Elleinnz's Blog

957 Days - The Rollercoaster

Mon, 22 Apr 2013 18:59:06 GMT

Just keeping for posterity - and easy reference ;-)

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/964745-957-days-here-is-what-it-looks-like

Stressed - MUCH!!

Tue, 19 Feb 2013 23:00:45 GMT

Just a quick update on my life at the moment :-)

For weeks I have been in denial that I am stressed - but the reality is actually that I am as stressed as I have not been in a long while - and I suspect it is affecting my weight loss.....

WORK:

So just a quick update – I made my 100 day pledge mid January – and like Murphy would have it things started falling to pieces very soon after – which has not been good for my stress levels I am working on a contract – project has a go-live date of 30 September, so a reasonably safe assumption that I will have a “job” till end of October / maybe end November….. In any case – my contract was up for renewal 1^st Feb – normally a formality (organization only gives 3 month contracts)…..as it was getting closer to 1^st of Feb and a new piece of paper was not appearing I started getting a bit anxious….

Every week I am told by Friday – Friday it is next Monday…. In the end nothing eventuated, and I agreed with my Programme Manager to take a week off (hence my last minute trip to Sydney earlier this month) while the paperwork was being done…. By the end of my week in Sydney I was told to come back to work – even though paperwork was still not done – so I have been on site here “illegally” since second week of February.

I was told my contract has been extended till first March – still no actual paperwork – and 1^st of March is next Friday…..

Now it seems there are bigger reasons the paperwork is not getting done – and another 8 guys on the project actually have contracts running out in the next 2 to 4 weeks – not a happy place to be right now I can tell you. Over the past two days rumours are running rife through the business that our project is being put on hold for a month – the wonderful thing is no-one has actually discussed this with our Programme Manager – or any of the people directly involved…..

I am not too worried about finding something else – it is the life of a contractor – and something always comes up – might take some time, but luckily I have my “downtime nest egg” for these type of situations.

MY SHOULDER:

After months of pain in my shoulder I have been visiting a few doctors, radiologists for ultra sounds and MRI's, and two orthopeadic surgeons.....so the MRI shows acute osteo arthritis in my shoulder - same as I have in my knees....

First orthopeadic surgeon pretty much said "live with it", so I went for a second opinion - and will be getting some cortisone injections in the shoulder on the 27th of February to see if we can at least "calm down" some of the bursitis and inflamation that seems to be in there as well. It is obviously not a magic bullet for osteo arthritis, but some short term relief will be welcome.

A few tears were shed and for a few moments I had a "why me" feeling - but then I decided that this was just another thing I needed to find ways to cope with, and with the help of my "boys" - Stu my physio, and Alex my trainer we have come up with some kick ass programs that works around the issues and challenges me (oh boy how it challenges me )- and allows me to go hard as always in the gym.

THE SCALE:

BUT I can tell you that it has taken super human powers to refrain from eating my emotions – to the point where I am actually wondering if it is not adding to my stress levels. I am not hungry – but boy oh boy – I crave that comfort food – in my case – anything sweet – cake, pastries, cheesecake, ice cream!!

I just don’t want to get to March and regret that I had allowed the emotional eating to take over – especially since the scale is not playing a fair game either….

I am super good – both from an eating and exercise point of view – and just when the scale is moving in the right direction (and staying there for a few days) all of a sudden it jumps UP again – for no friggin reason…..In the past week it has gone from 100.3 kg down to 97.7 and spiking back up to 99.7 this morning - aaagghhh!!

Now I know this – and I have said to many a person “ignore it” – but if you are already super stressed – doing your best to get the number down and you are not seeing the results – It really takes all my mental strength to not allow it to do my head in……

Right now, I am sticking to my calories – and macro splits. It does not help to knee jerk, and until I have more information, the status quo is as good a place as anything to be.

My fantastic trainer Alex that I have raved about so many times has been attending some courses on Functional Medicine in the past month, and has come home with some ideas that we are exploring.

First step I have an appointment with a Functional Medicine practitioner here in Auckland tomorrow afternoon – Alex and I have a bunch of “special snowflake” blood and saliva tests that we want to run to see if there are any hormonal, or gutt issues that might need addressing – more on that once I get the actual results.

