A memorial

6 days until my final (I pray!) visit with Dr. K, where I should be officially released from restrictions on activity.

One of my goals this Memorial Day Weekend is to clean house. Time to finally get the summer/winter clothes turned over, toss or donate items, and especially important--organize my office.

In one corner behind the door is a small plastic wash tub. When I did Triathlons, it was useful in competition for quickly washing sand stuck to my feet from running up a beach before putting on socks and biking shoes. Most recently it's been put to service holding G-Shaft and my old belts until Mrs. Shaft needed something to soak her feet in.

And so the various colored belts from white through red came tumbling down and are currently lying in a sad heap on the floor behind me.

You know, they really deserve better retirement than that, but there are so many of them I'm not sure what to do!!! Our advancement system has half-belts, referred to as stripes, between each solid color belt. So the order is:

• White
• Gold
• Gold - Green Stripe
• Green
• Green - Purple Stripe
• Purple
• Purple - Blue Stripe
• Blue (My current rank)
• Blue - Red Stripe
• Red
• Red - Brown Stripe (G-Shaft's current rank)
  
• Brown
• Brown - Black Stripe
• Brown - Double Black Stripe
• Black

So there are 17 of these dear, old friends, just waiting for a creative display.

I thought I might honor them with a vertical rack, and each belt would be hanging properly knotted in a nice array, kind of like a gun rack or sword display one might find in a hunting lodge. If I find a nice design, maybe I'll partner with one of the other parents I train with to sell a few to other students wanting to honor their history.

However, that's a lot of belts--so now I'm thinking of some kind of weaving. While a vertical rack shows progression, I think weaving them together shows the relevance of each belt's lessons to the next.

We'll try it this weekend and see how it looks.

What do you do with your old belts when you've been advanced?

Nesting Instinct

Being a father, I've seen this sort of thing before but never experienced it quite as much as I have lately.

The Nesting Instinct.

It's a phenomenon which occurs among pregnant women nearing birth. They get this burst of energy and seem driven to 'get the nest ready' for the new arrival.

In my case, I've been tackling not only the necessary details for surgery (PT, pre-op physical, follow-up appointments, FSA funds) but also a number of other projects around the house. I had a trim job on the stairs that I've buttoned up before Winter arrived. Gotta re-organize the garage and swap the lawnmower for the snowblower so it's ready for Mrs. G when that first big storm arrives. Buying some comfy, large pillows for leg padding. Gift-wrapping my sparring gear and uniforms.

And very importantly, getting my studio cleaned up and organized so I can perhaps do some music writing while I'm laid up!

I have no other way to describe it other than a nesting instinct. I'm making sure all I'll need those first few weeks following surgery will be at-hand without any fuss.

On a side note, please welcome Wei who is in late stages of ACL reconstruction PT as of this writing. She's a student of Tae Kwon Do, and a worthy read. Plus, I discovered the cool new gadget for blog links you can now see!

Time, and time again.

The date and time are set, the countdown reset.

December 15th, 8:30 am.

Saw Dr. K on Friday, he confirmed it is a complete ACL tear, and is just as baffled as I am as to the lack of swelling. He mentioned that sometimes it's the result of chronic ACL wear, but he saw no indication of that. Guess I'll just count my blessings I didn't have to go through the whole swelling-reduction program prior to surgery!

No indication of Meniscus damage, and signs of an MCL sprain which will resolve itself without surgical intervention.

As I head for my repeat, it's a reminder of all the things I had to do last time. Pre-op physical. PT appointments. Follow-up appointments. Work scheduling. Short-term disability. Allograft decision.

On.

And On.

And yes, I will be watching surgery again. That was cool the first time, gotta catch the sequel!

I will pack and gift wrap my uniforms and equipment this weekend. It was a ritual I used before, and one worth repeating. It symbolizes the pain of putting away my Karate for a while, with the promise of rebirth, restoration, and renewal in 27 weeks.

Happy Thanksgiving, all!

Day 5 post-op: Progress and accessories

Ahh, my first day home alone. Nice and quiet, good opportunity to catch up on home office things like tidying up the room a bit!

G-Shaft and Mrs. Shaft are back at school and work respectively. I'll be waiting until at least next Monday before I head back to the office, want to see if I can return without the immobilizer brace.

Yesterday and today I've been able to move around the house without a walking stick. The brace is a necessary evil, yes, but it's close to the point of getting in my way walking! I also hope after my visit with Dr. K on Friday to remove stitches that I can at least lose the brace while sleeping.

Last night I returned to the 2nd floor bedroom as well. It was awesome sleeping on the adjustable firmness mattress again, away from the squeak of the hamster wheels.

My auto-chill feature should show up via UPS this afternoon. That'll make my ice sessions so much more convenient after PT. And speaking of PT, I go tomorrow afternoon--we'll see how things sit at that time. I also have a shower bench showing up that a friend is loaning me this evening, that'll be nice--along with the new hand-held shower that Mrs. Shaft installed Saturday!

A few of my favorite recovery accessories:


Useful for PT, for calf muscle stretching, for a neck roll.


This one keeps me entertained!


Several of these kept me company while sleeping on the couch downstairs.


These keep my crutches from taking flight in the land of ice and snow I live in.
First pic is the ice grip retracted, second is engaged.
Had to modify them slightly as well as notch the rubber foot of my crutch, but they work like a charm!

Wishing continued healing and progress to Black Belt Mama who had a bit of a setback last week..

The Woodwork

It's always interesting to see who comes out of the woodwork when you experience some life-changing event. This morning at church I spoke with a few long-time friends and was related their personal ACL tear stories!

Judy, recently on the losing side of the equation between scooter and automobile, currently suffers from a torn ACL among other ailments as a result of her accident. Kerry tore her ACL 16 years ago skiing. Anne's son tore his playing soccer within the past few years, and I'm promised an introduction at Christmastime to talk with him about his experience.

This past week I've felt out of place in my own house, especially this weekend as the Wife and Mother-In-Law paint up the entryway and stairs.

I came to the realization that I'm sitting around doing nothing, because that's the time I'd usually spend at Karate class! DUH! I've been so entrenched in the daily and weekly rhythm of classes 4 to 5 times a week that it's really disruptive putting it on hold.

A man of ritual, I plan to give my fairly new sparring equipment (only twice used) a good cleaning and, along with my uniform and belt, pack it carefully away. Then I'll wrap it as a present to myself, to open on that special day when I get a green light from my PT and doc to return to Karate!