm hoping to see if I can drive soon, now that I have more strength, less tenderness in the ankle it might be possible. Don't worry I won't push it, it's not worth getting my ankle aggravated.

I took some new pictures of my stomach........haha, 14 injection sites and almost all of them have bruising. haha!

Thanks for checking in on me :-)

Post-Op Day #26 - ACC Appointment

2009-05-06T22:15:00.000-07:00

Well today was my appointment at the Anti-coagulation Clinic (ACC) at 2:50pm in Bellevue.

It went well, the lady went over the information about the drugs I was on(Lovenox/Warfarin) and what exactly the ACC will do for me.

During the visit I had to get my finger pricked so she could see what my INR(International Normalized Ratio) was at -- normal INR(clotting time basically) is about 1.
Some info on INR - http://www.clotcare.com/clotcare/ptinr.aspx

After 6 days of Lovenox and Warfarin my INR is 1.5 and the ideal range(therapeutic to deal with my DVT) is between 2.0 - 3.0, maybe slightly higher depending on my body.

I was hoping she'd tell me I could stop the Lovenox injections but nope I have to continue them until my next appointment on Friday.

She wants me to up my Warfarin for the next 2 days....so take 10mg(2 - 5mg pills) tonight and tomorrow take 7.5mg(1.5 - 5mg pills) hoping that will get my INR range up for Fridays test.

Fingers crossed I'll be off the Lovenox after Friday and they can figure out how much Warfarin I need for the initial 3month treatment period.

I'll have to go back once or twice a week for INR testing to make sure it stays in the approperiate range. What a pain in the butt! Oh well, what can I do about it.

Anyways, tomorrow I have my ultrasound to check the DVT and make sure it's not any bigger..........fingers crossed it's a bit smaller! :-)

Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day #25 - Precious Time

2009-05-06T22:07:00.000-07:00

Well yesterday started off on a bumpy start with my Lovenox shot. I woke up around 6am and that was too early for my shot so I just laid in bed and fell back asleep..........grrrr and woke up at 10:30AM!
I totally freaked out because I had missed my 7am injection time.
I quickly called the Vascular specialist and they said to take it asap then bump my evening one back to 8pm(instead of 7). Ugh, totally sucked to start the day off so crappy! Not going to be doing that again!

I was tired most of the day so just laid around with the foot up......booooooooooring!

We went out for a bit to pick up some more injections because I was down to the last one -- we just bought one days worth because I wasn't sure if the people at the anti-coagulation clinic would tell me I could stop them --- buy pay $136 for 10 shots if I don't need them all!

I did my second shot at 8pm and took the warfarin too.

We'll see what the ACC people say at my appointment.

Post-Op Day #25 - Changes

2009-05-04T21:12:00.000-07:00

Well today my foot felt pretty good, I can really wiggle my toes good now! :-) I try to move them as much as possible to help the blood circulation plus it feels great to have them moving more.

The skin on the bottom of my big toe and ball of my foot started to peel big time......grooooooosss! Im going to have to soak it again and get the pomace out.

The weather sucked today, major wind and rain so I stayed inside for most of the day --- I went out once in the wee-chair to get Adam some half & half for his coffee -- I lost my hat three times in the wind haha, now that was amusing trying to roll the wee-chair after it. Thank goodness the hat stayed on the sidewalk!

I was able to change my anticoagulation clinic appointment from Friday to Wednesday so that is good. Crappy part is I still have to get more injections, atleast one days worth. Stupid things are expensive....the Rx's cost $426 for 5days worth(10 injections), we have Rx insurance plan so we pay $126 out of pocket, still more then I like! All these things add up.....ugh, oh yes like we need more things to paying for --- I WISH MONEY GREW ON TREES! ROFLMAO!

Other changes, Adam has decided to stay home and postpone his trip to Fresno. I feel bad because he will miss his Grandma Keith's funeral but right now, its important to have him here ---too much medical stuff going on plus I worry about emergency situations with this DVT, esp in the first week or so. I'm sure everything will be fine but still its peace of mind having him home plus it will be good to have him at my appointments(2nd set of ears is always good!).

Anyways, thats about it for today
Thanks for checking in

Post-Op Day #24 - Simple Pleasures

2009-05-04T13:31:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was pretty low key but then again it was Sunday! It was a day of simple pleasures.........time outside, visiting friends, seeing horses, eating great food and spending time with my favorite person in the world, ADAM! :-)

Woke up at 7am to inject myself with the Lovenox! I'm a pro, only a few more days to go -- phew, my poor stomach is so bruised up! HA HA!