So this is not a post to feel sorry for me – but as I have said before I tend to be a “happy stories only” poster – but I also realize that it is important to share the other side of my experience with everyone that sees my story as an “inspiration”

In the end, I am human like everyone else – and the good and the bad happens to me too J

Oh and just to end on a happy note – we have been having the most amazing summer – and I might be able to enjoy some of our fabulous late summer days in March when I am having coffees with new potential employers ;-)

100 Days - Here we GO!!

Sun, 13 Jan 2013 07:20:13 GMT

So in my previous blog I said I was starting a personal "100 Days Challenge" today...

I have another 15 to 20kg's (40ish lbs) that I would like to get shred over the next year, and the way I was doing it in 2012 is most probably not going to get the job done... As I said in my previous blog I am quite happy that I managed to "maintain" - But I am not done yet!!

Looking back I was really good and on track most weekdays, but then I allowed myself not to log on weekends. I followed a Paleo lifestyle most of the time - but then tended to "carb load" over weekends - not rice and pasta etc - PASTRIES and CAKE, and other treats ;-)

So what does my 100 Days entail:

1) Log every day for a 100 days - yes even weekends and holidays!!

2) Stay within my calories for a 100 days (including eating at least 50% of my exercise calories)

3) Carry on eating my version of "clean" , but not strict Paleo....there will be some potatoes, little bit of bread and the occasional legume in my food choices.

Still stick with "lower" carbs - but up it to around 150 to 170g a day
Only one - SMALL flat white a day (can have more black coffee)

4) Walk to work and back - or 30 minutes at lunch time if I do take the car

5) Gym at least 5 sessions a week

6) At least ONE full cardio day a week, at least 20 minutes HIIT (not just on the bike!!), and then make it up to at least 45 minutes - and then 15 minutes mat work

7) Technology off by 10pm and lights out by 11pm (yes - that means less time on MFP my friends!!)

My SKY decoder (cable) was bust when I got back from holiday, and I have decided to give my subscription up - so only boring TV - 2 days now it has not even been switched on....

8) Declutter my house - at least ONE item needs to be thrown away - or given away every day for a 100 days......and note to self a pile of magazines is one item - not 10 ;-)

So that is it - until the 23rd of April I am going to live by these simple rules - nothing to drastic or dramatic - pretty much what i have done 80% of the time over the past year - but to get rid of the last little bit I need to do it 100% of the time - and this is what this is all about.....I know I wont get rid of the full 40lbs - but hopefully I will give it good start ;-)

I played with the idea of no alcohol for a while - but realised that that is not really an issue for me - I am an occasional social drinker - and if it fits in my calories for the day it will be fine - so the occasional sangria or spritzer over summer ~~will~~ might be drunk ;-)

January 2013 - The start of a new year

Fri, 11 Jan 2013 05:46:29 GMT

I posted my holiday "weightloss" today, and got many congratulations from all my fabulous pals for busting the 100kg mark.

Elleinnz lost 3.5 kilograms since her last weigh-in! Elleinnz's lost 49.6 kilograms so far

I added this comment below the post:

"The day I left on holiday I weighed in at 100kg - New Years day on Phi Phi Island = 103kg.....Came home at 101.3kg.....this morning 99.5kg"

Well time to come clean with myself - and everyone else :-)

The first time I jumped under the 100kg mark was in September 2010 - yes 2010!! For various reasons 2011 was not a great weighloss year for me - and you know what I am fine with that.

What I am most stoked about is that I managed to MAINTAIN 50kg (110lb) weighloss for the past 14 months - through some major knee surgeries and subsequent recovery (not making excuses - but I do need to acknowledge that there was a few bumps in the road ;-))

I posted this blog on the 7th January last year:

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Elleinnz/view/january-2012-my-statistics-at-the-start-of-2012-192152

Well - safe to say - I am still where I was a year ago - as of this morning I actually weigh 2kg's more (4.4lbs)

During 2012 I did manage to get down to 94.6 kg (208) on 12 Sept 2012 - a month after my 2nd knee surgery - so this is why I dont want to use my surgery as an excuse!!

From September to December was obviously a bit of a train smash - too much of the good life, which resulted in me going on holiday weighing in at 100kgs - yes - from Sept to Dec I managed to pick up 5.4kgs (12lbs)

So time to get real and serious again - I still want to drop another 15 to 20kg's - and it is not going to go anywhere without me making an concerted effort for a little bit longer!!

