Knee Surgery Take #2/Snowacololpse 2011

Here I am sitting on the couch....again after having another knee surgery. It's been a long day that started early at 3 AM when I woke up bright and early before my 4:30 AM alarm. I had to be at the hospital by 5:45 AM for a 7:00 AM surgery case. It was nice to be one of the first cases of the day because I was out before 10 AM and able to relax the rest of the day at home.

Now I am relaxing here at home and will be restarting physical therapy after I see my doctor on Tuesday. It has been a wild week starting on Monday with the start of the Blizzard of 2011 hitting the Chicagoland area with some muscle. We received 20.2 inches of snow over a 20 hour period and still attempting to dig out. It has made getting around after my surgery very tricky.

On the upside, I have started emailing race officials asking for opportunities to volunteer for this summer since I won't be able to run. I have so far received one reply and hope to hear from more.
Here's some picture from this past week including today....

Here we go again...

I completely feel like I am waking from a bad case of deja vu. After about a month of knee pain on the same leg and no response to physical therapy, it looks like I am going under the knife....again for a second time next Friday.

This time I have a different doctor and will be having a different type of arthroscopic surgery to be done. I will be having a procedure called a lateral release, which will be different than the last surgery where they just took out the affected synovial lining and waited for it to grow back. The last surgery was doing great unless the tissue grew back.The goal will be to get my patella on the right track instead of being slightly tilted.

Another difference compared to the last surgery is that I will not be able to quickly bounce back as fast as I want to. My running season is DONE for the most of 2011. I will not be able to kick it up a bit until the beginning of 2012. The rehab alone will be at least 4 months or longer. I am completely fine with it. My goal for this year will be get back on the bike without pain. I will be doing a lot of swimming and pool walking in the summer after I am cleared to get back in the water. I also plan to do a lot of volunteering this year instead of participating this year. It will be a great way to get some experience on my resume and use it for when I apply for PhD programs in the fall. I also look forward to cheering Josh on with his own race season, which is still in the works.

I will appreciate running more after all of this is done. I definitely don't take it for granted anymore.

Still no running/Grad School search STARTS

Well, I have not had much to write about because.....I haven't.

I still have not been running again since my re-injury on Christmas Eve. I saw the orthopedic doc this afternoon who attempted to tape my tape to help my patella with little help. I have to go back to PT.....again for 4 more weeks to help with Patello-femoral Syndrome issues. I am also dealing with a possibility of having to make another trip to the OR...again...for another arthroscopic surgery to have a complete synovitectomy on my already surgically fixed knee (and previous had the same procedure done last time too!) due to acute (and possibly chronic) synovitis issues. I learned today that the synovial lining on my knee grows back within 6 to 8 weeks with hopes of it growing back the right way instead of pitching nerves, tendons, and ligaments. Well, it looks like this regenerated synovial lining is a reject so far. We will have to wait and see if it helps or not. I don't mind the rest part, but would like to be able to be up and active instead.

While I have not been active, I have spending my time researching schools to attend for a PhD program. Graduation is just over year and half away and getting closer by the day. I am excited at the prospect of moving out of Chicago and going somewhere else to complete the last piece of the pie.

Here are some of my selections (or suitors):

1. Florida State University

They have one of the first American Psychological Association (APA) sanctioned and approved programs for Sport and Exercise Psychology that I have seen so far. Plus I would have a lot of opportunities to work with athletes. But I did I mention the warm...er winters than in Chicago.

2. University of Minnesota - Twin Cities

Okay. I just went to the other extreme. But it's close to my kids and it's in an area where I familiar with.

3. University of North Carolina - Greensboro

Another great program that has been highly recommended after looking at other schools. The area would be great for Josh to get a job while I am in grad school. The weather and climate is also very nice as well.

4. University of West Virginia

I like this program, but not as much as Florida State. The plus side is that I would be admitted to the Doctoral program in Sport and Exercise Psychology and also admitted to the Master’s degree program in counseling. Thus, upon completion of the doctoral program, I would be awarded a 2nd Master’s degree in counseling and can sit for the licensure examination as a professional counselor.

5. University of Utah

I found this program is very eye-opening for me. The area is near one of the USOC training sites for the Winter Olympics. Plus the program is another highly regarded within the country. The weather would be similar to Chicago, but some issues with the smog which I didn't take well when I was in LA.

So many choices. I just have to get my butt moving to take the GRE and hope to get in one of these programs.

It's SURGERY day....

...and hopefully the first step to getting back to running soon.

This afternoon, I will be having arthroscopic surgery to fix the issues in my left knee. I have not been able to do much of anything because of problems involving the locking and severe pain in my left knee.

I hope to be running again before the end of the year. My plan for next year will be lighter schedule with no full marathons. I will be a year of just half-marathons. I would like to enjoy running again and train hard.

Well, I am off to getting stuff done before leave. See you on the other side!