We started off the day with a nice walk around the block, the weather was perfect -- a nice cool breeze with a bit of sunshine.

My ankle was feeling good, I can really move my toes now and I don't get as much swelling or poor circulation(aka Purple foot LOL)! YAY! I think the Lovenox and Warfarin are working!

After our walk we went to the ranch to visit Helene, she was riding Godiva(a stunning black Rocky Mountain mare) plus we talked to her about this week ---Adam was supposed to go to Fresno for 5 days and she was going to give him a ride to the airport and help me out with some appointments.

We decided to get some lunch so we drove to Issaquah but first went to the highland so Adam could get a cup of coffee at Caffe Ladre. We sat out in the sunshine for a bit, it was grrrrrrreat but then some clouds came and it got really cool.

It was time for lunch at Chipotle MMMMMMMMM- a nice yummy burrito bowl. Ok, so I must explain what is in one for the people who've never been there, had one. Here are the layers of yummy ingredients :-)
A layer of Cilantro rice
some black beans
grilled Peppers and onions(grilled to perfection LOL)
then comes the meat -- we get one side of the bowl with diced grilled chicken( thats my side! its so darn good) and the other side with barbacoa(Adam loves the yummy seasoned shredded beef)
a scoop of fresh chopped tomato, onion and herbs(basically Pico de Gallo)
a scoop of green tomatillo(a nice zippy green salsa)
a tiny bit of sour cream
a tiny bit of shredded cheese
and a nice big scoop of guacamole --- oh ya, they make the best *drools* haha!

then to complete the meal we get a bag of tortilla chips(made fresh daily)
a small soda to share and a cup for water

This bowl is pretty skookum(the bowl is about 8-9" long, 4.5" wide and by the time all the ingredients are pilled into it, its about 3-4inches deep! HA HA!
Adam and I share it, there's no way I can eat one by myself. haha! Even half of it really fills you up!

Ok, enough about the food, its making me hungry! ROFLMAO!

After lunch we got the car washed because it was time to do that.......i was totally useless, I normally do the vacumming but with the crutches etc... its an accident waiting to happen!

We came back home and chilled out for a bit before going for another walk around the block -- we couldn't pass on the chance to get some more of the wonderful fresh air.

As we were coming back towards home we stopped in front of the Irish Pub(Finaughtys) and Adam saw a few guys he knew. I asked Adam if HE wanted a beer(Im not stupid, I wouldnt drink while on these blood thinners) and he said sure, so we hung out there for about an hour -- I had a coke(while wishing there was some rum in it HA HA).
It was fun to hang out, chit chat with the people and check out the bar -- I've been in before, twice I think for dinner with Adam.

We finished up and head home to watch a movie and call it a night. Plus by this time I needed to put my foot up for a bit, take my last dose of Neurontin before bed.

Thanks for checking my blog

Post-Op Day #23 - Bruises

2009-05-02T16:40:00.000-07:00

Well I did both the injections yesterday no problem and the one this morning went a little different. I think I was sitting at a bad angle or something when I did it this morning because only half the Lovenox wanted to come out of the syringe at first so I had to lift it up a tiny bit and push the rest out.

It didn't hurt anymore then the last 3 but it sure bruised more- --I think that is from when I lifted the syringe and some of the Lovenox got into the skin closer to the surface. I did it 7am(normal time) and its 4:43 and the bruising hasn't gotten any worse so I'm assuming things are good. I'll have to make sure to do it better at 7PM!

I'll add a picture of the bruise LOL

The foot feels not too bad today, been elevating it and had a brief ride in the wee-chair to get some sunshine before it goes away.

The Vascular clinic called this morning to check up on me, make sure everything was going ok and to make sure I stopped taking my BC pills as they can lead to clotting which I don't need any more risks to have further clotting issues. I'll have to talk to the GP about alternatives as we do not want kids LOL

That's about it for now unless something interesting/exciting happens before bed time.

Thanks for checking up on me

Post-Op Day #22 - Clot Busting

2009-05-01T22:29:00.000-07:00

Well I managed to do both shots today with no problem and they didn't burn as much! WOOHOO!

I spent most of the day laying in bed with my leg up -- it felt pretty much the same as yesterday, still gets purple if I have it down for too long but on the upside my calf had no pain and it seemed like I could move my toes better.

