Life In A Pandemic - Positives and Negatives

“This is a temporary situation.”  This is an idea that I keep trying to remind myself.  I’ve also shared it with my students as a motivational tool.  While it is a true statement, in some ways, I am becoming more convinced that even though it is “technically” temporary, I believe this will change the world as we know it going forward, maybe forever.  The Great Depression was almost 100 years ago, and it is still referred to as a time period that was a huge influential force at least in the US if not in the world.  

On this date in April, those of us who teach in public schools are living under the dictate that schools are closed until May 1.  While there are occasional “wink wink” comments that we won’t be going back to school during this school year, that hasn’t been officially stated by anyone in authority yet.  There has also been a “hint” floated out there that the next school year might not happen in the traditional “kids in a classroom with a teacher” kind of way.  

Life as an online teacher has its positives and negatives.  I can sit at my desk or my dining room table wearing shorts and a t-shirt that I would never wear to school, drinking my cup of coffee and grading papers that were turned in through Google Classroom.  However, I’m not hearing from all of my students, and I don’t know why.  The best guess is they don’t have reliable wifi or a much-needed electronic device that is easy to type on; however, there might be other reasons.  My district has given us some specific requests. One is that we turn in names of students that we’ve had no contact with since we’ve been out of the building. (Our last day “in school” with students was Friday, March 13.) We have also been asked to let the district know of students who need a Chromebook, and they will try to provide that for the students.  Our directive about the quantity of assigned work at the high school level is that the students shouldn’t be given more than 3 hours of work per subject per week. Ok!  I can do that!  Our district has been ramping up the use of technology any way for the last several years, but now we need to take our technology use to the next level.  One thing on my short list of things to do is to learn how to give direct instruction on WeVideo, and talk with students through Google Hangouts.  (Sorry, we are discouraged from using Zoom, as of now.)

My English Department has started having Dept meetings weekly through Google Hangouts, and we are in discussion about grades.  Are we working on a pass/fail basis?  They do work - they get credit for it?  Do we set due dates and then take off late points when things aren’t turned in on time - even if we don’t know WHY the assignment was turned in late?  Since our PowerSchool online grading system is set up for a school year, we aren’t sure yet if we can do Q4 as P/F or not, and is it fair that Q4 should be averaged in with the other 3 quarters as if it is the same quality and quantity of work?  And then there’s differentiation for students on IEPs and 504s. How does THAT work?  We are all trying to figure all of this out.  Some teachers in my dept use Schoology, and others use Classroom like I do.  I guess all the practice we are getting now might come in handy for next year, right?

So, then there’s next year.  Two years ago, I decided I was going to retire at the end of the 2020-21 school year.  I have been working on that assumption ever since, and I have shared that with my building admin.  Will I be spending my last year before retirement running an online classroom?  So many questions remain…

Based on the most recent things I’m hearing from high level medical people is that we are looking at 18 months before there is a vaccine.  If that is the case, then the next year and a half of my life is going to be spent quietly in my home as I continue “social distancing” and “sheltering in place”.  My husband and I are both in a high risk group because we are over 60 and I am diabetic. In an interesting personal analysis, we realized that our private lifestyle really hasn’t been changed by this crisis situation all that much.  We aren’t particularly social people anyway.  We don’t entertain guests in our home or visit others. We don’t eat at restaurants or walk the mall.  We typically do our grocery shopping when the stores are less busy.  We like to walk at parks and stay at home to do our own gardening and yard work.  All of that is how we live anyway.  We don’t have kids.  We don’t have pets.  We don’t have elderly parents or siblings to check on.  I was already backing down my involvement in activities out in the world anyway.  I haven’t golfed since before my last knee surgery in 2018.  We don’t travel as a couple. (Every few years I might fly to New Hampshire for a week or two.) AND the fact that we have two houses which we keep stocked with TP and food is giving us a greater sense of security.  

