iTez

Day 21 (80.5) - We have reached the three-week mark!

…and I am not walking any significant amount yet. I’m not sure if this is cause of concern, but nothing feels out of place and there’s continued gradual improvement as far as strength and reducing swelling go, so maybe I’m just a slow healer.

Went out to Indian with Liv and Laura tonight (yay butter chicken), the spent after dinner filling out a dating questionaire. As you do!

I actually think people thought Liv and I were about to come to blows when debating which answer to pick for most of the questions.

Day 22 (80.6) - Went out for Peking Duck tonight (for the first time since… I went to Peking/Beijing in ‘08) with Bobo and her two housemates tonight - it was delicious!

Earlier Bobo and I nommed some Jap, watched some UFC (as you do) and went waffles & ice cream at Gelare. Winning.

Unfortunately, I got my first blood nose since my op which was a bit of a bummer, but I guess I did eat a lot of salted (for some reason I thought Bobo said ‘assorted’) vegetables in my Peking Duck soup!

Day 23 (80.9) - I woke up this morning in pain. Pain I hadn’t experienced since the first few days post-op, which was a bit of a concern!

Luckily it disappeared soon after I woke up so I’m putting it down to morning muscle cramp, but I’m not really seeing much improvement in my situation right now.

Bobo came over with HJ’s for lunch! Then witnessed another struggling Freo victory (should be used to them by now) where I think I scared her with how madly I cheer when the game is on the line.

Went out for dinner tonight with the fam at this Chinese place at Burswood casino. Nothing special at all; definitely don’t reccomend you splash the cash there.

Then I witnessed the greatest Premier League finish in history (according to numerous commentators). From absolute joy to devastating sadness in the space of 3 minutes. In simple terms, I thought we had won it all (and was celebrating like it) until two late goals in the last 3 minutes erased those hopes, while my dad sat happily next to me on the couch since his Arsenal had won their match. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

Day 24 (80.7) - This day started pretty poorly, but ended pretty well!

Went to bed without wearing my bandage for the first time since the op, and whatdya know - woke up with absolutely no pain at all and slept like a baby. I wish they’d put this stuff in the brochure!

I really ramped up my exercises today - after letting the knee graft heal for a good 3.5 weeks now, I figure it’s strong enough to be able to do regular exercises with minimal damage. Sure enough, there’s next to no pain (more discomfort with it feeling a bit unnatural after all this time) whenever I bend my knee or fully straighten my leg, as opposed to searing pain when I attempted it in the first week.

Hopefully this bodes well for my walking aspirations!

Still playing a lot of Gran Turismo 5 to entertain myself during the day - moved onto the B-Spec mode now. Boredom is actually not a factor anymore now; I think I’ve gotten used to this daily routine of waking up late, sleeping late and catching up on TV shows inbetween. Just like old times, eh?

Day 25 (80.3) - Good improvement in the knee today; been able to take more steps without much discomfort so definitely a step in the right direction (pardon the pun)!

I’ve been getting a bit cold lately; been sitting on the couch with a blanket on me like an old person (as has already been pointed out to me).

Going to Primo Cucina tomorrow night with Bobo, looking forward to getting a decent Italian feed! Just hope the place isn’t too cramped for me not to be able to stretch my bad leg out, otherwise that’s going to be quite an uncomfortable dining experience…

Day 16 - And so ends another weekend of sport. Probably one of the least satisfying weeks of sport where both the Dockers and Man Utd have one but for varying reasons.

I dunno if it’s just me seeing things, but I looked down at my legs today and realised they had shrunk in size somewhat. I guess this is good for my “don’t get fat in recovery” plan and I’ve stuck a consistent diet of 3 meals a day with minimal snacking, but the thought is in the back of my head that I can’t burn any calories off if I put them on. I just want to be able to start cycling again so I at least have the option to delve into a massive pack of lollies/choc!

I’m really craving a family sized spinach quiche from Glengarry bakery right now. It’s 2:45am but I really am.

Kinda over this recovery business now. Every day is starting to get a bit samey and the graft takes at least 6-8 weeks to heal into the bone so I know I have to take it slow. Just getting bored is all…

I find myself just waiting until the weekend so I can spend some time with Bobo again. Monday to Friday are essentially space fillers… as I’m sure anyone who works a 9-5 job can agree with!

