5 months to go

It's exactly 5 months until the first day that I could have surgery- May 30th. I went to the doctor yesterday and found out that there isn't much I can do until I'm ready for surgery. He said it sounds like I have a labral tear on my left side which can be fixed with a scope. But if I fix it now, it will likely tear again before my PAO. I asked if a cortisone shot would help with the pain. He said it would stop the pain for a little while, but that cortisone also stops the cartilage from healing. So if my cartilage is trying to heal itself, getting a cortisone shot would make it stop. He supported me using the cane and made sure I knew how to use it correctly. He said if I want to exercise, I should use the recumbant bike. I told him how it hurt my knees the last time I tried and he told me to flip the pedals over and pedal without the straps over my feet. That way my knees aren't forced to go a certain direction. He said that the day of surgery another doctor would go in first with a scope to repair my torn labrum, then Dr. Scheid would perform the PAO. He said since I've seen Maiers, he could be the doctor to fix my cartilage. I also got good news that Maiers always does the first surgery of the day, so I won't have to wait all day to have surgery done. They said I could give blood a month before to be given back to me after surgery. I asked if Jeff could do it for me if he was a match and they said that he could do that. I have to call Scheid's office at least 6 weeks before I want to have surgery so that they can coordinate and schedule everything. His assistant says it can get complicated with 2 surgeons involved.

Dr. Scheid also said something that really made me think when it comes to scheduling the surgery. He said to think back to where I was one year ago, 6 months ago, 3 months ago, and now. One year ago I didn't even notice my hip except for the clunking/popping when I walked. All of my pain was in my knee. 6 months ago (end of June) I was recovering from knee surgery and only barely noticing an ache in my hip. 3 months ago (end of September) my hips still weren't a big issue, just aching, no major pain. And now, I'm in almost constant pain from my left hip and now getting pain in my right hip. Where am I going to be by the time I can have surgery? I don't think I even want to think about that. Having surgery during the school year means using all of my sick/PTO days (I only have 6.5 accrued right now), taking 1 week without pay, and then only getting 60% of my pay for the rest of my time off. I also have to worry about my job being given away while I am gone. So, I'm going to grit my teeth until May 30th.

Changes I plan on making to help me through:
1. Using my cane at all times at work and for major trips out of the house (grocery store, big shopping trips, etc.)
2. Going to the gym only twice a week, use the recumbant bike and rowing machine
3. Rearrange my work space at school so that I can sit and teach as much as possible. Work out a system with teachers where I won't need to walk to each room to pick kids up.
4. Since I won't be able to exercise as much and as rigorous as I want, I am going to stop eating all meat but fish. Hopefully this will help me keep my weight down.
5. Enlist Jeff's help more when it comes to cleaning the house. I don't have to do it all myself.

2011- Year of the cane

So I broke down on Monday and bought a cane. I'm getting frustrated about my pain and needed to try something new. Twice now my left hip has caught while I am walking and I've gotten sharp pains. It feels almost like tendons and cartilage are just getting tangled up in my hip. Now it hurts pretty much 24/7 and is making my right hip and knee hurt. So the cane helps release some stress from my right hip in long distance walking. I took it to Wal-mart today, first time in public, and I got some looks from people. But I stayed confident. It is going to be 1000 times harder adjusting to having it at school. Middle school students are cruel.

I called Dr. Scheid's office on Monday too to ask about screw removal and what I can be doing more about my pain. I've already cut back on activity and I am taking my prescriptions religiously, but the pain is only getting worse. I got a reply back from Dr. Scheid's nurse that they don't normally take screws out and if I'm having problems, he wants to reevaluate my knee. So I am going in tomorrow morning to have it looked at and I am going to mention that I think I have a tear in my left hip and see what he wants to do about it. I can't handle this pain for 5 more months. So I will be back on tomorrow updating on what the Doc has to say.

X-rays

So when I went to visit Dr. Maiers the first week of December, I got copies of all of my x-rays from Dr. Scheid's office. They only have films there, so I just have a pile of x-ray film laying in my office. I decided to take pictures of them to share.

