Big Brother 10: Cast in Depth Part 1

I apologize for getting to the more in depth looks at the cast later than I had planned. I had several errands I had to run this afternoon and for some odd reason, I get wiped out more easily these days. Oh, yeah ... recuperating from major surgery. Yep, that will wipe a person out!

But I'm here now with the first five BB10 cast members -- alphabetically by first name. Pictures, a bit of bio, links to the official skinny, and my initial impressions. The remainder of the cast members will be completed by tomorrow. And, of course, I want to know your impressions of the new hamsters, too!

Shades of April (BB6) and other hamsters from the past, Angie is yet another pharmaceutical sales rep. I think it must be a BB goal to eventually cast every pharmaceutical rep in the country, don't you? According to her bio on the official CBS website, she's a recently divorced Korean-American tomboy.

She has her Bachelor's degree in advertising and originally hails from Virginia Beach, VA. I kind of like the fact that she's very devoted to her mentally disabled brother. She seems to be bright enough and athletic. I want to like her, but we'll see.

Speaking of April ... here's April version 2.0. Although she's living in Arizona, she's originally from Arlington, Nebraska. According to her bio page, she earned her Bachelor's degree in sports and fitness management from Doane College in Crete, NE. So she now works for a car dealer, go figure. She's the infamous OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) person. I have to admit that might make the feeds a bit interesting at times. Knowing how sloppy the BB houses tend to get, this could be fun!

She likes Froot Loops although CBS spelled it wrong, so she can't be all that bad! She seems to have unrealistically high expectations for a romantic partner so I think she's going to be single for years to come. My personal jury of the mind is out on her. I think she could very well add some real entertainment to the feeds but I'm not too sure I'm going to like her all that much.

Brian believes he's a "guy's guy." His chosen city to live in could run another direction with that claim. Heh. According to his bio, he's originally from Elk Grove, CA. I have no clue where that is! Air Force through and through, he earned his Associate degree from them and served for six years. Kudos to him for that! But will I like him?

It makes me smile to note that in his list of jobs, he's worked as a snowboarder amongst other more lofty positions. He seems very nice guy next door kind of dude. I'm not sure how well he'll do, but I definitely like him better than the extremely conservative guy on the cast, Dan. He seems to respect women.

Oh my. You see, I'm the kind of person with little tolerance for those who judge people rashly for aesthetic reasons or those who are extremely pushy with their religious or political beliefs. I'm the kind of person who thinks everyone has a right to do anything which is legal and while I might not want tattoos or piercing, that's me. You can do what you want with your own self, ain't no skin off my nose. (I always wanted to use that expression in a sentence, woohoo!)

According to his bio, Dan is the exact opposite. He's very conservative with little tolerance for liberals. (I hate the big conservative/liberal brouhaha.) He would have moved out of the country if Hilary Clinton won the presidential race. He thinks vegans are weird tree-huggers. He thinks tattoos are trashy and piercings are for freaks.

About the only good things I see about this guy are: he likes Cheez-Its crackers and Frank Sinatra. I think he's going to be way obnoxious.

Then there's Jerry. Heck, just the fact that he is 75 gives me all kinds of warm fuzzies. On The Early Show today he showed he's pretty darn fit, probably in better shape than I am! I worry that if he lasts a long time, he's going to be a target at the end because anyone up against him in the final two will consider him a huge threat for the vote.

In his bio at the CBS website, it states that he's originally from Wilkes Barre, PA. He's been a diehard BB fan since the show's inception, watching the feeds and even After Dark on ShoToo. He's been married to the same woman for 54 years and keeps himself fit so he can be her caretaker as she has Parkinson's Disease.

I just plain like this guy at a quick take. I hope he does well and that I actually enjoy him when I see him in action.

All images used here are ©CBS.

Big Brother 10 Cast Reveal and Early Show Video

Yep, they're here! I have to say right off the bat that I'm not too impressed with the diversity in casting promised by executive producer Allison Grodner. I have a cast post in pending over at TV Squad (expected to go up before noon ET). I will delve more into the cast here a bit later after I get their photos edited better. The official website is live.