I think the Lovenox(which is a type of heparin) is starting to do its thing in my blood...hmm maybe clot busting! LOL

I got out of the house once, that was to go for a quick roll in the wee-chair over to the grocery store for a few things. The weather was awesome, it felt great to get some fresh air.

I think if the weather is good tomorrow I'll try to lounge out on the patio for a bit. I'd also like to make a quick visit to the ranch to see who's there but we'll see how I'm feeling.

I need to be careful not to overdo it, esp while my body is getting used to the blood thinners -- so far so good.

Anyways, time to watch a movie or something.

Thanks for checking up on me

Post-Op Day # 21 - Dr's Appointment X 2 or make that 3!

2009-04-30T11:40:00.000-07:00

This morning I had my appointment with Dr Chi to see what he thought about the calf cramp/pain and just to ask a few questions(circulation? how much elevation should I be needing?).

He said it could be a couple things ----could very well be the nerves in my lower leg are all "angry" from surgery and are trying to sort themselves out during the healing process.

OR, it could be a clot.

So to be safe I have an appointment at 4:30Pm for an ultrasound on the left leg to see if there are any clots. If there is clotting then the next step of treatment would be to start taking blood thinners(eg; warfarin).

Anyways fingers crossed, its nothing at all but the nerves trying to heal.

Today my ankle feels good but again, the calf feels tight/sore and the circulation in my foot isnt good. BLA!

Adam took me for a nice walk around the block this morning, the weather is GORGEOUS! ah yes, could it be SPRING?!

I'll come back later to let you know how the DVT ultrasound goes.

OK -- UPDATE as of 10pm
well I swear I just cant get a break, I had a bad feeling about it but yes, there is a fairly big clot in my left calf and now I'm on a course of blood thinners.

We had to drive to the Overlake Hospital in Bellevue(we were Issaquah for the ultrasound) for the consultation(vascular specialist) in regards to the blood thinners, getting the prescriptions etc..

Its so scary to think about all of this

the worst part(for today LOL) was that I'm going to have to give myself injections(Lovenox) for 5 days and I'm a total NEEDLE WUSS!
I thought she was joking at first but nope, she was serious and boy, my tummy started to do flip flops just thinking about it.

I had to give myself an injection while I was there so she knew I could do it ---ugh! I DID IT, I couldn't believe I did it!
I did like she said, pinch some skin(in the belly), wipe it with an alcohol swab, let go, take the safety cap off the syringe then grab the spot that I disinfected and POKE the needle in like a dart!
Then you have to push the plunger all the way down till its empty, pull it out and push it hard so the safety cap pops up. OMG, what an ordeal for me but I was proud of myself for doing it and NOT getting QUEEZY OR PASSING OUT! WOOHOO!

Its Sub-Q but still, it burns so bad, felt like a huge bee sting and you can't touch it the area afterward -- no rubbing to make the pain go away!
I have to alternate which side I poke(morning and night) till I'm done.
I have a nice bruise coming too, she said that would happen. Im going to look like a drug addict! ROFLMAO

The stuff is call Lovenox, 60mgs, I guess its quick to get into your system, that way my body has something to help thin out the blood asap. I'm also on Warfarin 5mg once a day.

this coming week I have to go for a bunch of tests(anticoagulant levels or something) till they know how much I need. Next week I have another ultrasound to see if there's any change in the clot after a weeks worth of the thinners.

there will be lots of follow up appointments and more ultrasounds in a month, then 3months etc...

I had been doing some research on the calf aches/cramps post-op and read about clots, of course I PRAYED that I didn't have them but not such the case.

Thats why I was so concerned and went to the Dr Asap....
Anyways, I'm hoping I will be OK, I will be on this stuff for at least 3-6 months, maybe more depending on what happens with the clot and how my blood is -- they're going to do some other blood work so we can prevent any other clots!!

Wow, I'm exhausted, it was a long day and it's time for bed.

I'm adding a couple pictures of my injection site(bruising) and what the syringes look like. LOL

Thanks for checking up on me

Post-Op Day #20 - Where Did Wednesday Go?

2009-04-30T11:31:00.000-07:00

Once again I'm slacking on my updates but in all honesty yesterday was a bit of a waste, it whizzed by while I was in La La Land! I spent most of it in bed because my calf was bugging me and I was really tired.