Here is my knee post-op. Notice the wonderful screws I acquired.

In this photo you can really see how far the screws go through the bone. The bottom screw is starting to push back out.

Here is my most recent hip x-ray from July. Dr. Maiers drew all over it to show 15 degrees of coverage on the left and 26 degrees on the right.

Peace of mind

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from my visit to Dr. Maiers today, but I did walk away with some peace of mind that I'm on the right track. As for my knee, which has been a major pain lately, he thinks that Zumba was a bad idea and stopping that will help with the knee cap pain I am having. He said that people with patellafemoral pain pre and post surgery are always going to have trouble with high intensity activities like that. He also said that I am still in a healing process and my knee pain is going to change through that process. He looked at my X-ray of my hip and had me stand with my shoes and socks off. Then he had me lay on the table and twisted my legs all around. He made both my hips pop a couple times (not good for my pain!). Then he drew all the angles on my X-rays (something that Scheid had never done) to find out my angles of coverage. My right hip is 26 degrees and my left hip is only 15 degrees. He said that would consider it being pretty severe dysplasia. He told me that he could do arthroscopic surgery, but it would only be a bandaide for my enlarged labrum. It wouldn't fix the dysplasia, I would need the PAO done to fix the dysplasia. He said even then I will never have a normal hip and I may never be pain free. He also said that right now is the best time to fix my hip since I do not have children yet. He said if I wait until I have children, I would need to wait till they are 3-4 years old to fix things because of the 3 months I will be on crutches. That would mean waiting another 5 years for surgery and my already horrible pain multiplying. So it looks like the PAO first week of June is my course of action. Maiers said he could do a scope to fix the labrum now, but I can't take the time off work that is needed. So I will probably have a cortisone injection in January to help me survive the 5 months I have to wait for surgery. Overall, I liked how much time Maiers spent going over everything and answering all of my questions honestly. I think I will still have Scheid do my PAO since everyone who has been to him recently has done well. It is still really scary to think about, but I have 6 months to get used to the idea. Thank you for reading!

P.S. I am really going to miss Zumba : (

Feeling the same

So it's been awhile since I last posted and it's been about 1 year and 1 month since I first went to the doctor for my hip and knee pain. Right now I feel exactly how I did a year ago, except it's both sides of my body instead of just the left. Even after surgery, I still have extreme knee pain and general aching in my left knee. Now my right knee is starting to feel the same pain. Both of my hips are aching like crazy. I am even 20 pounds lighter than I was 1 year ago, because I thought that was a major part of the problem. I finally found a form of exercise that I love doing, but it is only increasing the rate that my joints deteriorate. One week from today I am going to see a different doctor to see if he can figure me out before anyone else cuts me open. However, even if he can figure me out, it will be at least 4 months, but most likely 6 months, until I can have any sort of surgery done. That's all the bummer stuff. On the good side, my job is going very well right now. I feel like I am being effective teaching my students this year. My school made AYP, even in the Special Education subgroup, and I am working hard to keep it that way. I'm also starting my masters in January in the area of Educational Supervision and Leadership. It's all through Ball State online and I will be able to apply for a Principal's license when I am finished. I'm excited about school and hopefully I will have a good update in a week with some answers from Dr. Maiers.

10 weeks

I know, it's been awhile since I posted anything. My personal life has been a hot mess the last month and things are finally back the way they should be. I've been cleared for all activity short of running (but I don't like to run anyways). I've made a few trips to the gym so far, but pain and plans have been keeping me from going as much as I would like. I had only 4 physical therapy appointments since I had my ROM when I began. The PT just gave me lots of home exercises to do. My scar is still ugly and purple. I'm ready for it to blend in a little bit. At my last appointment I got a prescription for a 24 hour anti-inflammatory because my hip was hurting bad with my knee. I still get a lot of pains shooting from my hip down my entire leg. It's not very encouraging for my surgery future. I go back to the doctor in a month and hopefully will be discussing my continued pain and what we should do next.

