As a result, I missed out on a Hen’s party that night since I was hunched over like a grandma (with a dirtier mouth), and I wouldn’t have been much fun. The entire weekend was spent pretty much doing nothing, and I don’t do well doing nothing. Thankfully C was home to keep me entertained, otherwise I think I would have ripped my hair out. As it was, I did end up plucking a bit of hair out, but not from me. My black dog had managed to get some white hairs, and they were bugging me.

Please don’t call PETA.

During the weekend, I got the chance to learn some things that had never been quite apparent to me before now.

• Despite having a sore back, our couch is still amazingly comfortable
• The toilet is not
• It’s amazing how heavy a frying pan or laptop can be when it hurts to stand straight
• It’s amazing how much of a pussy you feel when you realise you just thought the frying pan was heavy
• It’s not fun explaining to people that you hurt your back from painting your toenails. I’ve made a mental note that in the future I will  be telling people I hurt myself jumping out of a plane while wrestling a great white shark with my feet. Oh yeah, hardcore (I will also leave it up to people to figure out how a great white came to be in the sky).

What’s the silliest injury you’ve ever had?

Related posts:

1. Day 3 K/R – tired and sore

And then this happened:

Last Thursday I was unlucky enough to bust my knee during a game of Netball. I’m not sure what happened exactly, if it dislocated or not, but it felt like my knee went one way and my body went another. Long story short and two days later I am on crutches with a big puffy knee that I can’t put much pressure on.

Three months later, it was followed by this:

My knee just after my knee reconstruction surgery

That was in December of 2008. After 2.5 years I’m finally making my way back to the netball court, under the blessings of my physio. I should point out this is also NOT under the blessings of my sister or one of my best mates. I believe their statements were along the lines of “you’re a dickhead”.

I won’t lie to you all. I’m scared, very scared. I don’t want to hurt myself, and I know that I run the risk of doing so by stepping back onto the court. Realistically though, every single person who partakes in any sport is taking a risk, and it would be foolish to believe otherwise. I’ve been doing my exercises and I’ve put in the hard yards with the physio. My body is as ready as it’s ever going to be.

I’ll also confess and say that it wasn’t my idea to get back out there. Truth be told, I probably wouldn’t be out there if C hadn’t asked me to join his team. I’ve had a few offers from friends and I’ve turned them down because it was easy to ignore them, but when C challenged me I accepted. He’d timed it perfectly.

I’ve had the craving to play again before but I’d always been able to push the thought to the back of my mind. A few weeks ago I watched the final between Australia and New Zealand, and was literally standing in the middle of the living room screaming at the defence to get an intercept. I felt the rush of the game come flooding back, and I wanted to play. C saw that, asked, and I accepted. I know I’m not doing this under any pressure from him at all, I’m going back because I want to. I’m scared, but I’m also nervously excited.

The most important thing is that I need to have realistic expectations for myself so I don’t get frustrated. I need to understand and accept that I’m not going to be as fast as I used to be, or that I won’t be able to move my feet as quickly as I could. I need to realise that it’s OK that I’m going to be afraid on the court the first time, and that I won’t be playing like a superstar (not that I ever did in the first place). I can only do my best and be proud of myself for being brave enough to get out there. I’m not sure how I’ll respond when I get out there; whether I’ll be afraid of people coming near me or if I’ll just stay rooted to the same spot for fear of moving. I might also go to the completely opposite end of the scale, and feel my competitive nature come flooding back as I play harder than I’ve ever played before.

I believe there will be some huge benefits in it for me. By playing again and seeing that my knee holds up I won’t be afraid of doing a fitness test anymore, one that I’ve been putting off for about a year now. That more than anything has really held me back; it’s the dark black thought niggling at the back of my mind saying “you’re afraid, you’re so pathetic, you’re afraid”. It’s true; I’ve been afraid to put my knee under the strain of the test, which meant that I wasn’t able to apply for the police service (I need to pass the beep test as part of the application process). My physio believes that while my knee is ready to return, he thinks I’ll psych myself out. I think that once again he’s spot on. Time to be brave and overcome my fears.

Wish me luck. I’m afraid, but I’m excited.

Kelsbells the netballer is back.

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I blame it on the hotel room bed where Mat and I slept following my Christmas work party. I awoke that morning with a sore lower back (having a spa didn’t fix it, but at least the spa was nice) and despite stretching it every hour the pain never went away. Then later that night I simply stepped the wrong way and boom, back pain extending down my leg to my knee. Not good.

A visit to the Chiro this morning and I was finally able to stand up straight again. The pain hasn’t gone away, but at least I’m vertical. My instructions are to keep icing it for 10mins on, 10mins off for an hour. I have been doing it for longer since the ice makes my back feel good.

It’s annoying though. My friends have pointed out I’m the most injured person they know, and I’m still young. It’s a valid point though; I’m going to be screwed when I get older and my bones deteriorate.

I also have a family Christmas function on tomorrow which I was really hoping to attend. I guess I will see how it goes.

I hope you’re all having a better weekend than I am!

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Monday I had noticed my knee was a little swollen, and a little bit sore. To be safe, I didn’t go for a run and didn’t ride my bike to work. Yet when I arrived at the physio’s this morning he immediately noticed the swelling (I actually thought it had gone down). He tapped my knee cap and showed me the difference between my bad knee and my good knee. It turned out the knee cap in my bad knee was actually floating around in fluid – wow! Then he set to work on my muscles, and I cried. It felt like someone had grabbed my muscle, twisted it as tight as possible, and then tried to pull it out of my body. To say the experience was horrific would be an understatement. I will be sure to post photos of the bruises that come up. I bruise normally after sessions with him, but I wouldn’t be surprised if these ones come out completely black.

So for the next week I’m not allowed to do any running, or any riding. I have to keep it up when I can, and take it easy. Oh, and do hamstring stretches. Lots and lots of hamstring stretches.

While normally I would be fine with that, and accept it as part of my rehab, the reality is that it’s bloody annoying. I’m only 1.5 weeks away from participating in a 14km walk/run in Sydney, the City 2 Surf. I wanted to run this year, and in fact had signed up for one of the running sections. Now all of that is in jeopardy, and I’m frustrated. I’ll be meeting with the physio again next Thursday, the day before we fly to Sydney. He will tell me if he thinks running will be a good idea or not, and I will ignore him if he says I can’t. Kidding, I won’t ignore him (he IS the expert after all) but if he says I can’t run then I know I will be incredibly disappointed.

