Thursday, January 3, 2013

The Post where I’m ugly, then immobilized

So December was a little rough for me.  Physically, I mean, because emotionally it was a great month.  You’ll see when I put up the much anticipated December recap, that we had a lots of fun and did plenty of good family and holiday activities. 

However, I had a few crazy things happen to me and I wouldn’t be a true blogger if I didn’t share the humiliation or sadness with the world.

Thing #1:

My friend Melissa and I went downtown for a night of shopping and sushi.  I’ve had sushi probably ten times (love!) and never had a problem with it.  I, frankly, never have problems with any food ever…which I’m sure leads to my constant weight battle, but that’s another post.  It was one of those assembly line sushi place where you just grab whatever plate you want as it goes by and we had a yummy dinner.

As we headed upstairs to shop, I began to feel a bubbling sensation under my upper lip.  After a few minutes, I asked Melissa to check it out and she could tell there was some redness and puffiness.  I figured I was having an allergic reaction.  I paid attention to see if there was an throat swelling (know that’s dangerous) and there wasn’t and so we kept shopping.  Until Melissa began to laugh at how I looked and my vanity insisted we head for home.  I sent this photo to Ryan to alert him to the issue heading his way:

photo 1  

I stopped at Walgreens where I told the pharmacist I was having a reaction to food…to which he promptly replied “Yeah.  I can see that.”  (Embarrassing).  He advised lots o’ Benadryl, so we purchased that and headed home.

I spent the rest of the evening feeling very groggy and looking like a muppet:

photo 2

(It’s okay, you can laugh.  I look ridiculous.)

and it wasn’t until evening of the next day that I was back to normal.  I have no idea what it was and no way to find out due to the nature of the restaurant.  I’m slightly suspecting a red sauce on the final roll we ate, only because I’d never had it before.  Anyone have similar issues or ideas as to have it was and what to avoid in the future?

 

WAY worse Thing #2:

Basically I talked Ryan into going to the pretty expensive trampoline place in town 2 days after Christmas.  I was having a super fun time bouncing around with my kids, when I decided to try to jump off of one of the side/wall trampolines.  I came down, heard a couple of loud pops while my knee went in 5 directions, and then I couldn’t move and had to convince Ryan that was crying, not laughing, so he would help me. 

It immediately swelled up and I limped out of there and headed home for a pretty painful night.  I woke up the next day feeling okay, so I sent Ryan and Gabe on the snow campout my Scoutmaster husband had been planning for weeks.  Emma was so capable and helpful and I wasn’t in pain anymore, so we did all right.  I really couldn’t walk at all, though for 5 days and hopped or crutched or slid everywhere I needed to be.  As always, I’m deeply moved by the amount of help people jump in and give…I’ve had rides for children, meals brought over, grocery store trips made, playdates organized, visits.  People are so nice.  Reminder to self:  always just jump in and do SOMETHING when someone is in need. 

Self Portrait, taken on day #2, at the doctor’s office:

photo 3

Here I am a week later and this is what I know, after a doctor visit, a PT visit, and an MRI:  I tore my ACL completely and have a minor tear on my meniscus.  I will most likely opt to have it surgically fixed but need to wait a few weeks because apparently you have to have Physical Therapy to prepare for the surgery.  I’m very much hoping to have surgery in February so that we can get this thing on the mend.  I have promises from medical professionals that I can be running by summer so I’m banking on that.

Basically, taking exercise, especially running, away from me is my biggest nightmare.  It was my social time, my reading time, my social media time, my stress release, my best way to control my weight.  I’m holding the panic at bay by not thinking about it in detail.  I’ve had some really good prayers, conference talks, blessings and scripture study, that have helped me to feel calm and reminded of the things that really matter and so I’ve been focusing on that.  I’m walking again as of yesterday and that has hugely helped my mood and my family.

So there you go…. bad news, huh?  Feel free to share any ACL tear experiences…I’d love to hear about how you are ALL BETTER NOW.

7 comments:

jessica said...

Seriously with the food allergy!!!??? Do you remember that happened to me at Penny's Christmas party??? Now I know how awesome I looked! Now I am dying about your injury...I can't even wrap my head around it! I'm so sorry :( I wish I was there to help you out my crippled friend...hang in there!

Ilene said...

So sorry about the knee. Not so much about the food allergy cuz that made for hilarious reading. You resemble Bethenny Frankel in your smiling swollen pic. Or Will Smith from that date movie he did with Eva Mendez. You know what I am talking about?

I hope your knee mends well and fast!

Lauren in GA said...

Awww...I'm so sorry, Jessica. I know it is so hard to be injured...especially because you are so active. Now, I would use it as an excuse to watch t.v. for hours on end and enslave all of my children.

I have to agree with Ilene...the allergic reaction picture made me think of people that have way too much botox...or that Tim Allen Movie, "Christmas with the Kranks" where Tim's character got way to much botox and water was spilling out of his mouth when he tried to drink because he couldn't purse his lips...Don't worry, I didn't laugh, though...I love you way to much to laugh at you *muffled snicker*. Okay, okay...the picture was funny...but only a leeeeetle.

Paige said...

I actually logged in to comment and will struggle with the GD "prove you aren't a robot" to tell you that picture is awesome and I love and appreciate it. After all the gorgeous Christmas pictures (including mine- I had 5 minutes of not so ugly so I embraced it, plus it could be future marketing) I am so loving the freaky picture of you. It takes guts and I appreciate yours. Totally like too much botox. Also? I friggin' love Botox. For my migraines of course. Not that I've gotten a migraine ever- Sorry about your knee. It's just terrible. Impressed you can do the trampolines without your bladder falling out after 5 hundred kids.

Margaret said...

I haven't blogged in forever but I do have a few faves like yours. I am just wishing you had an email subscription option...

Silcox Stories said...

I had ACL surgery twice in college and still managed to graduate on time with a degree in dance and that was 10+ years ago, when the surgery was a major ordeal! I"m sure it's still a major bummer, but you'll do just fine. Honestly once you get past the first week or so the hard part is pacing yourself. It's crucial that you don't do too much too fast and that's hard when you have things to do! I have no doubt you'll recover just fine and be running in no time.

katie said...

I should have commented on this post ages ago. I had ACL surgery when I was 18 and I can honestly say I thought it was the worst pain of my life after the surgery. You can't walk afterwards and I felt like such a idiot having my parents help me into the bathroom. 13 years and 4 kids later I realize it wasn't that bad.

It is a slow recovery and I was on crutches, then a cane, and had to do physical therapy. But years later I can do just about anything. Occasionally it will ache a little, like if I don't exercise for a while. But I know you will so you'll be fine. Good luck! I can't imagine having to deal with that while having 5 kids. It sounds like you have many willing helpers though!