Almost 6 Weeks

Six weeks ago I didn't know that I would be where I am right now. I am walking--a lot of times without a noticeable limp. I have stopped taking hydrocodone, but it's hard to manage my pain with just extra strength tylenol. It could just be because I'm up moving so much, probably more than I should be. Monday is probably going to be my last day of physical therapy (I've only gone 3 times) and I go back to see Dr. Scheid on Thursday morning. I want to find out while I'm there when I can start working out heavy duty again and if I should be worried about all the extra pain I'm having in my hip now. I thought at first it was just from starting to walk again and limping funny, but the pain keeps getting worse and actually kept me awake last night. It's like a dull ache starting in the front of my hip and radiating around the side and back. I didn't have a labral tear when I had an MRI in December, but I'm worried I tore something through all this surgery recovery for my knee. I hope that's not the case because I am ready to be free of pain. Hopefully I will only have good news this Thursday.

Walking!

I started physical therapy today. I went down to one crutch last week and have been walking around my house with the brace on and no crutch for the last few days. According to my therapist I already have full range of motion and I was able to stand one legged on my op leg for 30 seconds at a time. I am so happy about my progress after only 4 weeks.

One crutch! (sometimes)

After being able to do some walking (!) around my house this weekend with my husband for support, I decided to do one crutch at work on Monday. It went really well, but I moved SOOO much slower than with two crutches. I did it again Tuesday, but started having some sharp shooting pains in my knee, so I went back to 2 crutches in the afternoon. But even with 2 crutches, I still put weight on my leg. Today I had a meeting off-site so I used 2 crutches all day. It makes it so much easier to get around.

My ankle has completely stopped swelling up. I am really excited about that accomplishment. It still feels a little stiff though when I rotate it around.

I went to the gym on Monday and rode the recumbent bike for about 20 minutes. I didn't have any problems with pain, it just felt weird having my scar rub up against my pant leg so much.

I have my first formal physical therapy appointment scheduled for Monday, 4 weeks post-op. I'm pretty excited because I can already bend my leg back really far and the straight leg raises are easy. I also am able to flex my quad muscle on the op leg and it does it quickly. So hopefully I won't be in physical therapy for very long.

Adventures in Crutching

Monday will be 3 weeks post op and I am exhausted. I went back to work Monday and have been so busy since then. I was freaked out on Saturday about going back to work and then it got worse because I fell pushing a laundry basket with my crutches. It wasn't a complete fall, but my crutch came out from under me and I put all my weight on my bad leg. I started crying instantly and spent the rest of the day resting on the couch with my leg elevated and iced. Monday I discovered that my ankle was going to be the biggest problem with going back to work. It keeps swelling up the size of a grapefruit. I also slipped Monday night cooking dinner and put all my weight on my bad leg again. So my sister finished dinner and I didn't bother making lunches for us that night. I've stepped down to a lower dose of Norco and I only take it only 6-7 hours. Most of my pain is when I exercise- bending my knee and straight leg raises. I'm starting to feel more normal except for the crutch part of things. I've been carrying things around in a backpack at school and I have to sit all the time. I should be starting PT in about a week, I just need to get around to scheduling it.

Day 10- Doctor Day!

So first of all, Happy April Fool's Day. Thankfully no jokes were pulled on me at the doctor today. Jeff was hoping that they would because he had a joke pulled on him by a doctor one year that was hilarious. Well, it wasn't funny then, but it is now. But the appointment went great. He took X-rays, so I got to see my screws. I didn't get a copy but the screws go straight back through the bone and I would say are about 1 1/2 to 2 inches long. I have two of them holding the bone in place. You can see how that part of my bone is not connected either. I asked about getting a note for the screws for when I go through airport security, but the nurse said I wouldn't have any problems.

