Where in the world?

For our wedding anniversary we headed to Victoria in British Columbia, Canada to see the Christmas lights display at the Butchart Gardens. (Thanks to Colin for some of the photos.)

The sunken garden Christmas lights display.  This is the site of an old quarry and once they were finished mining the place they turned it into what would be the first of five gardens at Butchart Gardens.

All lit up with Christmas lights.

More Christmas lights.

Me standing with the Terry Fox memorial.  This would have been the finish line of his run across Canada to raise awareness for Cancer research.

Some ducks ignoring the warning sign at a semi-frozen pond.

Empress Hotel.

Christmas lights display at British Columbia Parliament building.

Houseboats, walking to Ogden Point.

Lighthouse at Ogden Point.

For an early Christmas present I scored a pasta maker.  It was surprisingly easy to make and we are calling my first attempt a success.

We were not sure what the day was going to produce weather wise but we couldn't fight the urge to climb a mountain any longer.  We headed out to Rattlesnake Ridge for an easy 4mi round trip with 1200 feet elevation gain.  The track was in good condition, although a little steeper than I had anticipated.  The scenery along the way wasn't anything great but the view from the top was really worth it.

Our destination.

Colin enjoying the fresh air.

View from the top, it was well worth it (and I would even say better than Mt Si, I know the I-90 is down there somewhere but you just don't see it from here). 

Fall Colours.

 View of Mt Si from Rattlesnake Ridge.

Clowning around on top.

I was thrilled when I got the green light to start walking up some slight hills.  We decided to head into the mountains again before the snow started.  The destination was Talapus Lake a 4 mile round trip hike with a break in the middle to enjoy the lake.

Here is the lake, someone had set up camp on the other side so we had a lovely smell of campfire as we enjoyed our lunch.

More mountains off in the distance.

Fall Colours.

I'm all excited to be back out hiking.

Photo credits to Colin.

We had some guests from out of town and decided to show them around the Olympic Sculpture Park.  It is Colin's favourite park and also a good size given my limitations in walking.  We just happened to show up about 15 minutes before there was a guided walking tour of the park so we tool the opportunity to learn a little more about the art work.

Waves.  Sorry even after our tour leaders explanation (she was very excited about this piece), I still don't get the significance.

My favourite piece in the whole park, I also love the description, it appears full where it is empty and empty where it is full (although I don't think that it is captured in this photo).

The tour was well worth it as I got to see a section of the park that I never knew existed, that included seeing this piece.  I've forgotten everything that our tour guide said but wad did walk around the outside to 'feel connected to the outside world' the came inside to 'escape from the world'.

The weather could not have been more perfect.

After the tour we relaxed for a bit in the back of one of the eye's.

Free of the boot I decided to try an test my foot on a stroll around Seward Park.  It was a glorious sunny day and for 3/4 of the trip I was feeling great, limping through the last 1/4 with Colin as my crutch.

Before the walk we fueled up with a bit of lunch with a view.

Some friends joined us for lunch.

Getting a little tired now... perhaps I can grab a lift with these guys.

Today was a big milestone in the world of Achilles Tendon repair - TWO SHOES (and here is the photographic evidence).

Things are going well with the recovery, I've had five PT sessions and love the feeling when I am done and the scar tissue is all nicely massaged away.  I've also been blessed by a couple of warm days so that I have been able to get some use out of the two pools in our apartment complex. 

I'm back to the surgeon next Friday where he will hopefully tell me that he doesn't want to see me again (in a good way) and then getting rid of the limp and trying to go for a run.  I'm still eyeing off the 12K's of Christmas as my comeback run.  I might have to walk 'the hill', but I'm sure I was looking for an excuse to do that anyway.

To celebrate the two shoes event, I cooked myself a lovely treat of Salmon, Polenta and mixed vegies - So Tasty!

The sky was looking very angry yesterday so I decided to spend my indoor time in the kitchen.

There was a mixture of sunshine earlier in the day but by mid-afternoon it was looking very grey.

Dish number 1: Tuna Curry, I love making this very easy dish.  I needed more mushrooms to make this one a real winner.

Dish number 2: Vegetable Lasagna, attempting Kate's cottage cheese option instead of the white sauce,  I think I need one more coaching session before I've got it all figured out.

