Reviews, Recipes, and Random Slices of Life

I'm doing better. I've spent most of the last week on the couch, and my sleep schedule has been messed up beyond belief. Last night I went to bed at 1 am and couldn't fall asleep for a couple of hours. I've been having trouble sleeping; my mind spins unhappily.

I still have activity restrictions (lifting, exercise) for another couple of weeks, but today I start trying to go back to normal days. I was up at 10:30 this morning--late, but better. I'm working on my computer upstairs, not on the couch on my laptop. I go back to work* this afternoon.

* Where they've changed my schedule so that I'm getting off work at 6 again. Le sigh. Dinner late again, I guess.

• 06:51 Dear body, waking me up for no damn reason at 3am for the *second time in a row* isn't funny! #
• 10:04 I was weaned off coffee, but I find myself going back to the foul stuff just because I need to stay awake. #
• 13:00 I like it when the weather forecast uses words like 'glorious'! #
• 14:12 I get to be a wedding taster? Yum. Also, no poison is involved. Hopefully. #
• 14:15 Dear knee, Stop with the random flashes of pain when I haven't *done* anything! #
• 14:16 FREE! I'll mail anyone a couple of packets of chrysanthemum beverage if they'd like to try it. #
• 17:42 Quashed husband with SciAm's definitive analysis of why it's better to turn off fluorescent lights! #
• 21:16 Relative forwarded anti-"Planned Parenthood: A $1 Billion Evil Empire" email. I sent a "reply all" thanking him for reminding me to donate. #
• 21:24 I am exhausted, sickly, cranky and unstable feeling. This is what happens when I work too much and can't write or do martial arts. #
• 22:00 Updating medical & writing expenses spreadsheets for the last 2 months. #

Automatically shipped by LoudTwitter

So far, today has been a mostly good day.

I didn't have to go in to the day job (always a good start), so I slept in a bit and got a fair chunk of writing done. Critically, I started actually writing "Tree of Life"--always the hardest part of a new story. Also, usually the worst writing. In this case, that bodes well for the rest of the story, because I think I might win for awesomest opening line ever.

I called the insurance people again, and they said, no, you won't actually owe tens of thousands of dollars, your information and that document must have just crossed in the mail.

Physical therapy today involved lots of electrodes and biofeedback. It works surprisingly well, but I could learn to hate blinky lights that beep at me.

Walking home, I had a chat with the sign-painter decorating the windows of the corner store nearby. It has sat vacant for a few months now, ever since the candy shop-that-wasn't opened and closed its doors in the space of three days. Soon it will be home to one of those catch-all urban corner "stuff" stores--cell phones, urban fashions for ladies and men, copies, and faxing. I complimented his work, and he told me that he was also a tattoo artist and showed me some of his sketches. Then he asked me a "confidential" question about whether I indulged in what sounded like epinephrine but was actually some sort of tea (ideas, malcubed?). He said it was better for you than cigarettes, but I told him I didn't indulge in those either. Besides, he had few teeth, so I'll reserve judgment. I said no, and went on my way with a "God bless you, baby," farewell. Soon it will be summer, and I'll be walking more, and will have more random encounters.

And now I'll be researching a CSA, the idea of having a share in which makes me all warm and fuzzy inside.

The snow is very pretty, but I find it a little worrying. It hasn't snowed heavily since I started moving around post-surgery. Eek. When I got home from work today, I saw a cardinal sitting at the edge of my snow-covered birdfeeder, investigating the few grains of seed still inside, while the snow blew around him. It was a perfect moment, but destined to remain unphotographed--cardinals are amazingly skittish birds, and my kitchen window has a wire screen that ruins all photographs I try to take through it anyway. Perhaps one day I'll rig an outside remote-control digital camera. Sounds complicated, though.

Today, my mail was mostly awesome! I got the complimentary copy of Queen of the Country, the book that my photograph was used as the cover for, and it has gone into what Phil calls "the museum." One day, I'll have a shelf--no, a bookshelf!--devoted just to my very own complimentary copies. (Might as well dream big.) I also got the new Dexter book, which made my little heart go thumpitty-thump. I have such a soft spot for serial killer entertainment. I've postponed reading it until my bus ride tomorrow, on the theory that otherwise nothing else would get done tonight, and I wouldn't go to sleep at anything approaching a reasonable time. And I'm so tired.