Our biggest change has been ordering groceries which we will pick up at curb-side or have delivered.  Before all this happened, we typically visited 4 grocery stores over a 2-3 week period:  Kroger, Giant Eagle, Meijer and Marc’s.  The first 3 are providing both curb-side pickup and delivery.  In fact we’ve been using Kroger’s curb-side pickup for a couple of years because the milk we like to buy is hard to reach and often not fully stocked when we are shopping there.  So we order it online and pick it up and let THEM try to get it down from the top shelf!  Seeing the different ways all of these stores handle this has been very interesting.  Kroger has, by far, the best website for ordering online.  It always works! While we used to be able to schedule curbside pickup for the same day or the next day, we now have to schedule 4-5 days out, and if the curbside is all booked, we might have to switch to delivery which will also probably be 4-5 days later.  We have learned to plan ahead and stock up on our favorites.  Giant Eagle’s website works well also, and we have done both curbside and delivery with them, but their biggest issue is that you can’t add items to your cart while you wait for the delivery date.  Kroger allows you to add to your order until midnight before your delivery, which is very helpful when you realize you forgot to put something on your list.  The worst one to deal with so far is Meijer.  Their website is PAINFULLY slow, and it doesn’t always work at all.  I have tried to set up delivery several times, and I’ve never been able to get it to work. My next attempt is to go through Instacart which has a much better website.  I just learned that the Kroger delivery goes through Instacart anyway, so that gives me more confidence in working with them.  We will be trying the InstaCart/Meijer combo soon, so stay tuned on how that goes!  

The conclusions I am coming to at this point in The Pandemic of 2020 are that we need to learn from our experiences and that this situation is going to affect the rest of our lives, probably in both positive and negative ways.  It’s important to try to remain calm and stable but also not to underestimate the emotional trauma that we are all experiencing.  This experience is changing us all individually and as a society.  20 years from now, as I sit in my rocking chair at ‘the home”, I will be able to think back on the Pandemic of 2020 and be able to list the ways this changed me. 

Let’s think about the positives: there is less pollution now which is helping Climate Change, there are fewer car accidents, our medical professionals and our political leaders are learning things now that will help us in the future.  When one door closes another opens….  

Thanks for reading all of this, and don’t forget to WASH YOUR HANDS!!

:)Amy

Movie Reviews (No Big Spoilers)

Hello!
Today is the first day in awhile with Sunshine and no rain!  It also got up to 60 degrees, so I was able to take a walk in the neighborhood AND do some yard work!  I LOVED being out in the sunshine!

I have also been watching movies during this time of Social Distancing.  Today, I am going to give you a brief summary of some of what I've seen so you can decide if you want to watch also!

All Is True  (live link to trailer)

Most of my readers will remember that in 1613 the Globe Theatre burned down during a performance of Shakespeare's production of Henry VIII.  After that, William "retired" from his life in London Theatre and moved back to Stratford-Upon-Avon where he lived with his wife Anne and his now adult children.  This movie starts with the big fire and then shows us his life back in Stratford for the 3 years that he lived until his death in 1616.  To my knowledge, this is the first movie to explore this part of Shakespeare's life.

Kenneth Branagh plays the role of Shakespeare and also directed the film.  Judy Dench plays his wife Anne, and as always her performance is worth watching.  Ian McKellan is the other big name who also gives a stellar performance as the Earl of Southampton.

If you are able to get the DVD of this, (I got mine through Netflix) there are several interesting "extras" on the disc that discuss the making of the movie.  One is an interview with Branagh where he talks about the historical research that the script was built on.  I found this fascinating.  They actually had more facts than I expected them to have.  Of course, they had to sort of fill in some gaps in the storyline, but just knowing what is true was amazing to me!

I really enjoyed this movie and highly recommend it - 2 thumbs up!


