blah blah stuff

blah blah stuff

Good news to report: I pretty much have my full range of motion back in my knee (or as good as it was before surgery anyway), and the swelling seems to have gone down a bit. I've been pretty sore still, but I'm trying to cut back on the painkillers. My stomach feels better but I've been pretty dizzy from the painkillers. Now I just wish I wasn't so exhausted all the time.

The drumline has a rehearsal tomorrow night - it's the first one of the summer that I'll be going to. I'm looking forward to meeting the new kids and digging into the music. I don't feel very prepared though because I don't really know what to expect. I think I have to write some warmups, or maybe they still have the ones I wrote last year, I don't know. I've been too busy to think about it much. I guess after tomorrow's rehearsal I'll know what I need to do as far as writing stuff. I think I might have to write some of the show music, which is kind of stressing me out, but it will be okay. I'll feel better once I look at the music and know what needs to be done yet. I wish I didn't have to have surgery this summer - I'd be a lot more on top of things if that weren't the case.

I think I'm going to give up on writing now. Painkillers = it's hard to make coherent sentences. You should leave me a comment, that would be neat.

killing time

killing time

I'm feeling a little better since my trip to the ER. My stomach hasn't really sorted itself out yet, but at least I'm not as nauseated as I was before. Yesterday I was able to walk a bit without crutches or the walker. I'm still in quite a bit of pain, but walking isn't too bad - it's the worst when I go to sit down or stand up. Today my knee has swelled up a lot, probably since I was walking yesterday. I'm surprised at how much I hurt. When I got the metal taken out of my ankle, it wasn't too bad. I guess it makes sense though because this surgery was more invasive.

I'm annoyed because I had a physical therapy appointment scheduled for 11 this morning. My mom drove to EC to pick me up, since I'm not ready to drive yet, and took me to my appointment. I found out when I checked in that my appointment had been cancelled. I wish I would have been informed of that fact earlier. I guess they sent me a letter, which would have gone to my parents' house, but my mom never saw it. Fortunately they had another appointment open today, which is good because I really need to get in to do some PT. It's a pain in the butt though because my mom and I have been trying to kill some time, and in the meantime my knee is swelling up more and I want to take a nap. I'll probably spend the rest of the day in bed.

In other news, my router needs to be taken out back and shot. My internet connection sucks.

how raji and i spent our friday night

how raji and i spent our friday night

Well, I ended up going to the ER last night. I kept feeling more and more sick, to the point where I could barely stand up. I got really pale and cold. Raji took me in to the ER, where I was given some anti-nausea medicine. Unfortunately it took them so long to go through my records and everything, by the time I got the medicine down I puked it back up. I felt a little better after that. Then after an eternity, the nurse gave me another anti-nausea pill. She also gave me a prescription to pick up, and then sent us on our way. Raji (best boyfriend ever) took me home to sleep and then went to Walgreens to pick up my prescription, along with some powerade and crackers. He got back over here and I woke up long enough to take an anti-nausea pill and some painkillers. Then I went to sleep (sometime around midnight) and just woke up at 1pm.

I guess the problem was that the painkillers my doctor gave me aren't supposed to be taken together, since they're basically the same thing. When I got those prescriptions before my surgery, I asked my doctor if it was okay to take them at the same time, and he said yes. I probably misunderstood him - it's really confusing. One of the painkillers is a long-lasting version of the other painkiller. I think maybe I was just supposed to take the shorter-lasting ones as needed if I was really in a lot of pain, as opposed to taking it regularly, like I was. I don't think I'm going to take the long-lasting ones anymore, and just use the other ones regularly. So basically I ended up taking too many painkillers because I was confused and I was in a lot of pain. It sucked because the last thing I wanted to do after I got home from the hospital was take another painkiller since I was so sick, but I was in a lot of pain. I ended up waiting until Raji showed up with my anti-nausea medicine and then took painkillers.

