I have surgery on my right leg scheduled for June 1st at the Mayo Clinic… It will be my 3rd surgery this year, and the third year in a row to have leg surgery. I really really really hope it works this time.

This week was the last week for Paula Deen’s cooking competition… so now all I can do is keep my fingers crossed that she’ll love my recipes and pick me to be a finalist! A big thanks goes out to Suzi for video taping all of my cooking videos!!! :^)

Last week was pretty crazy (as far as hospital visits go…). So here’s a quick recap.

Tuesday: down to the Mayo Clinic for the super-special-MRI test.

Wedesday: back down to the Mayo to hear the results and have a consult with the vascular surgeon.
In a nutshell, the super-special MRI was very helpful. They could finally pinpoint the spot in my leg where the blood vessles were being squeezed shut, and I was offered a surgery to release the artery (which is what they tried to do last year, but the surgery the Mayo is offering a different procedure. they would go in from the side of my leg instead of behind my knee). Functional Popletieal Entrapment Syndrome (aka PAES) is such a tricky thing to fix, so the surgery isn’t a guarentee BUT there has been success with this procedure in the past. The doctor would only do one leg at a time, and he would only do the 2nd leg if the first one showed signs of the surgery being successful.
I didn’t make any decisions about surgery right then and there, I went home to think things through.

Friday: Stitches were removed from my thumb, and x-rays were taken. AND good news! the thumb joint is fusing nicely! so at least tha seems to be headed in the right direction for a change!
So then I called Mayo because I decided I want to go ahead with surgery.
I haven’t done any hard workout since Febuary, and my legs only seem to be getting worse. It would be awesome to be able to make another Olympic team, but if I don’t I am OK with that. I just want to be able to use my legs and do the things I love. I want to be able to do the Birkie when I am older, I want to go for runs in the woods, I want to jump in some triathalons… So now I am waiting to hear back from the Mayo to see when I can get in.

BUT I did manage to fit in some more cooking videos… check out my HOLEY MOLE PIE! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=twCjYTnWr44

So I’ve been recovering from my second thumb surgery since my last update. It seems to be going alright. They did end up fusing my thumb joint (the cartilage was just too damaged, and too much of the bone was missing for another try at repairing the joint). So now I have a metal-enforced thumb… Watch out thumb war world.
This upcoming week I go to Mayo on Tuesday for a special-specialized MRI test with a special radiologist with a special procedure (for my legs). Then on Wednesday I go back to meet with the vascular surgeon, and hopefully this will be when I get some answer. Friday I head to the cities to get the stitches pulled out of my thumb!