Swim, bike, and walk

Today was a great day. My friend, Denise, and I made our way over to Lifetime Fitness this morning for their annual indoor triathlon. It consisted of a 10 minute swim, 30 minutes on a Schwinn indoor bike, and 20 minutes on the treadmill. The event was a bit disorganized, Denise and I got lost during our swim/bike transition trying to find the cycling studio (yes, the gym is that big), but the staff was encouraging and helpful and the music selection was amazing. All in all, it was a great way to get our feet wet and prepare for the  outdoor triathlon we intend to do in April.

This was the first time I had ever done a triathlon swim in a pool and I didn't like it as much as the open water swims. Granted, I could see where I was going, I didn't get kicked and smacked, and there was absolutely no worry about being eaten by a giant water dwelling creature; however, I had a really hard time getting into a regular rhythm like I could when swimming in open water. When I stopped to think about it, I realized that the incentive to swim faster was also missing, since the fear of being eaten  makes a person put just a touch more effort into their swim.

After we were changed and once we found the cycling studio, the bike ride portion of the event was pretty fun. I kept my cadence at about 17-19 mph, even though we were encouraged to drop all resistance and pedal as hard as we could so we could cover the most amount of miles. After watching some of the participants bouncing around in their saddles, apparently in one of the waves some man managed to bounce hard enough to move his bike, I was even more appreciative of the good education and safety protocols I received when I was certified to teach Spinning. I definitely felt the gluteus maximus muscles once I got off the bike, which meant that I was pedaling safely and effectively.

The treadmill portion was pretty uneventful. Thankfully there was no tripping or falling involved, and I just walked for 20 minutes.  Unfortunately, the leg is still not 100% since my fall a few weeks ago and my calf started to feel tight and ache the last five minutes. Ibuprofen, stretches and foam roller to the rescue!

Well.... I am back on crutches

Thankfully this time it isn't surgery, femur, or knee related.

Over the past month I have been trying to get out of the house on the weekends with the kids to do a bit of hiking. In San Antonio it's more like taking nature walk, but at least we still get outside and spend some time together. There is no shortage of places to explore and we try a new park every weekend so no one gets bored. Yesterday we went to Eisenhower Park which has a nice trail system and a observation tower that the kids really enjoy. We had a really good time.

And then "it" happened. .We had just finished the most strenuous part of the hike, coming down a hill with some loose rocks. I was walking on flat ground and talking to my kids about the picnic lunch waiting for us in the cooler in the back of the van when I lost footing/or slipped on a rock and I fell. Right onto the my right knee and shin. Thankfully, even while in pain, I was able to keep my head and had one son run to get the people that had just passed us on the trail and I had my other son call my husband. When I finally stood up I almost threw up from the pain coming from my calf and hip. I managed to walk, with some assistance, the longest mile EVER back to the parking lot. A big THANK-YOU to Roger and his wife for coming to my aid. By the time I made it to the parking lot my shin and calf were completely swollen and extremely painful.

My husband took me straight to the ER, but, unfortunately, radiology was backed up so it took forever to get films. The ER doctor didn't let me suffer too long. Once he palpated my leg and saw me jump out of the wheelchair in pain he ordered some Narco, which made me feel SOOOO much better. When I finally had my films done, the x-rays of the femur, knee, and tibia looked great and there were no signs of a fracture or broken implant. That was my primary concern, especially with the lower leg swelling.

I was discharged with a diagnosis of contusion to my knee and shin with orders of NSAIDS and RICE. I was given another set of crutches (yay) and a leg brace. I was also instructed to call my ortho oncologist just to let him know what what going on, because of my abnormal anatomy the ER doctor wanted to make sure that he didn't miss anything in his diagnosis.

At first I was pretty upset, but now I'm feeling okay with the situation. I realize that stupid freak accidents happen to normal people too (I was asked several times on my hobble back to the parking lot if I had sprained my ankle). Falling, getting a contusion, and recovering is just par for course for someone who leads an active lifestyle. My mom suggested that I look into purchasing some trekking poles and since I have some extra time on my hands I am researching a pair to purchase. I think they will be well worth the money, especially since I plan on doing more hikes with the kids once I recover.

Happy New Year!

