P90X - Run Forest Run...

P90X – Run Forest Run…

As I mentioned to you in a previous blog about my hand injury, when I came out of surgery, and started waking up from the general anesthesia they gave me, I asked the doctor and nurses 9 times if I could still go running. I don’t remember asking, but they laughed as they told me once I was fully awake.

Obviously, I will not be doing any P90X until I get my stitches out next week, but could I run? Today I headed to the gym and did just that. I knocked 3 miles out with bandaged hand swinging opposite my good hand. One of two things could happen. 1) With my elevated heart rate and constant swaying back and forth of my wounded hand, a serious throbbing will set in, causing me discomfort. Or 2), Nothing out of the ordinary will occur, other than me getting all sweaty. Option 2 it was. As I started the tread mill, and got it up to speed, that saying from the movie Forest Gump popped into my head and made me laugh…”Run Forest, Run”

So, unless my day is booked, or a piano falls from the sky and lands upon my head, I am going to run “every” day from now until these sutures are removed. Gotta keep moving forward…

P90X - Stitches...

P90X – Stitches…

Quick update. Today was the day that Kerry (my private nurse – and wife) changed my wound dressings. Finally, I get to see what sort of damage was done by that STUPID agave.

As the inner wrappings were removed, there were a few pieces that were stuck to either the wound or to a stitch. Kerry was extremely careful in removing the gauze. I was glad that I was sitting down. I find it interesting that when I used to work in the O.R., I was usually elbows deep in human anatomy (mostly living). But show me a stitched laceration, on my own hand, and I turn into a wimpy light headed girly girl kind of patient…well, sort of.

The finger looks a little purple and swollen. The anastomoses looks good and there is an area that the surgeon left open so if there is an infection, natural drainage can occur. In retrospect, the dressings make the injury look worse than it is.

Usually, when one gets a cut, it is either stitched up or a simple band aid is applied. It will be a little sore, but soon it scabs over and heals nicely…life goes on. My problem is the location. The penetration occurred on my right hand ring finger, just above where the finger connects to the hand. The exit wound is on the other side right in the knuckle crease. The incision wraps 180 degrees around the finger from entry wound to exit wound. The doctor wants me to keep trying to move the finger (the joint/the knuckle/the incision). Time for some more Tylenol.

I think I will wait until my hand stops throbbing and I have a little more pain-free movement before getting back into aggressive P90X. Maybe in the meantime, I will try a little Yoga (or maybe not).

                                                      How I will spend my day

P90X - Wiggle Room...

P90X – Wiggle Room…

A quick update…I am lucky to me married to a nurse!

No more pain meds, except for a little Tylenol. My hand is bandaged up tightly with a little wiggle room for my finger tips. For the most part, there is no real discomfort, as long as I don’t move my fingers, especially the injured one. Doctor’s orders – move your fingers, especially the injured one…Ouch. Because the tendon was injured, I guess he doesn’t want it locking up on me.

As far as P90X goes, it will be a few more days before I get back into my routine. When I do start working out again, I will start at the beginning of Phase 2. I’m looking forward to that day, although until the stitches are removed, there will be no chin ups, push ups or right handed weight lifting.

In 2 weeks I will see the surgeon to have the sutures removed. Between now and then, my job is to relax, and let Kerry do most of the work around the house. For those of you who know me, you know that I am not the best at sitting back and allowing someone else do all of the work.

This morning I woke up and headed to the kitchen. Like every Sunday morning, today I was going to make some bacon for Kerry and her mom. As I held the scissors, trying to figure out how to use them with my injured hand, Kerry came in, saw me standing there, and took the scissors away from me, kicking me out of the kitchen at the same time. I obeyed.

So, for now it will be Redbox videos and chair-side service for this wounded P90X advocate. Once I start back at my exercise rotuine I will, of course, take it slow at the beginning. Like Tony (my P90X instructor) says, “Do what you can and do it well. Now, Bring it.”

I will stop rambling now and will keep you updated on my healing process.