Day 17 - Liv came over tonight which was certainly nice =)

I didn’t think it was ever possible for me to get genuinely annoyed at someone I’d never met but we have definitely reached that point now. Guess you learn something new every day, huh!

Also, I finally satisfied my cravings for a quiche from the Glengarry bakery. Thanks Gran!

Day 18 (81.2) - A very significant day today - the first time I walked (well, limped) any significant distance! I had taken one or two steps each day to test if it was capable of full weight bearing, but had never tried proper walking.
Today I walked from one side of the lounge room and back. Which doesn’t sound like anything but is a massive, massive milestone for me.

The words of my surgeon at the post-op check up ring in my mind every time I take a step:

“Your knee graft is like a credit card. If you bend it once or twice nothing will happen, but if you bend it 100 times it’ll snap.”

The thing is, it’s strong enough to take some steps. How many steps it can take is not something I intend on pushing, so I’m taking a real tortoise approach to this - slow and steady wins the race. If it takes another week and a half on crutches before I’m fully comfortable with walking then so be it. But the signs are very good =)

Finally, that number in the brackets is my current weight. I wake up, weigh myself, and mark it down.

My starting weight on the hospital scale was 81.7kg (with thongs) which isn’t skewed as I had been fasting from 10 hours before weigh-in. So far, it seems the avoidance of sweet treats has worked a [pardon the pun] treat! Might actually be able to indulge in some now…

(Side note: Obviously I can’t actually do anything about it if I put any on for now, but at least it gives me something to aim for once I can start riding my exercise bike again!)

Day 19 (80.3) - It appears someone attempted to rob our cars at around 11:30pm last night; coming into our garage, scurraging through my dad’s car and then escaping by jumping the fence and through our neighbour’s gate.

The damage? $15. But it’s a not a nice thought that someone manage to infiltrate your perimiter! Oh well, as long as we’re all safe.

Dean came over which was good - played about 3 hours of Gran Turismo 5 (car racing) and didn’t even notice the time past! Definitely a good choice to dust off that game and give it a whirl for the first time in a while for both of us.

He asked me on the way out - do you get crazy bored? I thought about it, and I really don’t right now. I guess Day 16 was a particularly low point, but I have an ideal setup in terms of entertainment. I haven’t even been able to catch up on my Masterchef/Celebrity Apprentice/Gossip Girl so I really can’t complain!

Also, this scale makes no sense. There is no way I could lose a kilo in a day doing nothing.

Finally, congrats to Bobo who officially passed everything and finished her CoL course! Now we are both free from that study burden and can enjoy life again =)

Day 20 (80.5) - Went out to dinner tonight with Beck which was my first outing in a while! Yaaaaaaaaay. Then back home for some Quinn/Brittany/Santana Glee goodness.

I spent the whole of today playing Gran Turismo 5. If only I re-discovered its goodness on Day 1 of my recovery! Would probably still be playing now…

Really looking forward to the weekend! =D

Day 11 - Beckface came over tonight. Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaay =)

We watched some Megan Washington The Voice and nommed some wokinabox which I had been craving ever since my operation (who doesn’t like average Asian food?!).

In other news, I woke up to watch Manchester United lose the Premier League title but I’m going to block that out of my mind now.

On a side note, congrats to Liv and Tam for reaching their $1,500 goal already! I must admit I had my doubts, but how about that people power eh? Crazy stuff.

Only 3 more days until I get to see my Bobo =D

Day 12 - Not much of note to say here today. Improvements seem to have plataued temporarily (but it’s better than it getting worse right?), but it’s all good.

Sam dropped by before training today which was nice, bought me a lolly bag - yay!

…except later that night, dad said I shouldn’t eat anything sweet because I’m inactive and will put on weight. Boo.

Day 13 - Life would be so much more boring without Singstar/Karaoke.

Shayna came over today after her physio appointment and we decided to break out the Playstation and play some Singstar/Rock Band. Somehow 3 hours passed and the sun was setting?!

Pretty excited to see Bobo tomorrow and for her finishing the beast that is CoL forever! =D

Day 14 - Brilliant day. Just. Brilliant.