Mary Shelley Trailer

Starring Elle Fanning and Douglas Booth, this movie gives us a glimpse into the life of the young daughter of Mary Wollstonecraft, who at the age of 16 began a whirlwind relationship with Percy Bysshe Shelley, a famous poet of the Romantic Era in English poetry.  The focus is on Mary as a writer and the relationship that she had with Shelley as well as with Lord Byron.  We don't hear much about the specifics of the writings of either of the male Romantic poets.

The two leads and their group of friends led quite the Bohemian lifestyle as they gallivanted around Europe, at times dealing with financial hardships, and at other times living in the height of luxury. The movie is lovely with great scenery, costumes, etc...  It is hard to know how accurate the story is.  One inaccuracy that I noticed was that Lord Byron was not shown with any foot problems, which is one of the facts about him that has always been stressed.  This makes me wonder how much of the rest is accurate.  Regardless, the movie was entertaining, and I appreciated the focus being on Mary Shelley as a renowned writer rather than on the famous male Romantic poets.

I recommend this for the basic entertainment factor if nothing else!

Join me again on another day for more reviews!  Happy Viewing!

Now, go wash your hands!  ;)

:)Amy

"Socially Distanced, Spiritually Connected"

As we continue the lifestyle of "social distancing", each of us is experiencing our daily lives in our own unique ways.  I am not going to speak for anyone else's experience, but I can share my own.

Today, Hubs and I tried something new, and it worked!  He was needing to get a renewal on a prescription from our doctor, and in normal times, he would have had to go in to her office and meet with her in person for a check-up before she would have renewed his Rx.  Currently, because of the Pandemic, she is not meeting with her patients in person in her office.  Instead, she is doing video conferencing. 

For a number of years, this medical office has had a Patient Portal for each patient.  We each have our own username and password, and once we get into our personal account, we can send messages to the doctor, order refills of Rx, check the lab results for any tests that were run, look at the history of our appointments, etc...  It's been quite useful to me over the years.  Hubs has never used his much, and in fact, because he hadn't logged onto it in over a year, it had frozen his password.  Yesterday, we had to spend some time in phone calls with a staffer at the doc's office getting him back into his Portal.  We were told that once he was "in", they would schedule an appointment for him to have a video conference with the doctor.  We got the Portal to work yesterday afternoon, and his appt was scheduled for 9 am this morning. 

We were told he would need to be prepared to share his height, weight, BP, pulse, and heart rate.  We were able to gather all of that info before the appt time.  For the appointment, we had to use my school-issued Chromebook because it has a video camera built in.  Neither of us have cameras on any of our desktop computers.  About 15 minutes before the actual appointment time, we got a phone call from the nurse who would have done a conversation/screening with him in the office before the doc came in. She asked him a lot of questions and made note of all of his vitals.  Once she was finished with the phone call, Hubs had to wait a few minutes for the doctor to connect through the video link on the Portal.  We were pleasantly surprised that the video link actually WORKED!  What a concept!  He chatted with our doctor for about 15 min.  (I waved to her, too!)  It was a successful "virtual office visit", and his Rx needs will be filled now. 

This whole experience raised some questions in our minds about this use of technology.  Certainly, there are many people in our society who don't have the capability of doing a video conference with anyone, let alone a doctor. I thought about my parents.  If they were still alive today, they wouldn't be able to do any computer activity at all.  I'm just guessing here, but it seems to me there has to be a significant % of the population, even in Ohio, who could not have done what we did today.  So then what?  I have no idea what our Doc does to see patients who can't do video conferencing.  Maybe she can do phone conversations?  I don't know if that suffices.  I suppose it is better than nothing. 

So, here we are, in a time of crisis, and we are learning new things that can be useful in the future! Go figure!  I wonder, once this Pandemic is over, will our Doc still do video conferencing for simple issues like we experienced today?  It will be interesting to see how that works. 

Thanks for visiting my Blog today!  I hope you and yours are well and dealing with all of this in the best way possible!

WASH YOUR HANDS! 

:)Amy

Blogging During A Pandemic

Hello Everyone!

