Ardmore is hilly

Grad school is over! We live less than a mile away from my work! This means...TIME. free time, spare time, hours to kill. I love it. As most of you know, my darling husband turned me into a beer snob. I love craft beer, drinking it and learning more about it.
I also love running. Imagine my excitement when I started following a writer on twitter named TheBeerRunner! He extended a challenge to run every day and drink a beer every day for a week. I decided to give it a shot...
The last semester of grad school plus a 45 minute commute for an 8-5 gig had drastically cut back the # of miles I was running, so I decided this might be a good way to slowly increase my mileage. I ran just one mile most days, no more than 3 once a week. Well, Ardmore is hilly, so while I was not pushing myself mileage or speed wise, I was (unknowingly) pushing myself cartilage-wise, too hard. One Saturday, after a relatively slow one mile followed by our housewarming lunch cook out, I noticed that my right knee looked inflated.

Went to the doc, he suggested rest, PT, then running on flat surfaces. He was convinced it's the hills I've been running that was causing then problem. I walk and stand for 75% of my work day, but I was a good patient and came home every day for two weeks and rested the leg. No running, not even walking. Nothing was changing, if anything I was noticing more short pain twinges than before. Found out PT was going to cost a ridiculous amount of money and decided I wanted more info first. Got an MRI. I have/had chondromallacia patella. All the cartilage under my knee cap was peeling back like paint and it was affecting my patellar tendon. Doc offered surgery as an option, saying that it would be pointless for a 50 yr old but I had a good chance of it actually making a difference (I'll skip the part where this made me realize I'm almost 31...)
Surgery meant at least a week and a half out of work, but he also said it is a "if not now, then later" situation, so Mike and I chose now.

Arthroscopic surgery, no big deal, outpatient procedure under local anesthetic. Got leave for work all figured out (which included two minor breakdowns because of scheduling mishaps and discovering it meant 2 days without pay) and showed up for the surgery. I went by myself at 9am. Outpatient with local anesthetic and in needed to do pre-op before, so I figured I wouldn't actually go back until 11 ish. Mike was at work ( I just had him drop me off on his way to work at 8) mom was in Mississippi, and I didn't see any need for Alan to come from Greensboro so early.
Turns out they took me back at 9:30. Still no big deal, had a friend from work come downstairs to pick up my stuff. Then the anesthesiologist came in and started talking about airways.

(At the hospital, at least twice a week, I do a swallow study on patients who have been intubated.)

It dawns on me that airways are only a concern if you are really knocked out. Slight anxiety sets in and I text mike, "general anesthesia". I was glad that I didn't know before hand because I would have so much more anxious going into it, but the surprise of it wasn't great either. Any who, they set my IV (ask for lidocaine), knock me out, and then I woke up.

I was shaking uncontrollably, like shivering hard, but I wasn't cold. Then I started sobbing. My knee hurt, but not the kind of hurt that makes you cry. Mike and Alan were there with me, but it didn't seem to help to calm me down. The nurse got me a vicodin for the pain (an 8) and shot me up with some demorol to control the shaking and crying. She said it was probably from the versed. Don't look it up, it's kind of frightening. She said I was hyperventilating but I couldn't help it. Having been NPO since midnight, I asked for vanilla pudding (we have the good Hunts stuff at the hospital) but they didn't have any on that floor. And they just switched our Graham crackers from the yummy honey ones to nasty cardboard flavor. But I took what I could get. However, my mouth was so very dry, the crackers turned quickly into dusty paste that I physically could not swallow. Water helped some, but not completely. My voice was so hoarse. Nurse said it was from the dryness because of the oxygen. LIES.
This is what they put in me
http://www.anecare.com/Products/images/LMA-brief1.jpg
Only the slightest improvement over actual intubation...sheesh.
The hoarseness and soreness fortunately went away the next day...

In addition to the cartilage issue we knew about, they found three thumbnail size holes in my medial cartilage, which they were also able to fix!

I'm making good progress. We're on day five...
I can't add pictures to the blog from my iPad...
Should be able to see them here
http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150282220344436.339800.530494435&l=096e224b2f&type=1

I've been doing PT every day, a little more each day. Needed two crutches the first day to get to the bathroom. Barely put any weight on it. Next day, two crutches with some weight. Third day, one crutch with weight on it. Fourth day, no crutches but a major limp. Fifth day, no crutches and can stand on that leg briefly! I'm amazed at how much it gets better each day. Second day I was worried about going back to work next Monday, but today, I think I could go back early!!
My first real PT appointment is Thursday, so we'll see then!!

Doc says I should be able to run 3 miles a day in 3-4 months! No more every day running for me though...