My big boo-boo

Peeps, I believe that these pictures speak for themselves. One word - fracture. I have had a rough night. It looks like I will be blogging one-handed for three weeks. I will post some short entries until my arm heals.

Even Josh showed how my elbow was supposed to look like...sort of.

This is why sunburns SUCK!

I had to give up holiday pay to stay home and nurse this. I had trouble sleeping last night. Note to self: bring extra sunscreen with you and wear a hat. I learned a very valuable lesson with this.

But on the positive side, I lost 1.2 lbs on my 1st week on Weight Watchers. I feel good about that. I am so glad that there's something positive to say about that.

Owwwww!

Had a follow-up appointment with the podiatrist. Had x-rays taken of my left foot. No broken bones (Thank GOD!) But one damn cortisone injection into the heel for Plantar Fasciitis (ugh..explains the shin pain from Saturday) Hurt like a BITCH! Screamed very loudly while the injection took place so much that the poor people in the waiting room heard me. No running for the next 3-5 days, but I will be doing a lot of bike riding. Back to see him in 3 weeks. Owwww!

To my orthopedic doc....

Please, please fix my right knee. It has been giving me a lot of pain. I can not walk on it lately without giving out on me. I just want to SCREAM. I promise to get out of denial and do what needs to be done especially if it will get rid of the extra 3-4 lbs of fluid that does not want to go. To my blogger friends, I will post an update on this post this afternoon once I receive the results. Come back later...please! Update: Well, there's good news and there's BAD, bad news. Here's the whole scoop:

1. NO surgery....yet. (see below) That's the GOOD news!
2. The doc found wear and tear damage on my meniscus, but not enough to warrant surgery....yet.
3. My bad ass, very naughty, mother f***er, does not listen to me, hurts like a bitch IT band (you get the point!) showed a lot of inflammation in the MRI, which is another contributing factor to my pain. Well, you can say now that it's BOTH issues that are bothering me with the IT band being the worst (I beg to differ on that!)
4. Start PT as soon as I get myself in to be seen (UPDATE: 1st appointment is the morning of March 6th)
5. The doc told me that I can not run for at least 6 weeks. In fact, I was placed on desk duty - NO walking around - for that same amount of time so I can allow my knee to rest properly. (Can we say drive this Firefly NUTS?!)
6. If my knee does not heal or improve during the 6 weeks, I will be getting a referral to a Ortho surgeon for an arthoscopy consult.
7. I purchased myself a new knee wrap with the doughnut hole for my patella under the advise of my ortho doc to help with the progression of swelling in my knee and lower quad from the meniscus/IT band crap.
8. I lost 1/2 lbs of the damn fluid in my legs when I put myself on the scale. (Yayyyy!! More good news!)

Well, I am sitting here at my desk right now trying to be good. I will be pampering myself tommorow by getting my hair done in the morning. I have a very important weekend in store when I leave Sunday morning to head to Chicago for the major important job interview. Plus I get the opportunity to meet Josh's mom on Sunday for brunch so I really need to look good (even though someone will beg to differ on that part.)

BAD, BAD knee....

...and NOT happy about it. At all. Period. I had my orthopdic appointment this morning. I thought I would just walk in and out with a cortisone injection. Ah...no! It did not work that way. Not at all. I walked out instead with two appointments - one for an MRI and one to follow-up on Thursday with the orthopedic doc. It turns out that the damn IT band diagnosis may be COMPLETELY off by a long shot. HUGE shot! In fact, it's WORSE than an IT band injury. Right now, I wish it was just a very bad IT band injury. Instead, I might have torn the lateral side of the meniscus on my right knee. In fact, there's edema right above the knee, which is sign of fluid in the knee - from what the doc said. He compared both knees and noticed it right away. FUCKING GODDAMNIT!! UGH!!!!!!!!! All I want to do is fucking RUN...period. I want to be able to run with my boyfriend in Chicago. I want to run my next race soon. I HATE fucking sitting still...period! I can not walk around normally no longer than an hour without pain. Going down stairs are a fucking joke (as Josh will tell you since he lives on the TOP floor of his apartment building with NO elevator). It just SUCKS right now. UGH!! Thank goodness for my very understanding and patient boyfriend, who listened to me vent and cry on the phone after the appointment because I was SO upset with the news. My MRI is scheduled for tommorow morning up at the crack of dawn at 6:15 am. My follow-up appointment is Thursday morning, which is what I wanted so I can get the results before flying to Chicago on Sunday morning. There's nothing I can do right now 'cept wait. NO lower body weight training! NO biking! Just light on the eliptical and some swimminng (which I can't do jacksquat..not a swimmer!) Right now, I need get myself together for tonight's dinner with my mom (FINALLY) to break the divorce and new boyfriend news to her AND meet her new boyfriend (Thank GOD he's going to be there..I will need it!). This is first guy that she had me meet so far since my dad's passing almost 2 years ago. She has taken her time to get back out there and happy for it. It's just PLAIN WEIRD to know that my mom is dating again. Sorry, but it's easier to bear a sibling dating vs. a parent. At least to me. I am taking time to get used to the idea. I am sure my mom will be the same with me when I tell her my news...both of them. I have asked my dad for A TON of strength right now......on top of the knee shit! Well, that's all of the venting that I am doing...for now. Time to me to finish laundry and take my frustrations on the bathroom tile cleaning. UPDATE: Bathroom is SO clean now. Plus my dinner talk with my mom about the divorce and "introducing" her to Josh. I did not get to meet her boyfriend yet, who had to work late. I feel SO much better now...and the huge monkey is off my shoulder. (GO HOME, MONKEY!)