It's been awhile since I've shared my thoughts here, but I think I'm going to start up again.  There is something appealing about the idea of blogging during a Pandemic.  Feel free to join me!

Today is March 22, 2020.  My last day in school was Friday, March 13.  When I left school that day, I thought we were going to have school on Monday the 16th as well.  Then over the weekend, our district announced we would not be going in on Monday.  Luckily, on Friday, I had given all of my students 3 assignments which are officially "due" by Monday, April 6, when we were set to go back to school.  While this 3-week extended break has not yet been officially extended, Ohio Governor DeWine has clearly implied that we may not go back for several more weeks or not even at all this school year.  We are waiting on the big "final word" on that decision.

Given all this, in addition to having to deal with the fear of the CoronaVirus (Covid-19), teachers are also having to deal with the fear of what is going to happen with the rest of the school year and how we will navigate it.

As someone who was born about 60 years ago, I have never before had to deal with this sort of nationwide (or global) Pandemic.  However, the one thing I have compared this to is 9/11.  I know that might seem weird, but hear me out. When 9/11 happened, there was a cloud that hung over the US that affected everyone.  I can remember going into the grocery a couple of days later, and there was a stunned silence from everyone in the store.  Everyone was quiet and trying to function and go on with life, but the events were clearly affecting everyone.  It was the same way at school.  Everyone was affected.  I remember wondering at the time how long we would feel this intense shock.  How long would it take before the events of 9/11 were not the first thing we thought of when we woke up and the last thing we thought about before we went to sleep.  I now find myself wondering the same things about this Pandemic.  We don't know how long this cloud is going to be hanging over us.  We don't know how long it is going to directly impact everything we do in our lives.  For weeks... months after 9/11, every time we turned on the TV, there was yet another report about it, another discussion happening, another video or collection of photos, or mention of the status of everything.  Now, we turn on the TV and there are national and state briefings happening several times a day.  Many TV shows which used to have live audiences are now showing reruns.  Many shows with journalists who used to sit in a studio are now having people broadcast from their homes. Our society made long-term changes after that day that will live in infamy, and our society is going to be making changes after this Pandemic.  This is going to be with us in some form or another for months if not years.

I find myself wondering what it was like to be alive during times with Tuberculosis, Polio, Cholera, Scarlet Fever and even The Plague.  There have been other big viruses in my lifetime, but nothing that shut down schools and whole towns like this.  Of course, there is no good time to deal with a Pandemic, but during this 2020 year of political turmoil, it is even a double whammy.

Hubs and I are behaving - sheltering in place.  I went to school on Tuesday, March 17 to get some things from my room, but I only had distant contact with colleagues when I was there.  Otherwise, I have had no direct contact with anyone other than the woman who delivered my Panera Bread order at dinner, and she put the bag down outside my door and walked away as I talked to her through the storm door.

Tomorrow, we are picking up food at Kroger, and I will wear a face mask and latex gloves.  Then I will clean the groceries as I put them away before I take my gloves off.  I predict we will not get everything we ordered.  We placed the order on Friday night, and Monday at 2 pm was the earliest time we could get for pick up.  We also ordered a few other things from Giant Eagle, and we have to wait a week to pick those up!  Some stores are offering a free hour in the morning for "seniors" for which we qualify, so we might try that at Meijer.

Stay tuned as I navigate this very weird lifestyle change.  Share with me if you can.

Meanwhile - WASH YOUR HANDS!

:)Amy

Goals? What Goals?

Now that I am back in Weight Watchers, I was curious about some of my successful history.  I did some research about my journey through the WW app.  The first interesting fact I noted is that it was 2 years ago today - June 10, 2017 when I hit 205# for the last time.  Somehow that seems very symbolic to me.

The other thing I learned is that in my 2015-16 year, it took me 7 months to lose 40 pounds.  I started in September, and it was March when I hit -40.  If I could lose 40 pounds in 7 months then, why can't I lose 40 pounds in 7 months now? 

