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I feel like these last 2 & 1/2 months have just flown by!  Although, looking back to when I had my ACI knee surgery on May 6th, it does feel like I've been in recovery longer than 2 & 1/2 months.  It's been pretty tough at times but I'm glad that I've been able to remain so positive.  I knew going into this that 6-8 weeks of no weight bearing on my right leg would be hard but I didn't imagine that it was going to be as hard as it was!  After about a month I was getting anxious to get up and get moving but unfortunately I couldn't just yet.  Most of my days were spent lying on my back while hooked up to my CPM & DVT machines while watching television.  It may sound fun to most people to lie home all day and watch television but believe me, it's not!  I think the hardest part was not being to take care of myself like I was used to and not being able to help out with things around the house.  I hate asking for help and I can be extremely stubborn.  So, it was hard to hand everything over to my husband; especially the cooking and cleaning!  Bless my husband's heart for being so incredibly patient, understanding, and willing to take care of me.  I don't know how I could've gotten through all of this without him!

So, for the first month or so we mostly ate vegan convenience foods and very simple homemade vegan meals.  I had to talk my husband through step by step directions on how to prepare the homemade meals...it was pretty comical at times!  I think the hardest part for him was the grocery shopping because I'm usually the one that does the shopping.  So, sometimes he would come home frustrated because he was reading the ingredient list on a lot of items to ensure that it was made vegan but other times he would come home excited with new vegan treats that we haven't tried yet!  After about a month of this vegan convenience eating I found my body really craving more whole foods. 

I love the fact that there are vegan convenience foods on the market because sometimes in certain situations you need them but I don't think I could eat off of these every day!  I found myself lacking energy and just not feeling 100% when eating mostly vegan convenience foods but my body has never seemed to thrive on processed foods anyways.  However, I would much rather eat vegan convenience foods vs. non-vegan convenience foods because when I was a not vegan and I would eat heavily processed foods I always felt sick!  I would end up with horrible stomach aches, other unmentionable issues, and I would feel terrible.  I have found that I do NOT have those types of sensitivities with vegan convenience foods; it's more of just a slight lack of energy.  Once I was more comfortable and mobile, I started to go grocery shopping with my husband and whiz around on one of those motorized carts!  I'll never forget the one day when we were grocery shopping and an elderly gentleman pulled up next me in his motorized cart and asked, "You want to race?"  I couldn't stop laughing!  I thought it was so cute!  Anyways, the more whole foods that we incorporated into our diet the better we both felt.  I chose simple meals that didn't take a long time to make or didn't include much prep work.  Most of these meals can be found in the "30 minutes or less" archive tab.

Right now, I've been learning how to walk again!  It's a bit harder than I expected but I'm determined!  I've been using one crutch for getting around the house for as long as I can tolerate.  Each day seems to get better than the last!  I've been able to tolerate spending more time in the kitchen to prepare meals; Although, I still need some assistance from my husband but it feels great to be back in "my place" (the kitchen).  Cooking for me has always been a stress reliever and a way to express my creativity.  I love that I'm still able to do so by cooking tasty vegan food!

I'm looking forward to a lot of new things in the very near future!  In 1 month I should be walking without the crutches and able to finally drive!  I'm excited to explore & create more vegan recipes and I'm extremely interested in incorporating more raw foods!  As always, I will be keeping you up-to-date with my progress and new vegan recipes!

 
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So it's 19 days since my A.C.I. surgery and I've been doing great!  I've
really been healing well and I believe that my vegan diet is the reason
why!  It's been extremely difficult to keep up with blogging and posting lately because for 10-12 hour per day I'm stuck in a CPM machine which I have to alternate with my cold therapy machine every few hours for 30 minutes.  I also have a DVT machine that gently squeezes my left calf to prevent blood clots and I'm hooked up to that all day and all night.  My husband and I currently have everything set up on the first floor for me because I am unable to go up or down flights of stairs just yet.  I can do a couple of stairs but not any more than that.  So every night before we go to bed and every morning before my husband leaves for work, he has to move the cold therapy and DVT machine from the couch to the bed or the bed to the couch.  Fortunately, we have room for our bed to be on our first level although our dining room table got kicked out for the time being!  The problem is that the computer is set up where our bed is and the CPM machine and the cold
therapy/DVT machine is set up by the couch.  I wish I could move the computer to our coffee table but it's just not a convenient spot.  We already have so many cords and wires from all of my machines.  So...that's why I haven't been blogging lately.  It's just not convenient for my knee!

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This is my set up for most of the day.  That lovely brace is what I have to keep on at all times except when I'm using the CPM machine.  Next week I can finally sleep without the brace!  I can't wait!!!!  For the first week and a half I had my Aunt helping me out during the day but then once I became more comfortable with my crutches and getting around the house I sought
my independence.  I hate to ask for things and have people do things for me so this has been quite challenging.  I wish that I could cook, clean, and do laundry to help out but it's next to impossible with the crutches.  Sometimes I can help my husband with the prep for dinner but that's about it and most of the time he won't allow me to help.  Bless his compassionate heart!  My husband has the most patience out of anyone I know!  

So, all meals have been really simple!  Lately we've been doing spaghetti with the Trader Joe's meatless meatballs, we tried a creamy avocado pasta which was pretty amazing (
http://greatist.com/team/my-creamy-avocado-pasta), vegan veggie burgers, Noodles & Company, and vegan sushi.  For lunch I've been keeping it really simple as I can't be on my feet for long.  I've been doing a lot of salads with the Roundy's Vidalia Onion dressing!  Yummy!!!!  I've also come to love vegan lunch meat and I've
been making a lot of sandwiches as well.  I keep my sandwiches plain with just veganaise, Dijon mustard, and a couple of pickle slices.  It's been hard to eat lately because I've really lost my appetite and I believe that's because I'm not active.  I have been doing physical therapy twice a week and that seems to wear me out, although it isn't strenuous work or anything.  I get tired pretty quick!  So every time I eat I feel like I'm just forcing it down.  I hate that feeling but obviously I'm not going to let my body starve!  We have still be juicing although we aren't doing
it as often as before.  It just hasn't been the mos convenient lately but when my husband does juice he has been doing them in larger batches and puts them in canning jars to maintain the freshness.

I have a long road to recovery!  I will try to keep up with blogging as much as possible.  I just ask for you to bear with me because it's not the most convenient time.  Thank you for being so patient!

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