Instead, I reheated curry for dinner (three cheers for freezing a portion of vasty quantities of leftovers), watched Blackmail is My Life with Phil while folding laundry, and will soon depart for wonderful, wonderful sleepyland, just as soon as I play a game of online mah johng.

Work
The (2nd) huge project that we've been working on lately has almost come to an end. I really hope I have a couple of days of downtime, because I'd like to catch up on writing and other projects abandoned first due to surgery recovery and then because I've been working full-time ever since I could hobble along. Today there was a tour coming through, and we were told to dress "professionally." More fool me, I interpreted this to mean "not a t-shirt". Surely they couldn't expect us to wear those short-sleeved polo shirts in this cold weather (it's been freezing indoors too)? Um, yes, they could. I ended up borrowing a shirt from the floor manager. At least they didn't make me buy another one.

State of the Knee
Lots of people have started commenting on how much "better" I'm doing. Woo. I am hobbling slightly less, though a cane is still of dire necessity. My leg still doesn't straighten out all the way. I don't need painkillers as much, though I notice I've almost gone through an entire bottle of Ibuprofen in a week and a half. And I'm usually carrying two different kinds of painkiller with me. It's a highly relative "better". I'm also thinking of querying various magazines with knee surgery-/surgery-related article ideas. Phil has also grown weary of me demanding TV rights for an hour every night so that I can watch what I want while I do my knee exercises/icing. Huge fight yesterday (but the basketball game's on!), though mostly just us both being testy and tired.

Bus drivers who don't wait until people with canes are seated before moving? Very bad.
People who let their sidewalks get all bumpy and icy? Also on my bad list.

On the other hand, yesterday's bus driver who wouldn't drop me off at the corner, did today without my asking. Guess she felt guilty after watching me hobble around.

Coworkers are all being really good about moving boxes for me. And I've answered many, many questions about how I am and what's happened to my knee. So I guess they sorta care, despite nary a get-well card.

There are a ton of new people, and more being hired. Bossman says that when he wants two people to stay, he hires four, because at least half will escape.

Yesterday auditions for Last Comic Standing were going on underneath my work again--at Acme Comedy Club. Very long line of people, including at least four tents. Brrr. Super-cold yesterday, too, almost as much as today.

Yesterday was very painful. Working a full day and bussing/hobbling to and from was really stressful for my knee, and I spent most of the evening huddled on the couch, well under the influence of painkillers. Phil said I probably shouldn't go in to work today, should let my knee rest, but it's not that kind of job. I'm not going to work this weekend, though, and I know they're not going to want to hear that.

Today, not quite as bad. I'm even going to try and cook again in a few minutes (tried that two days ago to make veggie & tofu curry, was also an activity disliked by my knee).

+ I am off crutches and onto a cane.
+ I am wearing real pants.
+ I am not taking painkiller 24/7 anymore.
+ Showering is no longer a horrible ordeal.
+ I can actually tidy a little bit, and I'll see if I'm up to cooking in about 15 minutes.
+ I can socialize! As long as it doesn't involve standing!
+ I can use my computer at my desk and get things done.
- My leg doesn't straighten entirely yet...
- ...so sleeping is difficult, involving a small pillow under my knee and some pain.
- I am still needing painkiller
- I can't lift anything heavy for another three weeks.
- I'm healthy enough to go back to work, which I will be doing tomorrow.
- I'm not allowed to do anything active for months and months and months.

Had my surgery follow-up visit this morning, and that went well.

I got to read a significant portion of my book in the waiting room because I was dropped off about an hour early (on the way as Phil went into work). I'm really enjoying it--Endgame by Kristine Smith. It's the most recent in a series, but I think it would be a pretty good read even without having read the previous books. I have a mostly foggy recollection of them, and did I mention I'm enjoying it a whole lot? In many ways, it reminds me of C.J. Cherryh's Foreigner series.

The doctor removed the tiny adhesive bandages, tested my range of motion, hemmed and hawed approvingly, and explained where we go from here. I'm approved to shower without having to wrap saran wrap around my knee! Yay! I'm approved to "transition" from crutches to cane to (maybe) walking on my own! Yay! That means I can start being social again without too much hassle, if I feel up to it. I still can't drink as long as I'm on the pain meds, though, which makes bars a bit boring. I'm still not allowed to lift heavy things (like boxes of documents, which I do at work) and I've been told to start doing leg lifts. I cannot do even one unassisted. Boo!