I pretty much was up long enough to eat and have a shower ---oh and I almost forgot a quick ride around the block in the wee-chair with Adam!

Anyways, I was looking forward to my Dr appointment in the morning(today).

Thanks for checking my blog

Post-Op Day # 19 - Thunder Storm.....EEEEEK!

2009-04-28T21:09:00.000-07:00

Well today was a good day(sings Ice Cube's song LOL), my ankle and calf muscle felt good, no pain( so far) but still a bit swollen and the circulation isn't good at all.

Once again I was stuck in the house but there was some neat thunder storms to scare the crap out of the cats(ok and ME! haha) --poor boys thought the world was coming to an end and took cover under the couch for quite a while. I never did see any lightening but who knows, Im sure it was out there somewhere :-)

Hopefully I can get out in the wee-chair tomorrow for a bit if the weather cooperates. Id like to go down the pathway behind the clubhouse again(wee haw, I'll whip down the hill again ROFLMAO!).

I've been looking at all the expenses with my ankle thus far--wow, thank goodness we have insurance (eyes bug out) but still, you pay a fair bit out pocket.

For eg; the MRI was $1124 & the EMG/Nerve Conductivity Testing was $1455 -- We dont pay that much but that is what was billed to Blue Shield, we pay a fraction of those fees. But still, you can see how things add up so darn quick!
I haven't received the bills for my surgery yet but I know its broken up into the facility cost, Dr Chi's & his surgical assistant and one for the Anesthesiologist.

But I will say this, in the USA you definitely get quicker MRI's and other diagnostic testing but you pay for it. I remember when I had my hand injury(torn tendon/ligaments), it took 6-8months to get an MRI and then another 6months for surgery ---that is a lot of time to wait and not be able to work(that is a lot of loss wages).

I just hope that when this is all over with I won't have any long term issues with my L ankle! There were never any guarantees with surgery, only the hope that it would lessen the pain, if Im lucky take it all away but with the amount of time/damage done to the nerves, its very likely there is some permanent damage. Sigh, its a waiting game but thats ok I really have no other choice but to take it easy and let things heal up. If I have to modify things I do on a daily basis so be it, whatever it takes to be healthy!

I wish I could trade in some body parts for ones that work...............just call me a wannabe Mrs. POTATO HEAD! HA HA!

I'll add a couple pictures to show the circulation issues -skin goes purple with mottled look plus gets cold to the touch.
Till tomorrow, thanks for checking my blog

Post-Op Day #18 - Mellow Monday

2009-04-28T11:51:00.000-07:00

I forgot to update this yesterday so I'll do that now.

Yesterday was pretty boring, the weather sucked and I was inside almost all day -- well except to go check the mail, WHOOPTY-DO! LOL

I called Dr. Chi's office to make an appointment to get the ankle/calf checked out--better safe then sorry so I have to be there Thursday morning.

My ankle felt pretty good, same with the calf muscle during the day(Phew!) but around 7pm it started to ache a bit. I had a bath then took an Advil and elevated it for the rest of the night-it was good after that.

I have noticed that if I sleep with the leg straight out instead of bending it a bit it feels slightly better.

That's it for yesterday, thanks for checking up on me :-)

Post-Op Day #17 - Sore Sunday

2009-04-26T22:13:00.000-07:00

Well today was not fun, my calf muscle was extremely sore and my back was acting up too.
I almost took a tiny bit of Percocet but I didn't I managed to use the heating pad instead and dozed off for a bit.

After almost all day in the house we decided to go out for a bit(shopping etc..) and wow, by the time we were done I was pretty 'lame" -- as we'd say about a horse! HA HA! It wasn't pretty to say the least.

We got home, I took the KAM boot off any my foot was very swollen.......ugh, I've been lounging and will probably take some Advil now.

I think I will be calling Dr. Chi's office tomorrow to set up an appointment to get the L calf checked out -- I'm wondering if its the nerves in my foot are to blame, maybe this is part of the healing with the ankle but because those nerves run up the leg and through the calf it's making that area very sore. We'll see what he says, hopefully this pain is normal. Bla!

Just when everything was going so well, no pain(just mild tenderness) for almost 2 weeks and now this!

Well that's it for tonight, it's too painful not to have my foot up...so I better go rest.