My new goal is to be down to 200 pounds by the end of 2019.  Let's set Jan 1, 2020 as my goal to see a number below 200# on the scale!

I can do this!  Go... Go... Go... Go!

:)A

Hi! My name is Amy...

...and I’m a Food-aholic.

Does that sound silly to you?  It sounds silly to me - like it is a joke that is commonly made by overweight people?  They often say it with just a hint of irony poking through.  The fact is that is isn’t a joke. It’s a very real thing, and I am coming to grips with the fact that it applies to me.

My loyal readers will remember that I joined Weight Watchers a few years back (Sept of 2015 to be exact), and lost 55 pounds over the next 2 years. At that point, I plateaued.  For the year after that, I sort of maintained, sort of with some minor gains, and then the following year, I started gaining significantly.  Ok here we go - I’m going to lay out the actual numbers.  Ready?  When I started WW, I weighed in at 260#.  My lowest weight in May of 2017 was 205#.  There are my 55 pounds.  Last week, when I weighed in at WW again, I was at 242#.  

For the last several months, I have been obsessed with eating - all the time, but especially in the evening. All day, I would say all the right things to myself about the importance of eating only healthy food, and the importance of not gaining any more. I would do ok for most of the day, especially on school days (unless there were treats available!) - healthy breakfast, healthy lunch, no snacks, but by about 4 pm, I was ready to start eating anything I could find, and even though I would eat a healthy dinner, I would keep eating all evening.  Candy - cookies - chips - crackers - those were the biggies. This bingeing was bothering me, every day, but I kept doing it, every day.  I would wake up in the morning committed to the idea of “behaving”, and by late afternoon, I was eating again.  When I went to the grocery, I would walk in thinking “I’m not going to buy any crap”, and then the bags I left with would contain apples and strawberries, and salad-fixings, and M&Ms and cookies, and chips. What’s up with that?

Exactly!  What is up with that?  That’s what I started asking myself.  As a teacher, I’ve been to enough professional development meetings to be able to recognize a red flag.  When a student consciously does something to themselves that they know isn’t good for them, that’s called self-harm.  When someone is engaged in self-harm, it’s an indicator of something big going on in their mind, and it is considered a mental illness.  Wait!  Do I have a mental illness?  Perhaps an eating disorder? 

These questions started me on a path of research and discovery.  I was curious about WHY I would be engaging in self-destructive behaviors.  Overall, I consider myself a very healthy person, mentally.  I am fairly calm and rational, and even though I tend to cry very easily (as all of my friends will tell you), I really have a very safe, stable life.  When I started reading about self-harm, I kept seeing references to trauma from child abuse, the death of close loved-ones, witnessing something horrific.  I really couldn’t think of any trauma that I had experienced. My childhood was very safe and stable and happy in a family who wanted me and cherished me.  It didn’t seem that what was going on with me was the result of any trauma. 

I went on Amazon looking for books dealing with self-harm and eating disorders, and before too long, I found a book called Letting Go of Self-Destructive Behaviors: A Workbook of Hope and Healing by Lisa Ferentz.  I was impressed by the fact that it included “overeating” with Bulimia and Anorexia as an eating disorder and as a mental health issue. As soon as the book arrived, I started reading.  One of the first things the book recommended was that if I could find a professional to work with while I was reading the book and doing the activities in it, that would enhance the whole process.  

Next, I started looking for mental health professionals in my area who specialized in eating disorders or self-harm.  I found a couple of social service agencies in my community that seemed to address these types of issues, and then I read though the lists of professionals and their focuses.  I found a few that indicated their focus on eating disorders.   I am now working with a Clinical Counselor named Deanna.  I’ve met with her once, and I came away with my head full of information and ideas that I really am still only starting to understand.  That same day I also started back at Weight Watchers.  Since then, I’ve been doing a lot of reading/researching and thinking. 