My knee is weird and lumpy looking, but the incisions are mostly healed, the bruising has almost faded, and the swelling is gone from the rest of the leg, if not entirely from the knee itself. Soon I will ponder wearing something other than soft stretchy pants. I might consider going back to work soon, though I really don't want to. I am not yet at the point where I'm clearly procrastinating from the job I hate, but I expect to be there soon.

The bruises that covered my left leg (picture forthcoming) have started to yellow a bit around the edges. Good. I was afraid they were spreading. Because for a little while there, they were.

The oxycodone (a slow-release over 12 hours painkiller, instead of the more immediate painkillers I've had) prescription got finished yesterday, so I am now down to just two pain medications: Vicodin and ibuprofen (3 pills, 3 times a day). I had finally gotten to the point where I could sleep through the night. No more. Now I'm back to waking up roughly 4 hours after I fall asleep, precisely when the painkiller wears off, to take more painkiller. And I'm usually a really heavy sleeper! And I'm feeling moderate, low-level discomfort constantly, with spikes up into "oh god this sucks" territory.

On the other hand, I'm now enough in the here-and-now that I've started writing on my laptop on the couch. Since I'm lying on the couch all day anyway. I write more slowly and get distracted more easily, but progress is being made.

Watched the beginning of The Sopranos last night, via Netflix. Am somewhat disappointed. So far it is not something I feel the need to continue watching.

One of the...techniques, not really a resolution, that I'm adopting is the notion of identifying one or two major goals per day and making that or those be the main focuses of the day until you can get them done--the idea being that if you get those done, then you can feel accomplished, even if there are other items outstanding.

Today's main goal was to straighten out the insurance info that the pharmacy needed (because prescription coverage is separate from regular insurance coverage), to make sure my swollen foot and pounding headache aren't anything dire, and to get more pain medication, because I ran through the stuff they gave me pretty quickly. And it's not like I'm feeling no pain. (I'm sad about that. I wish I wasn't.)

Yesterday's main goal was to shower (the first day it was approved). That was...way more complicated than you might think, beginning with the whole not being able to stand easily anymore. Or carry things to the shower. And having to unbandage my knee, and try to keep it dry (mostly unsuccessfully), and then bandage it back up. But I showered and washed my hair. Victoriously. There was a definite sense of accomplishment afterward.



And I've put up some post-surgery pictures on Flickr. Warning: they're somewhat bloody, but there's commentary and stuff.

Back from surgery. It went as well as could be expected, though I was slightly disturbed by the surgeon's tendency to use "air quotes" when "describing" things. They found a few unexpected things: turns out I did have a small meniscus tear that didn't show up on the MRI, so they fixed that, too; and some bone abrasion on the underside of my kneecap, which could have been there recently or forever, got polished down.

Over all, it was...surgery. I was actually still conscious when I went into the operating room, which was interesting, as I hadn't seen the interior of one before. It looked not much like the ones on TV--more clutter, less glass and bright lights. The dozen or so people standing around were funny and entertaining. Afterward, I had an entirely professional nurse who I liked keeping track of me post-surgery. A physical therapist came in and showed me how to use my crutches.

The only really bad part of the experience was the idiot in charge of getting me from the hospital grounds and into my car. She gave Phil totally wrong instructions for how to find us. Then she didn't flag him down when he slowly cruised by. Then she parked me in a such a way that I blocked the trash cans from the rest of the room. And she didn't understand my request for a magazine once it was clear that Phil was hopelessly lost and wouldn't be showing up soon. And she would stand over my leg or generally be way too close to jostling my foot and causing me pain (didn't happen, but sure made me nervous).

Basically, she was just an annoying idiot.

I'll be on crutches for at least two weeks--two weeks is the doctor's appointment where we talk about moving me from crutches to a cane to *gasp* walking on my own two feet. I'm not going to be working during the crutches time. I probably won't be spending much time on the internets, either, because it's moderately uncomfortable to sit at my desktop computer, and my laptop, alas, can't hook up to the Mpls wi-fi modem to pick up the signal, and the internal modem isn't strong enough to pick it up on its own, and I didn't get a wireless hub installed at home in time. Most of my time will be spent on the couch.

I'm really pleased that I have a fantastically comfortable couch.