7 Weeks Today

Posted on February 23, 2012 by jkd

Today, Feb. 23,  marks the end of seven weeks following my knee surgery.  Things are still going well.  I still have pains and soreness here and there.  Inflammation and swelling are still with me somewhat, but all of that is expected.  Late yesterday, I took a 7 iron out onto the fairway behind our house and hit one of those soft, ‘almost golf balls’ for about half an hour.  The ball won’t go more than 30 or 40 yards, but you still get the feel for hitting a ball.  It’s not like I play a lot of golf, but my brother does and perhaps I’ll get into it more when I grow up.

The thing of it is is (what movie / tv show is that line from?  I can’t remember, but I love it) I haven’t really walked very far for several years.  Something about that bone-on-bone thing in my left knee just wasn’t much fun after about 10 yards.  I know, I’m a wimp, but, I just couldn’t do it.  So, yesterday was the first time I walked substantially in a long time. (Well, I actually did walk a good bit last Sunday at the Water Station #18 for the Marathon, but I don’t know how far.)  I just kept hitting the ball, walking to it and hitting again.  At the bottom of the hill, I would turn around and go back up.  Nothing to write home about in terms of golf shots, but, it was good to know my knee didn’t undo itself in the rotation of the swing.  Dr. Mark at TPTS of Austin wants me to use my short irons at first so I’ll graduate to longer later.  He doesn’t know that I have no nuance in my swing … all or nothing, swing for the fences.  Maybe he does know that and knows that a driver would generate enough torque to turn my knee inside out if I haven’t strengthened all the muscles in the knee area.  Thanks, Mark.

So, I was exhausted after my outing, yesterday, but this morning, I’m ready to go again about six. I walk out onto the greenbelt about 6:30 and this is what I see.  It’s not the greatest photo, because the contrast between skyline and below is too intense. I used an App on my iPhone which is supposed to take multiple exposures, merge them together and this is the result. You need a tripod to do this well.  Or at least, I do.  I was into walking more than photoing, so, I take the shot, do the merge and walk on.  Oops!  Just in front of me, about 150 yards I spot a skunk coming out of the woods crossing the field.  Great, just what I need.  I bet he’s the guy who’s been smelling up the neighborhood some evenings.  I give him plenty of clearance, let him get through the fairway and then go on with my walk.  I managed to traverse the length of the 18th hole twice, which would be at least half a mile, I think, just to be conservative.   It is very good to be walking again.

Today is the second day of praying for our cities from “Seek God for the City.”  We join our voices with many others asking our Great God to break through our pride and complacency.  If you don’t know, there’s an app for your smart phone if you want to join in with us.

Thanks to all for the prayers and support.  Walking on to recovery.

Posted in Knee Surgery, Me | Tagged | 7 Comments

Praying for your City

Posted on February 20, 2012 by jkd

There’s an app for that.  Really!  For iPhone, iPad or maybe you’re into those cool Android devices.    At Hope Chapel, we’ve been using the “Seek God for the City” prayer guide written by Steve Hawthorne since he began writing them. (Maybe a decade ago?)  Absolutely the best guide for me.  We have used it congregationally, in small groups, and in private prayer.  For 40 days, there are excellent, well-written, relevant-for-today prayers from which you can seek God for your city and for the world.

Actually, these prayers are great year around, but, we are uniting in prayer.  There are many, many other congregations around the world using this guide starting Wed., Feb. 22 and continuing through Palm Sunday.  You can still order books here for your group.  They are inexpensive, relatively, and better if you order more than 20.  If you get started a couple of days late, you can catch up.  Or, no one says you have to use it every day.  That’s why they call it a guide rather than a task-master.

Although I love having a real book, I now have it on my iPad and my iPhone.  For Android users, it works, too.  Best $1 app you can buy in my estimation.  Give it a try and join us in prayer this season.

 

Posted in Hope Chapel, Prayer | Leave a comment

Status Update on my Knee

Posted on February 10, 2012 by jkd

Or Knee 2.0, or FrankenKnee, as I think about it.  Yesterday, Feb. 9th, was the end of my 5th week after surgery.  How time flies when you’re having fun.  Many, many thanks to all who have prayed and are praying for me.  My new knee is doing well, my progress is stellar according to medical and physical therapy staff.  I have been walking without a cane for 2 weeks, and went off my serious pain meds 8 days ago.  (They were not kind to my digestive system, so now I rely on Tylenol or Aleve.) My flexibility and range of motion is very good.  Yesterday at the end of PT, my knee flexed to 123 degrees.  My good knee is 135.  The beginning goal was to get my new knee to 120, after 3 months.  I tried to get Dr. Mark to say I was done, but, no, he said we’re shooting for better than the good knee.  PT’s, they thrive on this stuff.

That’s not to say that I am without pain.  I still have some pain, swelling, inflammation, all the fun things that go with this type of surgery.  I am told to expect this to be with me through the first 3 months (7 or so more weeks to go), and even then, I am to expect some occurrences for a year.  So, when people ask how I’m doing, I say … ‘Two answers!  I am doing very well, progress to recovery is generally ahead of average results  … and I still have 2 months of serious recovery to go and a year to learn what I can and can’t do with this new part.”