Next the doctor tested out my ROM. He lifted my foot and bent my leg and then asked me to pull it further than he had it. It hurt SOOOO bad, but he did it twice and said I got further the second time. I have to do those knee bends 4 times a day and do 4 sets of 5 each time. My goal is to push further each time I do it. He also had me try a straight leg raise. I was able to get my leg off the table a little bit while keeping my right leg straight. He also told me to do those 4 times a day with 4 sets of 5. Then in two weeks I start formal physical therapy (April 19th). So I'll be doing that 2 times a week with home exercises. He also told me that I should be using a recumbent bike to also build ROM and strength. So I am excited I get to go back to the gym now.

Apparently I have been wearing my brace too low on my leg, but he says I can cut back on it now. I only need to wear it when I leave the house. Or I can wear it around the house to walk without crutches. Yes, he told me I could walk without crutches if I wear the brace. I can't even think about trying that right now. He told me I could use as much weight as I want on my leg. But if I'm going to go without crutches I have to use the brace to keep my knee from buckling.

I got the two stitches from the arthroscopy removed today. The nurse covered them with steri-strips that I can remove Sunday if they don't fall off before them. The long incision is stitched and then glued, so those stitches will dissolve on their own. I'm allowed to get it all wet now and I can also keep it uncovered.

I talked to him about easing off of the Norco. I'm on 10s right now and he said I could start taking them further apart and breaking the pills in half. He also gave me a prescription for 5s to help me step down. As for switching to OTC pain medicine, he told me to only use extra strength tylenol, because Aleve and Advil will slow the bone healing. He also told me I could start taking my vitamins again.

I forgot to ask about driving, but it's not a big deal since I carpool with my husband. I should be okay to drive whenever I stop taking Norco, but I'll only be able to drive our Civic. The Evo is a different story since it's a manual transmission and I had surgery on the left leg. And of course the big car show to start the season is May 1st and I go back to the doctor on May 6th. So I will have to call or ask the physical therapist whether I will be able to drive my car to the show. My sister might get lucky and be able to drive my car that day.

I'll probably update a lot less now since the shaky part is over. I also go back to work on Monday so I will be really busy and exhausted when I get home. Thank you to everyone who has been reading and helping me through this rough time in my life.

Day 9- Back to square one

So I'm thinking that I pushed myself too much on Sunday and Monday, now I'm back to elevating, icing, and laying on the couch. I've also gone back to taking my pain meds pretty regularly. I keep feeling an aching pain in my patella and then random shooting pains other places in my leg. When I stand up on my crutches and put my op leg on the floor flat (like the doctor told me I needed to do when I put weight on it) I feel a big stretch through the back of my leg that is kind of painful. My ankle is still really swollen and I still have a squishy spot in my knee. I'm sad because it is so beautiful out and I want to be up doing things. However, after reading some on Knee geeks today, I need to take it easy. I have to go back to work on Monday because I've exhausted my sick days and PTO. So I need to glue myself to the couch now and get my body prepared for what I'll be going through next week. I'm ready to fast forward through the rest of the school year and my recovery and jump straight to June. I think things will go fast on their own, but I'm also ready for it to be done and over with. Thank you for everyone who reads and puts up with my complaining.

I do have some good news. I put the next book I need in the series I am reading on hold at the downtown Borders and my husband agreed to pick it up for me tomorrow. Yay for something to read Thursday! I have the last book (book 7) in the series already from the library so I am just missing book 6. It's a series by the same author as the Sookie Stackhouse novels, Charlaine Harris. Very quick, light reads. It's about all I can handle right now.

One week after surgery

I can't believe I just had surgery a week ago. I've been up and about cleaning the house and putting away laundry. Today I sat up on the couch most of the day instead of laying around. I was feeling great, but now it's catching up with me. I'm starting to get a lot more pain in my incision and my ankle and foot are really swollen. I just changed my bandages and I noticed just above and to the left of my knee feels all squishy. I think I might have fluid in it. So now I'm laying on the couch with ice on it. I will probably spend most of the rest of the week on the couch now since it seems I may have over did it. I go back to the doctor Thursday morning, so hopefully he says everything looks good to go back to work on Monday. I also really want to go to a free concert Friday night. So hopefully I didn't mess everything up already : ( Here are some new pictures of my incision and my swollen ankle.