Dish number 3: Ouzo, I used half the requested amount of butter but still all I could taste was the butter.  Not in a hurry to cook this again.

Dish number 4: Spinach and Sun-Dried Tomato Quiche.  My second attempt at the quiche and I'm getting better at the pastry.

Dinner time! Can somebody please get me a glass of wine? I'm a little tired now!

Several pieces of good news this week as I was put into the boot (see photo below) and skipped the need for a final cast.  This means that I can now wash my left leg (it was getting very gross), go swimming and start my rehab.  The surgeon is telling me to get off my crutches in 2 weeks (yay - walking) and then I'll finally be able to wear a left shoe in another 4 weeks.  The final piece of good news is that given the current circumstances I should be fine to run the 12K's of Christmas in Kirkland on Dec-20.

With all the good news I don't think that I need to highlight what is keeping my spirits up but here it is anyway...

• Family visit, thanks guys you really cheered me up.
• Rediscovering the fun of a PSP, we picked up Scrabble and Blokus from Fry's the other day.
• Knee Scooter, can't sing your praises enough.  I was able to explore downtown Seattle with my family as well as factory shopping and Mt St Helen's.  These feats might not seem like much but I would not even consider doing one of these activities on crutches.
• Swimming laps and riding a stationary bike, feels so good to be moving again.
• My new love of cooking, I've discovered the joy of cooking from scratch.  The bruschetta (see photo below) really hit the spot. I think that I have a bit more practice in me before I can call myself a master of the short crust pastry or the quiche (see second photo below).

The bruschetta was amazing, just what I was craving.

The quiche needs a little more practice, or perhaps I should just give up on eggs altogether.

I continued my trend of going through the whole spectrum of highlighter colours with a bright orange cast for this week.  Apparently I'm before my time as this is the most popular colour around Halloween.  As you can now see the angle of my foot is approaching the target of a right angle so my surgeon said that he is going to try me in the boot next week, cross fingers for me as it might save me 1 week in my overall recovery time.

So it was kind of a frustrating week, I'm really struggling with the fact that I experience almost no pain and I have a stack of energy, but getting around on the knee scooter or crutches is just such a hassle add to the fact that I'm very much sick of TV.  But I'm trying to continue look on the bright side so here is some of the stuff that has been keeping my spirits up.

• My beautiful Sister celebrated her Birthday, and as part of the celebrations she is jumping a QANTAS jet to come and visit me.
• Even better news was that my Dad surprised my Mum by also booking her a ticket to come over with my sister.  Nice to know that after 35 years or so of marriage there is still romance.
• Good progress is being made on my writing assignments.
• Great news from friends around the world, It's not four wedding and a funeral for me... more like four babies and a wedding - congrats to all, it really made me smile.
• A great trip outing to IKEA!  Add to that the great support from those around me to keep my spirits up.
• Working on my core strength and my 6-pack.
• I joined an online support group.  Unfortunately there are a lot of people out there going through a very similar experience to me, but it is great to have a place to read about other peoples experiences and recovery.    I've also started a recovery specific blog (http://achillesblog.com/bubble/) so that I can more effectively share my story with those going through a similar experience.  Also it will leave this site free of photos of my surgery scars and the critical calf measurements. 

I had my cast replaced yesterday (see photo below), continuing on the trend of highlighter colours I went for the bright pink option.  Colin told me they were going to take a chain saw to my leg. I thought he was joking, but they did take a chainsaw to my leg.  This was an ultimate exercise in trust and despite the fact that the nurse showed me on her hand that the blade would not cut skin, I was extremely nervous the entire time that the machine was running.

So next up for me is potentially another 2 casts.  As you can see from the photo, above, my foot is now at a slight angle (lets be optimistic and say that it is a little over 45 degrees).  The idea with the casts is that they are slowly stretching out the tendon till it is at ninety degrees and then they will hold it there for a while and I will begin to put some pressure on it.  The reason I say potentially another 2 casts is that if I can get my foot up to ninety degree's with my next cast then there would be no need for a fourth cast and I can graduate to the boot a week earlier.

Here is an interesting fact for the day:  Did you know that when you walk your Achilles tendon bears at least twice your body weight, and when running it can bear up to twelve times your body weight.