The Early Show segment today was much shorter than in past seasons. Hmm, interesting. But I did find it online and here it is for you!

The Holiday Weekend, TV Briefs and Da Knee

Every year I have a front row seat to the 4th of July parade which passes by my apartment. Sure, the street is closed off for hours, cars parked overnight start getting towed at 5 AM, no one can enter or leave my block by car from about 10 AM until noon. But, hey ... it's a parade. This year it didn't feature the marching band from Washington, DC which has been a part of the parade for more than a few years, but the local high school marching band, several floats, clowns, stepping groups, all of the local youth sport groups, rap groups, salsa, fire companies, reggae groups, police departments, Ronald McDonald and his NYMetro Ronald McDonald showmobile, church groups, scouts, and more joined in. My personal favorite each year is the black cowboys on dancing horses.

My knee wasn't quite up to standing through the entire parade this year and due to the elevator being out of commission because of an electrical storm the night before, I couldn't manage getting a chair down to the front lawn. I watched most of the parade from my recliner chair looking out the window. But I did go down long enough to snap some shots of the black cowboys and a clown or two. I live in a rather rough town in NJ, but this annual parade is always a celebration of family, children, and the diversity of folks who live here. To me, that's a big part of what being an American is all about.

TV Briefly

• Groomer Has It - I actually missed having this show on my Saturday night schedule last night. When it was down to the final two last week (Jonathan and Artist), I was rooting for an Artist win even though I think Jonathan is technically a better dog groomer. I didn't think Artist had any chance to win but I adore his personality and how he seriously worked to improve each week. He has a good heart and sometimes chose the hard route intead of the easy win. On the other hand, I found Jonathan a bit too smug and arrogant. I was thrilled for Artist when he won the big prize. Yay!
• America's Got Talent - So far, i'm not overly thrilled with the talent. Sure, the sword swallowing guy was cool -- you don't see that every day anymore. I think my favorite so far was the guy who sang "Walking in Memphis" last week or the week before. One thing I enjoy about this show is seeing Jerry Springer out of his typical element. I don't watch his show, but I have to give the man kudos -- he's a very intelligent guy, ex-mayor of Cincinnati (I believe that was his city), and has turned trash TV into a personal fortune.
• A rerun of Crossing Jordan - On Thursdays I have to go for my blood draw for my weekly dosage levels of my warfarin (Coumadin). I've found that Crossing Jordan is on A&E at 8 AM weekdays and tend to watch it as I missed many of the episodes when they aired. This past Thursday, they had a mysterious case. Uh-oh, the guy was poisoned by (as they said it on the show), "Warfarin, rat poison!" Eep, I needed that reminder on my blood draw day, right?
• So You Think You Can Dance - I haven't been surprised by the people who have left each week, not yet anyway. I still favor Twitch as my sentimental favorite, but I'm enjoying Joshua more and more each week even though I think he's a bit chunky for a dancer. I find Thayne's smile increasingly annoying and wish he'd stop it. Gev's solo this week was amazing! As for the girls, I think Katee is my favorite. I'm not sure how Comfort slides by each week -- I don't think she put much effort in her solo at all this week.
• The Late Show with David Letterman - Grr, reruns all this week. Grr.
• Mad About You on TV Land - Argh, just when I discovered they show it, it seems the scheduling has been cut. It's now on in the middle of the night. Maybe the fact that I'm haunted by insomnia is a good thing. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed this show before they ruined it by bringing in a baby.
• Third Watch - I never watched the show faithfully, but I have found it at 7 AM on A&E. I'm now remembering why I wasn't faithful. Oh my gosh, this show is just way too busy! I recall some years ago I was in Little Italy (Manhattan) and watched them filming the show. To this date, I've never seen that episode and still wonder if I might be in the background of some of the shots.