2013 is a big year, full of some big anniversaries and milestones. My two-year compression screw and knee replacement anniversary is coming up in 12 days, and my four year diagnosis and first surgery anniversary is in six months. Once I reach my four year milestone I will be able to move to a yearly CT schedule instead of the 6 month schedule I'm on now. Less exposure to radiation is always a good thing!

Since this is such a big year I have some big goals to achieve. I am signed up for the Dirty Girl 5k mud run in March. Cancer survivors get waived registration which is amazing and awesome! In April there is a short triathlon (200 yard swim, 10 mile bike ride, 2 mile run/walk) that I'm going to enter as soon as the registration opens. In addition, now that I'm starting to forget what the end of the walk felt like, I want to walk the Rock & Roll Half Marathon again this November and beat last years time.

Obviously, with all of these events I'll need to do a lot of walking so my goal is to walk a total of 500 miles by December 31, 2013. I'm pretty sure I managed to walk 500 miles in 2012; however, I forgot to keep track (woops) so I'll need to do a better job this year. In addition to the walking, I will need to add some road biking (gulp) and some swimming back into my routine. Thankfully, I have found some nice quiet roads that I can use to get back into my biking groove. Getting back into the pool is something I'm really looking forward to. I like how quiet it is when my head is in the water and how my mind goes blank while I forget to count how many laps I have swum.

It's great to finally have a year where I can look ahead to the future and actually plan events. Here is to a healthy and happy 2013!

I am absolutely loving my winter break. It has been so nice to to sleep in, to spend time with the family, and have the freedom to read books that I want to read versus the books that I have been assigned to read.  I'm keeping up with my workouts by meeting a friend and using TRX straps outside at a track so we can watch our kids play and run around. It's been good for both of us, and our kids, to get out and enjoy the fresh air and sunshine.

A tradition that I have missed and am so glad we can take advantage during out school breaks is to pile everyone into the van for a drive to explore new areas, like the Blanco river.

We decided to visit Blanco, Texas earlier this week to visit the Real Ale Brewery (http://realalebrewing.com/). The brewery offers a free tour on Friday afternoons and samples of their seasonal beer. The nerd in me loved that the tour guide explained the science behind making the perfect batch of beer and the beer drinker in me loved that they gave out five free samples that were really, really good.

Today, I had the pleasure of going to Round Rock, Texas to visit The Salt Lick, (http://www.saltlickbbq.com/), and meet up two of my very best friends, Jay and Marcie. A group of us met on the internet 10 years ago, formed our own separate MSN group, and became good friends. Over time we met in real life, after we making sure that the person we were meeting wasn't an ax murderer or an internet "weirdo", and continued to stay friends. After my cancer surgeries Jay and Marcie would either Yahoo chat or Facebook chat with me listen to me whine and complain. They helped me through some of the darkest times of my life and for that I will always be grateful.

It was nice playing catch up and having a conversation that didn't involve a computer or a phone. Since Marcie lives in the Northwest and Jay lives on the opposite side of the state we don't always have the ability to meet up for lunch so today was a very special day. I really hope that one of these years our entire internet group will be able to meet up for lunch. (hint, hint).

It's been a while

Merry Christmas!!

I can't believe how long it's been since I have written. Life has been crazy busy and I have been trying to enjoy every bit of it; although, every so often I will think "Oh, I should write about this" and then.. I don't. Since my third surgery I have:

• Gone back to school with the goal of getting my Doctorate in Physical Therapy. I have a long way to go, but I know that with hard work I'll achieve my goal.
• Walked the San Antonio Half Marathon. It took me 4 hours, but I did it. I finished the race. I was training for the Kansas City Half Marathon when my tumor was discovered and I always promised myself that I would finish a half marathon, even if I had to crawl across the finish line.
• Started fostering dogs for the Texas German Shorthair Pointer rescue. 
• Spent two awesome summers enjoying my kids at different amusement and water parks.
• Continued to grow bone around my implant. 

Since it has been almost 2 years from my last surgery, I have decided to change the name of the blog from Life With Chondrosarcoma to Life After Chondrosarcoma. When I received my diagnosis and had my various surgeries I never felt like there would be a life after cancer. I am so glad that I was wrong. There is life after cancer. Yes, it is something that is always at the back of my mind when I go in for tests and appointments; however, I don't let that fear and worry consume my life.