FINALLY got a BIG bite....

....from the Chicago job search this morning in the form of phone call. It was one of first places that I applied to and received a reply. It was a Security Supervisor position, which was something that I am looking for as a form of a career advancement for myself. I am very happy about this opportunity. It will take place on Monday, February 26th. I will fly on the day before so I can be ready and relaxed before the interview. I hope to get a few more interviews lined up in the meantime as well for that same day to save money on airfare. I will definitely take the time to write those follow-up letters for companies that I am interested in and see what happens. I am starting to feel that the hard work has really started to pay off at the end.

This upcoming week will REALLY fly by with this interview coming up. It makes the distance away from Josh much easier for me. Both of us are dealing with possible career moves with his interview he had today to this upcoming interview I will be having. Everything's SO exciting right now. I am praying that this good luck will continue because I am in need of it. I find it SO ironic to get this phone call because I was talking to a fellow blogger about it last night.

Speaking of prayers, I have two people who I know that are in the need of them. First, it's my ex's family who's dealing with recent news that his grandmother's admission to a local hospice for Congestive Heart Failure. He visited her and seems comfortable right now. She's 93 years old and lived a full life, but it's not that easy to bear for my ex's family.

The second set of prayers are for my co-worker, Brad, and his family. He's one of my good co-workers who has been there for me during this job search process. He's a mentor to me and someone I have sought advise from. He's dealing with heart rhythm issues and was admitted once again for problems. He has a very dicey case where it's potentially fatal. I do not know the status of his issues right now. I am just hoping he can survive from it.

I made an appointment for my knee again with the same orthopedic doctor on Monday morning. I will be asking (or BEGGING) for a cortisone injection where there's a HUGE flare-up. The exercises that he gave me a flaring-up the knee instead of getting better. I can walk for a while for exercise, but bothered by pain afterwards. Oh well. I hope this appointment will help. I need it.

That's all for now.

Firefly FINALLY broke down...

...and went to the doctor. The knee kept me up for another late night. I was up until 3:30 a.m. again. That was the LAST straw......period. (Plus it helps that someone insisted on me getting it checked out...Thank you!) After waking up at 10:45, I got myself fed, dressed, and set aside my work clothes so I could change when I made it to work on time. I headed the clinic where I usually go and expected to to the urgent care. There was a 90 minute wait, but the receptionist - who was a total saint - looked to see if there were any appointments available right now. Sure enough there was one available for 1:00 - 4 minutes away. Whoohoo! I paid my co-pay and walked the waiting area until I was seen by the doctor. After having my weight checked (I do not want to talk about it..please!), I was seen by the doctor. I explained to her about the pain and crap that I was going through. I even explained that when I applied ice on top of the patella that a lot of pressure and pain came with it that I thought my patella would pop right out through the skin (and you thought the acupuncture was bad...nahhhh!). She did not like the description at all. She performed her exam of the knee, which was partically torture. Afterwards, she had me get some x-rays done. She told me that depending on the results I will either be referred to an Orthopaedic Specialist or Surgeon. She also thought it might be Patello-Temoral Syndrome. The X-ray tech was just as bad as the doc. The doctor wanted the x-rays while I had weight on my knee. UGHHHHH! I thought the last x-ray would not be so bad. I let a sigh of relief because I would be on my stomach. Again....I was WRONG! They had me BEND my knee and allowing the x-ray machine to keep my leg up in the air, while the x-ray slab (which was VERY hard) right underneath my knees (which put a TON of pressure and pain on the bad knee). OWWWWW! Then they were all done. (THANK GOD!) I went back to the room where I sat and waited for the results. Well, the doctor came back into the room. Good news is that the patella looked fine. Thank goodness! Bad news is that I need to wait and then see an Orthopaedic Specialist. **sigh** I was able to get an appointment for next Tuesday afternoon....thank GOODNESS! In the meantime, I have stretches that I can do. The doctor also gave me some Tylenol #3 tablets to take until I see the Orthopaedic Specialist. All I can do now is to ICE, take Advil, stretch, and rest. **sigh** I am SO mad because today was one of the LAST nice days to go out running until the huge cold snap ends in two weeks. I could not be out there and run. It's SO unfair! Right now, registering for the Shamrock Shuffle is on hold for me. I already have my plane ticket purchase so I will be there anyway to cheer all of the RBF bloggers who will running and attend Josh's awesome post-race party, if I can not do so. Well, that's all for now. But I do have one request. If you are going to run today or tomorrow, please run a couple of miles for me. Thank you!

Knees and One Half-Marathon Pic

Yes, fellow bloggers! I FOUND a picture within the lost and found section that could not be pulled in the first place. It's only one picture, but it's better than nothing. I am happy with the picture....and YES, I was cold as I slowed down during the half-marathon. Speaking of running, I am forced to slow once again. Instead of my ankles, it is my right knee. Originally, I thought it was a problem with my IT band stuff. I keep stretching and stretching along with using some heat too. But it feels like my patella is scraping against my tibula or tibia causing it to lock and making walking simply difficult. There's a grinding feeling - very painful. I plan to make a phone call to the chiropractor tommorow and have my knee looked at to decide if my hip may be the cause of it because it is pulling on the muscle. I would like to get out again for another work-out, but will hold off until I am seen and an injury is ruled out. **sigh** I have an extra 4 - 5 lbs on my body since last week and would like to start to work them off quickly. On top of it, I am retaining a lot of fluid too - especially around my stomach area. Tight work pants a huge motivation for me. I will update on it tommorow.