September 2011 Archives

Today is Rash Hashanah, so Shana Tova to all my Jewish friends out there!
It also means that this Jewish Org Administrator has the day off. Now, true, I've recently had a LOT of days off, but those were sick days, so they don't count. I am feeling better and I am home and puttering, and that's a good day off to me.

I took Latte to the vet this morning to get her claw removed from her foot pad. She did so good, hardly mewing at all, and laying down in the cat carrier. When the doctor came to look at her foot, she was such a sweetie (both the doctor and Latte) and when the doc brought her back out, she had a giant pink bandage on her foot! It was so cute. I wanted to get a photo, but the second we got home, she took off running and kicking her foot like a jackrabbit, so the bandage flew off. I tried to wrap it again--I have a lot of gauze and tape right now--but it only lasted 5 minutes before it flew off. Oh well, I bet I have little blood droplets all over my house. We need to mop the floors anyway. I'll just have to make sure it stays clean and we have to give her an antibiotic twice a day so it doesn't get infected. Um, no, lets please not let it get infected. Been there, done that.

Here is a list of the things that I am supposed to do daily, as instructed by my doctors:
*Warm foot soak in Epsom salt twice a day
*Ice my knee at least once a day, preferably twice
*All my physical therapy exercises

Sheesh. Good thing I am off so that I can do them. I did the exercises and it was hard, but felt good. Death to that foam roller on my left IT bands, though--that hurts like hell! I know it is good for me, but I am NOT looking forward to doing that ever again. Depending on when I do my exercises today, I want to make at least 10 minutes of boxing a daily thing, too. I boxed post PT today and it felt great.

I also want to start meditating. I think that would be good for me. But I don't know how to start, and every time I think that I want to look it up, I'm not at a computer. I should google some programs or advice right now while I am typing...ok, done. I will look into that soon. Even 10 minutes a day would be beneficial, I think.

I took a nap today. It was great. I felt extravagant for doing so, but since I've been awake, I've been more productive and happy. So it worked!

I had this brilliant idea today when I was making my coffee. I love iced lattes and americanos, but never can seem to make them just right. So today, I did the trick I see them doing at Metropolis--I poured the hot espresso into cold milk in a separate glass from the ice, then let it sit for a second. When I poured that over the ice, it was cooler, so the ice all didn't melt, so my drink wasn't watered down. BRILLIANT! Then I added more ice, and some of Fuzzy's amazing homemade ginger simple syrup and YUMMERS! Then I had another brilliant idea, which was to make another pot of espresso and pour it into a jar that I can store in the fridge so that tomorrow I have cold espresso waiting for me for an on-the-go iced latte. The only possible flaw is that they jar used to have this amazing apple butter BBQ sauce in it that we got from a farmers market in South Carolina, so the jar smelled kinda spicy. Oh well.

Here are some things I am loving this week:
* My boxing bag. I am so glad I have it.
* My soda stream--by far the most used appliance in our kitchen, along with the burr grinder and the hot water pot.
* The spinach salad with red onions, brie, cranberries and balsalmic vinaigrette from Apart Pizza. This is my favorite salad. I ordered 2 last night--one for me and one for Fuzzy and/or Steven (who Fuzzy was helping move). I ate mine, but they left the other, so I just got to enjoy it again for today's lunch. Life is good.
* The Modal Lounge pants from the Gap.