Some of my goals for the upcoming year include:

• Continue losing weight. When my doctor told me that I probably wouldn't lose any weight until after a year from my last surgery he was right.
• Do a triathlon in April
• Walk another half marathon
• Keep my 4.0 GPA

Before I go, I want to share some pictures of my friend, Beth, and I at the half marathon. Beth lives in Arizona and I am so happy that she was able to fly in to Texas and walk with me!

 Before the race

At the end. We were smiling because we were glad it was almost over.

 Tired, but very happy

We were so happy that when we tried to "Hi-5" each other we missed. Of course the photographer would have to capture that moment in time.

Defying Gravity

My Mother's Day weekend

First family hike in almost 2 years! I was hiding from the sun.

I almost cried. First time on a horse in a few years. I LOVE horses, and it's one of the things I was most concerned about when I got my diagnosis. I wanted to take this boy home with me :).

 I got to sit on Oreo, the Steer. He was awesome and oh so soft. 

The family. It's awesome to be able to to do family activities again.

Still alive

It has been crazy here. Crazy. In the month of April and the first 2 weeks of May I had at least one sick kid per week. The climax was reached the second week of May when I was at the hospital every-single-day for various appointments. To be fair one of them was my own, but still. It felt like I lived there. I did have to go again this week, for my quarterly chest x-ray, so I have been to the hospital at least once per week for 7 weeks. Yuck.

My appointment was to see my surgeon who gave me clearance to do this



Because of this

Isn't that an awesome x-ray? The tech took it while I was standing up. This shows lots of bone growth, lots of muscle growth and an implant that is holding up really well. Because of that I have been cleared to do pretty much anything besides martial arts, aerobics and sports like volleyball. Oh and running, of course.

Physical therapy is going really well and becoming more challenging. Some of the new exercises are one-legged squats, ladder drills while "jogging"/shuffling, monster walks, one-legged bridges (HATE these with a passion) and long arc quads with ankle weights. I notice that i'm not limping as bad as before and I can tell by the way my clothes fit that the muscle in my legs and butt is growing. It's awesome and i'm very excited.

It feels like a fog has been lifted and I can see clearly again.

Livestrong Austin 2011

One of my goals for 2011 was to walk and ride a bike for the upcoming Livestrong Austin event. I've had to modify my goals a bit, I don't think i'll be ready to ride at the event. However I have registered to walk in the 5k.

To say that i'm excited is a major understatement.

I almost cried.

Okay, I did cry.

If anyone is interested in donating, even one dollar, I would really appreciate it. Here is the link to my website.

It's been one hell of a week

This week has been crazy. Crazy I tell you. I either haven't time to sit down and type, been too tired to think of what to type, and the one day I did have a chance the (insert curse word of your choice) computer unplugged itself and died.

Here is one reason things were so crazy

Baby girl is okay. She was a trooper and had to be IV sedated to have an abscess lanced. She impressed the doctors and the nurses with how well she did. That's my girl!

Now that I got the important stuff over with, on to me.

I am doing really well. Only two more days and I can get rid of the brace. It's a "one size fits none" model and no amount of cutting or velcro will keep it on my leg. It likes to do a slooooowwww slide down my leg when I start sweating, eventually it ends up around my ankle and I have to unsnap it to get it back up. Big pain in the rear end.

In physical therapy I have been able to use the Elliptical machine. It gets less awkward the more I use it but I am still out of breath in 10 minutes, and I'm drenched in sweat. Which makes it fun when I move onto mat work and stick to the mat. Like today, with my poor sunburned skin. Yeah, not pleasant. Along with the Elliptical machine kicking my butt I am doing lots of new exercises AND agility work with the ladder. I was SO happy I didn't fall flat on my face the first time I navigated the ladder. Making a fool of myself is something I do very easily, I just don't want to do it there.

This afternoon I did some assisted pull-ups with my new pull-up bands. Unfortunately I am still a weee too heavy for the band to really help so I ended up doing a jumping/band assist combo. Ten overhand and six underhand. At least it's a start and the kids thought it was pretty cool.

Non leg related I am starting a "house reorganization" project. When we moved here I was on crutches so things didn't get done/put away the way I normally would have. Now that I can move around, am cooking more and seeing more of the house I have decided it's time for a major cleaning/organization project. I started on the kitchen today and will hopefully finish tomorrow. I have already warned the long suffering husband and kids to be prepared.

