BRACE YOURSELF!!

I have a new constant companion in my life. It is called a knee brace. It has to stay with me 24/7 for the next several months or longer. After all of my MRI's and X-rays, the doctor has determined that I have fractured my knee cap. Not only is it cracked but it is also out of alignment. So, I get to wear this cumbersome brace until I have surgery on October 15 and then who knows how much longer I will be wearing it after surgery. I am trying really hard to stay positive about wearing this brace, it has to be on so tight that it really hurts my leg and makes my ankle swell. It just feels good to take it off and give my leg a break from the constant squeezing from the straps that hold it on my leg. Not only do I have surgery on my knee to look forward to, but I also need to have surgery on my shoulder. Gosh--when it rains it pours!!!!! I have what is called a SLAP tear in my shoulder. It is painful and makes it difficult to have full use of my arm and shoulder muscles. So once my knee is healed from surgery, I get to have my shoulder done. Isn't that great for me? I have decided that since I am turning half way to old next month, my body is just falling apart early. But hey, the girls have fun painting my toenails interesting colors just so that I have something beautiful about my legs. This is living the dream Baby!!!!

DOWN FOR THE COUNT!!!

Why do we have to have these little set backs in life that just throw us for such a loop? I spent the whole day at my parents home making salsa. I also got to see my James and that was fun. He is doing great. We did 135 bottles of salsa and I had just finished cleaning up the kitchen and was ready to head home. I walked out their back door and tried to go down the steps and rolled my foot and lost my balance. Off the porch I went and I hit with my right knee on the cement. The thing that was really scary was that I just about knocked off the two large pressure cookers that were going on the camp stove. I hit the leg of the stove when I hit and I thought for sure that the cookers were going to be on top of me. I yelled for Ashley--my niece to help me. I was just so worried that I would be severely burned if they fell on me. I was able to steady the stove with my arm and they did not fall. I was in great pain from the way I landed right on my knee. I was able to drive back home with ice on my knee--which was a very smart thing to do. My knee swelled up to twice it's size and was very painful. I went to see the doctor about my injured shoulder ( that injury happened in June) and had him look at my knee also. They took several x-rays of both shoulder and knee. Doctor told me that I was looking at surgery for both. He drained my swollen knee--which is very painful. He gave me a shot of cortisone in my shoulder---very painful, too. He scheduled me for an MRI on Tuesday and then I go back to see him on Wednesday.
Oh, I was so upset about the prospects of having two surgeries. My knee has never been the same since my cheer leading accident when I was a sophomore in high school. Maybe it is time to get that fixed and this was the only way it was going to happen. I don't know why these things happen but I do know that it isn't any fun.

My sweet husband stayed home with me all week and took care of everything for me. It is so nice for him to take all that time off to make sure that I am taken care of and the girls also.

I don't move very fast and I am not supposed to put much weight on my knee. I am supposed to stay off of it and keep it iced. I just don't like being down. I am so used to being up and going all the time. It really drives me crazy to have to stay down and not fulfil my responsibilities. Michael won't even let me drive yet. I just keep telling myself that maybe by some miracle I won't have to have surgery for both and I can be back to "good as new" in no time. I just have to have lots of faith and keep praying. I could use all the prayers I can get.