Should I be annoyed that one of my relatives created a Facebook page in our deceased Grandmother’s name? I guess I could understand it if the person responsible did it to pay homage to her, but apparently this is an account to be used only for Farmville. Well, I have to say that I do find it a bit disturbing. Maybe I’m just being cranky.
Graduation Day!
We’d like to announce the graduation of our daughter today! She has now officially completed high school and will now move on to college at the University of Colorado this summer!
It’s been an amazing journey over the past 18 years. She started off in Japanese schools and then moved on to American schools when we moved to the states. Starting with little to no english skills was a challenge and she overcame it nicely.
We are very, very proud of her!
Weight Loss Update
Not much new to report. I’m still working out. Haven’t really been killing myself too much. Some light weightlifting, mostly upper body. The pain hasn’t been bad. I’ve also been doing a bit of cycling on the stationary bike. Just doing about 20-30 minutes per workout. Cycling has been a bit stressful on the right ankle but I just bear through it. Have a feeling that I’m going to need to get that ankle fused but I’m going to wait on that until the summer is over and Amanda is in college. Haven’t gotten around to weighing myself recently so no word on that. Don’t really care about the weight at this point, just really focused on getting my stamina back.
Out of shape and need to change
Well, after a year’s worth of ankles surgeries and excuses not to walk on my them, I’ve finally run out of excuses not to get my ass back into the gym. To be completely honest I’m in pretty horrible condition. Probably the worst condition of my life. It’s become so bad that I’m starting to become concerned about my overall health. Tomorrow is my first day back into the gym. I’m not going to go crazy on day one, I’m hoping to get some cardio on the bike in and then some upper body free weights in. I’ll be stepping on the scale here in a few minutes to see how far I’ve let myself slide. If I had to guess I would say somewhere around 250 lbs. Regardless of where I start, I need to get myself below 200, 190 would be ideal.
As far as my diet goes, I’m going to have to make some changes, but I’m not sure what plan I really want to follow. The last time I went on a plan I followed the Body for Life plan and used EAS supplements. I went on a high protein, low carb, and no fat diet. It worked pretty well and I may go that one again. We’ll see.
Tonight I’ll be taking my “before” picture. The fat picture. The motivational picture. I’m not going to post it, there’s no reason to humiliate myself. Maybe when I start to see some results will I be encouraged enough to do that. So you’ll have to stay tuned in here to see.
Update: Oh, the weigh in was 252.6 last night. I did actually make it to the gym this morning. Did some cycling and some elliptical. This was the first time I’ve tried the elliptical and it didn’t hurt my ankle at all. The cycling felt good but strained the ankle a bit. Needless to say, I’m out of shape. The workout definitely showed me where I’m at fitness-wise. More motivation to keep on going. Also, finally got word of Osama Bin Laden’s death. Some surprising good news.
Say Goodbye To The Boot!
Yay! The boot is finally gone. I went to the doctor on Tuesday and he seemed pretty pleased with his work and gave me permission to stop wearing the boot. Needless to say, I’m pretty happy about that. So far, walking has been good. Every once in a while I feel a bit sore but for the most part it feels pretty strong. I can definitely tell that the tendon is providing much more support than I had before. The leg is still pretty weak. Physical therapy has been fun (painful) as well. I think I’ll finally be comfortable enough to actually make it into the gym next week.
Ankle Surgery – Cast Off (Frankenfoot)
Big day today… got the cast off my foot. This thing was pretty bulky and annoying (words that are often used to decribe me!) and I couldn’t wait to get if off so I could finally feel some cool air on the foot. I know it was only a week, but when you can’t scratch your foot at night, or the cloth in the cast is sticking to the foot it just starts to drive you batty. Last night I really felt like I was on the verge of cutting the thing of myself. Of course I didn’t do that, but it was sure tempting.
So this afternoon my wife drove me over to the hospital for my post-operation appointment. There really wasn’t a whole lot of time spent with the doctor, but he did tell me that I was going to have another cast put on. At which point I expressed my lack of enthusiasm of not being able to get into something a bit more breathable. He finally relented and allowed me to get an air cast instead (the boot) that allows you to open it up and you take your foot out. The only catch was that I had to promise not to take the foot out for a week, but I could open it to let the foot get some air. Very easy decision for me. And the boot is actually very comfortable.
Anyway, the first thing they did was cut away the old cast. God that felt good, it was like the foot was set free. I could still feel that the foot was pretty tender though. Especially when they pulled the dried bloody bandages from the side of the foot. The doctor came to look at the foot and he seemed pretty satisfied with the condition of everything. As was I, because honestly the foot has felt pretty good considering the trauma it’s been put through. The picture below is what the foot looked like right before they pulled out the stitches and staples. I knew that the foot was going to be swollen, but was amazed that it looked the way it did.
I have some other pictures the PA showed me of the inside of the foot. You can see where the cartilege is ground away exposing the bone. It’s sort of a before and after set of photos. I’ll scan those and post those later.
Anyway, now I have to wear this cast for the next 3 weeks. I can start walking on it next Tuesday using the boot. Just 7 more days on the crutches.