So overall this was quite a frustrating week for me.  I am really struggling with the fact that I feel great, yet getting up and moving around is a real challenge.  However I will continue to look on the brightside and give you my regular comments about what is making me smile.

• Colin and I celebrated our 11 year anniversary this week. (note: that is 11 years since we started dating, not our wedding anniversary).   The celebrations were to include a sea kayaking trip around the San Juan Islands but we had to have a less elaborate affair and ended up going out for dinner at the local Japanese place.

• My mum and sister are coming to visit in less that one week - I'm very excited!.
• I've got new wheels (see photo below), it is called a knee scooter and it is about a million times better than crutches.  Yesterday, I managed to do some grocery shopping, with Colin pushing the trolley and I'm even thinking that I will take it out for a walk around the block.

I'm feeling pretty good right now, yesterday I had a great weight lifted off my leg as they removed my splint (all 5kg/11lb of it) and fitted me with a much more light weight cast.  Being in America, the land of many decisions, there was a very tough choice to make regarding the colour of my cast, the options were white, black, orange, red, blue, purple, pink and green).   I chose the highlighter green (see image below)

It wasn't too tough for me to decide as I only have to wear this cast for one week before I get a new one, unlike if I had actually broken my foot where they would give me one cast for the whole six weeks.

It was a very strange feeling for me to be overjoyed at getting a cast put on my leg, usually getting a cast put on is a sad event because it marks the start of a period of incapacitation,but for it was a milestone (one down three to go), plus I was very over the splint and bandages.

Here are a couple of things that have kept my spirits up this week:

• Lots of visitors and outings being planned for me - Thanks to all who have gone out of their way to drive me around and/or entertain me.
• New experiences - I'm slowly mastering the art of crochet.  On top of that I'm tasting a world of new foods as people have been dropping off a variety of different dinners to save us the effort of having to worry about what to cook.
• My enhanced beauty routine - Given that it is such an effort to get to the bathroom to clean my teeth, I've taken to spending some extra time sitting in the bathroom to recover from the effort that it took to get there.  Whilst sitting there I stare at all the girlie products and end up using them. 
• Catching up on administrative items - my e-mails are now very much in order, but I'm yet to tackle the Australian Tax Returns (I'm fast running out of excuses for that one).
• Special deliveries from special people (see photo below)

Now it is not all roses and good times, there are some things that I'm sure will begin to cause me a lot of grief over the coming weeks.

• Not swimming, we have two pools that we have been paying home owners dues on for the whole year and I'm not enjoying them - ARGH!
• Bad Television/Movies - there is a lot of it.  I'm in the habit of watching some rubbish for about twenty minutes and then turning it off in disgust.
• Mobility, or lack there of - I think I'll be much happier when I can count the number of weeks till I am walking on one hand, rather than the current two hands.  Also not driving or being able to catch a bus is kind of annoying (right now the effort it would take to get on a bus just seems overwhelming).

As a side note to the whole America being the land of many decisions, the first time I went to the dentist here they asked me what flavour fluoride I would like.  I was very confused by all of this and asked what where the choices, here are the ones that I can remember cherry, strawberry, cinnamon, mint and liquorice.  There were many more but I was in too much shock to take it all in.

It was a pretty big blow the other week, tearing my Achilles and all, but there was even worse news facing me when went to my surgeon's office for a consultation about the best course of action.  Here is how the conversation went (or words pretty much to that effect)...

<Begin Scene>

Dr: I see that you have torn your Achilles tendon.  There are two main options for fixing this type of injury.  We can immobilise your foot for a million years and eventually the tendon will just reattach itself.  Or, for a more speedy recovery we can fix it via surgery and then we will only need to immobilise it for 2 months.

Me: Well I would like to be able to walk around as quickly as possible so I think the surgery option sounds good.

Dr: (Looking at my chart) Do you smoke?

Me: No

Dr. Do you drink excessively?

Me: No, only about two or three glasses per week

Dr: Any family history of heart, lung, kidney or liver problems?

Me: No

Dr: Well you are relatively young, so you should come through surgery without too many challenges.  I can book you in for Thursday.