                                    

                                                              

P90X - A Funny Thing Happened To Me On The Way Home From The Gym...

P90X – A Funny Thing Happened To Me On The Way Home From The Gym…

Today was an interesting day, to say the least. First, today was my 30^th P90X day. That’s right, my 1^st phase is done (30 down and 60 to go). My routine today had me doing Core Synergistics. For the most part, I kept up with my video instructor. There were some parts that were beyond my present skill level, but like they say on the DVD, you better try. I tried!

After the program was completed, I rested for a bit before heading to the gym. Yes, you guessed it; I did a 3 mile run.  Now here is where the story gets interesting…

A funny thing happened to me on the way home from the gym. As I parked my truck, I noticed Kerry out front doing some yard work. It looked like she needed a little help so off to the front yard I went, still sweating from my recent run. We have a cactus growing called Beaver Tail. They grow like weeds and so we have been trying to thin them. With saw in hand, after you cut through the branch, a pitch fork is used to pick up the piece and toss it into the garbage can. I was cutting and Kerry was lifting. All was going along as planned, that is until I switched things up a bit. There was one branch that was rather large. Kerry would not be able to lift it so I took the pitch fork and made short work of it. Done!

I saw another branch lying there waiting, teasing, provoking me. With pitch fork in hand I stabbed it hard and gave it a twist. It moved some, before the pitch fork slipped free. I needed to shove the pitch fork deeper into its fleshy side. So I jabbed the pitch fork with all I had, and it was at that moment my day would be changed, for the worse.

Right next to the Beaver Tail cactus stood a rather large Agave cactus. On the end of each leaf of the Agave is one LARGE 3-4 inch needle. As I thrust the pitch fork my hand made contact with the Agave needle. OUCH! I stabbed myself pretty good, right on the ring finger of my right hand.

I immediately went into the bathroom to rinse off the wound with cold water. The blood was starting to trickle, but didn't flow. Next I placed a triple antibiotic ointment on the hole in the side of my finger before placing a band aid over the wound. For some reason the band aide wouldn’t sit properly. As I looked closer, I noticed that the Agave needle actually broke off and was still in my finger, sticking out on the other side. Yupp, I was completely pierced, through and through. I went to the front door, opened it and asked Kerry, who was still working on the cactus, if she could give me a hand. She knew something was up by my demeanor.

Kerry tried using a tweezers on the part that was sticking out but couldn’t budge it. We decided to head over to Urgent Care and let the professionals handle it. On the way she called our primary care physician and they suggested the E.R. instead of Urgent Care. Not all Urgent Care facilities have x-ray equipment. Kerry dropped me off at the Northwest Medical Center E.R. entrance while she went to park. As I stood at the counter explaining my plight, they could tell I was in rough shape. I was still in soaking wet clothes from my run, but now the sweat running down my face was for a different reason…my injury. My color was somewhat ashen as I told the check in staff that I think I needed to sit down. I was immediately escorted back to the nurses station, yes I moved to the front of the line. By the time Kerry arrived I was already heading for a triage room. Now the story gets interesting.

Because of the anxiety I was experiencing, they gave me some Xanax to help me relax. While the E.R. doctor was numbing my hand I was looking at Kerry, with a broad smile upon my face. He latched on to the piece that was sticking out from the exit wound, pulling and twisting, with no luck. He even cut my finger open to give him a little more visibility. No luck. The next plan (plan B) was to do a few x-rays, just to see what was going on. The pictures confirmed that there was a foreign body speared through my finger, from one side to the other. Now it was time for them to find a hand specialist.  Being late on a Friday afternoon, the only available hand specialist they could find was actually a hand surgeon at University Medical Center (UMC), on the other side of town.

Kerry left for home to take care of her mom’s needs while I was loaded up into an ambulance.  She would come to UMC once she confirmed all was well at home. Seriously, an ambulance? It’s a SPLINTER!

