I can bend my knee to about 110 degrees after 3 weeks of physical therapy. It's great considering I was at about 42 degrees when I started but I'm supposed to be at 120-130 before the doc will give me the green light for surgery. He thinks it'll take me about 2 MORE weeks to get to that point. That's the news I got yesterday.
There is no real reason I'm in a hurry other than I want to get this over with and start healing from surgery! In the meantime, I am able to walk around and get some things done around the house. Everything does still take me longer than it used to but I am mobile. Still can't chase after the girls outside but we haven't been outside much since we all got sick. I think their colds have also overlapped with teething. I really hate not knowing exactly what is wrong and although they are getting better overall, this is the slowest recovery I've ever seen from them. Natalia got over the flu last year in 6 hours and this time she's been sick since Friday. Sofia is doing about the same. She's actually been more clear about when her tooth hurts. When I see a fever sneak back, I do, at least for a moment, think about H1N1. I'm pretty sure it isn't swine flu though - I have evidence that the main issue is becoming the tooth. I am soooo ready for them to start feeling better so that I have trouble keeping up again. It is really bizarre to see them run out of energy so quickly.
Daddy is putting them down tonight since he is going to be out of town on business for 2 days. I can hear them talking about letters - "G fo gamma, N fo Natalia, N for Mama, N for Sofia"
What's the best new TV series this fall?
Glee of course.
Well, on Sunday, September 27 we were out at a playground near the A2 airport and I saw the monkey bars. I try them sometimes and even managed to get across once about a month ago. This one was higher up but Scott was watching the girls so I figured I'd give it a shot. I made it to the second bar, reached for the third and then slipped! I wasn't ready so I didn't drop/jump like i normally would. My knee felt like it popped and cracked and went a couple of ways it isn't supposed to go. I fell to the ground and first wanted to make sure that my knee cap was back in place. It was but I knew I hurt it bad. I used ice from our snack bag and sat on a bench while Scott played with the girls a little longer.
I ended up elevating my leg the rest of the day while Scott ran around cooking, cleaning, playing with the girls and just being amazing. I barely lifted a finger. This was all the day before our anniversary.
So I've had an MRI since then and got the results a couple days ago:
1. Complex tearing of the posterior horn o f the medial meniscus.
2. Anterior cruciate ligament tear - that's the ACL!
3. Tear of the medial collateral ligament. Moderate sprain of the lateral collateral ligament.
4. Bone bruising of the lateral femoral condyle, lateral tibial plateau posteriorly and medial tibial plateau posteriorly.
5. Moderate knee effusion with suggestion of some internal debris which is suggestive of synovitis
The doctor was kind of amazed that I wasn't in more pain so I guess I'm lucky in that respect. I'm going to see a specialist on Monday and have a feeling surgery is in my future!
They were riding around the garage tonight and Sofia says, "Papa, look!"
We have grown to love camping over the last few years so we thought it was time to take the girls on a little trip. As soon as we got out, they started helping us carry the firewood. They're so strong!
They love to dance and play air guitar. Even though it was muggy, it was a beautiful day. We headed to the big city for some dancing and lunch. I think they danced for about an hour straight!
It was a rainy day so I figured it was a good day to run at least one errand. I told Sofia she could pick out some undies since she's been going potty like a big girl. We headed to the Kmart-esque store down the road and she picked out some Dora the Explorer undies. She's never seen the show but has seen the character on toys, including some of her own. She wasn't quite as excited about it as I thought she would be so we quickly headed to the toy department. All of a sudden, Sofia stopped, looked at me, put her knees together, and said, "Mommy pee pee! pee pee!" It took me a second to react but I picked her up, then picked up Natalia and started running to the bathroom. On the other side of the store. There is a long corridor that leads to the bathroom and I swear it was just like in horror films when the hall seems to get further away the more I run. The girls must be close to 30 pounds each! I kept running and they thought it was the funniest thing ever - their laughter did help me forget my fatigue momentarily.
Mercifully, there are no pictures of this one. After realizing that the girls can now reach the pedals of their tricycles, we took them to the elementary school up the street so they could ride around without worrying about traffic. We have used, hand me down trikes. Sofia has claimed the pretty pink one and declared that the red, somewhat rusted trike is Natalia's. I honestly like the red one better but it does need some tlc. Anyway, they were happily riding around and doing an awesome job, even steering a bit, and mostly going forward! They took breaks from time to time to play on the swings and play structure and when Natalia noticed the pink trike sans Sofia, she decided to get on.
It was a beautiful day today so we were outside as much as possible. The girls rode their tricycles in the morning - well, actually Sofia quickly tired of pedaling and walked her trike around while Natalia focused on climbing anything and everything in sight. I love that they are so good at climbing but it makes me quite nervous when they climb higher than I can reach. Thankfully carrying them around has made my arms much stronger.
Sofia went pee on the potty ALLLLLLL day today!
