My Knee... Works!

Holy Cow!!! I can go up stairs and it doesn't hurt!!!

Not only is there no post-operative pain - I no longer have the original pain of my crappy knee!!! It doesn't hurt anymore. It also no longer sound like twisting bubble wrap. (Pop-pa-pop-pop-pa-pop-pop-pop)

I'm thrilled by how well my knee is doing and how quickly I'm getting better!!!! I was able to do 2 miles on my elliptical trainer the other day on the lowest resistance and incline. I went slow, and it took me about 35 minutes. I might do it again on Thursday or Friday. I don't want to do too much. :)

The success I've had with this surgery makes me look forward to getting the left knee done too... Although I might wait until after winter... Crutches + Ice & Snow.... Um, no thanks. ;) Plus, I don't have anymore time to take off work this year! ;)

SUGAR UPDATE

Oh, and speaking of work, someone brought in chocolate cake today... Evil. I am avoiding that whole side of the building today. Out of sight, out of mouth. ;) My sugar recovery is going well, but I don't want to be tempted.

For breakfast, I've been eating plain oatmeal with chopped nuts. Snacks are low-fat plain yogurt and grape-nuts, or a banana. Lunch is a south beach diet/living meal, and dinner is something healthy I cook up. :) I am reading labels like crazy to make sure I'm not getting hidden sugars. Fruits are the only sweets I have. I always ate whole grains, so I don't have any "white bread" or potatoes to avoid.

However, I plan to go out every couple of weeks to get a high quality dessert. This will keep me from feeling deprived, and more likely to stick with it! Going out also keeps the "danger foods" out of our place. I can't binge eat a whole pint of ice cream if there isn't any in our freezer.

Cheers,

Jess

You're Gonna have to Face it... You're Addicted to Sugar

Here are 10 simple questions to see if you are addicted to sugar:

1. If you don’t get your regular dose of sugar, are you irritable and cranky?

WHY ARE TO TALKING ABOUT SUGAR!!!
I AM TRYING TO KICK THE HABIT!!!
HAVE YOU NO SHAME!?!?!?
(Yes, I get cranky without my “fix.”)


2. Have you ever tried to limit yourself saying that you would only eat one a day, or one per meal, but that one always turns into two, three, four…?

Yeah. I ate so much leftover Halloween candy... Seeing the pile of wrappers afterwards made me feel so much shame.


3. Are you using more sweet foods than ever before?

When you “NEED” something sweet with every meal, even breakfast, there is something wrong. I was eating sweets like a junkie, even “free-basing” straight sugar.


4. Have you ever lied about how much sweet food you eat?

The way I “lie” about sweets is I stop using my food journal. I figure I blew it, so I don’t record my mistakes, but this just makes me less accountable! I have started keeping my food journal again.



5. Have you ever eaten sweets in secret, or hidden the evidence?

I felt so much shame when a co-worker “caught” me eating the powder out of a hot chocolate packet (basically sugar, powdered milk, & cocoa powder) last Friday. It sucked. That was really a wake-up call for me. That is when the “I really have a problem” warning bells
went off.


6. Have you ever gone out of your way to get something sweet?

Even on crutches, I still made it to the sweets.


7. Have you ever gotten upset when someone ate your special food?

I wasn't angry, but I was really depressed when I realized my husband had eaten the rest of ice cream.


8. Have you ever felt that you had a sugar hangover?

I’ve "crashed" after eating LOTS of sugar then just start jonesing for more sugar!


9. Have you ever binged on sweet or white flour foods?

This is a “no duh” question at this point, of course I have.


10. Is it impossible to “just say no” to sweet foods?

I. Just. Can’t. Say. NO!!!! I can resist for a while, but eventually I crumble like a cookie… Mmm cookies!

If you said yes to any of these questions, you might have a sugar addiction. If you answered yes to all of them, you have a sugar addiction.

So now I start down the road to recovery.

Last Friday I told Aaron how sweets were controlling me, and about the hot chocolate powder thing. We did some research and found sugar to be more damaging than and just as addictive as drugs! Sadly, sugar is in nearly everything we modern folk eat!!! It is so unfair!

