thoughts and the leg at the beach

Well, I'm not on the beach, but I'm a couple blocks away. Down in Wilmington with Laura, Mark and Chris. And all the dogs.

I've been doing my exercises... I need to go get that sheet that Micah wrote (he was the guy in Charlotte) because I feel like there are more that I need to do. I do the raises, I try walking, I shift my weight, I do calf raises... but I feel like there's more.. And I don't need to work on my flexion anymore at the moment--I have to wait for tomorrow's appointment with Jeremy. He's going to give us the scoop about what comes next, and then I see Greg again the next day.

Basically, things are going fairly well. I really don't have much pain unless my leg is bent for too long and then it's hard to get up and start walking around. I don't use my crutches at all, and I stopped using them on like... Sunday? Saturday too, like 4 days after my surgery (but that's probably because of PT beforehand too). Guys, seriously, work on the PT before surgery, and if your doctors DON'T prescribe it for you, ask and get it. That and having to deal with the helplessness the first time, I really learned how to do everything and push through the points where it feels like I need help. Like... sometimes it's hard to get out of the car or the bath tub. But it's not hard. And it's not painful. Really, the worst was the bone pain when I woke up, and then the fact that I got sick from too many meds and from having that horrrrrrrrible head cold.

Family and friends have been sending lots of good positive energy. And it helps to have people around that support you, help you out, and that push you to do exercises and do what you're supposed to. And it also helps to have people that are sarcastic, don't help you out or get things for you, and force you/push you to do things on your own. It's great. Thanks to everyone!
And those of you with ACL tears, in my experience the worst is: surgery (waking up, and getting the shots), the accident (the impact and pain, the immobility, the losing adrenaline and almost going into shock), and the helplessness (not being able to do almost anything and feeling like you'll never do anything again). But after this... dear GOD I've gained so much confidence in myself and strength inside. It makes me feel like "well I got through this, so whatever else comes I'll be a little better off."

Alright. We're gonna watch Phelps (we've been playing games and watching the Olympics all weekend--love it) and then take the dogs on the beach. Oh, and Shawn from the American gymnastics team? Amazing. Her and Nastia both... damn.

Cheers!