Day 6- Exhausted!

I finally got out of the house today! For the first part of the day, my parents dropped my niece off so that they could go buy a new car. My sister watched her and while they were gone (about 5 hours) so I didn't get wore out from that. I even got a nap in! My husband and I both took a nap this afternoon since he didn't get home till 3am and he called me at 2:30am wanting directions to get home. Then this evening we went up to a friends house in Noblesville for a house warming gathering and to go to dinner. First ride in a car since surgery went well, except for all the bumps. We took the Evo and it has stiff shocks that caused me to feel every bump. Then when we got to the house, they had 3 really tall steps out front that my husband had to help lift me up over. The next big obstacle was when we went to dinner. We parked pretty far away from the front door so I had my longest walk yet on crutches to get in the restaurant. By the time my husband and I had gotten inside, everyone was already sitting at a table. It was okay sitting at the table, except for the really uncomfortable chairs. Overall, the biggest problem of the night was me sitting too much and my leg almost falling asleep with my immobilizer on. Tomorrow's adventures: grocery shopping and doing laundry.

Day 5- Just another day

I'm starting to get into a routine of sorts. My condition hasn't changed much, but I did go from 11pm to 6 am without taking any pain meds last night. I'm trying to wait to take some right now too, my last dose was 4 1/2 hours ago. It's helping me stay awake for longer amounts of time. I am getting up much quicker from the couch and I want to clean my house. I hate sitting around and knowing there is stuff that needs to be done in the house. Might have a busy weekend. My parents are coming up to the city tomorrow to buy a car, so we'll have my niece for a little while. We might go to a house warming party tomorrow night, and Jeff gets to do laundry Sunday (that will be fun to watch).

I am having some pain that I'm not sure what it could be. The back of my thigh keeps getting some pains and my shins hurt to the touch. My calves also hurt, but mainly when I try to put some weight on my leg. Oh well. I have a lot more pain to get through before I can completely walk again. I better get used to it now!

Day 4- On my own

Today I was home on my own and it went great. I woke up after my husband and sister left for work and made myself breakfast. I tried to stay up and watch tv and read, but I just kept falling asleep. I got up every once and a while to get some walking in and go to the bathroom. My left foot is getting swollen for some reason. I did get to change my dressing today and take a shower. It felt AMAZING! I got some pictures of my incisions before I changed the dressing. They look kind of weird because the dressing was tight and left creases on my skin.

Day 3- the day of sleep

I have never slept this much in my life! I slept from 6-8:30 last night, then fell back asleep from 10pm until my mom showed up at 7:30 this morning (only waking up to take pills). After breakfast, I slept a few more hours. Then I slept again after lunch. And I'm getting drowsy just typing this. The good news is I'm gaining more independence. My mom was only here today as a precaution. I made lunch for myself and have been doing my exercises okay. I moved from the love seat to the long couch since I don't need to elevate my leg anymore. That has helped my comfort level a lot. I still get some sharp burning pains in my knee, but I'm also getting the urge to itch. Hopefully that means things are healing! Tomorrow I get to change the dressing and I'm going to get cleaned up, so I will make sure I take pictures of the incision for everyone.

Day 2 of recovery

Today has been a sleepy day. I did not sleep for more than 2 hours at a time last night, and ended up waking up at 4am and staying up till my husband woke up at 5:30. I had a scare getting up to go to the bathroom. I got up too quickly and almost passed out. I had to hurry back to the couch with my husband holding me up. It happened again later in the morning, so I've started sitting up and waiting a few minutes before I get up on the crutches. My mom came to take care of me today so my husband could go back to work. She kept trying to clean my house because my dog sheds so much. We watched 'Twilight' and 'New Moon' because she had never seen them. I think she's hooked now. I made my follow up appointment for next Thursday the 1st at 9:30am. Then I talked to Dr. Scheid's nurse and a nurse from OHI. They were very nice and answered my questions. I get to change my dressing on Thursday, and Dr. Scheid's nurse told me not to push the straight leg raises yet. Overall, it was a good day until about 4. I started having a really sharp burning pain in my knee then, but it's almost gone away now. I just took my pain pill about 30 minutes early to head off the pain. Well, I think I'm going to sleep some more.

