Why I'll never go skiing

So, the most common reaction that I get from strangers (and sometimes patients) when they see my crutches and my leg that I'm obviously not using is: "Skiing." No question mark, just a statement of fact that they are verifying with me. This always brings two questions to mind;

1. Do I really look like the sporty skiing type?!
2. Why would anyone enjoy a sport that has so many knee/leg injuries involved that that is the understood explanation for any injuries during the winter!

It is so commonplace that everyone knows at least a few people that have broken their leg/knee/other important part of their body after attaching one or two strips of wood to their feet and then riding down a steep, icy hill on them. How could you get injured doing that?!

I know that people love skiing but it is obviously not for me. Between my lack of coordination, lack of sportiness, and complete hatred of moving so quickly that you are feeling out of control, I have never been tempted to try this sport and the last month or so has made me very glad of that choice!

I wish good luck and safe skiing/snowboarding to all of my daredevil friends out there and I hope you understand why I will never be joining you! :)

Song lyrics and bands

My top two favorite misunderstood song lyrics:

• All American Rejects' Move Along: Missunderstood as "Mow the Lawn" as in "Mow the lawn, mow the lawn just to make it through!"


• Reba McEntire's Fancy: Missunderstood as "Nancy" as in "I might've been born just plain white trash but Nancy was my name!"

I also really enjoy:

• Shrek the Musical's I Know it's Today's line "There are rules and there are strictures"; Nikki and I both find that we always sing it as: "There are rules and there are scriptures!"

There are many more but these are the ones that are in the front of my mind right now. Does anyone else have a favorite?

Now for some kinda sad news: My favorite band, Man Without Wax, is about to lose their drummer. The tour that they are wrapping up this weekend will be his last stint with them as he will be making some changes in his life that will not be conductive to a tour schedule. I love this band (4 of the 5 guys in the band have been buddies and playing together since they were kids) and I really hope that they will be able to find someone that will be able to take Chip's place, they are starting to get quite the following and they are such awesome guys that I really hope that they are all able to achieve their dreams, whatever they are. Go to: http://www.myspace.com/manwithoutwax to check out my awesome guys. Three of them work for my sister and I'm a bit of a fan girl, it's kinda fun to know someone as an artist and then get to talk to the person while they are at work.

Aren't they the cutest?!!

So if anyone knows any awesome drummer out there who would be able to fill the gap that is about to occur where the second boy on the left is let me know!!

Here we go!

Ok, lets see how long I can last here tonight...

So, I've been feeling pretty well the last few days, since starting physical therapy I have been feeling better, not just my leg but my state of mind as well. It's nice to hear that I really am improving and that the pain that I feel isn't because I'm crazy or never going to heal, it's been nice.

I had an appointment with my physical therapist this morning and it went really well, especially since she let me warm up on a no impact exercise bike, it felt so good, I do actually miss biking a lot. It went well and I grabbed some food on the way home - kinda funny because I realized I couldn't carry it into the house so I sat in my truck and ate my lunch while listening to my "All Shook Up" soundtrack while the puppy stared out the window at me like I was crazy.

Once I finally went inside I was making my way into my awesome makeshift bedroom (a nice blow-up mattress in the kitchen/dining room since I can't climb the ladder into my loft bed), I was pushing a package over to my bed so I could open it. This was comprised of pushing it ahead with my crutch, taking a step or two and then repeating until I reach my desired destination. While doing this I wasn't paying attention and my "pushing crutch" hit the top of the package and slipped out from under me. I stumbled, slamming my right leg down a couple of times before I toppled onto the ottoman; right leg hitting first, of course. I gathered my wits about me and got myself to my bed, where I decided to take a little (or a large) rest.

I have no idea if I have actually further injured my leg, though I highly doubt it, I think that I just aggravated my current injuries that had stopped hurting so much and now they are hurting again, nothing too bad but it's hurting pretty bad which is why I have actually taken a Vicodin tonight, in case you were wondering why this was even more random and packed with insignificant details than normal.

I'm doing ok, I just am pretty proud of my continued lack of coordination and feel really bad about worrying my family so much. But no one needs to worry about me, my pet Betta (named Alpha, btw) is watching me quite closely, keeping an eye on me to make sure I'm ok, my little Alphy will take care of me! :)

-Doped up Dr. Erin signing off!

Emotional basketcase! Who, me?!