The Race

I can walk! I can walk! I can walk!

Yipppppeeeeeee!!!!! To say that I am excited and happy is the understatement of the year. Lots of good news all the way around today. The x-rays showed that the bone graft in my leg has completely fused and that I'm already forming new, strong, bone around the bottom of the implant. My surgeon asked me if I was ready to ditch the crutches, umm, yeah! So ready! I do have to wear the brace for another 2 weeks, but that is bearable and after 20 months on crutches 2 weeks is nothing.

After the appointment I walked out of the exam room, with.no.crutches. It was weird, but felt good and didn't hurt. This is so different from last time, when it took me a month to transition because of leg and knee pain. My muscles is a bit sore but overall, I feel really good and have been walking all over the house. I'm excited to clean up the house! I have two FREE hands. For as long as I live I will never, ever, ever take walking and having 2 free hands for granted again.

I have been cleared to do pretty much everything.. whatever that means LOL. I know I can't run and jump and will ask my physical therapist tomorrow for clarification on what I can do. I didn't want to ask my surgeon.. i'm sure he already worries about me. He told me to be careful at least four times. I wanted to say "Really, do you think I want to have get back on crutches or have surgery again? Of course i'm going to be careful!".

Hopefully my limp/gait isn't too bad and my physical therapist can give me a list of exercises I can start doing at home as well as in the clinic. I have a 5K Livestrong walk in Austin I need to start training for!

Tomorrow is the big day and a major "oh crap" moment today

After 20 months of being on crutches (well 2 months I was allowed off but it took me a while to transition to no crutches and by the time I transitioned we figured out that it wasn't working)  I have my big appointment tomorrow. I am crossing my fingers and toes that everything looks good and I will be allowed to lose the crutches and the knee brace. At this point I don't know which I hate more....

My major "oh crap" moment happened while at the gym lifting weights. I finished my bench press, my inverted rows and then moved onto cable rows. Apparently that was a bit much for my shoulders, because.. well you know, they get a LOT of work using crutches. I was in the middle of a row when I felt a "pop" in my left shoulder and felt an ache. At that point I said a not-very-nice word in a loud voice, stopped my upper body workout and finished my gym visit by riding the Spinning bike. When I got home I still had some shoulder pain, and a few more choice words, took some ibuprofen and tried to take it easy with my shoulder (HA!). Hopefully this is nothing bad and I don't think it is, even though it is annoying. Once my surgeon allows me to stop using crutches tomorrow, see i'm thinking positive, I should be able to rest my shoulder for a few days. I'm not even thinking of the off chance that he'll tell me to use one crutch because that won't allow my left shoulder to rest and I don't even want to go there in my mind. In fact.. I may be able to use this to my advantage by whining about my poor shoulders and my shoulder pain.

We'll see what he says tomorrow!

Slowly getting rid of some of this pudge!

Since my surgery I have lost about 10-15 lbs! Not too shabby, considering most of my time has been spent on the couch with my leg propped up. I do try to be as active as I can, however I do tire easily and past experience has taught me to be very cautious when things start aching. The reason i'm not sure about how much weight I've lost is because I couldn't get an accurate reading on the scale when I was non-weight bearing. It's a bit hard to balance on the scale with one leg and the numbers bounced around a bit so I just guestimated.

It all started when I was in the hospital post surgery. The food was just gross and I didn't have much of an appetite so I didn't eat much. Not exactly the best way to lose weight and my husband started double checking and adding things to my hospital menu. I am not a picky eater... I will eat almost anything when i'm hungry. When I refuse to eat that is saying something about the food. After I got home from the hospital I still didn't have much of an appetite, thank you pain medication, and didn't want bread or pasta anymore. I had some serious vegetable and fruit cravings, which I think was my bodies way to counteract the pain medication (morphine is known to slow down the bowels). Then I found out about a Facebook Group that Jennifer Boudreau Clements started, called Lose to Live. Here is a link to her blog http://andsomefruit.blogspot.com/. Jennifer lost 200 lbs and is now a Personal Trainer and Fitness Instructor who motivates everyone around her. I can't thank her enough for adding me to the group!

