It Begins

This might not seem like a monumental thing for most of you, but it's a big deal to me. This morning I was able to do 1/2 mile on the treadmill...without my knee hurting at all.
It's not an aerobic workout yet, but it felt wonderful. Walking is so much more than, well, walking to me. Walking brings inspiration. In that half mile this morning I came up with an idea for a series of short stories for the girls. It also means that the weight loss can start. In fact, I think it has begun already. It will take another week to know if this morning's weigh-in was a fluke or not, but it gives me hope.
And of course, it means that the serious hiking is getting closer. That Illinois pathtag will be earned. More boxes will be found. And more will be planted.

Inspiration and hope make a pretty powerful combination.

No More Peg Leg

I got the official release today to start moving around with my brace "unlocked". That might not sound like much, but it means no more clumping around like I have a wooden peg leg, which is exhausting at best. It means that I am one more step closer to driving and getting on the treadmill again. It means that the trails are no longer an impossible pipe dream. It means that being a good little girl and doing everything that my therapist tells me to do is paying off. It means that it will be that much easier for me to get into trouble.

Delicious Denim

Nothing major to report today other than the fact that I am wearing Jeans for the first time since pre-surgery and I cannot begin to tell you how good it feels! Ahhhhh.....

Brown Sugar

The saying "With great freedom comes great responsibility" probably originated from the observation that with great freedom, people tend to be idiots. With the new found freedom of the ACL brace, I spent entirely too much time on my feet yesterday and paid for it last night. Looking on the bright side though, I was able to finish my latest embroidery project while packed in ice.

"Brown Sugar" is 5 inches in diameter and is stitched with the Caron Watercolor variegated fiber called "Avalon" (not that that helps anyone) on a 28 count linen fabric called "Hazelnut". The brown has just a suggestion of pink in it, making it appear both soft and old. I can just picture it on a dresser among antique perfume bottles and pearls.
Linen fabric has the unique property of being made of strands that are uneven in thickness, making counted stitch work ridiculously challenging. This is only my second time working on linen and it went much smoother than the first time.
Unless I decide that I can't part with it, this doily will be listed in my Etsy shop later today.

For a Friend

A couple of days ago, I got a request from a friend to carve a Fantasy sports logo/sig stamp. Below is the result. His initials are BAT. The stamp is just under 1 1/2 inches and was a bit of a challenge~not so much in the carving department, but in creating the image. I have decided that I love the Chiller font, as it would hide mistakes very well.
On the ACL front, I got my "exoskeleton" today and am enjoying the freedom of being able to gently bend my knee when I'm sitting. Now I'm not just limited to places where I can sit with my leg sticking out in front. You've gotta love options.

Show and Tell

**This post is for the scientists (Hi, Adam and Jessica!) and the curious. It is Not for the squeamish. If you have a weak stomach, come back tomorrow.

I had a little bit of time to myself this morning since the girls spent the night at Grandma Carol's, Chad had already left for work and my Mom had not arrived yet. I managed to eat breakfast, dress, make my bed and take care of the pets without any assistance and was therefore beaming when Mom arrived. "Look, Mommy! I did it all by myself!" Since I feel like a dependent child at the moment, I thought we'd have Show and Tell time. These are the arthroscopic photos from my surgery. There were many more, but I thought I'd spare you.
This is part of the cartilage, before repair. It is supposed to be smooth and shiny. The tool is just a probe.
The cartilage after getting cleaned up a bit. I was told that the tool they use looks like a mini cheese grater. Lovely.

This is where the ACL is supposed to be. As you can see, it's not there. After multiple tears, it never healed back in place. Which would explain all of the instability I felt when walking, etc.

My shiny, new ligament. Ain't it a beauty?

The stitches came out today, but I can't get the brace until Friday, which is very sad. I miss Jeans, sitting "Indian style", and shaving (who knew I'd ever be saying that?), not to mention that I have a serious case of TB (Tired Butt), but all in all, everything is going well.
I have a new stamp that I hope to have finished by tomorrow!

CUI

"A woman was apprehended late yesterday afternoon after she was caught carving under the influence of narcotics. While the CUI charge poses no physical danger to the public, it's results are, nevertheless, disastrous, and should be treated seriously. A friend of the young lady, who wished to remain anonymous, said that she was very sorry for this crime, but that she 'just couldn't help it'. As this is a first offense, she will be fined and released later today."
On one hand, I have wanted to carve Da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man" in some form for a long time. On the other, waiting a week or so wouldn't have been a bad thing. I did clean the image up a bit more this morning, so it looked a tad better, but I still wasn't completely satisfied with it. Norco and straight lines don't play nice together. This is the logo for ATI physical therapy where I am doing my rehab.

The whole "Shebang". Warning: The last photo may be a bit much for some people. Feel free to bail out now. Sorry about the glare. M took the pictures and we forgot to close the blinds and I didn't feel like photoshopping it out (remember, one of the side effects of pain killers is that you just don't care).

This is the "Velcro Octopus", or knee immobilizer. There will be great rejoicing the day I get to get rid of this thing. Right now, I'm not even allowed to put my foot on the floor without it.

My new Best Friend For Life, the Polar Care. It's basically a $200 igloo, but it circulates icy water around my knee and makes me very comfy. The good news is that is has stopped smelling like dead fish.

Lovely, I know. Be thankful that the picture is from yesterday. Today, it is much more colorful and significantly more swollen. Here is your road map, from left to right: There is a 3 inch, diagonal incision from where they harvested the hamstring; then there are two small symmetrial holes, one on each side (or top and bottom from your perspective) just below the patella where they used the arthroscope, and a third hole above on the right (out of the picture) for the guide pin for the graft. Finally, above the knee is my surgeon's initials, because, of course, DD couldn't wait until we had washed the betadine and marker off before she took the pictures.

Oh, and get this: They sent off a piece of my cartiledge to somewhere in Boston, so that if I need it anytime in the next two years, they can grow some for me. Creepy, huh?

That is all for today, but I promise, I will return tomorrow and torment you some more.

This & That

I have just a few rather boring updates today. Apparently, I lose my ability to type while under the influence of Norco (really strong vicodine), so I apologize for any oopses (what is the plural of oops?) that I miss.
The surgery went well Monday and everything has gone pretty smoothly since then. The pain is minimal and I am learning how to get around. The cats are intrigued with the crutches and follow me everywhere. I have four new holes in my leg, which looks like a purple tree trunk at the moment. Rehab started yesterday and was nowhere near as scary as I expected it to be. The bad news: no driving for at least six weeks. The good news: with some work, the therapist thought I might be able to do a mile or so on a groomed trail by October. Which means that I will be attending Boxacon, if I can convince DH to drive me.
Not surprisingly, my 7yo has turned into a professional nurse overnight and the only stamp images that I can think of right now are medical logos.
The girls are calling my immobilizer "the Velcro octopus" and according to them, the polar care device (my new best friend) smells like dead fish because that's what Polar bears eat. Maybe I'll let our youngest photographer add pictures later.

Couldn't Resist

With all of SHH's posts about Itty Bitty stamps, I needed to carve a couple of my own. Combine that with the desire to alter my sig to reflect the upcoming reconstruction and what you get is...

Nitrogimp!