Hey guys!
It's been a while. Go pee, grab a cozy blanket, snag a glass of wine/beer/coffee, and settle in because it's been a VERY eventful month!
Me, Ev, and the most interesting cat in the world left the island May 22 to begin the 4-part "adventure" which included a week in North Carolina, a week in Philly for knee surgery #12, a road trip we jokingly entitled the "refugee tour" to get back into Canada, and finally a 14 day quarantine at Candle Lake.
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| Despite all my rage I am still just a cat in a cage |
As soon our flight lifted off the tarmac and I watched our tiny little island quickly disappear out my window, I felt some trepidation. I mean...we've essentially been isolated on a controlled little movie set for 18 months. I was a little nervous about being exposed to the outside world - was it apocalyptic out there?
My question was quickly answered on the flight from Miami to Charlotte when I was seated next to a woman who appeared to have drains emitting fluids from her body.
"I just had lipo and a Brazilian butt lift," she explained.
Wow. It looked...painful...as she couldn't really sit for the duration of the flight.
She quickly got out her phone and began showing me all of her before and after surgery pics. NAKED surgery pics.
"See how my butt was rippled here?"
"Hmmmm"
"Ya now look - no more ripples!"
"Wow!" (I think I just kept saying "wow"...on repeat).
I mean...that felt like a great initiation to the outside world and definitely instilled some fear for what was to come.
Because Cayman is essentially closed, there are very few flights available to leave the island. The only flight that my insurance company could secure was 2 weeks prior to my surgery - and because it's very pricey to live in Philadelphia for 2 weeks, we decided to spend a week in Asheville, North Carolina, where Evan has recently acquired a gym called "Madabolic." We rented a house in the forest, which we soon found out was located on or near a gun range (oops), and I worked remotely, while Ev spent his days at his gym. Initially, I found the first few days quite relaxing...I plugged away at my year-end reports and breathed in some fresh mountain air while watching the birds soar by. However, by day 3, I started to feel pretty lonely and the constant firing of gunshots were putting me on edge. The excitement of wandering Target on crutches and examining the vast array of chip flavours wore off quickly, and I was spending too much time with my thoughts (which is NEVER a good thing when you are preparing for your 12th surgery).
Don't get me wrong, Asheville is a very beautiful city, tucked into the mountains in western North Carolina. I was immediately struck by the multitude of IPA breweries and a relaxed BC vibe. Although it was super cool to see Ev's gym (I never thought that we would be gym owners again), and we did finish off the trip with a weekend tour of a beautiful winery, as well as a soak in some hot springs, I was definitely ready to just get to Philly and get this damn surgery over with!
When we arrived in Philly, social isolation restrictions at restaurants had just been lifted so we watched workers remove the makeshift outdoor booths that each restaurant had constructed. There was definitely a feeling of relief as we heard waiters greet patrons, "Finally! Welcome back!"
Overall, my surgery was fine. When they wheeled me into the OR, I was enthusiastically greeted by all my "friends."
"Hey! It's Kirstie from the Cayman Islands!"
They pumped the tunes for me as they transferred me to the operating table, taking my musical requests and chatting away as they hooked me up and prepped me for surgery.
Honestly, it's kinda a fun little party vibe and I feel like I'm "ninja-ing out" of a good time when they push the propofol through my IV, rendering me unconscious.
Everything was fine until I began to mobilize post surgery. I was non weight-bearing and it was immediately apparent that my "good" knee was not good enough to weight bear. That was really scary, and a first for me. I am a self-proclaimed "professional crutcher", and my crutching skills were abysmal, given that my "good" knee collapsed every time I attempted to hop on it. I wasn't able to move independently and Ev had to help lower and lift me from the bed, toilet, and chair. It sucked.
The nausea kicked in about 8 hours later. A rib slipped out of place while I was puking (I'm sure there's a technical term for that), so I was puking whilst experiencing severe knee pain whilst unable to take a deep breath (try crying with a rib out!). It was kinda sorta awful. Eventually it wasn't awful anymore.