Ok, this last one gets it own paragraph. Months ago, Rebecca and I were at the Gap at Old Orchard and we saw these pants. I am a HUGE fan of the whole Gap Body line--the workout clothes, the lounge clothes, the swimwear and the underwear--so I tend to clean up on some sale items there. Anyways, we saw these pants that were the softest thing we'd collectively ever felt, but they were a bit expensive. We vowed to go back to see if they were on sale later. I kept checking, but they never were. Cut to a few weeks ago, I had a gift card for the Gap--hooray! I thought about getting The Pants, but decided to go for quantity and get more items that were on sale. However, one of them was this sleep jumpsuit that was onsale for $20. I knew I was taking a risk, but I thought it was worth it, since it was made out of the same fabric. It was love at first jumpsuit, and I wore it non-stop at home for 3 or 4 days. THEN the foot infection happened. And each day that I was at the hospital, all I could think about was how I wanted to go home and slip into those pants. I dreamed about them. I longed for them.  I ached for them. Rebecca offered to take me to the Gap after the Tuesday ER visit, but I was so doped and unable to walk that I was smart and declined. So then this past Tuesday came. I was downtown for therapy, and I almost talked myself out of going to get them. However, I didn't, thank goodness, and not only did I treat myself to the pants--cause dammit, I EARNED them--but I got a shirt in the same fabric for only $14. Success! And let me tell you, these pants just might be the best purchase I have ever made. They are amazing. I am wearing them right now. They are like the pant version of heaven. I should get another pair so that I can always wear them, even if one is in the wash. I want to drape myself in Modal.

I am loving today.

I had my first physical therapy today! It was great. And hard. I'm worn out.

It started with an evaluation. My therapist is super awesome and I already love her, and she was being observed by 3 Northwestern students. So in the evaulation, we all got to learn a lot about my body. About my sweat, my infection, my hyperextending knees, and the fact that one leg is longer than the other, my femurs rotate inward, while the lower half of my legs rotate out, my pelvis is uneven (all 4 ladies got to feel the power of the ENRG pelvic bones...by which I mean all 4 of them mashed on my pelvic bones), my left IT bands are super tight, and my left thigh muscles have atrophied a good deal in the 2 months since my accident. She then taught me some exercises that I am supposed to do daily, and she taped my knee with kinesio tape which feels wonderful. I am supposed to go twice a week. It was hard for me to tell what was hard because of my knee injury and what was hard because I haven't been active in forever. I have no stamina or strength right now.

I've been toying around with some new career changes that I am not going to talk about just yet, but they are physical and active, so I am excited to get my body back in shape so that I can honestly pursue them. I see a new life of health and fitness in my future! It's exciting. Baby steps, though...

For a limited time, our Don't Spit the Water! Pilot is online! Enjoy!

Don't Spit the Water! Pilot Episode from Blewt! Productions on Vimeo.

My rash is fading--it's still there, but you can't see it as much.
My wound is healing--I can use a much smaller bandage now.
My knee--well, now that my foot isn't hurting, my knee is, so time to take care of it again. I start my physical therapy on Wednesday.
Latte goes to the vet to get her claw removed on Thursday.

I am feeling some weight lifting off my shoulders. I am making some changes in my life that I feel really good about and might have a new focus coming soon...

I've also been putting all this unnecessary pressure on myself to do all this scanning of these newspaper clippings. But it hit me last night--really I am doing it so I can share it with my family, but there is no rush. I can pack it away and get it out again when I am able to scan. Right now it is just all over our living room floor. But there is no timeline. I still want to scan some cute photos, cause I want to blog about them, but the priority isn't getting all my high school newspaper things scanned. Really, who cares? What a relief!

Last night after rehearsal, Fuzzy and I hung out on the couch listening to music and talking. We had both cats with us and we talked about things that stressed us out, we made each other laugh, and we listened to sweet music that made me cry. I had been a grump at my rehearsal, but when I went home I was overwhelmed with joy and the fact that I really have the best life. No matter what happens or what paths our lives take, Fuzzy and I have each other and we will be ok. It was a great feeling.

There's a new Drunk Monkeys, and I think this one is my favorite one yet.

I have a lot of non-medical things I want to blog about, but alas--not yet. So here I am, off my antibiotics, Fuzzy is home (I don't know if I mentioned that or not, but Fuzzy was out of town Mon-Fri last week, and it was a really hard week for him to be gone. He was a champ all weekend with my foot, and he really is my rock and support and everything, so it was rough being alone--except for the visits from friends [if I was able to see you; thank you!] But he is back now and it's amazing cause I love him so much.) and yesterday I had a fun outing--the Hideout Block Party. I didn't eat enough food, and I had some beer, and I was on my foot too much and I was freezing all night and exhausted. So I didn't sleep really good, and I was feeling kinda sick to my stomach when I would wake up in the middle of the night.