This was my first ambulance ride…and it was horrible. Bouncy, cold, uncomfortable and LONG! I was never so glad to arrive at a destination as I was when the ambulance pulled up to the E.R. at UMC. It was now 6pm, 5 hours since the injury. Everybody and their mother stopped by wanting to know what had happened. By now, the Xanax and injections for pain had worn off. The throbbing began.

The moment I injured my hand numbness was immediate. Now, hours later, I no longer had any pain control. The idea of a doctor probing my open wound with needles and other implements made me feel light headed and nervous. With Kerry by my side, the hand surgeon came in (after reviewing the Northwest Medical Center x-rays), took a quick look at the injury site and said that I needed surgery because the cactus needle had penetrated my tendon and was leaning up against a nerve. It had to be carefully removed, cleaned and closed, in an O.R. environment. I was pleased to know that any probing would be done while I was knocked out.

Kerry headed home to put her mom to bed while I was being admitted. They were going to actually admit me and schedule the surgery for 7:30 the next morning. While the E.R. nurse was bringing me something to eat and drink (my last food was at 11:00am) the doctor came running in yelling, “Don’t eat. We have an O.R. room that opened up and we can get in tonight.” Within an hour I was wheeled up to the P.I.U. and prepared for surgery.

I remember the Anesthesiologist speaking with me in the P.I.U. asking me a bunch of questions, one of which was, “Do you feel any anxiety?” I said, “Why, are you going to give me some Versed?” She smiled as she pulled a syringe out of her pocket. I smiled as the bed I was on started to float in a very wonderful sort of way. Everything after that went fuzzy. I do remembering arriving in the O.R. and noticing that the ceiling looked rather dated. That was my last thought. Nighty night!

At midnight I woke up in recovery with my wife sitting by my side and my hand wrapped up like a big puffy Christmas gift.

I loved looking at my wife, sitting next to me, in prayer. Thinking about Jesus helped me get through the ordeal. Here is why; His body was pierced many times. In retrospect, my piercing was no more that an inconvenient Boo Boo.

By 1:30am Kerry and I were home.

How will this affect my P90X schedule? Well, now that Phase One is complete, I may have to take a few days off to allow my hand to heal. The surgeon says I should be back to normal in 2 weeks, unless an infection takes hold (this could add months to the healing process). It’s in God’s hands now.

I will continue to Blog daily, just to keep you updated. Oh, one more thing. As I was waking up in recovery, I asked the nurse if I could go running tomorrow. She laughed as she told me that since I left the O.R. and arrived in Recovery, I asked the same question over 9 times. “When can I start exercising again and will I be able to go running tomorrow?”

Today, it is rest and recovery. I will think about starting Phase Two tomorrow, or maybe the day after that.

       Close up view of an Agave needle, like the one that got me

P90X - Oh What A Beautiful Morning. Oh What A Beautiful Day...

P90X – Oh What A beautiful Morning, Oh What A Beautiful Day…

Day 29 of my P90X journey had me doing X-Stretch. It seems weird for me to be doing the X-Stretch in the middle of the week. This was usually my Sunday routine. On Sundays I have the option to do the X-Stretch class or rest. I think for the full 90 days of this exercise I will opt to Not rest on Sundays. Still, doing X-Stretch in the middle of the week was weird.

So, here I was, reaching up and twisting, like I was instructed to. For the most part, every one of the maneuvers satisfied me and my muscles. The Plough was a little challenging for me but for the most part, all was well and successfully executed.

I do find it very interesting that when I am doing most of the P90X classes, time just seems to fly by, in ten minute intervals. Fifty-eight minutes soon turn into forty-five. Forty-five morphs into thirty-one and the next thing I know, it is cool down time. After my routine today I headed to the gym and completed my 3 mile run. Why do I run 3 miles when it isn’t part of the P90X curriculum? Good question. My answer is, “Why not?” Now, I did say most! There are a few P90X DVD’s where the clock can’t run fast enough for me. Doing Pull Ups and Push Ups for an hour does not make my socks go up and down.