To start our conversation, Deanna asked me why I came to see her.  I explained my situation.  In addition to what I explained above, I also told her that as a child I went through periods of time when I sought out things to eat that weren’t typically considered snacks.  I remember times when I would go into the bathroom, get up on my little stool that I used when I brushed my teeth, get in the medicine cabinet and take out the toothpaste.  I would then squirt some in my mouth and eat it.  Not a lot - just a little squirt.  Another uncommon snack that I would seek out were bouillon cubes - the beef flavored ones in the little foil wrappers.  I would unwrap one and lick it until my tongue was sore.  This was when I was pre-school age, but old enough to be moving around the house without my mother watching every move (maybe 4?).

Once I was in school, I no longer sought out those snacks, but I would typically binge on cookies or chips after school while I watched TV.  As early as 3rd grade, I would grab something out of the pantry, and sit on the floor in front of the TV and watch whatever was on.  If it was a bag of chips, it wasn’t out of the question for me to eat at least half of the bag or more.  If it was cookies, I would eat quite a few  - Girl Scout cookies - in sleeves - I could easily eat at a whole sleeve in one sitting.  If there were no cookies or chips in the pantry, I would eat crackers.  My mother kept the pantry supplied with all of those goodies.  I don’t ever remember asking for anything specific.  She bought them and I ate them.  I also sometimes ate dry cereal like Captain Crunch or even Raisin Bran.  My mother also made a lot of homemade dessert-treats which I helped myself to.  Interestingly, my mother didn’t nag at me about overeating. There were a couple of times I remember her suggesting that I shouldn’t eat so much of something…. But she kept buying the food and I always had access to it.  

As a child, I matured physically very early.  I can remember in 1st, 2nd, 3rd grade, I was the tallest student in the class.  I remember that because we would line up by height to get our class pictures taken, and I was always at the tall end of the group.   I think I was as tall in 6th grade as I am now, and by the time I was in 4th, 5th and 6th, I was not only the tallest but the “biggest” student in the class. At some point I started realizing I was “THE” fat girl in the room.  In junior high, I started being more aware of my comparative size, and by high school I was very conscious of the fact that I WAS the fat girl in the room.  I only remember 1 female student in my high school who was “fatter” than I was.  We became good friends for awhile.  Of course we did a lot of snacking together.

I don’t remember how much I weighed in high school.  One summer when I was in college, I had to go to the doctor for something, and he put me on a 1000 calorie diet.  I had weighed in at 217#, and with his diet, I got down to 200# before going back to BG in the fall.  I also know that at age 22 when I was shopping for a wedding dress, no stores had my size.  I was then needing a size 18, and stores only had smaller sizes.  Sometimes they MIGHT have a 16, but even that was rare.  The message was Girls Who Are As Big As Me Don’t Get Married!  So, of course, my size 18 had to be special ordered.  

When I think back on it now, and think about the fact that I knew I was overweight, I never really tried to diet.  I remember having a sense of entitlement related to eating.  “It’s my body!  I can eat what I want to eat, and no one can stop me!”  THERE! Take THAT!

After explaining all this to Deanna, she immediately identified me as an addict.  She said that the behaviors and attitudes I described are those of someone with an addictive personality.  She went on to explain that addiction is related to 2 specific brain chemicals - Serotonin and Dopamine.  *LIGHT BULB*  Serotonin is the brain chemical that lets us know when we’ve had enough to eat. If the balance of this is off, we don’t always get any signals that we’ve had enough.  Dopamine is a “feel good” chemical.  Drugs raise this chemical and that’s why it’s called “dope”.  Many other things raise this chemical:  sex and other physical pleasures like massage, exercise, and certain things in food - mainly sugars and fats.  *Another LIGHT BULB*

I left my first session with Deanna with the understanding that I am a food addict, probably because of a chemical imbalance in my brain.  There are ways to deal with this.  Medications might be an option, as are behavioral changes.  For me, just understanding this is HUGE!  I feel this is the first GREATBIGHUGE step in making changes that will help me get healthier.

