Val posted this picture yesterday. She is part of Team Jen as well. Happy Anniversary guys! Thanks for supporting me!
The green looks really good Mike!
Recovery is slow but it is steady. THANK YOU all who donated to my cause because it REALLY helped me!!!
My mom and I went to the MS walk Detroit 2016, the one at Comerica Park. Sean and I went to the same MS walk in 2015 so I was familiar with the route. Corrie was a work colleague and her friend also has MS. Last year, Sean had a track meet and was unable to come so my Mom and I would try to meet up with my friend Corrie like we did in 2015.
However, we were running late and we’re unable to do so; so my mom and I just completed the route alone. It was on that route in 2016 when I realized that I was too disabled to participate in MS walks. Being on this route was very hard on me in a wheelchair and also hard on my Mom who was pushing me. This fact really depressed me!
I did not take pictures at the 2016 walk but I did get a shirt because of my donation. I was so saddened by this fact but thought that I would be a volunteer at future walks. Well, this year, I had surgery on May 1st which was around the beginning of MS walk season. Having MS, the healing process is quite slow! Today, my brace is still locked at zero (so my leg is straight), I need to keep my feet elevated, and my knee iced. Sadly, I will not be able to partake in any MS walk this year.
My friend, Renée, her dog, Sky, her neighbor Dale, and his dog, Duncan, walked for me! Dale’s niece, Michele, had MS, he is very informed about the disease, and he and Renée speak about it and me often. Dale arranged for he, Renée, and the dogs to walk in Taylor today. I received this picture yesterday morning:
The puppies on the walk:
I’ve never met Dale but hope to once my knee is better. I’ve showed this picture to Sean and my Mom with tears welling in my eyes! I can’t believe they would do this for me! For Michele’s memory and me! I met Renee when Sean was in 6th grade (he just finished 9th). She lives by me, she drives Sean to school, and helps me ALL THE TIME!!! She has walked into my life and DEFINITELY has proven so many times that she is here for me! I am BEYOND grateful!
Romeo + Juliet (the one with Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes) was on Starz today. I haven’t seen this movie in like 20 years! I turned it on just as it started and I really dug it! I was really interested in watching it and watched the whole thing!
I liked that Sean wasn’t here to tell me how old I am because Leonardo DiCaprio was pretty young. I googled it and I was 14 when it came out (so it came out 21 years ago). I hadn’t thought of this song since I saw it when I was a teenager! I remember seeing a terrible interview they did on MTv or Vh1 back when they used to interview artists…:
“Lovefool” The Cardigans
I may have posted this song or at least referenced it in one of my Barwis posts when I was training with Phil but I just heard it watching the NBA finals with my son. Almost forgot about this one! But when I hear it, it’s such a great song!:
“Seven Nation Army”. The White Stripes
I saw Greg on Monday because Brad was at a training. I think it was in Chicago. I’ve worked with Greg before at ATI but not with my knee. He is a really good physical therapist so it was OK with me. Greg just got engaged a couple of weeks ago so we had tons to talk about!
I never thought that it would be a good thing to say that, “he broke me easily;” but he did. He bent my knee pretty easily and I could feel the tightness in both my quad and toward my calf on the sides of my kneecap. He rubbed a lot of massage lotion on my knee and worked my quad out. He even had a picture of his fiancé’s ring, her name is Melanie.
He extended my leg on some sort of wedge under my knee and told me to raise my foot up. Are used to do this all the time at Barwis! I tried my very best and could not raise my foot up. Because I was not able to do this, he held my ankle a little ways from the table and told me to hold it up and not letting it fall. Again, I tried my best and my leg immediately fell to the table.
He then told me to flex my quad muscle as he pushed on it. For a third time, I tried my best and looked hopefully at him. He just slowly shook his head and said he didn’t feel anything even though I was trying so hard. It was completely depressing! Are used to do all of these things with ease at Barwis.
My inability made me miss Barwis even more! It’s been nine months since I’ve been there and I can’t see me going there anytime soon. Dr. Frush told me not to return until my knee didn’t hurt anymore. It still hurts! It does not hurt as badly as it did before surgery but it still hurts!
I was glad that I did not find out my inabilities until the end of my time with Greg. Right afterward, I got hooked up with ice and stim so I could be silent and stare at the ceiling. I was quiet on the way home.