Aaron (the Angel) was so concerned about my health that he had a nightmare that night! He dreamt I got diabetes because he failed to see the warning signs. He didn’t realize I had such a problem with sweets.

I have always had problems with sweets but things really started to get bad when I quit eating the cancer causing artificial sweeteners. After that I started eating more and more real sugar. Then I started NEEDING sugar. So now I am trying to kick the whole “sweets” habit altogether.

It's been said sugar addiction is hard to break than cigarettes or even heroine. I believe it. Sugar is much more pervasive and harder to avoid. This will take lots of vigilance, but I'll be alright. I have a very clear plan and I am doing fine.


Knee Update!!!

I am walking unsupported! (No crutches or a cane!!) My post operation appointment went well. I can start being mildly active again but I need to be very limited. He said I should only do about 20 minutes, twice a week because of my knees. He also told me a analogy of my knee is like a cake. (Mmmm Cake...)

The cake is the bone, and the frosting is cartilege. Well my cake was brought to the potluck by someone who did not put toothpicks in the cake, and the plastic wrap got stuck to the frosting so when it moves, the frosting peels away from the cake. Each step I take is like someone thinking, "Ooo I want some of that cake!" So she lifts up the plastic, only to see the frosting lift up too, exposing the cake, then willpower kicks in, and she decides not to have the cake, and sets the plastic & frosting back down. Step after step, that's what it was like.

So Dr. Docter basically removed all the loose frosting from my knee. ;)
Stairs are still a bit tricky but I am doing fine otherwise.

Getting better each day!

I spent the first few days after my surgery in bed. I had my leg up on pillows with an ice pack balanced over the knee. I took the medication as directed every four hours. I was never in a lot of pain, but I figured it was taking the medicine as directed was helping with that! ;)

Today I am feeling good. I'm up and about on crutches. I've stopped taking the prescription stuff, and now only use Advil as needed for pain.

I was really sick at first, because the stuff they used to knock me out always makes me puke. At least this time I was puking after knee surgery, and not gallbladder surgery...
(Vomiting + Fresh Abdominal Surgery? ...Shudder... Not. Fun.)

Anyway... if you haven't been totally grossed out yet, here's an actual picture of my knee getting "resurfaced!!"

You don't need to be a Orthopedic Doctor to see that my cartilage was "tad rough." ;)

The actual inside my formerly bad right knee.

-- UPDATE --
This image is actually the back on my knee cap, and it is all BONE. There wasn't cartilage left!!!
So much "The body has an amazing ability to naturally heal on it's own" crowd.
Waiting for nature to take it's course only made my knee worse.
The tears and fissures just continued to break and splinter until all my cartilage wore off and soon the bone too.
My knee was totally destroyed, and once I am rehabed I want to kick some All Natural Homeopathic Ass! GRRR!
-- End Update--


My post operative appointment is the 19th. Then I start any rehab/physical therapy. I am so excited to get healthy again! YEA!!! :-D I Love Dr. Docter!!!

Cheers,

Jess

A Week Until Surgery

Today was my pre-operation physical. There is nothing like the scale at the Doctor’s…

I was 66 inches tall, and my weight (fully dressed in sneakers, jeans, a long sleeve t-shirt, and a hoodie + underthings) was 166.6 lbs. The nurse joked that 6 must be my lucky number, but I was thinking more of the apocalypse.

166.6?!? Not Cool. Argh. Using that height and weight puts my BMI in the overweight category again…. :(

Later during the exam, my Doctor removed “obesity” from my problem’s list, but inside I was thinking “I still have a problem with obesity.”

This knee cannot be fixed fast enough! I am desperate to get back to my old routine, and get healthy again. My body still LOOKS healthy, but this slow weight gain needs to stop!

Having a healthy knee is part of being healthy over-all, but boy is the "downtime" brutal.

Blogging the Good and the Bad,

Jess

Making Local News!