Funny story…I went to a doctor’s appointment on Monday. All is well, thanks for asking…When the nurse asked me to step up onto the scale, I asked her what my weight was.  Her answer was 8 pounds lower than I thought I was. When she left the room Kerry jumped up onto the scale to see what her weight was. Her weight was also much lower than expected (keep in mind that she too lost a lot of weight due to our healthier eating habits and exercise routines). We both walked a little taller that day, humming tunes like “Oh what a beautiful Morning. Oh what a beautiful day.” That is until we got home and compared our weight to our own scale. We found those extra pounds we thought we lost. It is all good – we are both trending down at a healthy pace and will continue to do so until our targets are met. (Kerry just informed me that she has reached her target weight…for now).

                                                                       I Wish

P90X - Boxing On Boxing Day...

P90X – Boxing On Boxing Day…

In Canada, Britain, New Zealand and Australia Boxing Day is a national holiday, a day when you get to go back to the stores and return the items you received on Christmas Day (the ones you do not wish to keep, for whatever reason).  

The exact etymology of the term "boxing" is unclear. There are several competing theories, none of which is definitive^. The European tradition, which has long included giving money and other gifts to those who were needy and in service positions, has been dated to the Middle Ages, but the exact origin is unknown. It may come from a custom in the late Roman/early Christian era, wherein metal boxes placed outside churches were used to collect special offerings tied to the Feast of Saint Stephen, which in the Western Church falls on the same day as Boxing Day.  In Britain, it was a custom for tradesmen to collect "Christmas boxes" of money or presents on the first weekday after Christmas as thanks for good service throughout the year. This is mentioned in Samuel Pepys’ diary entry for 19 December 1663. This custom is linked to an older English tradition: Since they would have to wait on their masters on Christmas Day, the servants of the wealthy were allowed the next day to visit their families. The employers would give each servant a box to take home containing gifts and bonuses, and sometimes leftover food.

When I was raised (in Montreal) I was told that on Boxing Day, people who received new shoes or other new pieces of clothing put their older shoes or clothing in boxes and left them on the front step to be collected, and eventually given to the less fortunate. I always liked Boxing Day.

Today, we simply use Boxing Day as a shopping day (when the post Christmas sales come out to tempt consumers to separate with just a little more of their savings).

I find it interesting that today, Boxing Day, my 28^th day of P90X is my scheduled day for Kenpo. While I was concentrating on my kicks, my mind was concentrating on my kicks…form and style over speed and quantity. When I was doing my punches, the irony hit me. Here I was boxing on Boxing Day. How cool is that?

After my workout, I allowed my body to cool down a little before heading to the gym, which thankfully does not observe Boxing Day. After an easy 3 mile run, I enjoyed some lunch before starting on my Honey-Do list (or should I say Kerry’s Honey-Do list?)

P90X – I Guess I Was On Santa’s Nice List…

Being Christmas day (and my 27^th day of P90X) I was overjoyed to see what Santa left for me beneath the tree. As I handed out the gifts, I came across one that seemed rather heavy and had no name on it. I looked at Kerry and she smiled as she said, “That one is for you from Mom.”

As I opened the gift, I had an idea of what it was. It was one of two pieces of equipment that I was missing from my exercise routines. I was pleased to see a set of Dumbbells. “Perfect”  The next gift for me completed my “wish list”… Kerry got me a set of Yoga Blocks, to give me that little extra stretch. Now, my equipment list was complete. I guess I was on Santa’s Nice list last year.

Next week as I continue on with my P90X journey I have no excuses for not pushing it as far as I can. Bring it.

Even though today is Christmas, I decided to continue with my journey down the P90X path. Today’s routine was a new one for me. Core Synergistics first appears on the Tuesday of the last week of the first month (phase one). Guess what? That is today. I also planned on running my usual 3 miles each day this week, but for two reasons I am going to pass on the running (for today only). 1^st, it is Christmas and 2^nd; the gym is closed today…the one day per year that the gym locks its doors.

I hope you all are having a special day today and as you open your gifts or feast on that amazing meal being prepared, for just one moment, please bow your head and give thanks for all that you have and pray a blessing for those who have not.