The past two years went by in the blink of an eye. I fell almost completely out of the athletic life that I had built for myself. I have dabbled here and there with sporadic exercise, but I've been completely without direction and no focus at all. I'm almost embarrassed to keep using the blog after not using it for so long. But being embarrassed about stuff instead of moving forward isn't really my thing, so I'm back!!!
What I HAVE been doing: (with pictures)
1) I have been building up my professional career again. I mentioned in my previous post in August of 2016... almost TWO YEARS ago that I was getting a job and moving to a new house. The job has been going very well!!! Unfortunately, during the semester I have completely submitted myself to the job and forgotten about myself. I'm in love with my job. I hope I can keep my job for a long time. I get to work with some amazingly friendly co-workers and my students are great :) I do, however, need to work on pacing myself and not forgetting that I need exercise!
That's me in my office looking all Dr. Potter and professional!
I love getting to "dress up" and share my passion for biology with my students.
And I'm really enjoying helping our kids explore STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) Here we are with the projects they have done over the last two years at their school.
May 2018
May 2017
2) We moved into our dream house! We have a 4 acre mowed lawn, and a 14 acre hay field behind our house that our farming neighbor bales and generally takes care of. We can't really see our neighbors, but we aren't stranded and too secluded. We also have some absolutely beautiful trees and ornamental gardens. I love to garden, so I'm in heaven. The view out of every window is superb!
Bird feeders, clothes on the line, kids playing kick the ball into a hockey net :P
Our first pumpkin patch!
The front entry is so pretty :)
Especially in the winter!
Ample places for playing for the kids and parents!
Pass-thru to our neighbor's sheep farm. A peek up to our house.
Even our 13 year old cat enjoys all of the deer, turkey, bird, squirrel, and chipmunk watching!
Even a cute little frog pond. Ahhhhhhh :)
3) Camping. This is the third summer that we have had our 20 foot trailer camper. As a family we LOVE camping in our camper. We try to get out camping at least two weekends a month when it is nice. Last summer we upgraded our family to a full-sized-cab truck as our family vehicle.
With the better towing power we have been able to travel farther to camp and go into the #Adirondacks. We absolutely love #FishCreekPond just north of Tupper Lake, NY.
I love Fish Creek because almost every single camping site is right on the water with your own access point (I hope we get a canoe or kayak soon!)
Tom and I are also huge fans of Eaton Lake in Long Lake, NY because we camped there many times before having kids. Both of these parks are State Parks in New York State. We are so happy that our children love to camp as much as we do!
4) I broke my first bone (other than toes)! This February I twisted my ankle very badly in our snow and ice packed driveway and it turned out that I had broken the bottom of my fibula (the small outer bone of your lower leg).
It was a spiral fracture, meaning I pretty much twisted the bottom of my fibula right off when I fell. Take it from me it was surprisingly, excruciatingly painful! Breaking a bone in your lower extremity is also EXHAUSTING. I was put into a walking boot. It was a hard plastic shell that went up to my knee and all the way to my toes. I was thankful for this over a plaster cast because I was able to remove it to bathe and wiggle my toes and then strap it back on to a comfortable snug level. I used crutches for two straight weeks. I cannot believe how weak arms are compared to legs. I was so relieved when I started putting pressure on the leg and decided I didn't need the crutches anymore. Also, with 3 young children (7, 5, and 2) this was a difficult time for our family. Tom really stepped up and did a lot of the chores that I take care of 100%. I'm so blessed!
I went into an ankle brace after 4 weeks of the walking boot. It was surprising to see just how quickly my lower leg and foot had lost their muscle tone. It was mostly difficult to walk because I had no strength in my calf, ankle and foot. I was still in a pretty good amount of pain, but was ready to start getting back to "regular" life. At 8 weeks I was supposed to be released to physical therapy, but it didn't feel right. An x-ray and CT scan showed bad news: while the two pieces of bone had connected, the space had been filled with scar tissue (which is soft) and not with bone tissue (which fills up with calcium and turns into very hard bone). The technical term is "delayed union". So now we're out to 12 weeks after the fracture (by the time I had the CT scan scheduled, met back up with my doc. etc...). The next step is to try electrical bone stimulation with a special machine attached to my ankle for THREE MONTHS (only 30 minutes/day). Yikes. I really want this to be over.
It took another 4 weeks to get my insurance company to approve the bone simulator (more x-rays and paperwork later). So finally at 15 weeks from the date of the fracture I received my bone stimulator!
It's 6/13 today and I have used my machine 14 times and I feel 95% better!!!!! I must add that it felt like my bone was actually starting to heal beginning about a month ago (I noticed that I didn't need to walk with a limp), but in just the last two weeks I have seen some amazing changes in my pain level. I would say that the bone itself is not painful at all anymore!!! I still have pain in the "squishy" parts of my ankle, but that might last quite a long time. The sale representative for the stimulator told me that they can work very quickly, and I was afraid to dream (it was possible that it wouldn't work and I would still need surgery at the end of 90 days), but it really did! I still will be using the stimulator for the entire 90 days to ensure full healing (and avoid surgery 7 months after the initial break!).
So that's what's up for me in general. In my next few posts I'm going to tell you about my new athletic goals (because obviously I need some!!!)
Thanks for reading! :)
"I get knocked down, but I get up again. You are never going to keep me down!"
-Chumbawamba, "Tubthumping"
OK, here is a sneak peak of what I would really like to try... or tri... :P
Your house sounds marvelous! I'm glad your ankle is healing now. For exercise, have you ever thought of rowing? It is an incredible workout and your don't bang your joints into pulp.
ReplyDeleteIt's so funny, but a friend just mentioned to me today that she took a beginners rowing course a couple of weeks ago and she's thinking of joining the rowing team on a lake nearby. It's a great suggestion, especially since I'm trying to build up a nice cross-trained body before I really heap on the miles. :)
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