Choir Tour: Day Four

Today has been nice. I got to sleep in until 9 and then we had breakfast at the church that we performed at last night. We then drove to downtown Madison, WI and had two and a half free hours there. It was tons of fun. I walked to the capital building and looked around. It is beautiful! Then I walked through the farmer's market and bought some pastries (they were buy one get one free!). I ended up going into some shops in the downtown area and I bought a skirt for $8 and a little statue of Ganesha, the god of overcoming obstacles. I have been looking for a statue for a while and it was only $12. It is really beautiful.

Right now I am in Milwaukee for three hours of free time, and then we are going to a church to meet up with our homestay families. I am exhausted... I can't wait to get home tomorrow and sleep in my own bed. I'm really enjoying tour and I have made new friends, but I'm just very tired.

The bus has not been very kind to my back. I have been sitting with a pillow behind the small of my back, which is helping somewhat. I really need to lay down though. I think I am going to go find some dinner and walk around. I hope everyone is doing well! I can't wait to catch up on everything.

-Jen

Choir Tour: Day Three

I am exhausted, both physically and emotionally. There are around 45 people on tour and I'm having a really hard time being around so many people at once. Don't get me wrong -- I am truly enjoying choir tour. I just need a break. Right now I am sitting outside of a church near Madison, WI just trying to find peace. I have been a loner ever since I hit 14 and started having the problems with the pain. This got worse after I was diagnosed. I really want to have more friends and to have fun with them, it's just very hard for me. I just need some detox time and then I will be okay. I think my exhaustion is probably from being on the bus with so many people for quite a while today. The seats are small and it is very crowded.

We have one more concert this evening, and then we are going to our homestays. I cannot wait. I am just exhausted... I want to go to sleep so badly. I honestly might take a short nap before our concert, depending on how long dinner takes. Chances are I won't get my nap. We had two concerts this morning at a high school and then a middle school. Some members of our choir are alumnis from those schools. Actually, at everywhere we have performed there has been a choir member who attends church there or went to school there. Every place so far has been very nice.

-Later-
My homestay is very nice tonight. She let me take a lovely hot bath with gardenia bubble bath. I feel gloriously relaxed. I really needed that. I'm so tired... I'm having a really hard time being around so many people all at once. It's nice to have some alone time.

Anyway, I'm going to go to bed, so goodnight darlings!
-Jen

Choir Tour: Day Two

Last night was really nice. I felt very comfortable at S's house and I slept incredibly well. I had a really hard time waking up, but I awoke feeling somewhat rested (moreso than usual). S's parents made me breakfast-to-go and off we went to meet the rest of the choir at Starved Rock. Even though I only live about an hour from Starved Rock, I had only been there once before, and that was to go canoeing when I was active with church (years ago!). I only saw the canoeing area, nothing more.

After we got to Starved Rock, we loaded our luggage on the bus and then went hiking. I ended up walking around by myself so I could get some alone time. I've been feeling very crowded and I just needed some space. I walked to two canyons with these beautiful waterfalls. I couldn't believe how gorgeous it was! I sat on a fallen tree and meditated for a while, listening to the rushing water and the birds. It was so lovely and peaceful... I haven't felt that at peace in a long time.

Right now we are at a McDonald's and I'm using their free wi-fi. I downloaded some e-books from my library in case I don't have internet later. I have a few books with me, but I'm almost done with them. I'm pretty tired. Thankfully we only have one concert tonight, but tomorrow we have four. I hope that the family I stay with tonight is nice and has a comfortable bed. My back is killing me!

I'll try to blog again tonight, if not tomorrow. Love you guys!
-Jen

PS - I'm going to set up a Flickr or something for my pictures so you all can see Starved Rock and whatnot. :)

Tour Day One

Today was a very long and exciting, yet draining, day. I finally woke up after a night of tossing and turning, then I went to therapy. Kolton met my knew therapist. I really like her. She understands me very well and I feel very comfortable with her. We are going to have two sessions a week. After therapy, I went to lunch and rehearsal. I passed out after rehearsal and then finished packing, just in time to get a good seat on the bus.

I'm currently on choir tour! We took a coach bus to a small town northwest of Chicago and performed at one of the choir members' church. It went well enough. I sure was exhausted though! After the concert, they fed us delicious food. Oh man, I can't think of the last time I ate that much! I had several people come up to me during dinner telling me how beautiful I am and how they are amazed I didn't use any music. (Note: I don't have a choice in not using music. Because of my cane, I cannot hold the folder up, so no music for me). It was very flattering.


Right now I'm at my friend S's parents' house. It's really nice. I'm very comfortable with her family. It makes me really happy! I'm exhausted... I wish I could go into more detail, but maybe tomorrow. My vision is starting to blur. Yay sleeping meds! I'm not sure if I will be able to post tomorrow or not. It depends if I can find a wi-fi connection or not. But I'm planning on writing regardless.

Night all. Sweet dreams~

A new start?

Thank you so much for the well wishes everyone! The doctor did an aerthoscopic surgery. I had a lateral band released on my left knee. They were supposed to work on my ACL also, but it didn't need it! Today at physical therapy they removed the bandages and I got to see the incisions. They don't look that bad at all. I'm allowed to shower tomorrow, as long as I have water proof bandages over my stitches. Physical therapy today was sooooo painful. I was able to bend my knee to 60º with assistance. I'm still having a lot of trouble picking my leg up to get into bed, and I'm having difficulty getting up without assistance.

My knee is so swollen! It's about double the size of my other knee right now. I've been icing it a lot, but it's still pretty bad.

I think I might go take a nap. Physical therapy really drained me!

Surgery went well. My surgeon said that it went much better than he expected. He didn't have to tighten the bands or anything, he only had to loosen this band a tiny bit. My fibromyalgia is really mad about the surgery though. My whole body is in so much pain. When I came to, I was almost screaming in pain. They had to keep giving me pain medicine. I got really upset while there though. After the nurse took my blood pressure with an automatic blood pressure cuff (those really hurt me -- they had no manual ones!), she then inserted my IV at the same place. I was crying a lot because the needle just hurt so much. The nurse then told me that "you have a long life ahead of you and you better get your emotions and pain under control, especially if you want to have children." ... I was furious. How dare she? She knew that I have fibro too!

After the surgery was okay. Kolton stayed at the house for quite a while and helped me and kept me company. I'm not feeling well at all... I'm so drained... I can take my sleep medicine tonight in just under an hour, thank god.

Physical therapy begins tomorrow at 11:30. Yay?

Six hours until surgery. I'm terrified. Petrified. I was okay until about two hours ago. Kolton was there for the first hour and then he had to leave. I've been sitting in my bed just sobbing and crying my eyes out. I'm so scared. I really just need a hug, but I can't get one. Kolton just sat there holding my hand and listening. I've been listening to extremely loud music just to drown out all of my thoughts.

I have to be at the surgery center at 6 AM. Surgery is at 7 AM. I'm so terrified... I can't stop shaking or crying.