Aside from watching Good Morning Football on the NFL network, I haven’t been watching a lot of NFL network. I I am somewhat ashamed to say that I haven’t been watching the top 100 players of 2016 at all. However, during GMFB, I saw a commercial for #40 to #31. Matthew Stafford was shown throwing a football. Really?! My Matty?! I was SO excited!
I knew that I had to watch it on Monday night and told Brad about it at physical therapy the day I saw the commercial. However, when it was on, I was still in the backseat of mycar. I was able to see what was going on onTwitter and it was at #32 and Matthew Stafford was not on it yet. Turns out, he was #31!
A second showing of this portion of the show was on at midnight. Of course, I had to stay up and watch it! I really enjoyed seeing it at 12:55 AM! I wanted to stay up to watch the reaction show but I was SO tired! Click the second picture to watch the segment. I ABSOLUTELY love that man! ???
(CLICK THE ABOVE PICTURE TO WATCH THE SEGMENT)
Sean bought me a book today. I saw a post about this guy on Facebook. I’ve started reading it and I really dig it! This works out because I am still laid up in the recliner with my feet up and knee iced.
I got onto the table at ATI on Wednesday and told Brad about the pain in my knee I experienced all day Tuesday. It was an ache that felt like the two bones that connect at my knee were smashed together! It was a constant pain and was tough to bare! He put on his thinking face and thought for a moment. He decided that he would put my leg in traction and that made me feel better.
He worked on the inside of my knee and my adductors were a little bit tight. He worked on my calf and said that was tender as well. It frustrates me that it is only going to be a month after surgery and Dr. Frush said it was a four-month recovery so I have to endure this pain for three more months! He left to get the belt for traction.
I’ve said before that it looks like a seatbelt, a beige seatbelt. As he was tying one end around my ankle, I asked him if other places have belts in different colors. He laughed and he thought that everybody just has beige ones. I told him that I would special order purple ones! Just to make it fun! After he tied one end around my ankle, he clicked the buckle and put the other end that was another loop around his hips. Then he took a step backward and I could feel my knee-joint opening. It felt so good!
He looked like he was counting so I didn’t say anything. I can talk someone’s ear off comfortably or I can just sit in silence equally as comfortable. My knee felt SO MUCH better! My mom came in just as my traction was finishing and she asked Brad about it. Larry hooked me up for ice and stim and I remained quiet. Once my stim was over, Brad came over to put my brace back on and told me that he was not going to be there Friday so I was rescheduled for Thursday. That conflicted with my schedule so this was my last meeting for this week and I will see Greg on Monday.
I am SO frustrated that it is taking SO long for my knee to heal after surgery and I think I can credit that mostly to having MS. I’m choosing to look at it as a blessing though to help me get through it. I’ve always thought that I was limited being in a wheelchair; but, being confined to a recliner with my feet up and my knee iced constantly, only getting up to be carried to the restroom is SO MUCH MORE limiting! I am so much more limited!!! I can’t wait for these three months to be over!
Well, the Wi-Fi at my house is wonky so I could not post this earlier in the day. I sit in the back of the car with my leg outstretched so I have no control of the radio but I heard this song a while back, before surgery, and I never was able to put it on my monthly faves:
“Castle on the Hill”. Ed Sheeran
Sean goes with us to ATI to help with transferring me because I still cannot put weight on my leg. He listens to a different kind of music than I do and he controls the radio. I think he has radio ADD just like I do which DOES NOT bother me. He will, however, stop for a second at a song that I like. He will turn his head to look straight at me, and will sing the song in an off-key, silly manner. He knows ALL of the words to the song! These are the three of the songs he has been making fun of because he knows that I like them a lot:
“Go Put Your Records On” Corinne Bailey Rae
“Big Girls Don’t Cry” Fergie THAT’S JACK in the video!!!
This last song, we haven’t heard on the radio; but this is his “Go To” “Make Fun of Me” song. I am SO astounded that he knows ALL of the words. He told me that he remembers falling asleep to this song years ago when I would play it over and over as I went to sleep. My headboard was on his bedroom’s wall. Even though he’s making fun, I can’t help but think, “Oh son, what have I done?!
“Goodbye My Lover” James Blunt