Okay this post is long and probably confusing, but that's what happens when I'm sick and in pain and on drugs.

blah

blah

I was right when I thought today would be bad. I'm in a lot of pain and I'm dealing with nausea too. I slept most of the day, and I'll probably go back to sleep soon. My mom bought me a featherbed topper thing for my futon mattress, so my bed is really comfy now. That's a good thing since I'm spending most of my time in bed. Speaking of which, it's time to lie down.

six down, one to go

six down, one to go

I'm home from surgery! I'm pretty sore but it's not unbearable. It was hard keeping the pain under control when I woke up from the anesthesia, but now it's feeling a little better. Hopefully tomorrow won't be as bad as I think it might be...

The surgery went really well. Apparently when my doctor took the screws out of my knee, the rod pretty much fell out of my femur. The surgery took about half the amount of time my doctor thought it would. I got to take the metal home, and I'll post photos whenever I get around to taking some. I'm really surprised at how long the screws are. It's weird to think they fit in my knee. No wonder they were starting to bother me so much.

I have to use the leg machine again, which I'm not too excited about. Oh well, hopefully I'll regain my knee motion pretty quickly. It's nice having an exercise bike - that will help.

If you get a chance, you should stop by! My mom is paranoid because both of my roommates are out of town for the weekend, and she's worried nobody will be around if there's an emergency, so visitors = really cool. I think Raji will probably be with me when he's not working, so that helps. Yay boyfriend.

quick update

quick update

I got home from Illinois on Sunday. My grandma was released from the hospital that day, and one of my cousins is going to be living with her at least until she's done with radiation. Right now things are working out, and let's hope my grandma continues to recover.

I'm having surgery tomorrow to have some hardware removed from my femur & knee. I think this one isn't going to be too bad, but now I'm a little nervous since my doctor gave me prescriptions for two different pain pills. Also, he wants me to take a mega-dose BEFORE surgery, which he's never asked me to do. I'm remembering how much I hate knee surgery. Time for the stupid leg machine and lots of ice again. Anyway, I should be home sometime tomorrow afternoon, so stop by if you're bored. :)

update

update

I'm not very impressed with the hospital my grandma is in. It's huge and pretty and my grandma has about four different doctors, none of whom talk to eacother. They often give us conflicting information. They haven't been able to figure out what's going on with her, so they decided to send her home today. To complicate matters, my dad has a lot of siblings, and they and their spouses all have different ideas about what's been going on. There has been a lot of bickering. I wish I were younger, because I don't want to know what they're arguing about. I'm sick of them asking for my opinion, trying to get me to take a side.

In the meantime, my grandma looks worn out, but otherwise she seems like her usual self. She is not deaf or senile like people assume, and she reminds us of this fact every time she adds something to a hushed-voices conversation people are having about her. One of the doctors put her on blood thinners a few days ago, then another doctor decided her blood was too thin, so yesterday she received a blood transfusion. In good news, the tumor in her lung has shrunk a little.

On to lighter things... I seem to have been put in charge of the dogs while all this is going on. That's okay by me, since they actually listen to me. Well, Felix does anyway. He's actually pretty well-behaved when he wants to be.

Yesterday I went to a Trader Joe's for the first time. I really wish we had one near EC. It's basically a health foods grocery store, and everything is pretty cheap. Before going there, we walked all over downtown Naperville, where there are a lot of little shops and restaurants. I wish I hadn't worn sandals since my ankle is killing me now, but it's too hot to wear regular shoes. Apparently down here summers are called "the furnace" because it's hot and windy. Oh well, at least it's not as sticky as Wisconsin's few weeks of summer.

scatterbrained

scatterbrained

Well, I'm in Illinois now. My grandma is in the hospital for the next few days because she has to have some medicines administered through an IV, but she should be okay. My dad and I stopped at the farmer's market today and picked up her favorite bread and some fresh strawberries for her, so hopefully that will cheer her up a little.

I missed Chi-Hi's first summer drumline rehearsal to come down here today. It's kind of a long story but my mom has been down here the past week helping out, and then my dad and I were going to come down for the weekend. We were planning on going down tomorrow, but the drumline rehearsal was the only thing keeping us from going earlier, and now with my grandma in the hospital I decided it was more important for us to come down here. I wish I could have been at rehearsal, but I'm too stressed out to even think about teaching right now. I like to go into rehearsals with a few specific goals in mind, but I can't think clearly enough right now to even know where to begin.