I’m going to listen to the expert, keep my leg up, and pray. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

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My knee/leg 7 days after surgery

First off – I don’t think my leg looks very glamorous lying on the couch. It reminds me of a chicken leg haha. Also, the keyboard, mice and iphone cable were in the picture since I took the photo sitting where I work during the day *grin* The cable was being held my knee while I took the picture.

Compared to day 2, there is more blood in the top wound, and the blood has dried in all 3 (hence the dark colour). The bottom left wound has amazingly spread out a fair bit, but as you can tell there’s not that much blood in that one, it was more just seepage than anything else. It’s also the most itchy of all of them, so perhaps it’s scabbing over already.

You may be able to see the bruise extending up my shin as well?? It’s a slight yellow colour.

Other than that, same ol’ same ol’! This time next week I’ll be posting a picture with the patches off, and all scars revealed…stay tuned!

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Not much has changed under the bandages – there’s a little bit more blood perhaps, but other than that it still looks like the same old skin sewn together. Boring!! I should take another picture so you can see the difference after a week; I’ll remember to do that tomorrow. It just looks like it’s all spread out within the patches, so when they come off it’s going to spill everywhere!! I’ll have to remember to wear shorts to the hospital so I don’t get my jeans caked in the stuff.

Today started off absolutely terrible, but ended up pretty great. First thing I did this morning was swing my leg out of bed, as if it was completely normal. I would say it had to do with habit, and it actually didn’t hurt until it hit the floor and the blood trickled down my leg. My shin and calf muscles have become increasingly painful to walk on, and my calf has even begun cramping a little. This is probably due to the fact that my leg has been elevated SO much, and iced so much, that when I put my foot down to start walking I don’t really give my muscles a chance to get some blood in them. I’ll just have to make sure I really focus on stretching out my leg tonight.

Anyhow, after I got out of bed and did my morning ritual (ex-shower, only loo, wash face, and let Turbo outside) I went back into the bedroom to get my water bottle. Putting the top in my mouth (my attempt to “carry it”) I headed to the kitchen. Just as I reached the tiled surface, BANG. I dropped the water bottle, it cracked (it was a hard plastic) and water went EVERYWHERE. Mat hadn’t gotten home from poker until midnight, so the last thing I wanted to do was wake him up. Instead I got a towel, slung it over my shoulder and went back to the kitchen, then used the crutches to mop up the mess.

I also had a killer of a headache, which I had associated with sleeping wrong. It turned out later it had a lot to do with the setup of my “workstation” in the living room. Lying on couch with my foot up I was spending every day looking to my left to the computer monitor so I could work. In hindsight it wasn’t the greatest of ideas. I’ve now switched position to the chaise, and will alternate it during the day so I’m not constantly looking in the same direction. I took some panadol, then during a phone conference I had this morning, laid down with an ice pack on my head. I don’t know if I was still tired, or it was the fact I was closing my eyes to block out any form of light lest I irritate my headache any more, or (more likely) the technical babble during the meeting was as boring as batshit, but I’m pretty sure I dozed off during the meeting. It would have only been for a few minutes at most, and what they were discussing was way over my head. I’m pretty sure no one missed me. The most amazing part of it all was that I was able to pick it up at the end, make some amazing points and summarise the outcome to my boss (who was also in the meeting – perhaps he fell asleep too). One of the other staff members who works from home skyped me to tell me she’d almost fallen asleep as well, so definitely not only me.

During the meeting I received a phone call on my mobile from my chiro – apparently I had an appointment this morning but they were half expecting I wouldn’t show. They thought it would have slipped my mind because I’d had a big week – CORRECT. We rescheduled for 11.30am, as I was desperate to see her to sort my neck out. When I arrived, she found the trouble spot on my neck and CRACK, instant relief. Headache was almost gone although the remnants hung around for a few more hours, possibly due to the muscle strain in my neck. Nothing a good massage can’t fix. It also turned out the receptionist at my chiro played netball on a Wednesday night at the same centre we do, and was actually in the opposing team when Mat went down with his shoulder dislocation! She hadn’t realised it was me until I left for the hospital with him. Small world.

Rest of the afternoon was uneventful. I played in the backyard with Turbo for about 5mins. Basically I picked up his toy hamburger, threw it down the lawn which he raced after, then I slowly crutched over to him. He ran away, I followed, he ran away again, I followed again. Went like that for a few minutes until he tired of how slow I was, and laid down in the grass. Fine – I can take a hint!!!

So now you know how exciting (not) my days are, I think it’s best I post blogs just weekly from this point; unless you’re really fascinated by my “keep leg up, sook a bit about how sore I am, get bored, blog about it” stories??  I’ll be sure to add some more pictures once the stitches are out and we’ll see just how awesome my scars are going to be!!

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Overnight was a disaster. He couldn’t sleep, he was nervous and excited and was like he had ants in his pants. I don’t think he managed half an hour of sleep. I had managed to go to bed without taking any painkillers because I was feeling good, but Mat woke me up at 1.30am to tell me he couldn’t sleep (I had moved my arms in my sleep and he thought it meant I was awake). From when I woke up I felt my leg aching, and couldn’t get back to sleep. After a little bit, Mat offered to get my painkillers which I reluctantly accepted. 20mins later I was dead to the world again. Not so for poor Mat – he spent the night trying to listen to music on the ipod in bed, getting up and watching tv, and purely lying in bed, but he just could not get back to sleep.

Mat left at 6.30am as he had to be at our friend’s place (he was going in a car with them) at 7, and they had to be in Tweed Heads by 10 (11am NSW time – we lose an hour when crossing the border). He kissed me goodbye and left, and still feeling a bit drugged up I soon fell back asleep. That was pretty much how my morning went – wake up, stare for about 5mins, go back to sleep. I eventually got up and moved into the living room, where I found Mat had set up an additional chair at the home PC for me, so I could “mix it up” and play some games during the day.

I started the home pc, while I made myself some vegemite on toast. Using the path of kitchen > desk, I managed to eat breakfast while playing on the computer. However, having one leg up on another chair meant that I was slightly twisted towards the computer, and it wasn’t very comfortable for long periods of time. I lasted an hour at the desk, then moved to the couch again. From there, the day purely existed as sleep – twitter – read – sleep – drink – twitter – read – sleep and so on. Very uneventful.