For instance, I was able to join our fabulous worship team last Sunday at Hope Chapel and stand in front and help lead worship for 35 or so minutes.  Niiiiice to be able to do that.  I found myself a bit concerned with balance and stability.  One of the things that is affected by this surgery is balance because the strength of the repaired leg is greatly diminished for a while.  I am working on standing on my left leg, solo, for up to two minutes to restore all the juxtaposing muscles that work together to maintain balance.  Closing my eyes (which I often do during worship) proved to bring on a bit of vertigo and concern for remaining vertical :).  So, I occasionally grabbed the podium to make sure I was stable.  I did get a bit tired and had a stool close by to lean on a bit to make sure I had the stamina to complete the day.  I find stamina to be greatly affected  and thankfully, it is gradually being restored.

The end result on Sunday?   — I was exhausted and when I made it home, I slept really hard for a couple of hours.  Missed a phone call with the phone next to my head and I never do that.  After waking, Deb and I had our own private Super Bowl party at home, trying to stay awake through it all.

So, next steps are to go to my 6 week checkup with Dr. Pearce and begin more rigorous workouts to finish off my recovery.  My PT says I can begin swimming and lifting as pain allows.  He even says I can begin swinging golf clubs, maybe an 8 iron through wedge.  The shorter clubs are advised because the inertia, torque is kept low enough so the pressure on my knee is not excessive.  My brother, John, scoffs at this notion.  He says there is no such thing as an easy swing in my makeup.  It’s all I got, all the way through, so, the question I have to ask myself is “Do I have any moderation left in my arsenal of golf swings?”  I certainly haven’t used any of that ammo to date.  Maybe next weekend I’ll try a smooth, moderate swing.  (It’s kind of a joke, anyway. I only play golf 2 or 3 times a year, but, it’s one thing I can do athletically and more impacting things are discouraged..)

So, thanks again to all for your prayer, care and support.  We are getting better daily.  Blessings.

Posted in Knee Surgery, Me | Tagged | Leave a comment

One Pants Leg at a Time

Posted on January 1, 2012 by jkd

Whenever a team is facing a highly ranked opponent, this is what coaches will sometimes say to de-mystify the aura of the other team.  “They aren’t so great, they put their pants on one leg at a time, just like we do.”  They aren’t supermen.  They don’t perform supernatural things like putting pants on both legs at once.

For me, it has taken on a slightly different context. Like everyone else, I put my pants on one leg at a time.  But, it has become much more difficult. My left leg no longer has sufficient cartilage in the knee to allow me to smoothly rotate or use my left leg to support the rest of my body without significant pain. In fact, it hurts “like the dickens”* more often than not.  (I get that saying from my mom.)

Have you ever paid attention to how you put your pants on?  I mean, you just about can’t put pants on two legs at a time without significant help.  You have to have one leg to stand on while the other is raised in a manner to allow the pant leg to slip over the foot and up the leg.  Which leg do you put on first?  I always start with my left leg. I don’t know why. I have never observed anyone else enough to know which leg is first for them. I have asked a few people and so far no one knows which leg they start with.  It hasn’t occurred to them to note.  I just know for me it is my left leg.

This has become a problem since my left leg is the starter leg.  I get the left leg on fine because I use the right leg as a support. But, since my left leg hurts so much, I have to either sit down, or lean heavily against some support structure to ease the weight on my left knee and allow me put on the right leg.

The second problem is being a creature of habit. I have tried to start the process with my right leg, thinking that doing so would allow me to stand on my ‘good’ right leg while putting on the left leg.  Well, it just wouldn’t work.  A habit I’ve been following for over 60 years just wouldn’t be broken.  Try as I might, and I did try several times, it just wouldn’t work. I would get that right leg in and try to go to the left and … something wasn’t happening. My balance was awkward, my effort failed and I couldn’t follow through.  I suppose I could have kept practicing, but, it didn’t seem to be worthwhile.

I’ve decided to get my knee fixed instead. It needs to happen, with or without the pants problem.  Other things like getting into and out of cars, going down stairs, and the list goes on …  have become more and more precarious, risky events.

January 5th, I will be having knee surgery, getting a newish knee, something called a “Stryker Triathlon” knee.  The doc says it’ll be about 3 days in the hospital, about 3 weeks to get to where I can walk without the aid of a cane or walker and 3 months to learn how to walk ‘normally’ again.  And, it takes a year to forget there is something new in your knee every time you get up.  I’ll take it over what I’m doing now.

It is a little thing, I know, knowing which leg you start with when putting your pants on.  Your life and mine won’t be better by knowing this.  It’s good to know that old habits are hard to break so make sure you develop good ones.  And I’ll try to keep you up-to-date on progress with my knee.

PS.. (*  I didn’t know from whence the expression “hurts like the dickens” was derived. I had to look it up, or google it, as they say.  It seems this is a minced- oath, or euphemism, used by the sly English to approximate profanity without being such. “Like the dickens” is one-off from saying “like the devil”.  It is even used by Shakespeare in the play “the Merry Wives of Windsor”.

I cannot tell what the dickens his name is my husband had him of.

Mom, how Shakespearean of you?  And, no, I have no idea how to parse that sentence.)

Posted in Family, Knee Surgery, Me | Tagged | 2 Comments

Jack and Deb, transitions 2008

Posted on January 1, 2012 by jkd

Jack and Deb, transitions 2008

Just added Tumblr import, testing out the capability so you see old pics and new ones.  Who is that beautiful lady?

Posted in Deb Dorman Songs, Family, Hope Chapel | Leave a comment