To do this I am embarking on my own personal "100 day challenge" - I will blog more on this over the weekend :-)

Measurements as at 11 January 2013

Weight 99.5

Bodyfat 25.1%

Bicep (flexed) 39.5

Chest (underarms) 100

Waist (smallest) 94

Umbilical 107

Hips 113

Thigh (18.5cm above superior patella) 64.5

Calf 48cm

Alex explaining "We will do 8 and then 8 and then 8" - this is on the 5th SET !!

Sometimes one needs to RESET your GOALS!!

Mon, 19 Nov 2012 03:20:56 GMT

Posted this on my wall this morning - Monday 19 November

OK - Here we go!! Weight have been slowly creeping the wrong way, so some small tweaks to goals.... Weight reset to where it is now 99.1kg - not going to up to 100 again EVER!!

Dropped calories down to 1600 (from 1800) Upped carbs slightly to 30% (from 25%) and dropped fat to 35% (from 40 %) Protein stays at 35 %.

I will eat back some (50%) of my exercise cals (if measure by HRM)...... If my only exercise for the day is walking I will most probably not eat those back (make it my "low cal" days)....

What this means is I need to go back to pre-loggin my food at the start of each day - and make sure I get the right foods at the right time......

In the end of the day it is all about ATTITUDE - I have been enjoying the good life just a tad too much over the past month - time to pull back a little bit - in the end of the day I still have 15 kg's I want to DROP!!

And then exercise - This email to my trainer who is putting together my next 6 week programme ;-) Oh boy - I asked for it - now I have to EXECUTE!! Wish me luck

-----Original Message-----

From: Donelle Fairall

Sent: Monday, November 19, 2012 9:59 AM

To: 'Alex Flint'

Subject: RE: Session update

Yep

My thinking - I am not trying to tell you how to write my programme, but this is sort of what I have been trying to do....

Monday - Swim Drills (60 Mins)

Tuesday - Gym PT with Alex (Upper)

Wed - Swim Drills (60 mins) (maybe some bike afterwards)

Thu - Gym (Legs, Abs and cardio)

Fri - (am) - Gym PT with Alex (Upper)

Fri - (pm) - Swim Drills (60 mins)(either Fri or Sat pm)

Sat - (am) - Gym (Cross Training - Kettlebells, Sleds, Some legs (presses, squats & deadlifts) Boxing tabatas etc) - A general "fun" session - normally a bit longer - I am a sucker for punishment

Sat - (pm) - Swim Drills (60 mins) (either Fri or Sat pm)

Sun - Gym (Upper Body, Floor Body Weight stuff)

Walking - 45 mins every day!!

3 Month Anniversary of my new Knee

Sun, 11 Nov 2012 08:07:48 GMT

As most of my pals might know I had a Total Knee Replacement (Right Knee) on 10 August 2012. Yesterday was the 3 month anniversary :-)

I had my 3 month check up with my surgeon last week and he says my recovery is at least 3 to 6 months ahead of where most of his patients are at this stage.....(might have a little bit to do with being 10 years younger than most TKR patients)

I am pretty much back to full mobility - managing 5 to 6 exercise sessions a week - and getting 500 to 700 burns most of those days.....

Both surgeon and physio has cleared me to train legs again, so back to leg presses, deadlifts, body weight squats - and sled pulls ......

For those that has not been through something like this after surgery the physio makes the rules ...... in most cases apparently he has to strongly encourage the patients to get more active - in my case the opposite - he was the man that kept putting the brakes on when I tried to get to active - so getting his approval to "go for it" is pretty awesome!!

I still have occasional "niggles" and a bit of patella tracking, but physio is teaching me how to tape the knee - and between him and my trainer I have a programe to strengthen the leg muscles..... so it is hopefully just a matter of time.

In any case to mark the 3 month point I decided to set a few benchmarks this weekend

Swimming : Yesterday after a 60 min Kick Ass Back & Shoulder session with my trainer I jumped in the pool for a cool down.......Did a 500 m swim (10 laps) in 15 minutes (Olympic Pool - not my 25 m lappool)

Walking: Did my big leg session in the gym around midday, and then at 5pm decided to go for my first "powerwalk" since I tore my meniscus in December 2011.

The stats today 11 Nov 2012

3.19 km in 34:22 mins. Average 5.57 km/h Pace 10:46 min/km

To put this in context - 9 Dec 2011 just before I hurt my knee I did a very similar walk

3.63 km in 48:27 mins. Average 4.51 km/h Pace 13:18 min/km

So my pace now is actually FASTER than I was walking before I bust my knee in December - pretty stoked with that - now I need to get back to comfortably powerwalking for 60 mins - and keep this pace!!