Home from the hospital, Day 1

Well, I'm home and doing well. I got to the hospital at 7am, 30 minutes early, and they took me straight back. They had me sign my life away and then took my vitals. At that time I warned the nurse that I freak out with needles. I think I scared her into thinking that they were going to have to hold me down to do the IV. I just told her I have a phobia and can come close to passing out. So they come back to get ready for the IV. First they tried my left hand, and it was a no go. She was digging around and it HURT. Then she had the other nurse that was in the room give it a go, and she tried my left arm elbow crease. That time they had it in and taped up, but then it came out. At that point, I was getting a little mad. I told them several times that they normally use my right arm when they draw blood, but they kept trying with my left arm. So they went and got a THIRD nurse who was no nonsense. Within 3 minutes she had the IV in my right arm and was taping it up. So that was the most pain I had at the hospital. After that I talked to the anesthesiologist about my nerve block and then Dr. Scheid about the surgery and stuff. Then bam, they were wheeling me back to do the nerve block and get started. That's when I said bye to my mom and dad, and my husband. I almost cried, but hung in there. When I got back with Dr. Trout (very funny guy) they gave me a sedative that made me feel really good and then did two nerve blocks to completely numb my leg. Then I hung around in that room for 45 minutes to let the block set. I kept poking my leg and I could feel NOTHING. It was cool. Then it was time to go to the operating room. It was FREEZING in there and they were playing Guns 'n' Roses "Welcome to the Jungle", so strange (is this a Dr. Scheid thing?). Then the last thing I remember was them putting a mask over me and sending stuff into my IV. When I woke up in recovery, it was just like waking up from a nap. I remember asking the nurse "is surgery over?" I was awake in recovery for about 45 minutes to an hour. They gave me two doses of morphine and checked my drain (which I was hardly draining at all). After the first dose of morphine I dozed off a bit until I heard the nurses talking about an order for me for Lovenox. I woke straight up and told them I did not want it and the doctor did not say anything about it before hand. So they kept trying to reach him and by the time I got to post op and made it to the restroom, the dr said I didn't have to do the Lovenox-I could just do aspirin. That was the best news all day. I hung out in post op a little while longer just so they could keep an eye on my drain and was discharged at 2pm. LONG DAY.

So as for recovery, I'm just laying around today since I can't feel my leg. But then starting tomorrow I have to bend my leg every hour and do straight leg raises every two hours while I'm awake. I can do 50% weight bearing tomorrow, but I have to wear a brace while I'm up walking. I can't get the dressing wet, so I don't know how showering is going to work. I'll be going for a follow up appointment probably next week to take the stitches out and get more instructions. I'm just so happy it is over, but now the hard part is going to begin.

One week

I can't believe it is only one week until my surgery now. I am totally freaked out about it. I'm still worried whether I need it done or not, and I don't want to change my routines. I'm worried about the strain that this might put on my marriage. I'm worried about the recovery, whether it will be easy for me or last forever. I'm worried that this won't fix my knee problems, or it will make my hip problems worse. Too much to think about and I have to make it through another week of work. I hope my husband can help distract me this week...

Pictures

I finally had my sister take some pictures of my knees.

