Sunday, March 30, 2008

On a mission

I may be on an uphill quest but at this point I've reached the conclusion that some sort of surgery beyond scraping the scar tissue from my knees is called for. My goal is total knee replacement. I took a good look at what exercise options I would have available for each and I would have more with artificial knees. I talked with my regular physician and with the physical therapist I'm working with currently and both agree with me that I would have a better chance of being able to pursue an effective weight loss program if I have artificial knees installed now instead of later. It will be a case of convincing an orthopedic surgeon that this needs to be done. I am willing to take the risk if it means controlling my diabetes, controlling my asthma, and taking the strain off my cardiovascular system. I want to be able to do water exercise. I want to keep up my house. I want to be able to stand for a concert performance.

Fiber content

The spinning part of a secret spinning project has been completed so I can devote the Louet to spinning my own stash of fiber. This is Potluck Roving in the color Vine Maple from Ferndale Fiber. It's a wool blend with a little bit of mohair and so far it's spinning up nice and fine. This will be more of a practice yarn to improve my consistency. The secret spinning varied between fingering and heavy worsted and while it balanced nicely was limited in how it could be used. A more consistent yarn will be more versatile.

Friends came over this week and tackled my kitchen (it's a trade for teaching C how to knit a sweater). Between cleaning sessions, I took my Goody Baynes wheel and gave her a good scrub and polish. I took her apart and cleaned out the axle hubs where the axle meets with the mother of all, lubricated her joints, wiped her down with Howard's Feed and Wax, and let her sit overnight to keep her at least one day cat hair free. She's a happy ole broad.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds like you are coming to some good decisions about the knee. I guess with the surgeon it will be a matter of how urgent your need is compared to others. But if any consideration is given to overall health and quality of life, it sounds like your proposal is a sound one. I'm sending good thoughts your way.

Jennie said...

When my mom got her knees replaced, the ortho doc said she would have about 10 good years to a replacement set. I hope A) she was mistaken in her understanding, and B) that the replacements have gotten even better.

Do you swim? I've found swimming to be an excellent, knee-friendly exercise.

Cool to see Goody looking so great!