So all in all I am a happy bunny - and really looking forward to seeing what I can achieve in the next 3 months - wish me luck!!

Tomorrow I have my first session with a swim coach - the goal - The Auckland Harbour swim (2.8 km) in December 2013 - between now and then I want to do some shorter distance ocean swims - and be ready for the big one next year this time!!

edit - I originally posted that I had done a 1000 m in 15 mins - which is obviously soooo not true!! Only 500 m in 15 mins - so some work to do!!

I ate this today

Thu, 06 Sep 2012 07:32:52 GMT

One of my pals wondered about my food yesterday, so here it is my breakfast, lunch and dinner today......

As some of my pals might know I follow a Paleo lifestyle, so the one thing you wont see on these plates are many carbs (other than those in the fruit and vegetables I eat ;-) )

I also "sort of follow intermittent fasting", so I eat my breakfast at 11am in the morning, lunch around 2:30pm and then dinner between 6 and 7pm - which means I fast 16hrs most days.

So Paleo and IF might not be everyones cup of tea - for me it works - it suits my lifestyle, and my body responds well to lots of protein and and even more vegetables..... The other thing you will see is that I prefer cruciferous vegetables - I am surprised I have not turned into a green brocolli tree yet!!

Occasionally I will eat some carrots, pumpkin, beetroot or tomatoes - but my staples are brocolli, brussel sprouts, spinach, cabbage (love both red & savoy) and then cauliflower.

Because I mostly cook for one (me) I keep things very plain and simple.....I am also quite a creature of habit, so the same things are on my shopping list every week.....and feature over and over in my diary - this makes it quite easy to log every day as I can just copy from another day :-)

Lamb, Steak or Fish is normally quickly grilled in a very hot pan lightly sprayed with Avocado Oil - I like my red meat Medium Rare - so the meat is literally done 90 seconds on one side - 90 seconds on the other side and left to rest for 5 minutes....

Chicken Thighs (yes I dont like breast) is slowly poached for 20 to 30 minutes in water (normally I would throw in an onion and some celery in the water) Once the chicken has been poached I use the stock to make soup...

The majority of my vegetables are steamed for 5 to 6 minutes - if I have calories I might add a bit of butter to the cooked vegetables.......

Brussel Sprouts and the Cauliflower might get a grating or two of nutmeg for flavour

The Savoy Cabbage I quickly sauteed - Avocado oil spray in the pan - add the onions and heat for about 3 minutes - add the thinly sliced cabbage and stir fry for another 5 minutes - add a little bit of water to the pan, put lid on a steam for another 4 or 5 minutes.... add a little bit of butter - and a sprinkle of chilli flakes

This morning at 11 am it was some pan fried fish, steamed brocolli and cooked beetroot

My lunch at 2:30pm consisted of some Grilled Lamb Loin, Steamed Brocolli and Steamed Green Beans, and some lovely butter to flavour - I had already digged in when I remembered to take a photo ;-)

And then there was dinner tonight:

Fillet Steak, Sauteed Savoy Cabbage&Red Onion and Grilled Mushrooms

Most of my food is flavoured just using some Salt and Pepper (I use much less salt than I used to, but it still features on my meat, chicken and eggs) I also love spice, so Chilli Flakes and Tabasco makes an appearance quite a lot...... and then freshly grated nutmeg and cinamon is also on the menu quite often :-)

I normally won't log the Avocado Oil spray I use when cooking - but will log any Olive Oil or Coconut Oil that I add to food.....

When you see tuna and mayonnaise in my diary you can be assured that it is some sort of tuna salad - normally made with which ever vegetables I had for dinner the night before

Knee Replacement Surgery - Day Three

Sat, 25 Aug 2012 04:15:16 GMT

Yesterday was 2 weeks since my Total Knee Replacement (TKR) surgery and as I have a few pals here - and in real life looking at this type of surgery in the coming months / years I thought it was important to blog on my experience - hopefully it helps some one else along the way.....

If you have any questions please just shout - happy to answer if I can!! So I managed to get through day two - which my OS promissed would be the worst, and by the morning of day three I was feeling a whole heap better..... BP was up around 110 / 70 - which I am sure was contributing and I was not feeling nauseous all the time thanks to the drugs they were pumping into my IV....