Thanks for checking up on me

Post-Op Day # 17 - Saturday Sales Pitch

2009-04-25T22:53:00.001-07:00

Well today was fun, I got a call this morning from Julie(the barn manager @ RRR) saying there was a lady coming to see Mercury( a lovely nearly 3yr old Rocky Mountain gelding) and she wanted to know if I could go down to help out.
Of course I'm in no position to ride right now due to the ankle but I told her that I would be happy to come down for a bit.

This is the 3rd person to come see him.....................maybe 3rd time's the charm! 1st person didn't want to pay his full price, 2nd lady thought he was too small...........this lady was looking for something in the 13HH- 14hh range....................ah yes, that would be MERCURY(Im guessing he's 13.3hh)! LOL

Pepper(Mercury's owner) agreed to ride him(for the past 6months I've been the only one riding him) so the lady could see how he went.
Mercury hadn't been ridden since the Monday before my surgery, so basically 3 weeks off of work. One nice thing about the Rocky Mountain breed is that they are usually very good even after having a bunch of time off -- this is definitely the case with Mercury, one time he had a month off during the cold winter then I rode him and he acted like he hadn't missed hardly any riding - I loved it.

We got him ready and I head out to the ring with her so she could get on and do some work in the ring for a few minutes before the lady showed up.
Mercury wasn't too sure at first, he was a bit confused as to why I wasn't on him! HA HA! He was so good though, he tried so hard and after 15mins or so Pepper had him gaiting quite well on the pathway between the pastures.

The lady showed up with her friend, so both of them ended up riding him around the ranch for about 1.5hrs in total......phew, what a long day but it was worth it. They both loved him, he gaited very well for them, I was so thrilled.

The lady(prospective buyer) rode him all over the place(perimeter trail, in the ring, pathway, fields etc..) with her dog along side and Mercury was so good, very happy to toodle around the ranch.
It was kind of exciting to watch how good he was, this is the first time I've seen anyone(let alone three people) else ride him(esp gaiting, we've been working on that).

The lady wants to come back again and take him on a trail ride along with Julie(and who ever is around at the time) so that is exciting, she really liked him. She didn't want to get off him when we were all saying that we had to get going for lunch! haha!

By the time we finished up with them I was pooped, lots of moving about on the crutches took its toll.

We went out for a nice lunch with Pepper and Julie at Jay Berry's then Adam and I head home for a bit. My poor foot was so sore, I needed to elevate it for a bit to help reduce the swelling. My calf muscle feels not too bad, still a bit sore but nothing too bad so that is a relief -- I was a bit worried it might get worse from all the moving about today.

I tried to nap but couldn't get comfortable enough so I decided to get up and have a bath. I got lots of skin of my foot today.......haha, ewwwwwwww but it felt good and looked a bit better afterward.

Its 11pm and my foot is still sore so I'm going to take some Advil, maybe put some heat or ice on it and see if that helps.

Tomorrow I'm going to take it easy but it was good to be out in the fresh air today for so long :-) - the weather actually held out too, it definitely threatened to rain! HA HA!

Well that is it for today, thanks for checking up on me

Here are two pictures of Mercury, isn't he handsome! (2nd Photo credit: Ryder Schwartz)

Mercury & I gaiting on the pathway - March 2009

Post-Op Day #16 - A Bit of A Flake?!

2009-04-24T20:22:00.001-07:00

Well I think I overdid it yesterday with the wee-chair ride and then driving the car(even a short distance).

My poor foot was sooooooooooooooooo swollen by the time I went to bed last night, I couldn't even wiggle my toes. I put some cold compress on it and elevated it over night, by morning it had gone down to a normal range(my foot has been a bit puffy over the past week from surgery).

When I woke up this morning my poor skin had really started to flake due to the expansion of the skin from the swelling. ewww! haha! I look like I'm suffering some lizard or snake disease ROFLMAO!

Today I just lounged around because I wanted to give my ankle a break -- luckily it wasn't too sore and my calf muscle feels better(not 100% but getting close).

I wish I had been feeling more lively, it would have been nice to go to the ranch for a bit --Friday's are good days to go visit because there's always a ton of people there. Oh well, maybe tomorrow!

Adam and I are going to go for a quick walk(well i'll be in the wee-chair) around the block before we're in for the night. Aren't we just the party animals on a Friday night? HA HA!

I'll have a rinse before bed, that way I can get some more of the flaky skin off.

I hope the weather is good tomorrow so we can spend most of the day out of the house.

Well that's it for now, take care and thanks for checking in.