At one point I was concerned about the bruising on my shin, and a slight swelling of my foot, but upon googling it it appears it’s a common symptom post surgery. All I know is my shin is damn painful to touch, so I might start icing that area as well over the next few days. I’ll be phoning the hospital tomorrow as well just to confirm they’ve booked me in to see the surgeon and get my stitches out, so if it’s any worse tomorrow I’ll just mention it on the fly to the person on the phone and see if they think there’s any cause for concern. Otherwise it can just wait until I see the surgeon next week.

Up until dinner time, I’d managed the day fine by myself. I wanted to wash the dishes though, but I was having problems standing for long periods of time today (making a cup of tea was bad enough) so decided it would just have to wait for Mat. I”ll apologise like mad, but I really just didn’t feel like I was up for it today. Even thinking about cooking dinner I felt defeated. I discussed it with Pauline, and given my options were corn chips (my “easy option” lunch which I’m ashamed of), toast, or some pasta that I wasn’t sure how to cook and would require a fair bit of getting up and down, I decided I would wave the white flag and call my mother.

I rang and asked if she would mind coming over to cook me dinner, and immediately wished I hadn’t. I think I was tired and just wanted a “sure I’ll come over now”, and for her to come and just make it. I didn’t want to have to think about it. Instead, I was bombarded with questions of “what did I want” and “what shops were open” and “what food do you have in the house”. When she suggested making me scrambled eggs I gave up and just said not to worry about it – I would just make myself some toast. I guess I just felt that for her to come all the way over and to just cook scrambled eggs was a bit of a let down. Very unfair of me, but I blame it on the fact I was spoilt earlier in the week when she brought over her amazing lasagne *grin* Speaking of which, Mat had eaten the rest of it about 11.30pm last night.

After we hung up, she rung back twice to make sure I’d managed to make the toast. I was actually still on the couch watching the QLD Roar match, and told her I hadn’t even attempted it yet. I assured her that I would be fine making toast (as I’d made it earlier), and relieved she hung up. She also said that she had been thinking of calling me and seeing if I wanted to go for a drive just to get out of the house, but given how sore and achy I was today it was probably best that she didn’t.

Now I’m on the couch writing this post, having just taken some painkillers before bed. It’s the first time I’ve written my daily summary on the actual day, and I’m not sure what inspired me to write it now. It’s 1020pm, and Mat’s just rung to tell me they’re finally leaving Tweed Heads. He should get here around midnight or a bit later, so in essence he’s been awake for about 36 hours straight now. He’s going to be SHATTERED when he gets home. Since I’m so comfortable on the couch now, I think I’ll just sleep here until he gets home. Actually, I think I can feel the drugs starting to kick in, my entire leg just feels hot like fire, and my eyes are starting to close. Beats the usual dull ache I guess!!

Time to lay down and snooze for the 10th time today – night all!

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Mum also came over for a cup of tea in the morning, and we chatted for a bit. She bought over some mail for me which was the first bill from the hospital, damn they’re quick! I’ve got to call medicare and see what the process is, whether I pay outright and they pay me back, or if I can claim through them first then pay the difference etc. I’ll have to wait until Monday to contact them however.

I also decided today that I would make Sunday my productive day. I’m going to have to blog some ideas on things to do when you’re stuck on the couch (or bed), since I seemed to really be struggling for ideas. At the moment my “activities” range from sleeping on the couch, watching tv, reading a book, and incessantly checking twitter.

Other than that the day passed normally. No pain, a little bit of aching but nothing that required painkillers. I managed to shower without getting my patches wet, so that was awesome. Mat tends to think there’s a little bit more blood within the patches, but it’s not much so I would assume at this point there’s nothing to be concerned about. It looks as though I’m really starting to fall into a pattern with my leg – laziness!

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And once again, hero Mat comes to the rescue. He wakes up and realises I am sitting up rubbing my knee. Without a complaint, he went and got my painkillers for me, made sure I had everything I needed, then went back to sleep. I took a painkiller and attempted to read rss feeds on my phone but before too long the drugs had kicked in and my head started drooping. I put the phone away and settled down to sleep for another few hours.

Today was also an important day work wise. We were trying to get a beta software version built so we could release it to some customers for testing over the Christmas break. My particular role was to make sure the release notes were done, and test the install once built. Let me assure you, they were both extremely hard tasks to do with a fuzzy head.

About mid-morning after release note writing, I excused myself from the staff meeting and had a sleep instead. My head was spinning, I felt a little nauseous, not good. I slept for an hour or so, and felt so much better afterwards.

That’s pretty much how the day went. Work, get tired, nap. Work, get tired, nap. I have also found it’s easier for me to get flustered with work – I can only focus on one thing at a time. It might be environmental though, working from a couch doesn’t really encourage productivity. I’m sure it will pass when I return to the office in the new year.

Today I really suffered from boredom as well. You can only really sit in the same spot on the couch for so long. I passed the time by stirring Mat and sleeping, but really struggled when I was working. Motivation wasn’t there, and I just wanted to see something different than our living room. My prayers were answered when my mate Adam rang to see if Mat and I were interested in coming round and chilling at their house.

Mat hadn’t driven a manual since doing his shoulder, as it was his left that he had injured – his gear shifting arm. But since we wanted to go to Adam and Chere’s, we would need transportation and he decided to give it a try. He was able to change gears, and although it hurt in the beginning his arm seemed to free up more and more. It was still aching when we got home later though, so we immediately put some ice on it.

So tomorrow, being a weekend and no work to do, will be a challenge in finding exciting things to do to keep myself occupied. My sister’s mate came through with a suggestion I should finish rating all my music in iTunes, which Is a killer idea!! Stay tuned for my announcement when I finally do it (600 songs to go so probably within *checks watch* 8 hours?? Yes that’s how bored I am!).

Related posts:

1. 5 things I have learned while having a sore back

As you can possibly tell already, I’ve felt much more positive today. The day started with Mat getting up at 6.30am (earlier than he does normally) to totally re-set up my work computer in the living room so I can sit on a different part of the couch. I can get myself on and off the couch a lot easier now, which has made me a lot happier. It was so kind of him to get up and do that (I hadn’t asked mind you), I’m so so SO grateful for his help. After he had set that up for me, and I’d done some work for an hour or so (yeah that’s right – work!!) I decided I would challenge myself to get a cup of tea without having to wake up Mat. Normally this requires making the tea on the kitchen bench, walking to the couch and sitting down. Given my hands are full with the arms of my crutches, it wasn’t going to be that simple. Here’s, how I accomplished it:

Path taken by myself and the cup of tea from the starting point of the kitchen bench, to my sitting on the couch sipping on tea

Damn right – I used Microsoft paint and rainbow colours. That’s what boredom will do to you (plus I thought it was funny).