I was not hooked up the IV any longer, after my last faint on day two they hooked up a different bag of some sort of Saline Solution to help with my low BP - that pumped through me in about an hour, and then they took the tube out that was attached to my hand (the actual needle bit still stayed in my hand for a couple of days for any IV drugs they needed to give me)

Day two was also the last time they gave me antibiotics....

So now I was on 6 hourly panadol and tramadol, and this was the last day of the other capsule (some sort of morphine based drug).....

I had breakfast and felt quite good, not getting lite headed sitting up at all ...... My body was sooo over lying on my back!!

At one stage during the night before the lovely nurses helped me sit on the side of the bed - with my legs off the side off the bed (chair under bad leg) just so I could stretch my back a little....... everyone was obviously still very anxious that I might black out again, so I was only allowed to do this if there was two of them in the room!!

OS and Anaethitist both came for their morning visits - and both promissed me I was over the worst - which was good news....OS was also happy to take out the drainage pipe that was in my knee.....

Physio arrived, and I got unhooked from most of the pipes (just catheter still in until I could prove that I could go to toilet under my own steam)....

Slowly managed to get off the bed and onto my feet - Physio had a harness around my waist to help her catch me if fell.....The amazing thing the knee was not hurting from me standing on it!! There was obviously the pain from the massive incision - but the knee itself was pain free!!

So with my Walking Frame we went for a little wander out of my room - 10 metres down the hall - and back to the room.....that went quite well, so I was allowed to have shower - oh yah!!

They helped lower me down in the chair in my shower - helped undress me - and then left me to it - my nurse was on the other side of the door, and would "check in" every couple of minutes..... I realised the best way to keep her happy was just to keep talking to her so that she knew I was not passed out!! They took out the catheter, so I could put my own PJ's on - I was out of the blue hospital gowns!! Which I do admit was very handy when they had to change me 4 times the day before....

So after all that excitement it was back to bed, and a change of my bandages - the wound looked really good - very little bleeding and whoever stitched me up did a fantastic job!!

The bruising you see was actually already there when I went in for my surgery - thanks to some heavy lifting of dumbells a few nights earlier - I had no bruising from the surgery at all - amazing!!

Physio came back a couple of hours later with a pair of crutches - no walking frame needed for this girl!! We went for a longer walk - the corridor around the ward is a 100metres - we did one lap!! Then she showed me how to climb stairs - which was a bit of a waste of time as I had spent 6 weeks on crutches earlier in the year I was very comfortable with climbing stairs - but they have a job to do, and took me through all the other exercises I should be doing.....

The main thing at this stage is about getting Range of Motion (ROM) back in the leg......Day 3 I was at 90 degrees - which is good....

After this I was given the all clear to go for walks whenever I wanted to....

Sunday afternoon I had 3 sets of visitors - two of whom came with Flat Whites (coffee!!) which was very happly downed - I had missed my coffee!!

I was still in the little compression booties when I was lying in bed, and putting the ice packs on my knee at least every 90 minutes during the day.... but it felt soooo good to at least be able to move around....

My leg was still very swollen - but at least this time around I had expected that.

BP was now back to normal at around 120 / 80 and I had learned to "prompt" the nurses for my pain meds - during the day they were very onto it, but some of the night staff would not wake you for your meds - you needed to buzz them and ask for it, so I would set my alarm and just innocently ask "when is my next pain meds due??" After Saturday I was not going to get to the point again where I was in agony!!

Another visit from OS - he has really been amazing, and just keep on telling me what a mess my knee was - and how he still cant believe if I tell him I was not in constant agony....

I can honestly say that the leg is very uncomfortable - expecially as I cant roll onto my tummy the way I would normally do, but the pain is the pain from a surgical wound - the knee / arthritis pain is gone - and I am quite amazed at that - so soon!!

Knee Replacement Surgery - Day Two - Drama

Sat, 25 Aug 2012 03:22:47 GMT

If you have any questions please just shout - happy to answer if I can!!

So getting through day one of my TKR was pretty good thanks to Spinal anaesthetic and leg block.....