I met with Dr. Carey (cartilage specialist extraordinaire) and his fabulous PA, Sabrina, a few days after surgery. He provided me with more exciting photos for my knee album and explained exactly what he observed in my knee. One of the largest lesions, which produces a deep pain (I describe it as someone turning a screw driver into my knee), is still a candidate for a cartilage transplant. The other lesion, which is located behind the knee cap, producing an electric shock pain sensation, has progressed and can now be described as a "kissing lesion." Although this sounds romantic, it is apparently not a positive thing, is no longer a great candidate for a transplant, and will continue to deteriorate. Dr. Carey did remove a lot of cartilage, which sounds counterproductive when you are preparing for a cartilage transplant, but the hallmark of Osteochondritis dissecans is that the remaining cartilage is shredded, peeling, flapping, etc so it is often the diseased cartilage peeling off like an onion and floating around your joints that causes the majority of the pain.
The game plan is to wait until September, see if this major clean-up reduces the pain, and decide how to proceed from there. I'm hopeful that this surgery will buy me some time and hopefully decrease the pain to the point where I can function without the heavy meds for a while. I'm also concerned about the "good" knee, which doesn't appear to be so good anymore. I'm hoping that it just needs a break. I make jokes, but in all honesty, I wake up in the middle of the night and worry about it. How can you not? I guess that's a "future Kirstie" problem.
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| Ev's Philly experience... |
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| vs My philly experience |
Luckily I immediately had greater concerns than the future of my knees, as we prepared to cross into Canada.
For those of you who don't know the current Federal regulations, the border between the US and Canada is closed. Canadian citizens are allowed to enter Canada; however, if you arrive by air you must quarantine in a hotel for 3 days at about $2k per person. Because Covid can only be transmitted across air borders (DUH!), the hotel quarantine is not mandated if you cross the border via land. So given that we were making it rain over the past few weeks, wildly throwing our money all over the US 😂 (you know...for accommodations and Oxycontin), we opted to attempt the land border crossing.
We flew from Philly to Minneapolis. We attempted to get a flight from Minneapolis to Minot; however, that flight was $1200 and didn't guarantee a spot for the most interesting cat in the world. So we rented a car and drove 8 hours to Minot. Once in Minot we rented a limo to transport us across the border. You read that correctly...a limo. Because we are bougie and wanted to show our friends how successful we've become? No, because that was the only way that we could get across the border other than walking/crutching/crawling. The limo ride was approximately 2 hours. Once we reached the border, the customs agent asked us a few questions (it was apparent that she was OVER it), and my Mom and Lenny picked us up on the Canadian side of the border. We then drove 9 hours to our house at Candle Lake to begin our 14-day quarantine. Easy Peasy Lemon Squeezy. I was highly medicated for the majority of the trip. Do not inquire about roadside attractions.
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| Sweet - PAAARTY in Minot at 8am! |
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| This is how rockstars travel |
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| First stop...Timmies!!!! |
At this point I had tested negative 7 times in 3 weeks (and am fully vaccinated).
The Canadian rules have been...confusing. For example, Mom and Lenny were allowed to pick us up and transport us 9 hours in their vehicle without having to quarantine. It was (hilariously) recommended that we all wear masks and roll down the windows for the entirety of the car ride.
We were provided with 2 home Covid tests. One to take on day 1 and one to take on day 8. On day 1 we logged into the app and a lovely nurse walked us through the test. I asked her if the tests had an expiry date, and she explained that the sample was only good for 48 hours. However, the agency arranged to pick up our tests 4 days after the sample was taken. I hate to point out the obvious but...um ???? 🙈
Aside: all of these restrictions are being lifted in July, so it looks like we are the "last of the losers" mandated to these unique set of random rules.
It's been fascinating to travel across the US and into Canada and observe the reaction and rules regarding Covid during this unprecedented time:
My observations:
Charlotte, NC: Wear your mask.
Asheville, NC: Meh. Wear your mask if you want. I'm kinda cool, might just wear it on my beard like a chinstrap. It's really hard to drink my IPA with a mask on so eff it.
Philly: Don't even look at me unless you are wearing a mask. She's waking up from surgery...quick, don't let her breathe until we put her mask on!
North Dakota: There was a pandemic?
Canada: Wear a mask but we are so over this that we will talk about how stupid this all is whist angrily but politely wearing our mask, apologizing the entire time. "I'm sorry but this is ridiculous!"
Haha! What an interesting time to be alive!
That's it, folks...that's the story. I'm feeling better, and although I'm still experiencing pain, I'm getting stronger by the day. Biloxi has been an absolute rockstar and has channeled his inner hockey cat days, easily adapting to every setting we've been in over the course of 4 weeks. It feels great to be home again, and I'm looking forward to seeing everyone, enlisting the help of family with my recovery, and catching up after 2 years away.
Cheers friends!
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