So I haven't been able to read any new books the last month or so, my mind just can't seem to concentrate on something new for that long. (Very frustrating!) But those that know me know that I don't like going long without a book in my world so I'm actually listening to one of my favorite books for the 3rd or 4th time right now. It is called "The Host" and it's written by Stephenie Meyer, the genius that brought us the Twilight Saga. I have been having some really bad insomnia problems lately so the book has been helping me a lot, especially at night to get me through the long hours when I wish I was asleep but can't be!

The biggest problem is that not only are my emotions a bit more heightened than normal (and that's saying something, eh?!) but I'm listening to this amazing book with characters that I love so much and are written so well that you truly feel like you know them. There are a lot of emotional situations in these books, and I find that I am crying through the whole thing like an even bigger sap than I normally am! As I look at and fall in love all over again with each character, I find that I can see similarities to people I know (Jamie and my nephew Tanner for example) and that just makes me love them that much more. There are two amazing men in these books that are written like true men out of Stephenie's mind, very lovable, very honorable, and VERY fictional!

I have mentioned before that I think that Stephenie and I would be the best of friends if only she'd lift the restraining order (hopefully everyone knows I'm kidding here!) but one thing that does annoy me about her is how she writes the men in her books, they truly do ruin all other men in the world! There is no man like Jacob Black (Twilight) to be found anywhere (even without the whole "Werewolf" thing), and The Host's Ian and Jared are the same (Ian, *sigh*). They are great men and very real in many ways, but at the same time they are the type of romantic that women wish existed in men these days! I haven't seen anything like them anywhere, the passion and understanding and love that they are capable of is very much a caricature of what women wish men were capable of.

Oh well, I'll never stop reading her books and holding onto the conviction that my own special version of Jacob or Ian is out there somewhere, knowing if I ever do meet him, his lack of being like my dream men will probably be what makes him so great!

There! I tried to leave it on not such a negative note! Love to all! And please know that I'm not always as cynical as I might sound here!

My True American Idols

I've got to spend the last few days up at my parents' house, it is always such a treat. They are the cutest couple as well as the greatest people! I love spending time with them, whether it is playing a board or card game, watching a trivia game show (seriously we're gonna go to New York and take taxis all over until we get on the Cash Cab, we would so clean up with our awesome variety or knowledge bases!), or watching the American Idol tryouts because Mom's boy Jason Castro is gonna be on it with his brother who's trying out (he made it to Hollywood Week btw!), my parents are so much fun.

I often think about what I want in life and it is especially clear to me when I spend time with them. To be able to find someone that you can communicate with so well with, and will love every thing about you, the things that haven't changed since the day that you first met and the new interests that you have developed suddenly very recently. Someone that is your equal and your perfect opposite, your support and love through the good times and the bad. Things don't have to be perfect but they will always be ok when all is said and done.

I am sure that things haven't always been perfect for my parents, they have been together a long time and through a lot of difficult times, the biggest ones probably having to do with raising 5 kids who have all taken our turn at making our parents' life more difficult than it needs to be. I know that I have not been the best person that I can be, working weekends at my pharmacy makes it so that I miss church a lot, more than just my days off, sometimes it becomes seems easier to stay home because I'm not feeling well - usually from not getting enough sleep and the fact my patients love to share whatever bug they are carrying around with me too! It's easy to fall into the habit of treating Sunday like just another day to try to get things done, you then find yourself not praying enough or reading your scriptures.

Each time I decide I'm gonna do better, it lasts a little while and then I get lazy again, that seems to be my biggest problem. But I thankfully always have these two amazing people in my life that remind me just how worth it everything is, If I ever have a chance for a portion of the amazing life that they have it's worth it. I love my parents so much they are my heroes, my idols and my best friends. I don't know what I did to get so lucky to be their daughter but I am eternally grateful for them.

-Mike and Cindy's incredibly lucky daughter

But I want to!!

Things I'm wanting to do really bad right now because I can't! (Due to the whole having to be on crutches thing)

1. Get a pedicure - I probably could but my right leg couldn't get the whole massage that's included in the pedicure and that just sounds wasteful!
2. Get a massage - see above
3. Go to a spa - again see above!
4. Go bike riding - it used to be my favorite thing to do, I even have a really nice bike, of course I want to take it up again when I can't!
5. Walk!
6. Clean the house! - It's been a long time coming and now that I have extra time at home, it's kinda difficult to carry things around to their proper places.
7. Ride a horse - So I could probably find a way to do this if I had a horse available, but alas, I do not.
8. Climb stairs - Again, something that I can kinda do but I've already fallen some stairs once due to the crutches and I'm not in a hurry to repeat that adventure.
9. Skip
10. Go rock climbing
11. Go repelling
12. Go to Disneyland/Disneyworld! - Probably not helping myself by spending time on Disney's website and watching shows about how awesome Disney is.