Had a fitfull sleep that first night (not too bad considering) and still no real pain...... feeling was slowly coming back into my legs, and I could now comfortably move my left leg (no surgery)

As always in hospital you wake quite early, and by breakfast time I had been visited by two lovely ladies that gave me a full bed bath (my first one ever) - They were quite impressed with my upper body strength - we have a monkey bar above the bed to help pulling oneself up and help a bit with moving around, but I suspect most people are pretty useless at using them..... As they needed to change my sheets they asked if I could try and pull myself up a bit so they could slide some clean sheets in - so I just pulled my upper body up as high as I could - and hung on a few inches off the bed :-) :-)

So just as they finished bathing me OS walked in and he was happy with everything..... as it was a Saturday morning he had his two kids in tow - boy of 7 and girl of 9 ...... Next thing we just hear a crash and poor girl is lying flat on the floor - she saw the jar of blood that came out of my drainage pipe, and just passed out cold!! Luckily for her there was lots of nurses around to give her a bit of TLC....

After that my breakfast arrived - Poached eggs, tomatoes and mushrooms and some fresh fruit - yum!! I was feeling pretty good, and OS said I could get up later when the physio arrived and go for a little walk!!

A few minutes later I was starting to feel quite lite headed and a bit queesy, so rang the bell for the nurse....... Just as I was telling her how I felt I just got these "stars" and I remember telling her that - and next thing I wake up and every nurse on our floor is in my room - there must have been 5 or 6 of them all around my bed - one lifting the foot of my bed, one wiping my head with a wet cloth, one checking my BP, one checking my charts......

Not sure how long I was out, but it must have been a few minutes as they were all around my bed when I came round - not sure who was whiter in the face - me or my young nurse.....

In any case - my BP just crashed - 85 / 55...... so there I was lying with my head lower than my feet - not allowed to even sit up if a nurse was not in the room....

Couple of hours later the physio came around, so I could go for my first walk - BP was up to about 95 / 60 so they sat me up to take out the IV and some of the other tubes when I started feeling really nauseous - I asked for my little bucket, and as I started hurling I passed out again - unfortunately it is not a good look passing out while puking - the friggin stuff goes everywhere but in the little bucket!!

So that was the end of my chance to escape my bed for the day - back to lying down with head lower than feet - and now getting BP checked every 30 mins!! After this 2nd fainting spell they phoned my anaethitist, and different bags of IV stuff was hooked up to help with restoring my BP - and more nauseau medications pumped into me.....

I was also very clammy and sweaty - they needed to change my gown and sheets 4 times during the day.....

And as all this drama was unfolding the feeling in my right leg (the one that was operated on) started coming back.....

Still not sure what exactly happened, but I suspect with all the drama they missed one of my scheduled med runs (or maybe because I was hurling they decided to wait a bit) ......lunch arrived at some stage during all this hoo - ha, and I faintly remember them telling me they will keep it for me till later and to tell them when I was hungry.......

In any case by late afternoon all of a sudden I was in all sorts of excrutiating PAIN - I was sitting up best I could in my bed (well sort of curled up in the smallest ball I could make with good knee pulled to my chest) and tears streaming down my face when my OS walked in......... He was not impressed and within minutes the nurses were jumping giving me meds - and more stuff being pumped into my IV.....

30 minutes later the pain had subsided, and by the time dinner arrived I was actually in a position to eat it!!

BP was slowly climbing, and by later that night was around 100 / 60 - and pain was being managed ......

There was not much Olympics being watched on that Saturday, but my OS promissed me that this was the worst day I would have.....

They kept on monitoring my vitals through the night, and providing pain meds every 4 to 6 hours so not a whole heap of sleep, and my body was starting to revolt about the 48 hours I have been lying on my back in one postition - at least my BP was going a little bit higher every time they checked....

Knee Replacement Surgery - The Gory Details

Sat, 25 Aug 2012 02:23:51 GMT

If you have any questions please just shout - happy to answer if I can!!

Friday 10 August 2012 - The Day of my Total Knee Replacement has finally arrived.

As always with major surgery you need to stop eating (and drinking) the night before. I had a phone call from my anaethitist, and he said no food or drink after 1am - he did say I could have small mouthfulls of water if I really needed it in the morning of surgery.....

I was asked to report at Ascot Hospital in Greenlane at 9am for 11am surgery....Friends all offered to take me, but knowing myself I just needed to not have to be polite to anyone - so just booked a cab to drop me off.

Arrived at hospital, and instead of sitting in my bed stressing I asked if I could sit in the waiting room and watch the olympics - I saw more of the olympics that morning than I had in the past three weeks (from memory it was sychronised swimming and boxing)

Eventually the time came and "my team" started popping in to get me prepared.....