Da Knee and Da Health
I still have eight visits left of my physical therapy to complete the twenty visits allowed by my insurance company. That translates to four weeks as I'm now going twice a week. I'm going to try to appeal for more but I'm not too optimistic about them allowing it. The extension (leg out straight) is perfect and that's actually more of an obstacle than the bend in this surgery. Many folks have problems with straightening the leg and that results in a limp. I have no problems with that.

My bend unaided is usually still around 115 with 120 being the goal and more bend possible. Technically, anything 90 degrees or more is considered successful. But the more bend, the more you can do. Despite the horrible condition before the surgery, my bend (range of motion) was good. So, it's expected that I should achieve higher than 120 degrees. That Baker's Cyst on the back of the knee seems to be what's holding back the bend -- I get to a certain point and it's agony. On the other hand, I'm doing well with the exercise bike and my strength is improving.

Although I'm walking most of the time unaided, I still bring along either one crutch or a cane when I expect to be on my feet a lot. When I walk, the knee isn't painful, per se. It's a bit unstable, wobbly, stiff, and weird. It's after I do a lot on it that it's painful. It's still bigger than my other knee, but it's not all that swollen anymore. I still have odd pains coming out of nowhere at times and the huge numb spot on the lateral side of the knee, The scar itself loves to change colors -- in the morning it's white and really looking good, by evening (or after exercise), it's reddish-purple and angry-looking.

Then there's the blood clot and rat poison er, ... Coumadin/warfarin issues. I still have pain in my left calf (the knee replacement is on the left, too) from the clot. They tell me that might last for my lifetime. I've had some adverse reactions to my dosage of warfarin and they're still jockeying it about each week. Although my return to work isn't expected anytime soon, I will have to be cleared by the vascular surgeon as well as the orthopedic surgeon. In the meantime, all I can do is watch the dietary restrictions, have my blood drawn weekly, follow the dosage, carry my medical alert card, try to avoid cuts, and let the doctor's office know if I exhibit odd symptoms. This is just about as much fun as a knee replacement!

So, there you go. I hope everyone had a good holiday weekend! The weather has been stormy here, but it held off for the parade on Friday.

Happy Independence Day!

I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend! Zoetawny made this 4th of July logo for us!

Big Brother 10 - Do Wishes Come True?

I posted a new article over on TV Squad with a video interview featuring executive producer Allison Grodner. (No, she didn't talk to me. Sigh.) Oh, my! Could she be listening to the fan base? A more diverse cast? Older, middle, and younger? I may just faint!

Also, I was contacted (via TVS) by the AOL staffer who will be sitting in on the press conference this week for Big Brother 10. I was asked for questions to ask the houseguests and I hope some will come through!

My Amazing Race Spoiler Post is up on TVS

The Amazing Race makes its debut on September 28, but I've tracked down the timeline, the countries, and a bit on the teams. Beware -- definite country spoilers, team spoilers to an extent, some task spoilers.

But if you want to peek, it's over on TV Squad.

Big Brother 10 is Just Around the Corner

Yep, a new season is almost upon us! Graphic arteest Zoetawny has made a cool new season logo for the blog and we're just about ready to rock and roll. (Zoetawny rocks already and that's how I roll.)

You've all been fantastic hanging in while I've been tied up with the healing process. You have no idea how thrilled I am with the community which has developed here. I love it! I also enjoy the fact that new folks come along and are welcomed as they make the leap to posting comments. You all rock! A huge thank you is in order for Sydney who has been such a tremendous help as I went through the surgery and to this date as I go through rehab.

Ah, but this post is about Big Brother 10, right? I have a new article up over on TV Squad which delves into scheduling, some facts, and plenty of rumors. Of course, I'll have the feeds once again this season. Technically, I never don't have them as I've had the Real SuperPass for a number of years now. I generally take advantage of the $10 monthly music download credit from them and it evens out the cost of the subscription payments. Or, at least I tell myself it does.