<End Scene>

There was a pause in the conversation at this point as I digested that last sentence.  When did I go from being 'young' to being 'relatively young'.   And what is next and when can I expect that to happen, I need to know these details so that I can feel a little more prepared and not get caught out in the doctor's surgery staring at him open mouthed like he has just spoken to me is Chinese.

Last Monday I had a very unfortunate incident at soccer and ended up on crutches with a torn Achilles.  People have always told me that tearing your Achilles is one of life's most painful injuries and having been through the experience I have to say for the first 10 seconds it was a 10+ on the pain scale, but 5 minutes after the fact I would have to say that I didn't really feel anything other than mild discomfort. 

I was lucky enough to get into surgery on Thursday morning (only 2.5 days after the incident occurred) so all that is left for me now is to sit back and let the healing begin.  The healing process is quite extensive.  Currently I've got about 8lb/5kg of bandages on my leg which makes even standing up quite a challenge (see photo below).  On Friday I will go back to the surgeon to get a series of 4 casts (1/week for 4 weeks) after that I will be wearing a huge boot for 2 weeks while sill on crutches and then another 2 weeks in the boot where I can finally walk.  After about 10 weeks from the date of surgery I will finally be able to put a shoe onto my left foot.   

So being injured is never much fun but I've still got a lot of things to be thankful for, I'm doing my best to stay positive.  Here are some of the things that are making me smile right now:

• The Sun - some might say that summer is the worst time to be injured but I actually think that I would be in a worse mood if this occurred over winter.  At least this way you can sit outside and read a book if the endless hours on the couch get too much for you.
• A stronger leg - they say that once the tendon is all repaired that it should be stronger than without the surgery and the chances of this occurring again are quite slim.
• Recovery - I don't drink excessively, smoke and I only had 2.5 days from incident to surgery. All signs are pointing to the fact that I will be on the road to recover in as little a time as possible.
• Good Friends - the support (including the goodies in the photo below) that I have received from all corners of the globe has made me feel really touched.

Another very hot summer's day in Seattle and we decided to hike up McClellan Butte.  This trail was a lot more pleasant than Mt Pilchuck, there was a lot more tree cover and some very well placed snow stops.  The only down side to the hiking was the hundreds of mosquitoes and flies, but I think this is more of a feature of Summer '09 rather than this hike in particular.

Getting to the summit involved a 100ft scramble up this ledge, there was a very steep drop off on both sides.  Certain death on the left and a lot of bruises and cuts if you decided to fall to the right.

Chilling out on the scramble, the rocks were actually very hot so I didn't sit down for too long.  That was about as much of the scramble that I completed, in hindsight I probably could have gone higher but didn't really feel comfortable with the sheer drop-offs.View from the top.

Another mid-week hike, this time on a Thursday to Snow Lake.  The trail was really busy, with over 60 cars in the car park at the trail head when we arrived at 10am.  Pretty much everyone that we crossed paths with on the was walking with a dog or two.

Unfortunately the fog never really lifted on our hike, we didn't even get a chance to see the other side of Snow Lake.

The weather was very pleasant for the hike, but the fog never really lifted and it even got worse as we went over the ridge into the next valley. 

I had the week of work recently, so I took the opportunity to do some mid-week hiking.  On Monday, I tackled Mt. Pilchuck.  It was a very hot day and the lack of trees along the trail made it pretty tough going. Despite the heat I enjoyed the hiking and the view from the top.

Much of the trail was across rocks, adding to the extreme heat of the day.

The fire tower at the summit of Mt. Pilchuck, on this day it provided some much needed relief from the sun. 

View of Mt. Baker from the summit of Mt. Pilchuck.

After 2 hours we had our first break from the trees and saw that we still had quite a way to go.

The trail was relatively quiet, but closer to the top there was a bit more activity.

Needing a Jam & Cheese Sandwich injection at this point.

Wildflowers, waterfall, avalanches & mountains.  This summit was well worth it.

Glacier Peak, can you spot Colin?

A very 'Sound of Music' moment.

 View of Mt. Baker.

The end of a perfect day, sausage, beer, salad and camp fire (if you ignore the thunder overhead).

This time we were celebrating Michael's Birthday and the theme was.... All his favourite things.

Emma & Lucy - so very very clever.

A view of Seattle and the Olympic Mountains at the end of a lovely summers day.