Woe is me!!

A list of ideas

So it's another week until round 2 of trying to return to work. I am at my parent's house hanging out with my great family right now. I am spending time online, enjoying it since my internet is down at my house right now, and it's not like I am really mobile enough to do much to fix it. Oh well.

So I've been trying to come up with what I'm gonna do while I'm not working... I'm not sure how much time I really am gonna have but I have some interesting ideas:

1. Lay around reading all day
2. Lay around surfing facebook, etc. all day
3. Lay around watching tv all day
4. Doing a combination of options 1-3
5. Write the next great American novel
6. Become fluent in Quileute and Hindi
7. See how many pharmacy specialties I can get trained in
8. Become a world renowned painter
9. Take up weight lifting and join a body building competition
10. Cyberstock my Stephenie Meyer until she realizes we're meant to be BFFs
11. Become the next American Idol
12. Find my way to Pixie Hollow

I think that if I do any of these it'll probably be learn Quileute. Come on, who's really surprised?! Nobody? Or maybe the one about Stephenie Meyer, you know we're practically the same person except for how she's smart and creative and famous worldwide, otherwise it's like looking in a mirror.

Erin's Excellent LaPush Adventure!

Hello to all! I guess it's time to actually post something here! I do certainly have a story to share:

Most people that know me know that I am obsessed with the Twilight books, and just about anything to do with these people. My first trip to visit Forks and La Push (the places these books are set) was Sept 13th, 2007 with my mom for the first Stephenie Meyer day - this is also the main character Bella's birthday. I then went again on my own for a weekend in the spring of 2008. I then took 4 family members with me to the second Stephenie Meyer day. I decided to take my fourth trip there on my weekend off in December to bring 2 of my friends to visit my favorite place in the world.

Whenever I visit Forks and La Push I always stay at the Oceanside Resort in La Push, the cabins and other places to stay there are right on First Beach. Amazing views, and a short walk to the beach are just some of the selling points of the Oceanside Resort.

This trip was my birthday present to Windy and we were lucky enough to have our awesome friend, and fellow Twilighter, Erica join us. There was a storm coming in but we really didn't want this storm to upset our trip, there was snow that was gonna come later but when we got out there the biggest problem was the wind. That night we went out during low tide and enjoyed the blowing sand and the waves in the dark, it was beautiful and amazing!

The next morning (Saturday, December 13th) was spent on and off on the beach watching and marveling at the huge, amazing waves. Windy decided she wanted to go down and put her feet in the water. The waves seemed to not be coming all that high anymore (anywhere from 30-50 feet down the beach from us). I decided to go and join her, I took off my shoes and socks and rolled up my jeans...

Windy and I were about to head down to the water, Erica was getting ready to take a video of us when a huge wave came all the way up to where we were standing, about 10-15 feet higher up the beach than any of the others all morning. The wave knocked both Windy and me down, it then threw a full tree sized driftwood on top of me, injuring my right leg.


(The video Erica Shot while running away)

My friends had to help carry me at least 50 yards back to our cabin over rocks, bushes and driftwood. I then had my friend go to the store to call for an ambulance (no cell service there) but the local reservation policeman came and offered to drive me to the ER for free. It was kinda fun in a strange kinda way. I got to the ER and the x-rays were inconclusive but it looked like I'd cracked the top edge of my tibia so they put me in a knee stabilizer and gave me some crutches and told me good luck. Windy then had to drive my truck around town and back to our cabin in the snow that started as we left the ER. The next day she also had to drive the 4+ hours home.

When I got the results from my MRI back, it turned out that and I have torn my ACL and injured at least 2 other ligaments, I have a small fracture and depression on the top of my tibia, and all around the top of the tibia and fibula there are small cracks! I can't put any weight on my right leg for 12 weeks and I need to heal the bones up a little more before they drill into them to repair the ligaments! It looks like the bones will need to heal more before the surgery, my next follow-up with the doctor is in February and hopefully I'll be doing well enough to schedule the surgery soon after.

I am healing slowly but surely, it is frustrating to have to be the one being taken care of instead of the other way around. I am so lucky to have such wonderful friends that were willing to give up their vacation to take care of their injured friend, especially one that is so unwilling to be taken care of.

Love to all, the plan is to post more later, and not just about my knee, there is more to me than this stupid injury.

-Dr. Erin