Phase 1 – Red. Making my cup of tea, and moving it to the edge of the kitchen bench. During this phase Mat woke up, heard me fiddling in the kitchen and immediately rose. He asked what I was doing, I played innocent and didn’t turn around, and simply said “nothing!” He huffed and went into the bathroom, so I offered him a cup of tea (although he would have had to get it himself after I’d made it haha).

Phase 2 – Orange. I didn’t draw the fridge in my picture, whoops. It’s to the right of the kitchen bench. So standing in front of the fridge, I balanced on my good leg and transferred the cup of tea from the bench to the edge of the desk.

Phase 3 – Yellow. This stage was easy – slide the cup down to the end of the desk next to the couch.

Phase 4 – Green. Me crutching around the living room to get settled on the couch in the corner next to the desk. I love our couch – so big and comfortable, except when you have a busted knee and try to sit on the chaise. See previous points about Mat changing so I am sitting on a different part of the couch now.

Phase 5 – Blue. Simply turning around on the couch, picking up my tea, and sipping it. SUCCESS!!

I was so proud of myself by achieving that this morning, I think I told everyone I almost spoke to about it. How sad!! But it was a small victory in regaining my independence, so I’m still stoked. I haven’t really attempted much else in the way of getting myself drinks/food since Mat’s been up since then, and wouldn’t let me lift a finger.

I also got to take my bandages off today, so I got my first view of what to expect in the way of scars.

The wounds on my knee covered with patches

Because of all the dried blood (or seepage) under the patches, I can’t really tell where there are stitches. I’m positive there’s some in the middle area, the darkest one running horizontal. It’s too long a cut not to have something holding it closed. For the one in the top left, I think I can see maybe one or two, but I don’t think there’s any in the cut bottom right. If you look at it through drug hazed eyes like my own, all of the cuts combined could almost be a retarded percentage symbol, or division symbol.

I took the bandages off about lunch time, then had to place them back over the top to hide it from Mat, as it tended to make him feel sick looking at it. He’s not real big on blood (yet as I type this he’s watching some dodgy horror movie about killer sheep?! Oh look, a sheep just ate someone’s intestines again). About 6.30pm tonight I decided it was time to go for the next major challenge, which was to have a shower. The hospital had given me some waste disposal bags to cut up so I could use to wrap around my knee and keep it watertight. (WTF?! There’s alien looking things in Mat’s horror movie now). I wrapped up my knee, and with Mat’s help taped it tight.

It took about half an hour from the time I started strapping my knee, to the time I was completely dried and on the couch again. Only about 10mins of that was physical water running time (c’mon – I washed my hair too, I’m normally waterwise). The rest was tiny baby steps working my way into the bathroom, getting in/out of the shower, and getting changed. What a mission! I’m yet to figure out a way to get out of the shower that doesn’t totally hurt, as we have a small step up out of the shower. I’ve also got to work on my strapping technique, since my knee was saturated. On the bright side of things, it meant I was able to wash a lot of the betadine off.

I also took a painkiller today about lunchtime, when my knee was aching a bit. Big mistake. I think I could have held off for a lot longer (OMG – a sheep just pulled off the guy’s penis is Mat’s horror movie. Has anyone seen Black Sheep? Don’t). After I took the painkiller it probably took about an hour to kick in, but from that point on I was a write off. I couldn’t focus, I couldn’t think straight, I felt like what I can only imagine a drugged up junkie would feel after taking a hit. I sat and stared on the couch, I was in between sleeping and being fully conscious. It was shit!! I’m definitely only taking them if I need to before going to sleep for the night. Other than that – I don’t want to feel like that again…I like being in control. I managed to chat to a few people online, and open some files for work, but didn’t accomplish anything worthwhile.

So the aims for tomorrow – get into a regular routine for my exercises the physio gave me (I’ll post full details tomorrow), and manage to have a shower with a dry knee afterwards. Anything else I can achieve will be a bonus, and I’ll try to keep my positive attitude going. After all, there’s a helluva lot of people worse off than me, I should be thankful. And I’ve got a LOT of things to be thankful for! See ya tomorrow!

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7.20am – arrived at the hospital, handed a form and asked to sit down. I fill it out, and end up causing the lady at the hospital all sorts of extra work as my medicare number was different to the one they had listed. She had to re-print labels with my details, and apply about 15 labels to different page in my file. Just sitting here waiting for someone to come and get me now. 

8.00am – They came and got me, and took me to a room to get changed. This is where I had to say goodbye, and I actually started feeling a little sad. He looked so worried, and said he loved me about 5 times *grin* It was such a hasty goodbye, I felt bad. But I was ushered into a room, handed two gowns – purple and white – with the purple going on first (opening at the back) and white (over the top, opening at the front). I was also handed some very sexy white paper undies that I had to wear. I was so nervous I bumped into a trolley, and the nurse and I laughed. She had to shave my leg with an electric razor (I’d been too worried to shave myself in case I got a shaving cut. Any cuts on the area to be operated on would cause them to cancel the surgery). She then caked my leg in betadine, and covered it with a cloth taped to my leg. After that, we went into an interview room where she checked with me about 5 times if I was positive it was my right leg. I was weighed, blood pressure tested, and questioned about any allergies, metal parts in my body (e.g. piercings, screws etc). A compression sock was put on my left leg to ensure no blood cloths formed during the period of inactivity. I was then sent to the waiting room for all the patients. I was given a reclining chair and told to put my leg up, and to put a blanket on. Keeping warm would relax all my veins etc.

9.30am – i had been waiting in there for an hour and a half. I actually spent the time sleeping – not sure why I’m so tired. My name was finally called, and we walked into another room. I went to the loo again (nerves kicking in), and asked my name and date of birth, and confirmed my hospital bracelet matched my records (for my UR number). I would be questioned on my name and date of birth every time I met someone new from that point on – going into surgery, getting painkillers after etc. They were very thorough. In this new room, I was also asked again on whether I was absolutely positive about whether it was the right knee. I actually started getting worried, racking my brain to make sure there was nothing I’d forgotten.

9.45am – They checked for any allergies again, then lying on a bed I was wheeled into the anaesthesiasts room (she called it her “fridge”). She explained it was kept cold to ensure the surgeons didn’t warm up and start to sweat (bacteria). They put the catheter in my hand, then I was left there for a bit while they finished setting up. The surgeon came in and greeted me, double checked the leg, then drew a nice big arrow on my leg to point out which knee it was. 

