We interrupt this WIP program....

When you break your leg and have two major surgeries in under a week, the healing process is very slow. Part of that tedious process includes lousy circulation in the afflicted leg, which leads to an annoying ailment called hot foot/cold foot.

In addition, when you leg is in a staightjacket of sorts (a soft cast) it is very hard to put on and take off your own socks as is required due to the hot foot/cold foot syndrome, This requires you to beseech any passerby within earshot to please, please, just one more time, put on, or take off, your sock, again. Which you then realize is actually too hot, or too cold, anyway, and so the cycle begins again.

Yesterday as I sat, all but captive in my rented Lazy-Boy chair, cursing the lack of immediate family in the vicintiy to assist in dealing with yet another round of hot foot/cold foot, surrounded by baskets of stash yarn, WIP's, one pair of 6mm straights, and my laptop, I had a moment of genius. I know, rare, but it does happen: I needed light little ballet slippers I could wriggle in and out of myself.

5 minutes into surfing I happened upon this free pattern - perfect!

And a few hours I had the offending foot taken care of, and by the next morning a matched set.

Just what the doctor ordered!

knit on......

1st FO of self-imposed WIP challenge

One good thing about being somewhat imobile for long periods of time is that some knitting is finally getting completed!

Witness: One charity Crib sized Blanket made entirely from miscellanious stash yarn:

No particular rhyme or reason to the placement of the squares - I just pieced them together as I pulled them from the stack. It has a very "Little House on The Praire" look to it, almost juvenile. And I am A OK with that. I was aiming for rustic, and that is what I got.

Next up, DG Confetti 100 superwash socks in grey.

Knit on.....

1 month check-up!

I am exactly one month post accident today and in to the recovery phase (really? a month already? hard to beleive) and today was check-up day.

I am happy to report I passed the test! While I closed my eyes and squeezed the nurses fingers, broke out in a cold sweat and made wussy noises in anticipation of the pain (which has been my constant companion every day - I can truthfully say now I have never experienced pain of that magnitude, not even when I had the girls, and hope I never due again) my surgeon (what is it with orothopedics ? They all look like they walked off a daytime soap opera set, and mine is no exception!) gently bent my knee up towards my chest for the first time since the accident. Discomfort - yup! definitely. Pain- nope! Woo-hoo! A lovely bend to about 75 degrees, apparently a very good indication that I will obtain at least 90% or better return to full operating function! We are all pleased!

What remains a mystery is if my actual knee will be kind to the newly manufactured tibia plateau upon which my knee joint sits once walking begins. Lets hope so! Still, another 4 weeks before any weight bearing activity is allowed and I intend to follow the advice religiously. But I am getting better on my crutches, and beginning to manouver around a bit. No up the stairs yet - dead lifting my own body weight up 14 steps on crutches causes quite a a bit of jolting around and I am unable to bend my leg out of the way and it bangs into the riser with every step, so I am still "living" on the lower level of my house, with period trips up the stairs, arse first!, for long re-juvinating showers!

All in all, I'm recovering on schedule, with no complications and for that I am grateful.

And yes, I am beginning to knit a bit. The scrap squares blanket that I started months ago is almost finished and I am now at the joining and finishing phase. And there has been a bit of work on the second sock that was worked on during DD1's extended stay in hospital prior to the accident.

Speaking of DD1, she continues on her remarkable recovery, baffling doctors with the reversal of her Pulmenary Hypertension. While she continues to be short of breath on exertion, and has lingering and puzzling body pain, she is leaps and bounds from where she was even this short month ago.

Knit on......

Just spinning my wheels.....

Sigh... Purl and I are grounded. Let me set the scene. A lovely Sunday afternoon, All is well with the members of the family, DD1 is doing well, and DD2 is working, and the G-man is holding the fort. It is sunny,  but not too bright, cool but cold.


the perfect day for a ride, and so we did. A few hours later I found myself having worked to the far outskirts of Ottawa. I was thirsty and being the mid-aged girl badly in need of a restroom, so when the sign said 16km to Cumberland, and I turned for the home of my motorcyle pal Peter. Finding no one at home, I confidently re-negotiated back down the tricky gravel driveway, and pulled out.

For fhat happened next I need to rely on the accident report. AlI I rememeber is no traction and then wham, traction galor! And then there was a ditch. When my heart stopped pounding and Purls kills switch kicked in, I realized that there was no way my right leg was letting me stand up, so so I pulled out my cell phone all the while cursing a blue streak.

As luck would have a pair of good samaritains, mom and daughter, stopped moments later and took over the mechanicals of the cell phone and called all the appropriate emergancy personnel, and kept me squared away and in good spirits while we waited. Can't say their names as I have yet to speak with personally, but ladies you are the best!! Simply the best!! I can only hope to pay forward the kindness, campassion and good humor as you showed me that Sunday afternoon.

OPS (Ottawa Police Services) attended and prompty imformed me he had found the problem with the ditch: there was a Harley in it! Good sport that he was though, he had is up and out of the ditch and tucked away safety in Peter's lean to. Sargent your Harley quip is forgiven in light of your brotherly biker concern for the sercurity of my girl, Purl!

So, up until this point, aside from the wee problem with my front leg, I was in good shape.That was until I discovered that when a person is in what is considered a vehicluar accident like myself, they need to be taken to the nearest emergancy room, and in this case that place was the Monfort hospital. OMG! I.DO.NOT.SPEAK FRENCH. Barely a word, and the Monfort is nothing if not French.