SO! I woke up this morning, and I was completely covered in red splotches all over my chest, back, neck, arms, and face. Through the day, it has spread down to my legs. So we think I had an allergic reaction to something I ate? I took a Benadryl and it might be a little better, but seriously. It's uncomfortable and looks terrible. Plus, the benadryl just makes me sleepy.

So now, my new goal is to have a day where I am just normal, and where nothing major happens or there are no ailments. To be just boring old Erica.

I am cleared of wound checks at the ER! WOOO! One of the doctors yesterday said that I've spent much more time in the ER this week than I should have. I agree!  They took out my packing, had a couple of doctors look at it, and sent me on my way with instruction to soak my feet in warm water with epsom salt twice a day. I think that is the best medical instructions I have ever received. Today I am in more pain than yesterday--I went to work today, so I am on my feet a lot--and I am still bleeding a good deal, but they said that was normal. Yesterday, I literally had a hole in my foot--today it is closing up. I hope it will only be a memory in the next week.

Funny story--the doctor in charge of the wound division yesterday was this older, old-school, big brash man. Kind of like a Brian Dennehy type.  When I pointed out that I thought I had a piece of string from the gauze inside my wound, he says, "What, this? This is skin." and with his bare, ungloved hands, he pinched the deflated blister skin on the wound, ripped it off, and threw it on the floor.

HE RIPPED IT OFF AND THREW IT ON THE FLOOR.

Now, it didn't hurt, but it was shocking. And no, it wasn't what I was referring to.  He exited to get some tweezers, and I looked at Kate (who was awesome and kept me company) and mouthed "Did he just throw that on the floor?" And yes, he had--my skin was on the floor. When I was all bandaged up and discharged, I couldn't just leave it there, so I picked it up and threw it away. What a way to end the week.

Thank you all for your concern, and for all the emails, texts and comments. I am lucky to have such an amazing support system!

Hilarious that this is my second post in the past few months with that same subject heading.

Yesterday afternoon, I woke up from a nap, and I put on some shoes, and once I did, I was able to put my left heel all the way down to the ground! I haven't been able to flex my foot or put weight on my heel since last Friday. I still have a good amount of pain, but I am MUCH more mobile! Yay! Things are looking up!

Hopefully today will be my last trip to the ER...I'll let you know.

The drugs I am on make me lose my appetite so I am basically force feeding myself half the time. I realized yesterday that it was 8pm and all I had had to eat all day was a bowl of frosted flakes, a bagel and a gingerale. Sweet Kate brought me a hamburger, cause I needed some protein and that was the best meal I've ever had.

My foot is bleeding/ draining a lot today, which is good. I've had to change my gauze twice already today, once at 6am and again at about 12:30. Almost all the swelling is gone, thank goodness, so it is looking more like a foot and less like the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Sidenote: why is the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man so cute? My foot has not been cute.

At 6:00am I was trying to decide if I could make it in to work. I was thinking I would take the bus to Granville, where there is an up escalator, then red line to purple to Davis, to the 213 bus. I don't know where along Broadway there is a down escalator or an elevator, but I was going to figure that out for getting home, since I can't do stairs. When I woke up again at 7:30, I was in a lot of pain, and so weak that I was afraid I wouldn't have the strength to crutch it to my office from the bus stop. Thinking about it made me cry.  So I am home today.

I was able to make myself some breakfast this morning, french toast! I am proud of myself. I made enough that I could have some for breakfast tomorrow before heading back to the hospital, cause my pain threshold is so much stronger when I am have food in my system. I am proud of myself for that.

I've been getting about 12 hours of sleep each night and taking 2 naps a day.

My cats have been a good comfort to me while Fuzzy's been gone. Parker cuddles with me in the bed, and Latte has been following me around and keeping me company. I am calling her The Warrior. She will sit next to me and guard me. So sweet.