10.00am – they put in the general anaesthetic, and wheeled me into the surgery. I moved myself onto the table, then vaguely remember talking to one of the surgeon’s about jager bombs, then I was out of it. I have no memory of the surgery at all.

11.30 – apparently I arrive in the ward. I have no recollection.

12.00 – 5.00pm – I managed to wake up in little bursts, eat a little bit of food and post twitter updates, before crashing heavily again. Each time I woke up it was because the nurses were checking my blood pressure, pulse and temperature.  I really can’t remember much over this time.

5.30pm – Mum arrives with a nice candle thing for a present, and some chocolates. It’s great to see a familiar face, and she fusses over me trying to make sure I’m set up and everything is within reach. Very nice of her. She stays for about an hour and a half just chatting, and helps me eat my dinner. I can’t stand pumpkin, so she eats it for me (after I spend about 15mins trying to convince her to eat it). It took me about an hour to eat my dinner, and I only finished a breadroll, about 3/4 of my cheese omlette, mashed potato and beans. It was cold by the time I really started to get into it, but it tasted so good! Mum also bought me a bottle of water and diet coke, the diet coke being a lifesaver in helping my stomach settled. Mat calls and tells me he can’t find a way to get into the hospital – he can’t drive because he dislocated his arm the Thursday before, and our closest mates are busy, we didn’t dare ask anyone else. Mum offered, but it would be approximately a 1hr round drive for her between picking him up, coming back to the hospital, dropping him home, then going home again. I tell her not to worry about it. Mat’s upset he can’t come, but we both understand the circumstances, and it’s not that big a deal to me. Mum also takes a photo of my leg.

My knee hours after the surgery

7.00pm – Get up for the first time to go to the toilet. They offered to let me use some rolling thing, but said I’d be fine with crutches. I’m a bit wobbly, but I get there. On the toilet I make the mistake of flexing my hamstring and almost scream out in pain. Made a mental note to ensure I didn’t flex my hamstring again. Make it back to bed with no more issues. Because I stupidly brought top & bottom pyjamas, I end up being given a hospital dressing gown to wear to bed, totally sexy. I was given some heavy painkillers to go with my dinner, and try as hard as I can I can’t stay awake once I reach the bed again. I tell Mum I’m going to fall asleep, so she may as well go home, kiss her goodbye and she’s on her way. I think I’m asleep before she’s even left the room. 

8.30pm – wake again, and this time I manage to stay awake to actually remember what I’m doing. I start reading my book, as well as watch some tv and more twitter updates. Mat comes online on msn, and we chat for about an hour or so. The nurses are mighty impressed by the iphone and IM abilities. 

10pm – the lady down the end has resumed snoring very very loudly. I praise the lord that I thought to bring my ipod with me so I can drown out her sound. I haven’t yet found a powerpoint to charge my iphone, so using the ipod allows me to save the iphone’s batteries. Just as I start to watch good news week I’m presented with some more painkillers. The nurse also informs me I’m meant to be wearing a knee brace, so she locates one for me and we put it on. I last until about 1/2 way through the podcast, then I’m knocked out again courtesy of the painkillers.

10.30 – 2am (second day) – I wake up to hear the lady snoring, and change my ipod to play music with 1/2 hour timer. I wake up periodically, and reset the ipod to play again. I should have just let it play overnight. At 2am I wake up and wonder if they had taken my blood pressure, temperature and pulse at midnight like they said they would. I think it actually looks light outside my curtain, check my iphone to see what time it is, realise its 2am and go back to sleep. 

6am (second day) – wake up with the nurse inserting more antibiotics through the catheter (I’d been disconnected from the IV drip last night after my first trip to the loo). She also checks my pulse, blood pressure and temperature. The other nurse walks past and sees I’m awake, and tells me I was dead to the world last night at midnight when she came to check on me. We laugh, and I told her I hope I wasn’t too painful to navigate my limbs so she could do the necessary tests. She assures me I was fine. She asked about my ipod (because I had that playing in my ears), and I explain I’d been watching good news week then some music. She tells me she absolutely loves that show and never realised it was available as a podcast. She has a new nano, so I inform her on where to find it in the iTunes store.

7am (second day) – breakfast arrives, and I down a wholemeal breadroll with butter & strawberry jam, apple juice, and banana. I try to stay awake, but I’m soon fast asleep again, damn painkillers.

8am (second day) – the surgeron comes in with a couple of aids, and checks on my knee. It turns out I don’t need the brace as he didn’t have to make any repairs to my meniscus cartilage (which is good). He said they’d had a look around with the camera, and my ligament was completely torn….far out! He said the surgery went perfectly, and he’s really happy with the results. He tells me I need to come back and see him in 2 weeks to get the stitches out. They’re dissolvable, so if I’m wussy I can leave them in (they’ll fall out as they’re on the outside), but I said I’m tough and will see him then. 

8.30am (second day) – time for a shower. The nurse takes my catheter out of my hand, and puts a cotton wool bud over it (taped down). Using the crutches I work my way in where the nurse has already dropped my bag off. She’s placed a seat in the shower for me, but I prefer to stand. In the end the seat is totally in the way, so I pick it up and put it on the other side of the shower curtain. I find I can actually put some weight on my leg, which is great. The rest of the shower is uneventful. I manage not to get much water on my bandage courtesy of the tremendous wrapping job by the nurse – plastic bag over my knee and taped down. I get changed, and I’m stoked when I realise my jeans will fit over my bandage.

10.30am (second day) – the physio was meant to arrive around 9am, but he’s running late. They’d rung him about 10am, and he only just showed up at half past. Luckily I’d arranged with Kim I’d call her before she made her way to the hospital to pick me up (she had her baby Hayden in the car so was easier for me to meet her downstairs). I find out the way my leg has been supported has been wrong, and that I need to keep my leg completely straight. I get lessons on walking with the crutches – I’m actually using them to walk with my leg – I’m not hopping. I also get given my exercises that I need to do over the next fortnight, consisting of straightening my leg (by flexing my quad), bending my knee (within pain boundaries), and moving my foot up & down. He writes my referral for my physio that I’d been seeing (Anthony Thomas at Physiocare – can’t recommend him enough, he’s fantastic!!) describing exactly what procedures had been done and his recommendations on what I need to do. 