Day 15 - My poor heart. It just can’t take being a Freo fan.

I don’t know how on earth we only just managed to get across the line against the Suns, but my heart rate was insane for those last few minutes! Aaaaaaaargh.

Bobo and CK came over to sleep watch the game at 12:15am tonight, with CK being a massive Liverpool fan and all. Disappointing result, but at least it didn’t go to extra time!

Started to take a few more steps walking today (and with one crutch) but taking it EXTREMELY slowly; maybe just 10 steps a day without crutches.

Day 6 - Saw Bobo last night for the first time since the op, it really did make my night and make what was a horrible day into a really good one =)

Woke up this morning from my first proper sleep in (hello 11:20am)! This meant I didn’t have my migrane from the previous day and the pain from my knee is at a point where it’s fairly comfortable which is an excellent sign.

Went to the surgeon for our post op check-up. I was very relieved that the progress appeared ahead of schedule and the most critical part of being able to straighten my leg was already possible. Thank you God!

At the check-up, he also advised of taking out some swelling in the knee through a syringe. Whilst I was initially against it (I thought it was mostly an aesthetic thing), he said it was going to be beneficial so I allowed it.

I’ll be the first to admit I’m not exactly great with needles (although I’m also not “run out of the room” horrible), and this is one needle I’m glad I closed my eyes to the whole time! The whole process seemed to take about 10 minutes in my head and about 1 minute in reality, but eventually he filled an ENTIRE BIG SYRINGE (like the massive ones we had in high school chem class!) with my swelling. And swelling is basically just all blood.

Naturally, after seeing a syringe come out of my leg full of blood, I told my dad I wanted to eat something on the way back so we went to Maccas drive-thru on the way home. Mmmmmmmmmm appetising.

Shayna swung by in the evening after she got back from Sydney the previous day and it was really good to see her - if anyone knew what I was feeling post-op it would be her! Speaking to her also really made me appreciate what a good thing I have with Bobo. It also made me realise that I should never, ever travel with a vegan because I would not go very well at all!

Anyway, I feel good. Things seem to be looking up and Freo play tomorrow!

Day 7 - It’s an odd feeling knowing that this time last week, I was under the knife and all up on the painkillers train in hospital. Thankfully no one will be waking me up every 2 hours to check my blood pressure tonight!

It’s a weird feeling - almost one of accomplishment… even though I (literally) haven’t done anything. But I’m thankful that there have been no setbacks so far in these critical early stages of recovery and hopefully this trend can continue!

It was really nice having Laura and Liv (and cameo featuring Dean!) swing by to watch the game today, even though we played horribly and lost in a game that never should’ve been close (yay percentage).

Day 8 - Thank goodness for Fox Footy. It’s a Saturday, and I had no visitors so I literally sat on the couch the entire day watching footy, and then English Football after dinner. That was my entire Saturday.

I took my first tentative baby steps without crutches today; it just seemed like it was right to do it. I think I’ll still be on cruches for another week or so, but it just felt good to know there were still minor improvements each time I wake up!

Day 9 - Starting to lose track of the days now, but Monday’s are like that for everyone right?

Broke a small milestone tonight by being able to fit in my own shower again! It’s a fairly cramped shower so I can’t extend my knee like in dad’s shower, but it’s nice to have that feeling of a bit more independence.

Day 10 - Broke a minor milestone tonight - had a little drive!

…right to McDonalds, naturally.

In my boredom today I decided to watch Dateline NBC’s “To Catch a Predator”. If you don’t already know, it’s basically setting up a sting to catch paedophiles who chat up children in chat rooms in the act (as in going to their house with alcohol/condoms, nothing more obviously!). It’s fairly intriguing stuff, but I’m fascinated by how each person reacts when their soul is crushed (i.e. when the reporter comes into the room with cameras).

I had another splitting headache which has been bugging me all afternoon and night, to a point where I felt like I was close to throwing up. I’m not sure why it comes and goes, but I refuse to take Panadol simply because… well, I can’t even remember the last time I took it. Anyway, it seems to be all good now as I write this (1:45am).

Finally, good luck to Bobo who starts her final CoL exam week in the morning! You will smash it =) (not all because of my awesome notes =P)

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