Saturday night was "Freakfest" here in Madison. They blocked of State St. and prepared for a huge crowd. In the past there were as many as 100,000+ people that would flood the street and it would end in a riot, property damage, and ultimately tear gas and lots of arrests.

This year they charged a fee to get on State Street. $5 for advanced tickets, and $7 at the gates. But if you were smart like us, you get there before 7 PM and get on State Street for FREE before the barrels were up! ;) HAHAH! They estimated there was only about 34,000 people at Freakfest this year. A dramatic drop in attendance, but also a dramatic drop in disorderly conduct arrests. :-D

Many local news organization covered the event, doing live blogging.

I was mentioned in the blogs, and there was even a picture of me singing "Me and my Bobby McGee"!!! Here are the snips, and links to the full stories:

8:43 p.m.:
The State Street entrance to Peace Park is blocked off by fences, notes Rachel Tatge, so the only way to access this stage at Freakfest is via Gilman Street. Gomeroke is currently underway there, with the group bringing singers on stage for "I Want You To Want Me" by Cheap Trick, as well as a song by Black Sabbath and a couple other tunes.

Source: http://www.isthmus.com/daily/article.php?article=12231

(I was the one singing the Cheap Trick!)

8:50 p.m. Isthmus Stage
I see a woman dressed like Cheetara from "The Thundercats" quietly take the stage with the Gomers and tentatively launch into Janis Joplin's version of "Me & Bobby McGee." As the song picks up steam, Cheetara's confidence grows and she begins to belt it out with bluesy fervor.

The photographer on the ground, and me up on stage does nothing for my hips! ;)

Source: http://www.channel3000.com/freakfest/14442493/detail.html

More pictures from this Halloween are on http://dressjess.blogspot.com/ . Once I get ambitious, I'll tweak and make that page look decent. It is really rough right now...

This new site is more a collection of pictures of me in costume. I made it more for people interested in my costumes than my weight loss. ;)

Moving Across the Yard & FREAKFEST!!!

Aaron and I were contacted by out landlord if we’d be interested in a larger apartment for + $30 rent.

A dollar more a day and we basically get another room and double the closet space!?!?!?! ? Sweet! Hook us up!!

We signed the new lease and got the keys on Monday. We’ve done a few trips, but Aaron is doing most of the work because of my knee. He is so perfect.

We’ve got until Nov. 1st to get moved. It is nice. :) We’ll have a bit more help this weekend, and I need to call the people we bought the Precor from to help move it across the yard. (I doubt we’ll be able to move it ourselves…)

We are not really “packing” more just filling up laundry baskets, and taking them to the new place, emptying it, then back to the old place - repeat. I've also thrown out so much stuff!! It feels GREAT!!! I also have a huge bag of stuff for good-will. Nothing cleans a place like a move! :-D Once we are out, and the place is cleaned, we’ll turn in our old keys.

We took our gray cat, Sabina, over to see her new digs. She was like. “All of this is MINE!” She was not happy when she had to leave her new “Kingdom,” and return to our smaller place. We’ll be all moved soon, and Sabina will return to her Throne. She is such a spoiled sweetheart!

This weekend is going to be WILD!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so excited for FreakFest! (The 100,000+ people party on State Street in Madison.) I have my weekend itinerary planed: Cosutme contests, karaoke and people watching! :-)

We're going to karaoke tonight. I plan to try some songs as practice for when I do it LIVE ON STAGE at Gomeroke™ tomorrow night!!!!

Gomeroke™ is when you do “karaoke” but with the Live Band, The Gomers, playing the songs!

They know over 2000 songs. But I’ve narrowed my song list to down to these "classics":

Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Queen

Creep - Radiohead

Dream On - Aerosmith

D'yer Maker - Led Zeppelin

I Touch Myself - The Divinyls

I Want You To Want Me - Cheap Trick

Me And Bobby McGee - Janis Joplin

Rock And Roll - Led Zeppelin

Surrender - Cheap Trick

Sweet Jane - Velvet Underground

Sweet Transvestite - Rocky Horror Picture Show

Under Pressure - Queen/Bowie

What's Up - 4 Non Blondes

You Sexy Thing - Hot Chocolate

You're My Best Friend - Queen

Please let me know what song you think would rock the crowd the best! (Hurry time is limited! ;)

Have a Fun and Safe Weekend!!!

