My Weekend...

Joel dropped me off at my house on Friday around 3, and I immediately took up residence on the couch. This would pretty much be my routine for most of the weekend.

I went through another therapy session (homework), and then grabbed a nap before Jason showed up to keep me company that evening. We watched Defiance (very good) and ordered a pizza.

Before he left, I had Jason fix up my ice machine and move it to my bedroom. I have decided to just keep it in there for the nights and I'd ice my knee with ice packs during the day.

Saturday I got up and decided it was time to start getting into a "routine" again. So, I made coffee and went out to get my paper. I realized I'm a very slow mover... normally I have enough time to come back in and read a section before the coffee is ready. By the time I made it back into the house, I heard the cofee finishing up. Oh well...

After eating a light breakfast, I started my workout. I went through the full session, which takes about an hour, because I wanted to finish it up before my parents arrived. It's hard to explain it... it's not difficult because it's strenuous, but it's difficult because it's painful. I just keep telling myself that the more I do this, the further along I'll be in my recovery.

Next, I hit the shower. This would be a different one than the previous showers - I was given permission to clean up without having the trash bag duct taped to my leg! You have no idea how great of a relief that is!

My knee is still very sore to the touch, but it felt good to get it cleaned up. The nurse did a good job, but I still would rather take care of that on my own.

Mom and Joel showed up and we went to lunch here in town. I had never been to Amelia's, and they had excellent Mexican food. I think it was a winner in their books, too.

They dropped me back home and I got back into my comfortable clothes and went through another session. This time I took longer with it... meaning, breaks in between the exercises. Which, of course, led to another nap after I finished up.

My cousin Lori called and we caught up (Finally!) on the events of our lives over the past two months. I haven't seen her or my other relatives in Beaumont since Thanksgiving 2008, so I'm planning a trip again this year.

Oh yeah, Saturday was my first "let's try and not take the pain pills" day. I made it through the day taking Tylenol every 4 hours. Again, trying to get my "normal" life back.

Last night I reheated leftover pizza and watched some shows, then headed to bed around 11. I also wanted to try something else out - no ice machine. You see, for the past 10+ days I've had to sleep hooked up to that machine. It's extremely uncomfortable, and I have to sleep on my back and the opposite side of the bed.

So I moved to my "normal" side, took a pain pill (figured it would help), and off to La-La-Land I went. It was an interesting night. I could feel the heat coming from my knee - it's like when you have a sunburn and you can feel your skin pumping heat out.

I figured if it got too bad, then I'd go hook up the machine. Anyhoo, it was fine. I did get a pretty restful night of sleep, though. I even slept on my stomach!

This morning was similar to Saturday - coffee, paper, breakfast, and therapy. Chandra showed up and I showed her my scary pictures (from the camera that went inside my knee during the surgery). Of course, she was grossed out and we had to flip them over after we were done. Ha!

She had come to visit because I wanted to get out. We went to lunch (Mexican - always good!) and then I wanted to go shoe shopping. If I'm going to start therapy and working out again, I wanted some new shoes...

I knew exactly what I wanted - one of three different options of shoes from Asics - so we went to DSW. They had one of them, but not my size. Next we went to Dick's Sporting Goods, and I actually found my number one choice.

Once purchased, I was pretty much done. My knee had seen enough of the "real world" for the day, and we headed home.

After Chandra left, I've rested and gone through another therapy session. I thought I would get a nap, but it got too late in the day. I've since made dinner and now I'm back on the couch (of course).

I'm still feeling a lot of pain, but not as much. My knee is still swollen, but not as much. But most importantly, my spirit is still heading in the right direction. I have a good attitude about all of this, and I see "normalcy" returning in the near future.

Thanks again for your support and encouragement...