Thursday, December 29, 2011
More Christmas Fun
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Merry Christmas
Friday, December 23, 2011
30+2
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Christmas Quiz
who wants to play along? it's kind of fun to see everyone's answers. if you do, go to abby's blog and link your blog.
Friday, December 16, 2011
the surgical story
After the Ogden marathon back in May, my hip was bugging me. Since I had the Utah Valley marathon 3 weeks later I went to physical therapy a few times. It seemed to be getting a lot better so I ran Utah Valley (mistake #1). Looking back, my 45 minutes off my normal finishing time should have been a big clue that I was injured, but no. I ran Wasatch Back (mistake #2) the next weekend. By the end of that, my hip was killing me, and I couldn't walk. I spent the rest of the summer going to physical therapy 3x/week. I was gradually getting a little better. At least that's what I thought.
By the end of the summer, I hit a big plateau in therapy and still couldn't walk with a normal gait. I finally went to see a sports medicine doctor. After a x-rays and a MRI, they found a tear in the cartilage of my hip. I tried 6 weeks of swimming only and a steroid shot, and still I wasn't better. Before even seeing the doctor for the final time I decided to have surgery. I was pretty sick of not being able to do what I wanted to do, and surgery seemed like the only solution.
I made a couple of appointments with different surgeons and found out I would have to wait until March to have surgery. I was so done with the waiting game by that point. I started calling around and found another surgeon that did arthroscopic surgery. I had a consultation with him and felt really comfortable with him and his experience. He was booked for the year but opened another surgery day for December 2. Within a couple of hours of leaving his office, I scheduled surgery for a week and a half later. It's really crazy how things work out. I was really upset and stressed about not getting into the other surgeon for so long, but it turned out to be a huge blessing. I'm so happy I went with Dr. West. He dedicated 1/3 of this year to studying this exact procedure to be the most effective and efficient. His dedication made me feel very comfortable with him.
Michelle took me to the hospital. They took me straight back to pre-op, and I was ready to go pretty quickly. I was about to walk down (ya walk down) to the OR when some equipment broke. I ended up waiting/staring at the wall for the next hour before they were ready. I walked down to the OR, got on the bed, and that's all I remember. The next thing I knew I woke up in the PACU. I was SO nervous about going home (to Michelle's house). I was pretty stressed about getting around with crutches. I had the nicest nurse. She suggested I spend the night and even came to my room to talk to me for a bit. Michelle came to check on me and visit for a while. A few hours later, the night nurse came in, and I knew her. I was so happy to know my nurse. It really helped relieve some of the anxiety. By the time I got out of bed and moved around a little, I realized the crutches would be ok.
I spent the night in the hospital. Dy picked me up the next day and took me to Michelle's for the next several days. I was hooked up to an ice pump for the next week, but other than that I did really well. I have been able to move around really well, and I haven't been in pain at all. Being on crutches hasn't been nearly as bad as I thought although it has been very interesting (more on that later). I am healing really well and expect to be completely back to normal soon. It's weird to say lucky when talking about surgery, but I really do feel like one lucky girl.
Saturday, December 10, 2011
generation gap dinner
In celebration of 25 years and many many miles of running, some of the first members of the running group hosted a dinner this fall. They had shirts from every St. George marathon. They posted favorite running memories and stories of how everyone came to the group. I found out I am 9 generations from an original member. It's pretty cool to see how the group has grown the past 25 years. I have missed my running friends so much, and it was great to spend the evening with many of them.
Friday, December 9, 2011
cookie swap
Friday, December 2, 2011
now ya know
Remember my promise to write my running story earlier this year?!?! Well, I started it, got injured, and had to stop running. I still promise to post it hopefully in 10-12 weeks when I'm fully recovered from the hip surgery I had today. Some people know and some people don't. How do you bring that up in conversation? So, for everyone that wants to kill me for not telling them, now ya know. Surgery went well, and so far I am doing great.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
9/11 memorial
words + cell phone pictures are not sufficient. seeing the 9/11 memorial in nyc was like nothing i've ever experienced. it was beautiful, huge, and so incredibly peaceful. right in the middle of nyc this site of such horrific tragedy has been completely transformed. the running water was so calming to me. as I walked around, i realized not one person (including an unborn child) is forgotten. i really could have stayed there all night. i hope this memorial provides the same peace to others with much more personal connections.