Kathy

When my children were younger, I jogged.  I wasn't overweight so jogging wasn't a big deal for my knees. It wasn't until I wa**** by the drunk driver that my right knee and long bone of the same leg began giving me grief. Because my back was broken and my neck cracked, the doctor was more concerned with getting all of that fixed and by the time they figured out that the knee and femur were messed up, so much damage had occurred that the leg was never good.  I've had five surgeries on my knee and the last time the doctor said it was merely a bandaide and the knee needed replaced.  Well, I have just dreaded it because some do good and some don't do good at all....I am afraid I will be one that it doesn't help. My brother says I am being silly but you know, I cannot help it.  

Take care of your knees and if you are feeling pain, don't pu****  

You are doing so good on your food intake.   

Hey Julia,

What's next? Well, it seems as though I will be getting that knee replaced but right now, we are working toward getting my iron level up.  As soon as the cardiologists gives me the thumbs up, I am heading for another infusion. Who the hell would have thought that low iron could damage the freakin' heart; I sure didn't know that.  So, I am working towards getting clearance for surgery, so while I wait, I have started working with a physical therapist so that when I have the knee replaced, my quads and other muscles will be developed and my recovery will be better. My brother *****cently had his knee replaced did a few months of PT before and his recovery was so much better than some of our friends and family who had it without preparation.  When my brother found out that I was getting approval from all the doctors for the surgery, he called me and said, " Sis, get your doctor to order the PT and if you cannot afford to pay what your insurance doesn't pay, I'll pay it."  I am doing PT three times a week and it hurts like hell....but the kid who is my therapist does heat before and during he hooks my knee up to a machine to follow the weakness, and then the weight lifts are designed based on those areas of weakness.   Things these days are all so technical. I really hope to get this done before we start moving but it doesn't look like that it is going to happen until next month because of my iron levels and my low, low, low blood count.  Of course, they can give me blood but my knee doc said that as low as everything is and the amount of blood usually lost during surgery would put me at risk so hell, you know.  When I had WLS, I had to wait forever because of my anemia. 

Today, I am using ice on the knee and taking the pain medication...If I feel better this afternoon, I am going to do a little quilting.  

B: oatmeal...just plain oatmeal...the walnuts are giving me digestive issues. That awful pain that I have been getting has come back and I think the walnuts and other fibrous foods aren't helping it....hell, between my knee and gut, I am in a world of hurt. 

L: potato broth with some shrimp

D: Trout....maybe, if my belly is up to it, I'll eat some green beans

Snack: none...I am not eating snacks today.  

Ladies, I am reconsidering my afternoon activities and think perhaps a nap is in order.    

Hey Nancy,

I have taken freakin' pain medication and my eyes are slowly closing.  So, this is a drive by.

I'm always glad to see you post.  

B: didn't eat

L: didn't eat

Dinner: soup

Snacks: crackers (pain meds make me sick)

Hello, everyone!

I've not been posting much...in the third week of a very exhausting pain phase...it doesn't usually last this long and it is trying but i am managing. My sleep cycle is totally screwed up because of it.

I find it difficult to focus on getting my artwork done but, step by step, I am working thru it.

This past weekend, we had a family BBQ for grand-daughter Kaylee's 11th birthday...she is such a girly-girl so I ordered an ice cream cake , airbrushed purple with pink trim and red high heels, lipsticks and mini-Minnie Mouse purses in top...she squealed and pronounced "It's so ME!"

Great news, Danny got a huge raise and Derek is doing very well in his new job. JB's eye popped another leak so two more injections, poor guy.

My weight is still fluctuating up and down five or so pounds..fluids and digestive issues.I am staying home for the rest of the week to try and rest and get some energy back.

One of my closest friends had a birthday and we are meeting net week  for her birthday lunch. I bought her gift months ago....can you believe that I cannot FIND it now??? OMG, I am losing it!!