I realized that I hadn't bathed since Sunday and that I hadn't washed my foot since Friday morning. Sorry if that is gross. It went ok, but it's a struggle since I can't submerge my foot in water. Latte decided she wanted to be in the bathroom with me, which is rare, normally it is Parker that does that. For a while now, Latte's been doing this thing that we call Tenderfoot where she stands on 3 feet and curls her right front foot up and doesn't stand on it. We just thought it was a cute thing. But today, she put both her front feet up on the edge of the tub, and I saw that one of her claws has grown so long that it has embedded itself into the pad of her foot. Poor baby cat! No wonder she doesn't stand on it! I wish we had known about it when we took her to the vet last week. I tried to pull it out, but it didn't budge and it looked really gross down there, so I am going to wait until Fuzzy is back in town. Me and Latte. Sore feet buddies. She's sitting next to me right now, leaning on me, which in Latteworld is cuddling.

This medicine is making me really jittery and weak. And I am so emotional. I was watching the Pioneer Woman's Food Network show a little while ago and it made me cry. Everything is sort of overwhelming me right now. I miss my daddy. Really really badly.  I was thinking about him this morning and how if he were here, he would give me a big ole hug and call me his girl. I can hear his voice in my head.   I am having a hard time dealing with the fact that my brother is moving away in a mere 3ish months. He and Katie have been blogging about leaving SC and their goodbyes and it is just killing me.  I texted with him all weekend while I was in the hospital and it was such a comfort. I'm not yet ready to give that up.  I wish my mom was well. I know she is in pain every day and struggling too and there is nothing I can do to help her.  Christopher posted some photos of the family from when he was in MS last and my uncle Carl looks just like Dad. It was kind of shocking to see. It's amazing the changes that our family has undergone over the last few years. And it blows my freaking mind to think that Dad died almost 4 years ago. How is that possible?  Everything is just making my mind reel.

That's all I got in me today.

I woke up this morning with less swelling, but more pain than yesterday. Rebecca took me to the ER at about 1:00, and when I went to check in, the woman working that desk said something along the lines of "Oh, hi! I remember you." So I am making some friends. I got put in a super small shared room, which made me nervous at first but turned out to be fine. Rebecca kept me laughing, and I really appreciate that.  When the doctor came in, he said that I was more than likely going to have to have numbing medicine injected again, and when he said that, I started to cry. He later told me that they were going to need to pack it one more time--it is still draining, but wanting to close up, so they wanted to make sure that it is still all getting out. I bargained with him to let me just take the oral pain medicine and not the injection, cause the packing isn't the bad pain, the injection and cutting is. He said he wasn't going to cut anything, so we were going to go that route. When he came back in, he said that he was going to dribble the anesthesia on the wound, so it would still be in there, but not injected. My hero! The packing wasn't painful at all--it was a little unpleasant, but it paled in comparison to the last 2 times. They said it is healing up nicely and that hopefully today is the last time I will have to put the packing in. Hooray! But it does mean I have to go back on Thursday. Again.

I am so tired from the medicine and the pain and the fact that I can't flatten my foot when I walk. Physically tired. And using the crutches makes me tired. Everything makes me tired. The area around my ankle is really sore today, but I think it's because I am having to only walk on my tip toe on my left foot.  The way I am walking is making my knee hurt worse, too. I noted yesterday that when I hurt my knee, it was killing me to be sedentary, cause the rest of me was ok and I just wanted to be active. With this, my body is fighting the infection, so I don't miss being active--all I want to do is sleep.  What I miss is being normal. But at least I am on the mend!!

Thank you all for your thoughts and prayers! They are working!

1. I had a huge work project (3000 household appeal mailing and 200 household gift mailing) that had to go out by the end of the week last week. So I had not a 10 minutes to spare to blog anything.

2. I went to the knee specialist last Monday. I was told to stay off my leg for another 2 weeks--no dancing, no biking, no running, no walking over 2 blocks (What? I live in Chicago!) I have to have physical therapy, and he gave me an anti-inflammatory that I was supposed to take twice a day.