First my OS (Orthopedic Surgeon) came to say hi, and marked my leg with a huge black arrow on my calf pointing up to my knee to make sure I would wake up with the right bionic parts later

Then came a guy (he seemed to be the "head honcho nurse in theater", and he checked my forms, asked lots of verifying questions to make sure I am who I said I was, and that we were very sure what procedure I was having......and this would carry on for days (every time drugs was dished out my armband would be checked and I had to give my name and birthdate etc)

At the end of all this I got my armband (I got a red one as I have a allergy to sticking plasters), which caused more scrutiny every time drugs was dished out to make sure I got nothing I was alergic to...

Then my aneathitist popped around - IV thing went into my hand, and more questions asked, and explained to me that he would do a lumbar aneasthetic, as well as a nerve block on my leg.....He also pumped a batch of antibiotics through the IV.

The "head honcho" popped back to come and get me, and the nurses kept calling him back as he first forgot my x-rays, and then some bits they needed for the foot pumps (more on that later)..... He made a comment that it was because "This gorgeous lady does not really look as if she needs to be here for a knee replacement does she!!" - well that sort of made my day, but it is also a bit sad that I have to have this done at 52 - and when I am in the best shape of my life!!

Walked into theatre and it was very busy - lots of very high tech drill bits and things all around the place.......

They immediately had me on the side of the bed, did the full cleaning of my back with some very cold stuff, and then aneathitist came over and said "this could take 10 mins - I need you to sit very still and not move at all" The insertion was not too painfull, and 2 minutes later it was all done, and time for me to get my legs on the table, and lay down before everything went numb......I dont remember much after that - the general part of aneasthetic must have kicked in.... I entered the theatre just on 12, and next thing I remember the woke me up and I asked what the time was - it was 2:10pm - and it was all done!!

They wheeled me into the recovery area, and I was quite wide awake - had no feeling / or movement in my legs - so at this point all was good (and would stay that way for most of the next day :-)

After about 30 minutes they brought in a portable x-ray machine, and photos was taken of my new knee :-)

OS quickly popped in to tell me that everything went really well, and that my old knee was a total mess - and that I am going to love my new knee - and being pain free...

I realised that my nurse was not quite happy with some of my stats, and then overheard her talking to one of the other nurses - my resting HR was only 39 - and she was worried about it ........I explained to her that my resting HR was normally 51, and seeing that I am lying pretty much in a "coma" and cant move any body parts because of the spinal aneasthetic I suspect that it is just because I am fit - rather than because of any issues.... She called in the anaethitist, and he confirmed that if my resting is normally 51 - 39 is quite reasonable (even though they dont see it often - and again not very often in TKR patients)

So after about 2 hours in recovery I was sent up to my room - a gorgeous single room with a view of some huge trees, and the Ellerslie Race Course (Thank goodness for Southern Cross Healthcare)

Spent the rest of the afternoon updating friends and family, and watching more of the olympics - I was slowly getting movement back in my toes, but still no pain.....

Drugs : Antibiotics, and anti-nausea meds intravenously, and tramadol and some other caps I never caught the name of....

I had these little compression booties on my feet - every 30 seconds or so one of them is "pumped up", and slowly it deflates again - and the it all repeats on the other foot - it is there to help with preventing deep vein thrombosis, and much more comfortable than the ones I had previously which was foot to knee length.

There was also a ice pack on my knee - and every couple of hours the ice water would be "refreshed" to keep the knee nice and cool and help with healing

I was not tired at all, and did not sleep at all that afternoon (normally after a general I am very groggy and in and out of dreamland all the time)....so I really like the spinal aneasthetic - I did get some general as well, as I dont' remember anything (which is a good thing!!) but I suspect it was obviously a much lighter dose)

Had a full dinner that night - 3 gorgeous lamb chops, mashed potatoes, and lovely crisp vegetables - restaurant quality..... they even came and offered me wine or beer - which I did not think was such a good idea considering the amount of drugs floating around my body at the time ;-)

Once an hour my lovely nurses would come in a do a full check of BP, HR, temprature - and dish out drugs as prescribed - spinal and nerve block was still doing their thing - so at this stage it was not yet "as required"..... little did I know how quickly this would change the next day!!

So around 10 pm I turned off the TV and light for my first night's rest..... if you can call it that - BP checks every hour, and me being a "foetal position tummy sleeper" having to sleep lying stretched out straight on my back!!

Well - more details of day two in the next blog