Breakfast: protein drink

Lunch: jalapeneo cheddar cheese stick

Dinner:  shrimp, pasta and veggies

Bedtime snack: protein drink

I always knew I was a pioneer in the sports writing world. In most places I worked, I was the only female sports writer. When I was in college, I was assigned the women's teams (not always, but sometimes) as my beat. Title XI was passed in 1972; I graduated from high school in 1973. Women still weren't given equal opportunities in college sports just yet, though.
Back then, girls had to audition to get invited to get on a college team. And it wasn't just about the scholarships, either. It was also the attitude, the way the coaches perceived the game.
I remember covering a women's basketball game at Northern Illinois University in the mid-1970s (I went to school 1973-77). After the game, players from both teams dressed in their Sunday best and had a tea party in the gym. I'm sure you wouldn't see that after a men's game.
When Phil Kadner hired me as a sports writer my freshman year at the Northern Star, he gave me an easy enough beat: intramural sports. But he gave me a chance and a start. And I'll always be grateful.
Through the years, I had to butt my head against that glass ceiling so many times. It wasn't just male editors who didn't think I could do the job; it was also the coaches. But then there were also the men who didn't care that I was a woman and looked instead at my abilities, guys like Ken Dunwoody and Ken Veloskey, who gave me my first chance at the Cardunal Free Press and Elgin Herald; Wally Mundstock, who hired me in Montana; Ron Feickert, who hired me in South Dakota; and Andy Angelo, who took me on at the Grand Rapids Press (but as a copy editor).
And there were the coaches who didn't care I was a woman, either. I'll always remember Dundee basketball coach Paul Judson. Paul, along with his twin brother Phil, led tiny Hebron High School to the Illinois state basketball championship in 1952, when Illinois had just one class. The twins went on to play for Illinois, and Phil was the head boys' basketball coach at Zion-Benton High school.
I was a bit shy about going into the boys' locker rooms after the games. I felt it was like interviewing a person while they were sitting on the toilet. I wouldn't like it, so I didn't want to do it to somebody else. So I would wait for the coaches to come out. Usually, that meant waiting for the other reporters to get done with their interviews and then the coach would come out.
Elgin coach Bill Chesbrough was the first to break that tradition, on my first night on the job. Paul Judson would be another to come out and do the interviews outside the locker room. He was not playing favorites with anyone.
Most of the girls' sports coaches who were men would come out anyway, and those who were women also came out, so it was fair play. But Judson, he was something else.
A lot of the time, I stayed late talking to him. He was fascinating. He would demonstrate his plays to me, physically moving me as he showed me a box-and-one or a zone defense or whatever. Or he'd grab my notebook and diagram the play for me. I knew enough about basketball to write a story, but he never felt any of my questions were dumb questions from a woman. To him, every question was important. Sometimes, the other reporters would roll their eyes at my questions, but never Judson.
In Montana and South Dakota, I also was a novelty. Only once did I have to go into a boys' locker room. That was because a coach was angry with me and didn't want to talk with me. So I walked into the boys' locker room, the boys, who were not wearing towels when I walked in, didn't seem to care. I averted my eyes (because I really didn't want to see their junk) and went to find the coach.
Another time I had to go into a girls' locker room to a female coach out. The girls all grabbed their towels (what a switch!), and again, I didn't look. Hey, I had the same equipment, just older. I found the coach and asked her to come out soon. I asked a couple of players if I could talk to them when they were done dressing, hopefully soon. And I left.
This always worked for me. But women cover major college sports or professional teams didn't have this leeway. They had to go into the locker rooms; this was where the action was after the games. And eventually, there was a problem.
On Sept. 17, 1990, Boston Globe writer Lisa Olson was in the New England Patriots' locker room when players made vulgar comments. She said several players taunted her while walking naked in her presence. She complained the incident was like "mind rape." Although an NFL investigation said she was humiliated and degraded, Patriots fans harassed Olson. She eventually left the Globe and went to Australia. She did return in 1998.
You do notice now that most major sports teams conduct interviews in interview rooms. Olson's ordeal is the reason for that. I believe she is a brave person. She had to deal with much more than I ever had to.
When that was happening, I, of course, was dealing with my coaches in my normal way. I was waiting for them to come out of their locker rooms. It was football season in South Dakota, so I had to catch them before they got on the bus to leave Swisher Field.
Venerable Yankton football coach Max Hawk told me I'd be invited into his team's locker room anytime. I said, "Thanks, Max, but I don't want to interview naked high school boys." He laughed.
The high school and small college coaches with whom I dealt were decent people. They were teachers as well as coaches; they tried to set an example for their student-athletes every day. So most would never disrespect a woman, regardless of the fact that she was a sports writer.
Now, there was always a coach or two that treated me like a dumb broad. I could see the eye roll at a question. I knew what they were thinking. Those were the ones I had to wait to come out of the locker room if the other reporters didn't drag him out first.
And a word on the other sports writers: Most of the guys were great. They were my competition, but they also knew we were a fraternity of journalists. We had to stand together, so they were more than willing to get the coach out and let us do the interviews outside the locker room.
When Title XI passed, it opened opportunities for women in sports, and for women covering sports. And that made me a valuable commodity.