I am now back on Weight Watchers and I have another appointment with Deanna scheduled.  I have also started making some specific changes in my routines, and I’m continuing my research.  Thanks for reading and stay tuned for updates in the weeks ahead!

:)Amy

 

After explaining all this to Deanna, she immediately identified me as an addict.  She said that the behaviors and attitudes I described are those of someone with an addictive personality.  She went on to explain that addiction is related to 2 specific brain chemicals - Serotonin and Dopamine. *LIGHT BULB*  Serotonin is the brain chemical that lets us know when we’ve had enough to eat. If the balance of this is off, we don’t always get any signals that we’ve had enough.  Dopamine is a “feel good” chemical. Drugs raise this chemical and that’s why it’s called “dope”. Many other things raise this chemical: sex and other physical pleasures like massage, exercise, and certain things in food - mainly sugars and fats.  *Another LIGHT BULB*

As a child, I matured physically very early.  I can remember in 1st, 2nd, 3rd grade, I was the tallest student in the class.  I remember that because we would line up by height to get our class pictures taken, and I was always at the tall end of the group.   I think I was as tall in 6th grade as I am now, and by the time I was in 4th, 5th and 6th, I was not only the tallest but the “biggest” student in the class. At some point I started realizing I was “THE” fat girl in the room.  In junior high, I started being more aware of my comparative size, and by high school I was very conscious of the fact that I WAS the fat girl in the room. I only remember 1 female student in my high school who was “fatter” than I was.  We became good friends for awhile. Of course we did a lot of snacking together.

Puzzle Mania

Jigsaw Puzzles!  Are you familiar? I can remember doing some in my youth, but recently Hubs and I have taken them up again - BIG TIME!  In the last year and a half, we have amassed a collection that is stunning!  I am going to post photos here of some or most of them.  I think you'll see some patterns.  I apologize now for the ones that are sideways or upside down.  I swear they all came from files that were turned the right direction!  If I delete and try to find them again, it will just make my head spin!  Sorry!

Yes, there really is a piece missing from the colored pencils.  

..... and yes, this is ME, photographing the feeding of a giraffe at the Columbus Zoo! 

Did seeing all of these put you in a mood????  Our fave puzzle company is White Mountain Puzzles, and they have a great website with lots of options.  Most of ours have been 1000 pieces, but some are 550 and some are 1500.  (I think there was one 2000 Piecer.)  Clearly, we like the ones that have little sections to work on.  The ones with lots of blue sky or lots of trees.... those are too challenging for us!

Let me know what puzzles you like!

Thanks for visiting!

:)Amy

Has it really been almost a year?

Hello Friends,

It is hard for me to believe it has been so long since I posted about Tillie!  On June 12, I will be going back to my Ortho Doc for my 1 year check up! 

As I mentioned in one of my last entries, I was still looking forward to being able to pedal the stationary bike, and eventually, I did get there!  I would have to do some research into the actual date, but it was either the last week of July or the first week of August.  I had to do 5 minutes of pushing back and forth on the pedal before it finally just went around!  When it did, of course, I cried, because that's what I do!  Even after I did it once, that didn't mean I would be able to do it easily every time I got on the bike.  I still usually had to work on it for 3-4-5 min before it would go around.  Even after my Office PT ended and I started going to the rec center, I still had to do the back and forth pushing for awhile before it would go around.  I haven't even tried now since last fall, so I have no idea what it would do at this point. 

I started back to school in mid-August, and things went well.  I was able to do what I needed to do, but I started having more pain at night.  I would wake up in the night and my leg would just ache.  I tried to avoid taking pain meds and relied on Ibuprofen, which helped, but I still had this night aching thing to deal with.  I went back to PT and my therapist gave me some exercises to do at home.  I did them, and it helped a little, but the turning point came over Thanksgiving break.  All of a sudden, I was able to sleep through the night without pain waking me up.  It was like someone flipped a switch.  Based on things my Doc had told me, I presume it was a change in the level of internal swelling. 