11.30am (second day) – the physio is long gone, and we’ve been waiting for a wardie to come and collect me in a wheelchair to take me downstairs. Kim has arrived, and ended up having to go to a different carpark because I was still stuck upstairs. They wouldn’t let me go on my crutches, thought it was too far. I don’t think I’d have managed with all the bags I had anyway. In the end, a nurse went and found a wheelchair and wheeled me down herself. My painkillers to take home weren’t yet available from the pharmacy, so mum agreed to go and pick them up for me later on her way home. What a good mum I have!! 

2.05pm – I’m now at home with my leg elevated, and icepack on. Mat was home, and made me some lunch, got me a drink and set me all up with the computer. What a lovely boy. I’ve now typed up all the blog you’ve just read (if you made it this far congratulations are in order) and I’m absolutely knackered. I think it’s time to go have another nap in bed. Part of me wants to go to netball tonight to watch our team, but everyone is telling me I shouldn’t. Nevermind that we can’t get there *grin* Mum said she’ll be coming around tonight with a lasagne she made for us (how lucky am I!!) so I could try and convince her to take me *evil grin*. Obviously I’m not one of those people that can just stay at home and rest….I guess I’ll have to learn over the next fortnight. Bed time, ciou!

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I have had a moment where I pondered why I haven’t felt upset about it. Discussing this with a mate, she suggested maybe it was just because I understand that it simply needs to be done, I’ve accepted my fate and just got on with the business of organising it. I hope so, I’d hate to think that I’m bottling my emotions to a point where I can’t even detect them!

In the latest developments I’ve received letters in the mail confirming my pre-admission appointment with the anaesthesiologist (along with pages and pages of questions to answer) and my surgery date. Annoyingly, I can only call the day before my surgery (between 4 – 6pm) to find out what time I’m expected at the hospital. This really left it up in the air on arranging my transportation to the hospital. I had asked Mat’s sister to drop me off, but given she’s juggling a 9 month old baby and part time work, not being able to confirm a time earlier would really be inconvenient for her. She’s insisted that she can still possibly take me (depending on the time of course), but I told her not to worry about it. Instead, I’ll drop Mat off at work in the morning so I have the car, then pick him up just before I’m due at the hospital and get him to drop me off, before he takes the car back to work with him. The hospital is only 20mins return drive from his work, and it means we don’t have to pay parking (if I was to just drive myself to the hospital and leave the car there for the day until he picked it up later that night).

A letter attached to my surgery confirmation advised that any of the following in the operative area could possibly void my surgery booking due to the risk of post-operative infection:

• Pimples
• Ulcers
• Sunspots
• Rashes
• Animal scratches
• Gardening & lawn mowing cuts
• Mosquito & sandfly bites

In other words, no playing with Turbo (just in case) and no mowing the lawn (oh I’m devastated – sarcasm rating 10). The letter also states to care for my skin prior to surgery I should shower with an antiseptic soap two days prior to admission. No worries, can handle that.

I then began to read my Pre-Admission confirmation letter, and that’s when I started to get nervous. I was required to bring all the accompanying documentation (the bazillions of questionnaires, to exaggerate a little), medicare card, MRI scan and X-Rays, and the words *drum role* A URINE SAMPLE!! What the hell?!

I have to go and buy a little container for the pure aim of capturing my urine, and transporting it to the hospital. That’s going to be great fun! I’m going to be so nervous that it might leak, so I’ll be reluctant to put it in my bag, but where else am I going to put it? The cup holders (renamed to urine holders)? I’m going to look like an alco, because I’ll sure as heck have the urine sample in a paper brown bag, attempting to disguise it in a way that everyone will know what it is as soon as I walk in with it. The last time I was asked to provide a urine sample was when I saw the doctor for a checkup, and he wanted to check if I was pregnant. I declined in that instance, and a few years later I’m not pregnant. Ha!

It will be interesting to go shopping for such a container – where am I going to find a suitable one? Chemist? “Excuse me, do you sell urine sample containers?” I’ll be bright red from blushing as I ask. Who thought I was brave and outgoing was wrong, cause I’m sweating just from thinking about asking that question. Do I just go to Woolies and look at their plasticware? It’s going to be a one use container, I’m surely not using it ever again. That’s if they give it back. Oh no – what if they actually give it back? I’ll have to take it home and empty it myself, yuk man. I know it’s only urine, but YUK! It can go in the bin whole, I won’t even bother worrying about emptying it in the loo. No way.

Just trying to fill the damn thing will be bad enough. I’m buying gloves. I don’t want any splashback, or any of it touching me if the container overflows. I’ll have to make sure I’m not busting when I go – I don’t want any power peeing or anything. Simple slow-flow pee to make sure I’m in total control during my “deposit”.

Ok enough ranting about the urine sample now (yuk). Other than that everything is pretty hunky dory. The money for the surgery is sitting in my bank account screaming at me “hellloooooo look how much money you have. Don’t you just wish it was for everyday spending? Aren’t I attractive? And youuuuu caaaannn’ttttt touchhhh me”. I hate it when money starts singing to you *frown* Evil thing.

Ok back to reality again. I’ve organised time off work for the two days I’m in the hospital, and I’ll be working from home the two weeks after that. On the 19th December our office then closes down for 3 weeks over the Christmas break, so all up it will be 5 weeks I’ll be able to rest at home – that’s fantastic. I haven’t heard from the Insurance Company yet as to whether they will cover my injury; I’ve sent the claim form along with information on how much I’ve already paid for physio. I also included a letter asking for some compassion to cover me, since I wasn’t aware that I was covered until the deadline had already passed. So at the moment it’s still up in the air on whether I will be paying for physio after the surgery, or if it’s covered. Geez I hope they agree to cover me, that would be a fantastic Christmas present!!

Now I’m going to go back to twiddling my thumbs until my appointment next week with my “apple juice” container…catcha!

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I found out from my old coach that I was actually covered by insurance from the netball centre, but it had been 2 months since the initial injury. It appeared you had to submit the forms within 30 days of the injury, so I rang the insurance company and explained that I hadn’t known about it. They said it should be ok, and that I would need to get the forms in ASAP. At the moment the form is with my doctor, as he was required to fill out a section on the injury, then I’m able to send it off. When I spoke to the insurance company on the phone, I got the impression they didn’t cover the gap between the total cost of the surgery and the medicare rebate, so at the moment I’m at least $2,000 out of pocket. I have paid $300 in physio fees already (after my health insurance pays their chunk), and the operation is going to cost $1700 (I got a loan to cover that bit, as I don’t really have that much money lying around at the moment). I would assume they would pay for my physio though, so at least that bit I don’t have to stress out about. With 2 months pre-surgery, and 9 months post-surgery physio the cost is really going to add up.

