My DIY Crutch Pouch

 Pimp My Crutches

I was walking around JoAnn Fabric when this nice man noticed my crutches.  He said that he had been on crutches and he had made himself a crutch pouch.  He said I would need so much fabric and two snaps and I could find the pattern online.  So I went ahead and bought the materials to make a crutch pouch.

It turns out I could not find the pattern online, so I had to come up with a pattern on my own.  It is a fairly simple design so I didnt have too much trouble.  Here is my finished product and I love it.  It is so functional and also really cute.

Crutch Pouch

crutch pouch

I used two snaps

I used an elastic and a heart button to close the pouch

A total of four strings to tie the bag to the crutch

My wallet, phone, and chap stick fit inside

The inside is lined with Hello Kitty material

Just put my stuff in and I am ready to roll

Angie's Day Out

I still have a lot of blogs lined up and I will tell you about my Alaska trip soon.  But first, I need to tell you about my outing yesterday (Saturday).  I had so much fun, but at the end of the day I was in excruciating pain.

First stop yesterday was Cupertino, where a friend, Gavin and I enjoyed a lunch at a bakery and also bought some yummy baked goods to go.  Yum Yum!

Next stop was the Great Mall in Milpitas.  The Great Mall is huge and since it was memorial day weekend it was crowded.  The two stores I wanted to hit were the Coach Factory and Aeropostale.  I checked out a wheelchair from customer service so I could rest my buns a little, and I was ready to go!


I wanted to get a cross-body Coach purse to wear with my crutches.  However the messenger bag Coach purse I had my eye on was too big and bulky to carry and I left the Coach store with nothing.



Aeropostale had all the great tanks I wanted. I wear a tank everyday as an undershirt so I need a lot of tanks and right now Aeropostale has the tanks I like the best and they are cheap too at $5 to $8.



Victoria's Secret was having an underwear sale 7 pairs for $26.  Awesome!  So I got 7 new pairs of underwear and that means I can throw 7 old pairs away.



After the mall we went to the Boiling Crab to put our name down for a table for three.  The wait was 45 min to an hour and it ended up being closer to an hour.  While waiting we went to Target and I got a pair of cheap flip flops for the shower at the gym and at the pool.  I don't want to get a fungal infection.

The Boiling Crab was sooooo good and buttery.  I am still full from last night.  Even though everyone in our party was stuffed we still stopped by Krispy Kreme to grab a half dozen doughnuts.  I picked out a Bismark and a Key Lime doughnut.  I have not tried my doughnuts yet, but hopefully I will get a chance to eat one today.

So that is the day that left me in excruciating pain but it was totally worth it.  I couldn't sleep for most the night and spent most the night icing and stretching.  I am going to be exhausted today, but at least it is a three day weekend.

Back from Alaska

I know I have not updated my blog in awhile, I was on vacation in Alaska for one week.  I will tell you all about in my upcoming blog posts.  I just got home on Sunday.  There was a 6 hour flight delay at the airport coming home.  The brakes to the plane were not working so the mechanics tried to fix the breaks, however they couldn't fix the brakes that night so we had to wait for another plane to take us home.  I didn't get to sleep until 3:30 am Monday morning and had to be to work in 6.5 hours.  That was a long day.

Alright I will update you soon.

Stretching

 Stretttcccccchhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

I have been stretching like crazy; 5-7 times a day.  I stretch out the front of my hip and my piriformis, my calves and I just added a side stretch.  Stretching seems to be helping.  I can weight bare for longer periods of time and I can walk a little farther; about 2 minutes.  That is not much though.  I feel another surgery is in my future.  Ugh.

I don't know what kind of surgery though.  I just want my fricken hip replacement so I can move on with my life, however I have good joint space so a hip replacement is out of the question.

On a side note, I am going to Alaska on a cruise in a couple of days.  Also, I usually have pink and purple in my hair and I just added blue!  Will post pics soon.  Can't wait to post pics of my cruise.  It will be nice to get away.

Swim Swim Swim

Swim Swim

Well, my swimming lessons have been going well.  I have really been improving.  I have the freestyle stroke down pretty well and my breathing pace has improved.  Breathing has been difficult for me.  I can do it, however my form is not perfect and I have been working on trying to perfect my breathing form.  Luckily I have iron lungs and can swim the length of the pool without needing to take a breath.

What I think I look like

What I actually look like

I have spent 2 of my swimming lessons working on breathing technique and next week I will still be working on breathing.  Then, I get to learn a new stroke.  Maybe butterfly?

I am really happy with my improvement in swimming.  I really want to be able to stay active throughout my life even if I have to scale back my activity because of my hip.

Over 5 Months Post Op

 Its Been Over 5 Months Already

I am just over 5 months post-op from my November 30th surgery.  I am making small improvements, but small improvements are better than a kick in the butt.  Right?

So this week, I have started stretching out my hip about 7 time a day for 30 seconds.  I stretch in the morning while I brush my teeth and several times during the day at work.  Then I stretch again when I get home and always before I go to bed.

I have also been hitting the gym and swimming.  I have been going to the gym 3 times a week and swimming twice a week on average.  I always stretch out before and after my workout.  I think all the stretching has helped with my pain levels because I haven't been in excruciating pain after my swims or workouts.

I have not had any super bad flare ups in the last two weeks.  I always describe a flare up as pain level 7 or 8.   My pain levels have been around 4, 5, 6 for the past couple of weeks.
6 = Can't sleep, just punch me
5 =  nagging
4 = hurts but lets watch a movie and I can forget about it for a bit.