3. Wednesday I woke up in the middle of the night with massive stomach cramping that lasted throughout the day Wednesday and Thursday. Like a full body systematic stomach cramping every few minutes--not menstrual cramps--and yet I went to work and got stuff done and then passed out and went to sleep.

4. On Thursday, I figured out that the cramping was due to the anti-inflammatory, cause it has a drug in it I had a similar reaction to in high school. I decided to stop taking it, but I haven't yet called to tell them, because...

5. On Wednesday, my Achilles tendon on my left foot started hurting in my shoes. I switched to flip-flops halfway through the day. I woke up in the middle of the night Thursday morning with massive throbbing foot pain and a giant welt on my heel. I suffered through the day Thursday, and I iced it and took ibuprofen.

6. On Friday, we were supposed to head off to the Bourbon Trail in Kentucky. Our hotel rooms were paid for, I rented a car. My foot was in a ton of pain and I could barely move it, but I soldiered on. I picked up Fuzzy from work, then looked at my foot--I took off my sock and saw that my foot was swollen up to twice its size and it was blood red. We decide to go to the Emergency Room (my old friend) to get it checked out.

7. Turns out, I have an infection. From a blister I got Sept 3 cause I wanted to wear cute shoes to the DSTW premiere. It had taken a while for them to heal, and they were starting to scab over. Somewhere in there, my left ones got infected. The doc put me on hardqore pain killers and 2 anti-biotics and he cut into my foot to drain the pus and infection. It was the worst pain I'd ever felt in my life, and I screamed and cried. We decided to not go to KY (yes, I ruined yet another vacation we were excited about), so I spent Saturday at home on the couch sleeping and drugged up.

8. I was told to go back to the ER on Sunday for a wound check. It looked worse than before (photos are available if you want to see--just leave me a comment with your email address). Seriously, y'all---it looks like some dead eye of evil back there. The doc drained it again and found more pus, so yep, they had to stick me with needles again and dig around in there to get more out. More screaming and crying. I have packing in there--like gauze, etc-- in the open wound to keep it draining.  It looks like death. My foot is still red and swollen and really tight and hard and hot. But I am in less pain today, and I think it is still draining.

so

9. I go back tomorrow. We'll see what happens. As of now, I am back on my crutches (that's one way to rest that knee!) and am mega drugged up and doing the best I can. I hope to get lots of sleep this week.  I am at work and I am going to go to rehearsal tonight, which will be interesting, cause I have to be all verbal instruction. We'll see. Damn responsibilities.

of course

10. Fuzzy is out of town this week, and on my first attempt of taking my pills on my own, I messed up and took one that I wasn't supposed to take til tonight. So now, I am all jittery and freaked out. (Everything is ok--I called the pharmacist).  I am just so tired and have no energy or pain threshold anymore. I really hope that they drain it and all is well, cause I don't think I can handle that pain anymore. I just can't. I wish I could just cancel all my obligations, rehearsals and work and just stay home in bed till everything is better. I am completely falling apart. It's just not my summer.

But! Just gotta do the best I can. That's all I can do. And soon I will be back on my feet--literally--and my old pain-free self, right? I hope it comes soon!

My heart and thoughts today are with all who lost loved ones 10 years ago, and on all Americans. I love you all.

So--what's new?!

The pilot premiere was AMAZING. It was awesome seeing our little show on TV with commercials and everything, on television for real. Fuzzy looked amazing on camera, and I think my favorite part was seeing our names in the credits. I have myself a sweet "Supervising Producer" credit on the show that I am VERY proud of. The party was a blast--so many amazing friends came out to cheer us on and be there with us so we could watch it together. We stayed out late, and then watched it on TiVo the next day. So cool! It made me cry a little bit.  Definitely surreal and amazing. Now, we wait and see what the network wants!

Other goings on:
I got new hair! These aren't the best photos, but I LOVE the look. I needed something to make me edgy again and to give me a boost of confidence, and this is definitely it.