As the weather got better in the spring, I started walking at the local parks more, and that has been easy.  The fact that I now have NO knee pain after having had it for about 14 years, is just miraculous!  I am very glad I did both knee surgeries.  My biggest advice to any of my readers who end up doing this is YOU HAVE TO EXERCISE.  A LOT!  Several times a day for months!  If you do that, your recovery will be amazing.  If you don't do it, your knees will stiffen up, and you won't have gained anything. 

As of now, I have better range of motion in my left than in my right, but it's not a lot different.  I think my right is as good as it's going to get.  It was worse going in, so it really isn't a surprise that it's not making it to the progress of my left.  That's ok - I'll take it!

Thanks for visiting!  If you have specific questions for me about my knees or anything I've written about, please let me know!

Happy Reading!

:)Amy

Tillie's 6 Week Anniversary !!!!!

Hello!
Please notice all the !!! in the title!  Week 6 has been A.Maze.Ing!

First, I had an appt with my surgeon on Monday.  He gave me an A+.  He was very impressed with my progress.  He did a couple of xrays, and read the PT reports...  Looked at my incision and how much I can bend my knee, and how well I walk.  YES!

Then, today at PT, something really new and exciting happened.  My therapist asked me if I felt up to trying steps.  HECK YES!  The building has a stairway that goes down from the main lobby to a basement level.  It is about 10 steps down to a landing, turn, then another 10 steps down.  There is a railing on each side, and the width is narrow enough that it is easy to hold on on both sides.  First, I went down - one foot per step.  Then I turned around and went back up - one foot per step.  LIKE A NORMAL PERSON!  I didn't have to support myself on the railing as I went down, and I didn't have to pull myself up with the railing either.  There was no pain or weakness as I did it!  I was so excited when I got to the top I started crying!

Being able to do steps was one of my big goals.  I have not been able to comfortably do steps for probably 10 years or more.  Luckily, I don't HAVE to do steps at home or at school, but when I did encounter them, I faced them as a huge challenge that would increase my pain.  No way could I do steps without a railing - going up was pulling myself on the railing and going down was supporting myself.  Even a curb used to be scary!

There ya go - this week's progress!  YAY!

Stay tuned!  I might have even more progress to report next week!  WE'LL SEE, won't we!

Hugs-n-stuff,
:)Amy

Tillie's 5 Week Anniversary

Hello Everyone!

Yesterday was my 5 week anniversary.  You may remember that last week's progress was a reduction in swelling.  This week's progress involves my nighttime sleeping patterns.  Last night was the 2nd night in a row that I slept comfortably in the bed all night and didn't have to get up and sleep in the chair for part of the night.  Before that, I would be ok until about 3 am, then I would have trouble finding a comfortable position with Tillie being a little achy.  So I would get up and sleep in my recliner for 2-3 hours and then get back in bed for the rest of the night. 

Also, I can sleep on either side.  Sleeping on my left side with a pillow under Tillie is the best.  Sleeping on my right is a little more challenging, and I can usually only stay in that position for 30 min or so at the most, but the fact that I can do both of those is huge!  I've also actually rolled over onto my stomach a couple of times, and that is doable for maybe 15-20 min.  Compared with how things were with Bessie, this is HUGE!

I am also now to the point where I actually forget I had surgery for a short time.  Right now, I'm looking at probably about 8 more PT sessions in the office.  I am making huge progress there.  The other day I hit 103 degrees, and I am "almost" able to pedal the bike all the way around (backwards is easier than forwards).  I'm hoping to make it to that accomplishment this week. (I will probably cry!)  I am also going to ask my PT if we can start working with the stairway in the building.  They have me step up on a 6" box in the workout room, and I still can't quite do that without holding on. 

So, that's where we are!  Thanks for keeping up with my progress!  I appreciate your support!

Talk to you again soon!

:)Amy