My next surgery is coming up in a week, which is probably contributing to my stress right now. I know the surgery won't be a big deal. It's just draining to think about the fact that I have to go through recovery again (not even for the last time yet), and it's summer - there are so many better things I could be doing. But now is the best time to have this surgery, and then at least I'll have it out of the way.

There are other things stressing me out right now (like school), but they aren't important right now. When I have a lot of things on my mind, it's hard for me to sort out what matters now and what things I don't have to worry about for a while.

Anyway, things aren't all bad. Illinois is kind of boring so far - I should have brought more books. We're going to see my grandma tomorrow, and maybe I'll feel better after seeing her. Most reports on my grandma come from my mom, who tends to exaggerate, so I'm hoping she isn't as bad as I think.

i've had better days

i've had better days

Today the defense was granted a change of venue. The trial will be held an hour or so away from EC. I won't go into how I feel about that. I will say, however, that the trial is going to come at the worst possible time: next semester during the last week of classes, or finals week, or something like that (I'm not totally sure because I haven't looked at the academic calendar yet). I'm probably going to see if I can take all of my finals early because even if I don't go to the trial, it's going to be the only thing on my mind while it's in progress. As if I don't have enough to worry about before I graduate.

I'll be going down to Illinois tomorrow to see my grandma and spend the weekend with my extended family. It will be nice to see everyone again - the last time I was down there was for Christmas. I'm worried about my grandma though, she's back in the hospital again. I think they're going to let her go home tomorrow though.

I had physical therapy today, and it went pretty well. I'm able to leg press 40 lbs now (using both legs). My knee is still pretty sore though from my walk to DQ. Or maybe it's because it's going to rain soon, I don't know.

Well, I think that's about it for now. Here's a photo I took from my old street (I developed it at work today)

cookie dough marathon

cookie dough marathon

Yesterday Ben and I walked to DQ from my house. It's probably four blocks from here, but a little farther if you take the bike trail (which we did). That was the farthest I've walked since the accident. By the time I got back home, I was really sore and my knee kept trying to give out, and then I took a two hour nap. It was totally worth it though because it was a big accomplishment. And because DQ is yummy.

blogging

blogging

Okay, so it's been a while since I've updated. I guess there's not much to say these days. Summer is nice. I'm glad I didn't take any summer classes - for the first time in almost a year, I'm able to relax and not have things hanging over my head. Well, for the most part anyway.

The new place is starting to be pretty cozy now that things are mostly unpacked. This neighborhood is a lot louder than my last one (not surprising), but I kind of like that. There are always things going on and people to talk to.

I went back to work this week! My manager finally had time to train me on the new machines. I only worked for a couple hours, but it was really overwhelming. The equipment is completely different than what we had when I worked there last. Basically I'm learning everything all over again. I think I'll catch on pretty quick though.

I'm enjoying summer but I do get a little depressed when I can't do "normal" things. Usually in the summer I would go on a long bike ride every day, but I don't have the strength to do that yet. Last weekend Raji wanted to go to Big Falls (a park on the river), but I couldn't go because I can't walk on rocks. I have trouble walking on pretty much any surface that isn't flat and paved.

Anyway, I've been finding other ways to keep busy. I spend a lot of time working out, and at my athletic trainer's suggestion, I've been trying to go for walks every day. I live a block away from the bike trail, so that makes me happy. I can't go very far, but one of these days I'll walk to DQ and buy myself a blizzard.

Oh, my next surgery is coming up in a couple weeks. My surgeons will be taking the rest of the hardware out of my leg. I'm a little stressed about it because I want to be able to enjoy my summer, instead of being laid up again. But at least I don't have to try and do homework while on painkillers - that was always interesting.

In other news, my grandma is not doing so well. She's undergoing radiation therapy for her lung cancer and it's been really hard on her. I'll probably be going down to Illinois sometime soon. It's a trip I'm really not looking forward to.

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