I just saw my future :(

My mom took me shopping yesterday, which was awsome.  I was trying to find some really comfy sweat pants, you know, for those two weeks or so when the stitches hurt like a b word and they get stuck on everything and your knee is too swollen for jeans...

We of course got side tracked in the victoria's secret, but then I saw my future.  This poor guy was hobbling around on crutches, with a nasty knee brace on his left knee.  Aw man it looked so painful.  Suckity Suck Suck.  And I looked at my mom and said, "well, there goes me in about a month." 

:(  Sad.

Money Matters

As most of you know, I have an ACL reconstruction surgery scheduled for March 1st.  There are several goods and bads that are going to come with this surgery, but mainly this is the list:
Goods:
1.  I will finally have a stable knee!

Bads:
1.   6 months with no riding.
2.   Terrible Pain
3.   Problems taking care of / training my horse
4.  Money matters

The 6 months no riding will be hard, but duable.  I'll be in too much pain for the first few moonths to even think about it.  The taking care of my horse is manageable... friends and family will come around.  But the money... BIG PROBLEM!  My deductible is $2,000, and then after that I pay 20%, up to a max of $2,000 more.  And that doesn't include physical therapy.  I know, your probably thinking, its only $4000, right?  FOUR THOUSAND DOLLARS!  I'm pretty much freaking out because I owe on my student loans (way more than 4000) and I owe for the tires I had to by a few months back, and now this.  And to top it all off, I still have not gotten a raise.  7 months at the same office, and not even a 10 cent raise.  Cheap company.  Sooo... If anyone knows of a good fund raising idea... let me know!  I'm pretty desperate at this point, and getting ready to clean up the 4Runner to sell it and pay the up front deductible.  :(  sad day.

(As seen on http://www.homegrownheart.blogspot.com/)

Surgery is Scheduled!

Finally got a call from the Scheduler at the Orthopedic Hospital.  My surgery is scheduled for March 1st.  I have  a pre-op appt set for February 23rd in the morning, and Physical Therapy will start 5 days after surgery.  A post op is scheduled for the 9th of March.  Unfortunately, it means I can't participate in the Buckskin Horse show :(  And it also means no summer or spring riding, which is tough to swallow.  Time to get all my riding in now!  So wish me luck!

ACL Reconstruction vs. GI JOE Surgery:

A conversation I had with my brother in regards to my upcoming surgery.  It put a funny light on it, and really took me back to my childhood.  (FYI, Putzer was our childhood terrier, and Sean used to film his action figures using stop action in the back yard.)  ENJOY!

ME: they are gonna drill holes in my bones and thread a tendon to replace my ligament

SEAN:  Just like putting a new rubber-band in a broken GI Joe.  Make sure they get it tight enough or you're leg will be all floppy forever...but not too tight or you won't be able to bend it.

ME: HAHA Im gonna take a GI Joe into my mormon surgeon and tell him just that.

SEAN:Ya. tell him you gotta be able to pull his legs off of his body like between 1 and 1.5 mm. thats the tolerance you want. same for your leg. If we cant pull your leg off like a millimeter or so then it too tight.

ME: omg my coworkers are wondering why im almost pissing myself laughing so hard.

SEAN: Is he gonna have to open your back up with a big screw driver to put the rubber band in?

ME:   HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
i hope he gets a small rubber band, not a big one he has to tripple over to make it the right size
those never work out right

SEAN: They're ok. I never had any problem with them.you just gotta muke sure all three or four loops of rubber get hooked on right. otherwise you gotta go in for follow up sergury and thats when guys have complications. infections, PTSD, dismemberment, Putzer chomps. you know

ME:  hahah I hate it when the heads fall out right at the las frikkin second...

The body snaps shut and "shit... the head is in my lap and im too uncoordinated to put it back in"

SEAN: I hate it when all the marines are waiting in the damn chopper, taking fire from the enemy, after a hard day of dodging fukin fireworks, and the pilot decides "I think I'll break in half the guys won't mind waiting till Dad gets home so he can fix me and I can fly them outta here!" and then by the time you start filming again it 6 pm instead of 2, the sun has moved, the shadows are all wrong, you're to impatient to wait till tomorow, and now your precious stop action ends up on the "strait to DVD" rack.

instead of grossing 3.4 mil on opening day like it should have.  all thanks to one pilot's weak insides.

he didn't have the guts to complete the mission. no inner resilience

ME: HAHA sean seriously, you should be a stand up comic

Im pissing myself!

SEAN: haha. I know right? :) that'd be so fun. I'm hearing this routine as I'm typing it...

Here we go again!

It is terrifying to think that I will be going under the knife again.  Granted, the first operation was in Mexico, with a doctor as old as my great grandfather - Im sure he is not a specialist in groundbreaking procedures.  This time around, I'll be sure to have good crutches, ones with rubber grips that won't slip on the concrete.  I'll have ice!  Oh the magic Freezer!  One thing I did NOT have the first time around!  I'll also have a Physical Therapy regime, and a mom.  Oh yes, a mom!  Being half a world away from mom after a surgery is not a happy place!  So I'll just have to suck it up.  I did this once and I can do it again.  As long as everyone pitches in, and I ask for help, this time around should not be near as bad... should it??