New type of anaesthetic

As previously mentioned I’ve gotten a loan to pay for the surgery. This meant I really had nothing holding me back from proceeding with the operation. I rang the hospital earlier this week and confirmed I was ready to go ahead, and received word today that my surgery will be on the 9th December – 3 weeks away. on the 2nd December I will be meeting with the anaesthesiologist to get a health checkup and discuss the anaesthetic method they will be using on me. I hope it’s a general and I’m completely knocked out, I don’t want to be awake for any part of it. Can you imagine? They pull out my hamstring, dangle it in front of me and say “woohoo check this out”. Yuk, no thanks.

Currently it’s all about preparing for for the operation. I’ve already had a million things run through my head, from who will be dropping me off and picking me up (I don’t want to put anyone out by making them spend the night there with me unnecessarily) to what I’m going to bring (iphone, clothes, the specific bag I will take so I can carry it easily while using crutches etc). Sad isn’t it? The worst part is I’m actually excited about the surgery. I want to get it over and done with so I can get the rehab done, and eventually not be restricted in what actions I can and can’t do. For example, I was at the gym over the weekend and had just finished 20mins of cycling. Knee felt fine, no worries there at all. Stood up, lifted my leg to climb off (as it was one of the seated ones with pedals out in front, not the normal bikes) and my knee let out a massive “CRACK” and pain shot through my leg. I limped over to the lockers and sat there massaging my knee for a little bit, stood up and it was all fine, like nothing had ever happened. I checked it with my physio this morning and apparently my cartilage had just gotten into a place where it shouldn’t have, so when I moved the crack was the cartilage going back into the correct position (aka nothing to worry about). I can’t wait until I don’t have to stress about getting off a bike.

So….let the count down begin. 20 days to go!

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Playing netball for my Thursday night Mix team, running to my left and step forward on my right leg. As I do so, I decide I need to go back to my right so twist my body to the right to go in that direction, however my right knee decides to continue going to the left, I feel a crack and fall onto my butt. Call time immediately so play is stopped.

Now it wasn’t painful, it just felt like something wasn’t right. It felt strange, and like a dull ache on the back of my knee. I was assisted off court by the guys and immediately applied ice to the back and right hand side of my knee, and the game went on without me. When I got home I continued icing it on and off for 20mins, and that night I slept with my leg elevated.

I can’t remember what week this happened, but I think the following day Mat had an RDO and came with me to the doctors. There, I was criticised and told it was just a sprain. For the full story click here.

18th September:

I had been using crutches for the first few days of my injury, but eventually tossed them away (being stubborn and all) and was just limping around on my leg. Every time it accidentally straightened, I would scream in pain. Something definitely wasn’t right. I decided I wanted a second opinion about my “so called sprained knee”, and starting hunting around for a sports doctor. The first few I tried were booked out for weeks in advance. I’m an impatient person, so I kept hunting. I finally found a sports doctor who was coincidentally working in the same practise as the a-hole I had last dealt with. I read the profile on this doctor, and he sounded OK so I decided to call up. They had a spot available so I took it.

I went and saw him, and he immediately knew something was up. The fact there was so much fluid in my knee still after 2 weeks of doing it told him something more serious had occured. I sat on the bed in his room, and he felt around my knee (made me cry a few times with the prodding) and told me he suspected I had done my ACL ligament (anterior cruciate ligament). Basically, that ligament is responsible for the stability of the knee, and pretty common for injuries. Hence the reason you’ll hear a lot of people talking about knee reconstructions for a lot of sporting stars (including myself *cough*).

He wanted to send me for an MRI scan so they could examine the ligaments in detail and find out for sure. It was then I was told that if I’d done it there would be a possibility I would need a knee reconstruction. Either way, I wasn’t going to be playing netball for a long time. That sent a shock through me as I really understood the seriousness of the situation. A knee recon? No netball? Fark.

This week – week of the 22nd September

Well this week started with the MRI scan on the Tuesday, which was quite the experience (full story here). The results from that confirmed my doctor’s suspicions, but not only had I torn my ACL ligament, I’d also managed a small tear on the meniscus – the cartilage underneath. Damn…I injured myself good! None of these stuffing around pansy injuries. I met with the physio for the first time on Wednesday and was taught a few exercises to help strengthen the muscles around the knee. He also showed me a few that would help to get the fluid moving around my knee and eventually enable me to bend and straighten my leg like normal. After 2 days I can already feel the difference, can’t wait to see what a few weeks bring.

My doctor has put through a referral on my behalf for a meeting with an orthapedic surgeon at Nambour hospital. I should be hearing from them over the next few weeks, and upon meeting with him we’ll discuss the surgery, what’s involved all that jazz. That’s when we really get down to business and plan the nitty gritty. Unfortunately I chose not to take out hospital cover when I got health insurance so everything will be handled by the public hospital system and Medicare. As I have top extras though, all my physio and rehabilitation work will be covered by my health insurance – I’ll just have to pay a small extra for my appointments. e.g. my initial consultation with the physio should have cost $80, but due to the health insurance I only had to pay $24. So grateful I have that insurance!!

I’ll keep you posted as it all progresses, detail everything of the process. Wish me luck!!

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6.15am – I haven’t slept through the alarm have I? No, 5 mins left Oh well, may as well get up.

6.16am – I should get the towels and stuff off the line. They are dry, I forgot to take them off yesterday and don’t want them out all day again.

6.25am – almost half past. Time for a shower, but what about breakfast. Will grab a breakfast bar on the way I guess.

6.45am – crap I have 5mins to get out of here. Just got to put shoes on, will eat b. bar at the same time, brush my teeth then go.

7.00am – where the hell did the last ten minutes go? I am meant to be there right now and I am only just pulling out of the driveway. Lucky I live near the hospital.

7.05am – pretty sure I have never had traffic so good. Must be because it’s so early.

7.07am – ok I am here. What’s that sign say? MRI that way? Oh bugger it’s in the next block of buildings, not this one.

7.08am – this time I am here. I raced inside now, but now where the heck is it. Oh man I hate walking in circles. Someone just went in the door right next to the entrance. Wonder what that is. Dammit it’s the MRI reception area and I walked past it 3 times, d’oh.

7.09am – ha ha she just asked the guy in front of me if he was me. He replied with a “huh? Who?”

7.12am – ok all checked in waiting in the waiting room. I have been asked to change into a gown, and can lock my clothes and bag in the lockers in the change room. Wow, even have to take the key with me and all.

