Exhausted...In a Good Kinda Way

I'm tired, spent, barely awake and its 10:30...but it was an amazing weekend. Highlights included:

• 4 Movies- yes, a record I think. Wedding Crashers, Rent, Company (a really amazing Hindi movie), and Lord of War. The first was hilarious and the other three left me pondering major social issues like the AIDS epidemic, mafia control of politics and media, and contraband arms trafficking.
• Crazy Party at Ripun & Nirish's- started as a "little get together"..ended up not so little.
• Delicious Indian food at Jackson Diner
• Saying Goodbye to Heba...Ma3a salama 7abibti! Inshallah hashofik 'urayyib fil Msr!!!

I love the kind of exhausted where you can just sit here and think "Wow, all that happened in the last 48 hours"

The Eye of the Storm

Put on a shoe for the first time yesterday... I still can't walk in it, but hey, its nice to see it on my foot. This weekend is the first weekend this month that I am planning activities without "handicapped accessible" in mind. It makes me smile....and then I remember this is just the eye of the storm. 2 Weeks from now we start all over again. Urgh... foot number two won't be quite as much of an adventure....I won't feel like such a pioneer...just "here we go again."

In other news, I got my first traffic ticket yesterday....$90 fine for not wearing my seatbelt. I decided I don't agree with seatbelt law- if I want to kill myself by not wearing my seatbelt why should the State of New York care? The funny part is when the cop pulled me over I was pulled over right in front of a minivan that was parked in the middle of 96th Street crossing two lanes of traffick...after it was clear that the cop was a complete idiot and wasn't going to let me off with a warning I suggested that he make his quota that day by ticketing that guy instead of me...he was at least doing something to disrupt other people.

The Miracle of the Human Body

I went to the doctor this morning...10 days post surgery. They took out my stitches and the big metal pins in my two toes (not such a fun experience) and I got to see my whole foot for the first time since my surgery. They took x-rays and the verdict is in...my foot is officially 100% fixed!!

It was so strange looking at my foot...it doesn't even look like my foot anymore!! But there was very little bruising, no swelling, and almost no blood!! The doctor said my recovery is going much better than normal and when I go back in 10 days she may even let me go back to wearing an extra-wide Running Shoe instead of my big walking cast!!

It made me realize how incredible the human body is...just 10 days ago they broke 4 bones in my foot and my foot is no where near as messed up as I though it would be. After being told by the first doctor that I needed to go 6 weeks without putting ANY weight on my foot I am very thankful that I put in the effort to really research what they were doing to me and get other opinions.

Rang De Basanti

rangdebasanti
Originally uploaded by suzannemo.

I went tonight to see a great new Indian movie... Rang De Basanti. It is an incredible movie and I recommend it to everyone. Bollywood has come a long way in the last few years and this movie is a shining example of the kind of provactive films that it is turning out!!

My New Boyfriend

DSC03315
Originally uploaded by suzannemo.

Meet Burke. He’s my new boyfriend. Well, actually he is a cold-therapy machine prescribed to me by my doctor…but he is the closest thing to a serious fling I have had in a while. Burke and I are attached at the foot….literally. Everywhere I go, he has to go too. Without him I am in pain…literally. Without me, he has no purpose.

Maybe that is why I like Burke so much….his whole purpose for existing is to make me feel better. This is definitely the healthiest relationship I have been in for a long time :)

Happiness

flowers
Originally uploaded by suzannemo.

Staring at the same four walls all day its amazing how much a small change in your environment can make you smile....These flowers made my day today and made me a little more OK with being stuck inside. Thanks so much to my amazing friends for bringing me beautiful flowers and for making me laugh so hard I forgot my foot hurts.

Vicadin vs. Ritalin

My doctor prescribed me pain medication post-surgery but right now I feel like Ritalin would help me more than Vicadin. I'm not sure which is worse....the pain or the A.D.D. I am developing from being stuck in my apartment.

Its been 3 days since I have ventured out of my apartment and I am seriously feeling restless... I need to find a new hobby which doesn't involve leaving my apartment and can be conducted with one foot in the air hooked up to a cold-therapy machine...any suggestions???

My trip to Sinai

Riding in the cab this morning to the hospital I found the irony in the name of the hospital I chose...Mt. Sinai. I was just at Mt. Sinai in Egypt in July...and inshallah I will be there again in May. I realized that my plans to climb Mt. Sinai in May depend entirely on the success of my little trip to Mt. Sinai today.

Walking into the room was scarey...all these strange machines, strange lights glaring on me, 8 people wearing masks (2 anesthesioligists, 2 surgeons, and 4 nurses). It was like something out of a bad sci-fi movie.

I had to crack a joke about how sneaky my veins are when they avoided the IV 4 times. I also had to crack a joke in the last seconds before the sedation knocked me out about how I was going to take a little nap now but how I would appreciate it if everyone else would remain awake for the procedure.

The last words I remember the Doctor saying to me before I went under... "You seem WAY too happy for someone about to have surgery."

So, I present to you proof of positive thinking. I am 8 hours post-surgery now...I have not yet touched my vicadin, I have felt fine all afternoon, I am getting used to the strange cold-therapy machine which will be permanently attached to me for the next 3 days, and I am learning just how much fun it can be to hop around on one foot. Thanks to Jen and Anu's wonderful support I am very comfortable and have everything I need.

Tomorrow, once the local anesthetic wears off it may be a another story...the reality of having 4 bones cut in half in one day might hit me hard, but my theory is that as long as I keep up my optimism it can't be THAT bad.

I can't tell you how much all of your positive energy has helped me so far and will contitnue to help me in the next week. Every single one of you who put a posting here, who called me, who emailed me and sent me your positive energy...I truly believe that it is that positive energy that is making me feel as good as I do right now. This experience has shown me how lucky I am to be surrounded by so many amazing people....for all of you who have sent me your positive energy..I send you back a big thanks in your language......

Shukran, Merci, Makisih, Gracias, Obrigado, Shukriya, Grazzi, Sayol, Danke Schon, Teshekkurler, Hvala, Dankie, Gum Xia!!!!!!!!!!!!

DISCLAIMER

Tomorrow is the big day. I have to be at the hospital at 6:00 AM for my surgery...urgh...way too early...I hope my surgeon drinks some coffee before she starts cutting me up.

Its a beautiful sunny day in New York so I am off to enjoy my last stint of "running errands" for a while :) But before I run off, I want to leave a small disclaimer on my blog:

WARNING: Suzanne will be on seriously mind-altering pain medication for the next few days so anything that is posted here which makes absolutely no sense or is obsene or offensive should be ignored in totality.

(now i can put random stupid posts here for the next week and then blame it on the vicadin)