For now I will spare you the ups and downs of my 10 days there. The stories are hard and 2 surgeries later I am trying hard to forget most of them.

For now it enough to know that I my right Tibia Plateau was shattered and rebuilt over the course of a week and I`m grounded for the next few months. My stable now houses a walker, a wheelchair and some shiny crutches I have yet to make friends with. And a whole summer to learn how to play nice.

I have not let Purl see them, she would not be pleased. She too will need some TLC: new handlebars, a signal light, and front spokes checked and complete safety check before next season. Poor girl - she is stabled at Peter`s next to Miss Daisy, and will stay there until repairs begin. It is the best place for her for now, amoungest her kind while we both recoupreate.

And yes there will be knitting - as soon as the pain meds allow me to count sequencally, there will be plenty of time for knitting. A whole summer of knitting the days away...

Knit on........

Rocking the MRI at 5.0!

Can you beleive it? Just as DD1 gets about halfway through her urgent MRI, the earthquake hits! Poor thing was stuck in the MRI rocking and shaking, like a kid wildly waving a hotdog in a bun! Scared the crap out of her, and she said it was quite an ordeal to un-hook the leads and IV's to get her outside to the waiting room. Still she was impressed with the staff as they quickly, calmly and precisely shut down the machine and assisted her in vacating the area. She was still shaking later that evening as she recounted the event.

Hodgkins, Pulmonary hypertension - Just a walk in the park compared to this! Definitely a story for the cocktail crowd! We are going to design her a T-shirt that says "I am a MRIES 5.0" - Magnetic Resonance Imaging Earthquake Survivor 5.0" - beat that if you can!

Knit on.....

ps. 06.27.10 - Sanna, bless her, asked if DD1 was ok, as in not injured during her earthquake ordeal. Thankfully, yes DD1 was just fine, well shaken, but not stirred!! No mumps or bruises from the earthquake - indeed we had very few and only minor injuries in the Capital City, remarkable considering we were the highest shake on record on the earthquake scale that day! However, as if the MRI incident wasn't enough, poor DD1 did crack her bald little head on the counter when her walker got stuck in the kitchen and she bent down to unhinge herself, so she is sprouting a lovely gash on a very bruised noggin after all! What a week!

Steady as she goes....

DD1 is holding steady while we wait on an MRI - urgent ridiculous date. We expect a revised date, one much sooner, any minute now. She still can't walk more than 5meters without resting in on her walker seat, and so walkers and wheelchairs are part of our home decor, just for the time being, I hope...

In the mean time we have hired a dear friends daughter, who is a nurse on maternity leave waiting on their first baby, to spend 3 hours a day with DD1, and make lunch and drive to appointments, help DD1 in whatever way she can, understanding that bigbaby belly may pose the odd predicament! It is working out super well, and DD1 seems non-plussed about me no longer being there 24/7. A very good thing.

So Purl and I have been getting out and about, gaining more and more confidence with each ride. Last week I did my first on road run with Coach Peter (did I tell you that?), and this weekend was another 3 hour run with a nieghbor who sportingly accompanied me.

But this evening, I went solo! Yup - just me and Purl, hitting the road, out for an evening tour. Fabulous!  Not one stall tonight - quite a feat if you knew how much Purls throttle and I argue every ride! But not tonight. Tonight was leasurely, down winding roads with little or no traffic, just like in the movies. The perfect respite from my daily grind, just like it was suposed to be, just like all my biker friends said it would be. It was awesome!

Knit on....

she who is Mom....

She who is Mom has arrived. My Mom that is. THE Mom. Or, since we have an aging cat who this thinks my daughter is his Mother and I am the Gramma, she who is my Mom is affectionately known as the Big Gramma (in deference to her petite figure!).

I decided that after two years of DD1 having her Mom , me, for support, I finally needed my Mom for some of the same, and so she who is Mom, came, still driving her own car at 78 years old (we think she is 78 'cause she won't actually tell us how old she is - and she is still a whizz behind the wheel!) all the way from north of the GTA, about 6 hours driving time.

She arrived with 9, yes 9, boxed of baked goods from the local Erin Bakery; cookies, honey-glazed donuts, tarts, brownies, squares, danish, chelsea bun, and bread. O.M.G. heaven arrived in white paper boxes.

These are the delectables of my childhood, the treats I grew up with, the comfort food I crave; these are the joyous sweets I made sure to introduce my children too, and it is the comfort food they desire in times of uncertainty too.

DD1 sent the Big Gramma an e-mail asking for her to bring a few treats, and wow did she deliver! To save us all from certain un-seemly acts of wonton gorging, I promptly froze many of these delectables for the future. Still the honey glazed donuts must, simply must, be eaten the day they are made or they are wasted, and so those were demolished upon arrival. The danish made it to the the next morning for breakfast, and the cookies were shared with friends and family for Sunday dinner.desert and over the last few days.

Since Sunday we have eaten our way through every baked good type known to man-kind and my stomach aches after every meal, and I am on the verge of destroying a years worth of careful eating and a hard lost 30+ pounds.But the smiles on ours faces are worth everysweet bite.

Sometimes it's really good to have your Mom with you. I am glad she's here and not just for the baked goods!

Knit on....

p.s. She who is Mom, or Big Gramma, is actually going to be 80 later this year - we wrangled the truth this trip - can you believe it?? Wow!! Amazing!!!