Jess

“But… My Knee!”

After 19 days of basically sitting on my growing butt, finally did something “active” last night.

About 3 weeks ago I stopped working out because it triggered so much pain in my knee. But last night I did a mile on the elliptical trainer on lowest resistance. It took me about 15 minutes to do that mile at a comfortable pace. In doing so, I realized that I was just making excuses to avoid exercise these past few weeks. It is so obvious now!

While it’s true, I can no longer workout like I did - I can still be active! Walking is very healthy, and walking on an elliptical trainer helped reduce the strain on my bad knees.

“But… My Knee!” is no longer a valid excuse. I can go a mile on that knee! :-D Sure it takes time, and is not as effective as my previous high-cardio workouts… but I can’t just sit on my butt waiting for surgery! ;)

Cheers!

Jess

Preview - Halloween 2007

I love Halloween! :-D This year I am going to be Cheetara from the Thundercats!





It is going to be AWESOME! :-D

Knee Update

Yesterday was my knee appointment with Dr. Timothy J. Docter, MD. (Yes. My Doctor is Dr. Docter. Try not to sing the song...)

I had to arrive early so they could take some x-rays. They took SOOooo many x-rays. (7!)

Then Dr. Docter came in to examine me.

“Can you straighten your leg for me.”

(crack-snap-crunch-slurp-pop!)

“Alright, let’s schedule your surgery!”

Seriously, it was that fast!

My right knee will have arthroscopic surgery on Nov. 8^th. There is an 80% chance of improvement, and I’ll take those odds!!! If all goes well, I will get my left knee done once my right is recovered.

Last night I biked for a bit. I can’t do resistance higher than 3 without my knee acting up, and also my pace can't exceed 12 mph without pain. :-(

It will be tough the next few months. I am worried about my limited activity and the Holidays... but in the long run, I know that I will be healthier! Soon as my knees are better I'll be able to be fully active again! :-D

Cheers!

Jess

Being positive through Injuries and Setbacks

I had all of my wisdom teeth extracted last Friday. Ow. I've been in a medicated haze since then. I have not been working out, and my "diet" has mainly been chocolate ice cream. I also have an appointment to see an orthopedic doctor next Monday about my bad knees. Surgery is likely for my torn cartilage (meniscus).

It is so hard to get healthy and stay healthy when your body is falling apart!!

Over the years, I’ve had lots of injuries and setbacks that hampered my weight loss goals. Eventually I recover, but it takes a long time, and it can be so frustrating!! Now is one of those “down” times, and I am trying not to get depressed. Sometimes, I feel like a failure even though I know I shouldn’t. It is easier for me to beat myself up for gaining 5 pounds than to feel proud of the other 130+ I’ve kept off!! I keep trying to cheer myself up with “The People Magazine Thing”, but that is not “confirmed.” And each pound gained makes me more paranoid of appearing in a National Magazine as a weight loss example! Things will be okay, and I will turn things around once I am healed.

Another thing that should make me happy: I am going to be in the 2008 Honors Edition of Cambridge’s “Who’s Who of Professional and Executive Women”!!!! Actually, I am really excited about that. It will look great on my résumé! I am not looking for a new job though. I really love my job! (I just got a raise!) But in my “dream world” – I’d work as a motivational speaker, touring all around the world! Funny how I just blogged about how I feel like a “failure,” yet I want to be a motivational speaker! Oh, how I love the irony!

But honestly, wouldn’t that be more motivating? Knowing that a *real* person, like you, was able to do it? It would be great to get motivating talk from someone who doesn’t have that “fake-smile, hyper-perky” B.S. personality most “guest lecturers” have! ;) I could really see myself as that person but I guess in a way, I’m already *that person* with this site, and that makes me happy!!! :-D