This week has been awesome for resting and trying to be more "normal" a bit. I've been going to bed really early every night and trying to rest my knee as much as possible. I am tired all the time, so i think I am decompressing. My knee is getting better--it still hurts some, but not as badly as before. Still can't run, though. I see a knee specialist on Monday, so I am anxious to see what he says and to learn what kind of rehab I will do for it. Next week, I am going to start working out again, with boxing, and hopefully some yoga and swimming. I am missing being active.

It's been FALL here the last few days! I know you Southerners are excited that it's been in the 80s for you, but here it's been chilly enough to require sweaters and jackets. I am not yet ready to say goodbye to summer (and definitely not hello to winter) but I love fall. I ran some errands after work today and I was so happy and content and felt like I could accomplish anything. I love it.

We're still trying to figure some things out, but with more free time comes more clarity, and we are making some good headway. Stuff like jobs and cars and the future and money...you know, all that adult stuff. But let me tell you, there is nothing more amazing than coming home and cooking dinner with Fuzzy and enjoying each other's company. He's dreamy.

Also, its now football season! Go Saints!

I will leave you now with these photos I took outside of Ryan and Sylvia's apartment after I fed their cats. While I was waiting for Fuzzy, I looked into this window and realized I was being watched by a ghost.

See it?

And then I looked down, and was standing on this:
Lovely.

Snack or cocktail?

I went in to work today, on my day off. I feel like I am getting away with something.

AH!

Hi! I have to be brief today, but I wanted to post an update that the PILOT PREMIERED AND IT WAS AWESOME! We were on TV! The party was a lot of fun and it was so neat to see our names on the credit screens and see us on tv with commercials.

I will post more about it later! Thank you all for your support!

xo

Friend of Blewt Justin Kaufmann blogged about the pilot over at his WBEZ blog!

Thanks, Justin!

I HAVE THE MOST AMAZING LIFE!!!!!

If you know me at all, and I am guessing you do if you are reading this blog, then you know that I am a HUGE Jackass fan. I mean, I just linked to it a few weeks ago when I mentioned bursitis. So when Steve Gadlin told me that Steve-O was the guest after us on You and Me This Morning, I freaked the eff out. I tried to be cool and not get my hopes up, but you know. STEVE-O. So this morning we went in and did our thing (I've been on morning shows a few times, so this was nothing new. The clip went fine, not great, but whatareyougonnado--it was a good promo for the pilot premiere tomorrow night.) So we were puttering around in the greenroom afterwards, talking about how it went, when I heard a familiar voice....I looked up at Fuzzy and he was like "He's here!"

So I totally geeked out and hugged him the second he walked into the room. Cause I am reallycool. And then I tried to keep it together. HA! We chatted with him and the guy from Zanies about Don't Spit the Water! and the comedians who've been in it over the years. Then when it was time to leave, I was able to score this gem of a photo (thanks, Fuzzy!).

AMAZING, right?! We got that morning gig last minute yesterday, and then less than 24 hours later, I am sharing a greenroom with f*cking STEVE-O!!

I love my life.

Here are some cool behind the scenes photos that Fuzzy took!

We did a pre-commercial bump.

About to go on. Of course, we were not this smiley when we were live.

Sasha and The Noob!

They had a fake Timekeeper Willis.

30 Seconds on Live TV is a lot of time....

Fuzzy's post about Steve-O here!

If you live in Chicago, please join us at the DSTW PILOT VIEWING PARTY at the LINCOLN TAP ROOM at 3010 N Lincoln tomorrow night from 10PM to 2am!

SO COOL!

We have an amazing article in the Sun Times! Available online now, in print on Friday!
THIS IS EXCITING!

Catch Sasha, the Noob, and Cutie Bumblesnatch on WCIU's morning show You and Me This Morning, tomorrow morning at 7:10am! We will be promoting the pilot airing of Don't Spit the Water!

A little bird tells me that there is a super special amazing exciting guest following us on the show. I am trying to remain calm....