Several people in the group raved about the recipes in a certain cookbook so, of course, I had to go out and buy it.

So far, all of the recipes that I have made have been a hit. And the recipes are versatile. I made the Swiss Chard Frittata recipe, using Swiss Chard from our garden and a leftover red bell pepper. My husband made a frittata this morning using left over spinach and sun dried tomatoes.

Cast Iron Skillet

Ingredients

Saute

Add Egg

Finish in Oven

Breakfast is served!

The awesome thing is that I don't ever feel really full or really hungry. And I don't get major cravings anymore.  My strength levels are good too, in fact I'm strong enough to finally be able to buy this shirt. I could probably cut more calories and lose weight a bit faster. However I want to make sure that I continue to heal, grow bone and gain some muscle.

Knee range of motion is stalling and my scar is starting to fade

I was trying to figure out an exciting title but.. well... I gave up.

My husband reminded me that it's been a few days since I've written something. I was going to write something on Friday, but with the tragedy in Japan I felt a bit selfish wining about my issues.

The title is pretty self explanitory. My range of motion has stalled at about 110-115 and I am extremely frustrated. I know some of it scar tissue because when I aggressively massage my scar and knee I will feel little 'pops' which is scar tissue breaking up. I've also had a few 'pops' while doing my patellar massage so I'm sure that there is some scar tissue there holding me back. I know that my physical therapist can do some manual manipulation to help things along, I just don't want to need that. I've never had issues getting my range of motion back so that makes it even more frustrating.

Now to the good news. My scar is starting to fade, yippee. (Which means I won't have 4th graders walking by me looking at my leg giving a horrified gasp and yelling "woa"). I started using Mederma cream upon the recommendation of the Tech at my surgeons office.

I've only been using it for 1 week but I think my scar is starting to lighten up. I'm planning on taking progress pictures to compare. The directions say that it should improve the appearance of a new scar in 8 weeks, a few months in an old scar. Since I have a combination of scars I will probably have to use it for 3-4 months.

Here are some before pictures of my scar. Hope this stuff does what it says it does! I would like to get rid of some of this redness.

Snickers

It's been an eventful week.

On Monday my parents left nice and warm Texas for snowy and cold Oregon. I do not envy their drive. Hopefully they will be back home, safe and sound, today.

Sometime on Monday, we're not sure if it was when my parents were loading up their car and had the front door open, or when we had the back door open because we were self-cleaning the oven, one of our cats got out. We weren't too concerned, she's snuck out before and usually hangs out in the neighbors yard until she wants to come inside. Then she scares the living daylights out of us by jumping onto our bedroom screens in the middle of the night.

Tuesday came and went, no Snickers. By Tuesday evening we were starting to get concerned, so my oldest and I walked up and down our street asking the neighbors if they had seen her. I had visions of the neighbor dog mauling her, an owl getting her, or her being hit by a car (we did drive around the neighborhood and there were not kitty carcasses so that eased my mind a bit).

On Wednesday we went online and filled out a form that would be sent to all of the animal shelters in the area, with a picture of Snickers and her microchip #. By this time my husband and I had resigned ourselves to the fact that Snickers had either died or someone had found her and took her in. The kids were pretty sad, we got her as a 6 week old kitten, she was found after she and her litter mates were dumped on the side of the road, and she's been part of this family for almost 4 years. Even our other cat, Sampson, seemed mopey and sad.

Wednesday night at 10 pm, just as my Netflix show was ending, I heard a faint "meow". Almost immediately our German Shorthaired Pointer, Otto, ran too the door wagging his tail. Sampson got up off the couch and ran to the door too. As I was getting up I heard a series of "MEOW, MEOW, MEOW" right at the door, how dare I leave that poor cat outside while she obviously wanted in. When I opened the door Snickers walked right past me to the food bowl. Typical cat behavior, here we were worried and she didn't even care, all she wanted was food.Still, we went to bed happy knowing that she was safe and nothing bad had happened.

This morning, as we were getting up, we heard excited little feet coming down the stairs. Elise, our youngest, came into our room carrying Snickers in her arms and the look on Elise's face was priceless. Totally melted my heart. She was so happy to get her "Snicky Licky" back and couldn't stop smiling and giggling. The boys were excited too. Snickers does the "bed shuffle" at night. She sleeps with every child for a portion of the night and the boys really missed that.