4 weeks

It's about four weeks to my surgery now. Getting a little scarier to think about it, because I really have to plan for it now. I emailed my principal yesterday because my days off request hadn't been approved yet. I'm also sorting out who will be around to help me that first week. My husband has the day off for the surgery to take me and help me out. Then hopefully my mom will be able to come up the next day to help. After that--I don't know if I will need or get help. My sister is still living with us right now, but her new job is during the day. So I will be home alone with two crazy dogs a lot. I don't even know where to begin planning for when I go back to work. My classroom is on the first floor of the school building, on the opposite end of where my students' rooms are. Plus, their classrooms are on the 2nd floor. Thankfully there is an elevator, but I will have to procure the elevator key each morning and give it back each day before I leave. Right now I pull small groups into the hallway to work and many times we sit on the floor. That will not be a possibility for me in April...so I have to figure something out for that.

As for knee pain...it is definitely increasing. This week was the first week that I've really needed pain pills daily, and they do not last me all day. I could not go to my favorite gym class on Wednesday night because of knee pain, and had to push myself to go for the rest of the week. I want to strengthen as much as I can in the next month to hopefully make my recovery a lot easier.

6 weeks...

Yesterday marked 6 weeks until my knee surgery. Eek! I don't really want to think about how close it is. My legs are really sore lately, so I know I need the surgery, but it's still scary. I've been keeping up with my exercise and working hard at building my muscles up. I've also been sticking by my diet and have lost about 8 pounds so far.

Update

I went back to the gastroenterologist today to go over my blood work. Everything came back fine. If I have any other pains, I'm supposed to call. He thinks I could still have problems with my gall bladder and there is another test that he could do to check. He just wants to stay conservative for now and I'm okay with that. I haven't had any major pain since around the holidays.

I also got the cost for my knee surgery this week. The doctor is going to cost $9000, hospital is $10,000-15,000, and the anesthesiologist is $900-1200. I called the insurance company to find out my responsibility. I have the $500 deductible for the year and then a $1000 out-of-pocket maximum. So I shouldn't have to worry too much about the surgery costs.

Next step...buy some awesome millennial crutches...I'm going to be spending a lot of time with them for the next few years.

Still going!

It's been awhile since I updated, but I am still going on my diet! So far I've lost about 5 pounds and 2 inches off my belly. It's tough sometimes, but I keep planning ahead on what to eat so that I don't cheat. I also joined a gym last weekend and have worked out 5 days so far. I've found that the elliptical machine is good for my knees, but causes some pain in my hips. So I tried the bike one night, and that was killing my knees but great for my hips. I'm going to have to find a happy medium between the two to keep from hurting myself. I did a class this morning called Sweating to the 80's. It was grueling, but great. I would have never pushed myself that hard alone. I did almost 100 push-ups and I did do 100 crunches! My knees and hips are a little sore now, but not more than after a day at work.

I haven't heard anything from my doctor about my MRI results (done on December 22nd) or anymore information about my surgery. I want to find out more about my recovery plan and the costs. I've started getting updates from my insurance on how much was covered for my MRI, ultrasound, and blood work. The ultrasound and blood work were pretty well covered, but I found out that CDI is out-of-network, so I'm going to be paying out of pocket for a lot of the MRI. I'm going to have to keep that in mind for next time, because I already know I'm going to need to have one on my right hip in the future. So I plan on calling my insurance company on Monday (yay- day off work!) to hopefully talk down some of my bills. Then I need to call the doctor to find out what is going on with my MRI and surgery planning. I'm going to the Pacers game and staying downtown to watch the Colts game tonight, I hope my body is ready for it! Nights out are always really hard on my knees, even when I wear tennis shoes! I'm ready to be able to wear some cute boots or heals out and be able to walk all night.

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone is celebrating the new year and new changes! This is going to be the year I get my life back. My husband and I are starting a new diet called the Flat Belly Diet. We just started it this morning and I already feel more energized and happy. It involved a lot of picky shopping to get started and eating some weird things. But overall we are guaranteed to see results. I'm also making other changes. I got the new Wii Fit Plus, and I plan on getting on it at least every other day. I did it this morning for a half an hour and got a great sweat on. I'm also stopping taking my Lexapro (anti-depressant), so that all those side effects that are ruining my marriage can stop. My goal is to keep this good feeling going throughout the year, no matter how bad my hips and knees are hurting me.