Hey, betcha didn't know that New England has recently moved to way above Canada? Oh wait, it just looks and feels like the Arctic, we haven't REALLY moved!
How could we have moved, when we can barely get out of our homes to get to work or school. Oh wait, the kids no longer GO to school. Or rather, their school weeks are not really weeks any longer. They go to school pretty much on Mondays and sometimes on Thursday & Friday... but it's really iffy.
January came in like a polar bear with ferocious snow storms every week dumping 2-3 feet of snow around the state and this week, for something different to start February, it changed into a seal creating enough rainfall we could paddle a boat on our streets very comfortably! Except for one thing... the temperatures in the 20's at night and only reaching low 30's during the day -- which makes that lovely amount of water turn into I C E!
I covered the 2 days that Sophie was off last week and this week my ex covered them. (thankfully we have flexibility with But I think we'll be getting a bonus day off tomorrow due to the freezing temps making the moist ground once again, turn the roads and parking lots into skating rinks.
To add to the fun of our condo complex turning into a Wonderland of Ice, my right knee has been having issue, oh, for the past 7 months, but who's counting?!!! I've been wearing a knee brace, exercising, not exercising, biking, moaning, groaning, limping, icing, heating and just about anything else I can think of and still it hurts. Getting up and down from a sitting position causes shooting pain in the outer part of the knee. I can't bend it to a 90 degree angle or beyond. Things like putting on socks, even putting my underwear on, and going to the bathroom become well though out movements! oy vay!
It had started feeling better until we went to our friend Wendy's 50th birthday party on January 16th, where the DJ was playing SUCH great music (from back in the day!) that I danced for 3 hours straight! Oh it was great while it was happening, but that night and since, I've been in SERIOUS pain!
My smart wife said to go back to the dr (who had said, after looking at the x-rays in July '10) that it was just enflamed and would be ok in a few weeks. Um... no.
So last week I called and they gave me an appointment for today at 11:15. When I first woke up, I thought I'd just cancel and reschedule, but we're going away this weekend and I wanted it looked at before then.
When I woke up and heard schools were closed and saw the icy parking lot, I figured that I'd just reschedule, but by 10:15, things were melting and the plows had plowed the lot and dropped some salt.
What I had not counted on was that the walkway had not been touched and neither had the spaces where cars park in front that were empty now. Oh, did I mention that the walkway from my front door slopes downwards? Oh, what fun... The saving grace was that a railing was there to hold on. I swear to God that I didn't lift my feet once... just held on to the railing and slid to the parking lot!
Then I walked ever so carefully to my car which was encased in an inch thick layer of ice. (Lucky Linda's car gets the garage!) Fortunately, when the car door opened, it cracked the ice and it the whole side fell off in a few sheets. Very cool. After turning the car on with the defrost blowing hard on both front and rear windows, I just hit the various windows a few times and watched the ice just crack and fall away very nicely. (I had also, very smartly, pulled the windshield wipers away from the front and rear windows last night).
The Dr's office is about 5 miles away and the main roads were cleared but a little slushy. No issues getting to there at all.
The Dr told me that since the issue with my knee had not gotten better, a cortisone shot was necessary. Ok, then. I'd had one in my shoulder that didn't cause me any pain. This should be no problem.
Wrong.
He sprayed novacaine on the outer part of my right knee as he put the needle in. Cool. Very cool - literally. Didn't feel the needle enter. I relaxed. Bad move. Then there was a twinge of pain. A LARGE twinge of pain - which caused me to shout "OW!" out loud and jump away from the Dr. He gently told me to not move and put the needle in again and then a few more of those twinges happened as he moved the needle around for what seemed like minutes.
For those of you kind of scrunching your faces up as you imagine what this was feeling like... I'll help you. Imagine you were biting on a piece of aluminum foil. Yep.. THAT'S a great feeling.
The shot was finally over and I was shaking. A cold sweat broke out on my forehead and then I felt like I was either going to pass out or throw up.
So I asked if I could lie down. He said, "of course."
I did. Feeling about 6 years old. I could feel tears welling up in my eyes. I took my glasses off and put my forearm across my eyes. I was talking to myself. Scolding myself. Internally saying what a baby I was being... but man, it hurt. And it required a bandaid, as it was bleeding....
And then I heard people moving around the table and I didn't want to look - feeling so foolish.
"Here you go. I brought you some water and a lollipop."
I sheepishly took my arm away and took a sip of water. The Dr put the orange sucker in my mouth and asked if I was feeling better. I nodded.
He left me alone to get my bearings and then I got dressed and left sucking my orange sucker and holding a piece of paper to give to the physical therapy people! oh, the diagnosis? Iliotibial Band Syndrome.
I'm hoping to feel some relief by tomorrow. We'll see.
In the meantime, I picked up Sophie about 3;30, mailed a package of meds to my parents in Israel and picked up some dinner at a local Asian restaurant on the way home.
I expect to relax tonight with Sophie making me ice packs to put on my knee and my wife making me some tea as we watch American Idol....
And tomorrow, well, it'd be nice for Sophie to have a delayed school opening (2 hours) so we can sleep in a bit. But even Sophie is looking forward to getting back to school! We'll see.
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