As of right now Snickers is still sleeping in one of the kids rooms so whatever she was doing outside really tired her out. Hopefully she won't get outside again.

Soreness is here and "real" life is returning

On Wednesday I got the go ahead to move up to 50% weight bearing and ever since my right leg has not been happy.  I was quite the sight on Thursday morning when I was really hobbling around the house and the physical therapy clinic muttering "ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch". Thankfully the soreness, and stiffness in my ankle and foot, is getting much better as my leg adjusts to being used again. It's really weird but I almost feel as if my right leg is longer than my left, however when I look in the mirror I look even, and I have noticed that the feeling is going away the more I use my leg. I guess I'll find out at the end of March if my leg is uneven. (I hope not!).

My x-ray pictures were pretty impressive and my surgeon was thrilled with my progress. The reason my surgeon likes the Biomet Distal Femur Compress is because it saves bone by putting counter pressure on the end of the femur which, ultimately, encourages bone growth and keeps it strong. According to my x- rays my bone is already starting to grow wider and thicker along the end of the implant. The humerus bone that they placed along the length of my femur and implant to stabilize everything is starting to mold into my femur. See, all of that hobbling and gym time have really helped with my healing, even when certain people (ahem long suffering husband) thought I was crazy.

Speaking of gym time... I have managed to PR on my bench press and am progressing very nicely with my upper body lifts. I have missed going to the gym and am really happy that even though I haven't been going to the gym consistently the past year or so I haven't lost much strength.

Another exciting thing happened this week. I finally got to see Wicked!!  Sorry for the picture quality, it was taken by cell phone. Our seats were all the way at the top and the staff was worried about my being able to go up the steps but I made it. The seating was a bit tight and I had to maneuver myself around to get comfortable with my leg but it was well worth it. It was an awesome show.

Last but not least my parents are (finally) leaving tomorrow. They've been a huge help with everything but now that I'm able to drive again they are going back to Oregon. It's going to be weird, we've had visitors since the beginning of January and it's going to seem so quiet and weird. I have a feeling that between the kids after school activities, guitar lessons and practice, and soccer we'll be too busy to notice things being too weird and quiet at home.

Hard to believe its been 6 weeks

Tomorrow is the big day. If my x-rays look good I will go to 50% weight bearing and then, hopefully, in 4 weeks I will get rid of the crutches for good. It's kind of hard for me to wrap my head around. Everyone keeps asking me if I'm excited but honestly it's really hard for me to get excited about anything regarding my leg. It seems like the past 18 months have been a constant stream of excitement and then major letdown so my mind is preparing itself for the possibility that something could be wrong tomorrow. I know, I know. I should think positive but it's hard (imagine me saying this in a whiny voice).

On a more positive note I think that my surgeon will be pleased with my progress. As of last Wednesday my range of motion was 112, I've had no issues with riding either the recumbent or conventional bike, and I can keep my leg straight when lifting it straight up in the air. I'm also back to regular weightlifting at the gym and I have lost a few pounds.

Perfect Song

I love this song so much. It's a must share.

Update on my goals

A few weeks ago I wrote about my goals for this year. While I haven't been able to get a huge head start on my goals for the year I'd like to think I'm moving in the right direction.

I've been lifting heavy upper body weights at the gym. I still feel a long way off from being able to do a dead hang pull-up a lot of my upper body strength was preserved by using crutches the past 19 months.

Since joining the Facebook weight loss group I have lost some weight, my clothes fit differently and there are definite changes when I look in the mirror. Since I'm on one crutch it's a bit hard to figure out how much I weigh, since the scale won't settle on one particular weight I have to guestimate. However, I'm not going to obsess about the scale, or a certain number, I'm using it as a tool to satisfy my curiosity. My goals of strength and crossing the finish line at various events are much more important than a number or a certain size.

Speaking of crossing the finish line.... I had a conversation with one of the physical therapists last week about my goal of doing the Austin Livestrong 5k walk. He told me that in his opinion I would have issue no with training or walking a 5k, as long as I get off crutches soon so I have time to train. Just in case, I hobbled 1/3 a mile this past weekend with two crutches and 1 leg. It took me about an hour, but I did it. I hope I don't need to hobble 5k, but just in case it's better to be prepared.