7.15am – ok starting early. I thought I would be at half 7. The dude seems nice, got an accent but can’t tell which. What is his title? Radiologist or magnetologist? LOL no I am not being serious. He just told me they had to reboot the MRI machine already this morning because the scanner wasn’t working.

7.17am – I am now lying on the table feet pointing towards the machine. My left leg is on a mount almost, to keep it still and he has placed my right knee in something resembling leggo blocks that form a box around my knee. Pillows behind my head, earphones with the radio (oh geez, it’s mix 92 – snore) and freezing cold. Good to go.

7.25am – the machine is broken again. It is now scanning but not responding to the antenna or something. He is going to try another reboot and pray. In the meantime I will stay here and chill.

7.32am – the machine has rebooted now. It was eerily quiet when it rebooted since the radio is controlled by the MRI scanner. It’s huge and plastic looking. The siemens logo is massive.

7.35am – I am officially in the machine now and the scanning had begun. I am in the scanner up to about my chest, with head and shoulders out of the tunnel. I am glad about that, can see why people could freak out. It’s narrow! What do they do for grossly obese people? They wouldn’t fit!

7.45am – still scanning, surely not long left. My knee feels really funny in it’s leggo box. I have done really well not to move, very proud. I tried sleeping but I was too cold, and the radio in the headphones is quite loud. When it’s scanning it sounds like an ultra loud version of am office scanner. Everytime it goes my knee feels like it’s throbbing, which then causes my quads to twitch. I really hope he is done soon.

7.55am – all done! Paid a massive $200 which is AFTER my Medicare rebate and I am outta here. I have to come back tomorrow to get my results. I am actually feeling a little nauseous, wonder if that is normal. Slight headache and sore belly.

8.10am – home now and headache going. Maybe it was just temporary. Ah well, nothing I can do but wait now! Ciao.

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Now I have never damaged my knee before. I have rolled my ankles countless times and maybe bent a finger or two. But nothing with the knees. To be safe I decided I would see a doctor straight away, where I would normally wait a few days with my ankles so I could tell if anything was wrong. Accordingly, I rang and booked an appointment on the Friday, the day after the incident.

Thankfully Mat was on holidays and therefore available to take me to the doc. We arrive 5 mins before the appointment and begin waiting. I started playing with my iPhone. Twenty mins after the appointment time we were so bored so I chatted to Pauline on google talk. She suggested I set up google reader next time, which was a completely valid point.

With thirty mins passed we were ropeable. We had now started playing eye spy, which I discovered I really don’t like being the person guessing. Amazingly, the patient who had been with the doc the whole time finally surfaced. The doc quickly dealt with the next two patients waiting before me, and while the last one was in there an elderly lady joined the wait.

After about 5 mins the next patient is done and the doc wanders down the hall. As he comes back without consulting the list of who was next, he beckoned the elderly lady into the room. As he closes the door we gear him say “are you Kelly?” to which I assume she says “no”. He sticks his head out, looks at Mat and I, and said “sorry won’t be long.” I was selfishly annoyed, we had been waiting for so long!

When we eventually got in I described my incident at Netball, and the wirdness began. He felt my knee and compared it with the other, then told me if I wanted to spend $300 then I could find out if I had torn any cartiledge. I asked if there was anything I should take for any pain or if panadol would be sufficient. I guess I wasn’t clear because instead he started suggesting glucosamine, and fish oil. He asked if I like mussels and when I said I didn’t like seafood was immediately hit with a gruff “why not”. I said the taste had never appealed to me, and he shrugged it off as if I was an idiot. He continue to tell me what foods I should eat, including tuna sandwiches, salmon and mussels. Thanks for the nutritional advice doc.

Next thing I knew he was telling me I shouldnt play Netball but take up swimming instead. He said it toned the hips, thighs, butt, arms, stomach etc. As he said it he just gave me these looks that made me feel so uncomfortable, it was if he was trying to point out that I have a bit of extra weight. I wish now i had just said “are you trying to say I am fat?” and see what he said. He also said Netball doesn’t tone anything. I didn’t know that was what I was playing the sport for.I thought it was because I enjoyed it? But mostly I just wanted him to look at the issue at hand!

Eventually I was pissed off and eager to get out of there. He gave me some sample anti inflammatories which I still have no intention of taking. I started agreeing with everything he said just to get out of there. Finally it was over and we left. Once outside mat confirmed he thought the guy was an asshole too, so it wasn’t just me being sensitive. I can’t believe I even had to pay for that, courtesy of the non bulk billing practise.

In summary I am not going back there ever. I did not feel at ease at all, which I would expect goes against everything a doctor would strive to achieve. I can only hope my knee gets better on it’s own. Can you tell I stewed about this doc though? I am still grumbling. And there us still no way I am eating seafood.

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Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on the way you look at it) the Chiro determined I had a few discs in my spine out of alignment at the top of my neck (under the skull where the stiffness was), and also mild scoliosis. She sent me for xrays to be safe, and to determine exactly what was going on. Thankfully it turned out to be nowhere near as bad as the image on the wikipedia page for scoliosis although I was still going to need some treatment to help loosen up all the stiff muscles etc. A picture of my xray is on the left – imagine that what you’re seeing is meant to be straight, and you’ll immediately see the difference.

When she first did her examinations, the Chiro pressed lightly on a spot at the top of my neck which almost made me cry out in pain. She confirmed that was one of the troublesome bones. She has cracked the centre of my back where all the discs are tightened up, and also my neck to loosen it. She then used this cool contraption which she likened to “a small punch” to help push the discs into their correct position. Both times I’ve had this done now, I get a feeling of bulging eyes for about half an hour after treatment, its quite bizarre. After the first appointment, I stupidly cracked my neck by habit that night and immediately got a headache, so was pretty sure I’d put the disc out of alignment again. I had my last treatment almost 48 hours ago, and have been extremely focused on not cracking my neck. It’s amazing how much of a habit it’s become – I’ve stopped myself on at least 3 or 4 occasions today alone!

It looks like I’ll be visiting the Chiro twice a week for a while to sort out my issues. I’ve also started to take up yoga as a way to “strengthen my core”, and increase the flexibility in my spine. Hopefully all of this combined will prevent any more issues for the future, and at the same time increase my level of fitness. That will be really handy when combined with the fact the netball superleague season has just started, so hopefully I won’t be putting my back under too much pressure every game. Anyways, I’ll keep you posted on my progress to see how it all works out, but I can just say – THANK GOD FOR HEALTH INSURANCE.

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