I plan to cover the feeds both here and on TVS (different content for each just as I did last season), plus I'll live blog all of the shows here and write the Tuesday and Wednesday show review/recaps for TVS. At this time I plan to purchase the BBReloader once again. That enables me to record video to post to YouTube as well as to enlarge the actual screens more, watch all four feeds in separate windows at once, and lots more. As I will be off from work for most or all of the season, this is going to be a good diversion for me as it was the first summer I did this. Plus, I'll have the time to really get into it without suffering total exhaustion! Cool. :-)

That's the skinny and I have to head off to physical therapy to have my knee treated by my favorite physical terrorist soon.

George Carlin and Last Night's 1975 SNL Debut

When George Carlin died last week, I was saddened. In my high school, college, and young adult days Carlin was almost an obsession of mine. I still have all of the vinyl albums from those days and regard him as one of the most cerebral and innovative comedians ever. I was aware of his heart problems in the past, but he was only 71 years old. That's too young. Sigh.

When I saw a promo for Saturday Night Live during the week, I got all excited. They were going to show the first ever episode of the show from September 1975 and its first guest host -- George Carlin. Woohoo! Vintage Carlin and something I've never seen! I was in college in Albany back in those days and the local network refused to carry the first two SNL shows as it was all so controversial. They buckled under pressure and I was a huge fan of the show into the '80s, but I never did get to see the first two shows ... until last night when I saw the debut.

Whoa! Not one, but two musical guests -- Billy Preston and Janis Ian. Each sang two songs. I would have preferred that Billy do "Will it Go Round in Circles" and "Nothing from Nothing" (which he did do) and that Janis Ian had sang "At Seventeen" (which she did) and "Society's Child." But, still ... I had forgotten that they didn't limit it to one artist early on in the show.

I had forgotten how good Chevy Chase was in the early days. Oh, this was before the "I'm Chevy Chase and you're not" bit, but good nonetheless. John Belushi wasn't hugely featured, but would become one of my favorites in the early years. Dan Ackroyd looked like a child. I guess we all pretty much were back then.

In the Carlin bits, there wasn't that much I don't have on the albums, but he did do a bit about religion and secularism towards the end of the show which was specifically for the show. At the end of the show he was smoking on stage, but back then people did. I remember Johnny Carson and the ashtray; Tom Snyder was a regular chimney. One bit which got me was when he mentioned watching old movies and wondering if people in the crowd scenes were dead. Here I was watching this show thinking he's gone, Belushi is gone, Gilda Radner is gone ... all way too soon.

I think Saturday Night Live did a fine thing by honoring George Carlin in this manner. It was great to see him in his heyday and a spiffy trip back in time for me.

TV and Stuff

This is a photo I took of a tiger lily which I edited to create the black and white background.

In television doings --

• Big Brother 10 -- Since the start date is a week later than past seasons, I don't think there will be any official cast news for another week or ten days minimum. I found this article which states that the casting has indeed been completed.
• I think the only prime time shows I've been really, really following have been So You Think You Can Dance and America's Got Talent. I'm running behind on Hell's Kitchen due to the latter.
• Call me silly or even simple, but I'm looking forward to the upcoming show on CBS about America's Greatest Dog. Of course, cats wouldn't fall for such a ploy. I could do my cat's trick, but if she were surrounded by strangers and cameras she would freak. I hold my hand out to her and say, "Show me the love" -- she licks my hand. Now if I could just get her to do a fist bump.
• Oh! I'm also still watching Groomer Has It on Animal Planet. Now that it's between Artist and Jonathan, I want Artist to win because Jonathan is so arrogant.

As for me --
It's weird how this knee is consuming my life. I had my five week check up with the doctor last week. He's very pleased and claims I'm ahead of the game. My physical therapy is down to two times a week to spread out the visits as my health insurance only covers twenty visits. My range of motion is up around 113 with a forced 120. My muscles are strengthening every day. Unless I plan to be on my feet a lot, I don't use any aids in walking. I'm still at the point where I have to remind myself to walk heel to toe and bend my knee with each step. It can get a bit unstable if I stop thinking about walking, but that should improve.

I still do my home exercises three times daily followed by ice. There is still some pain and I ended up asking the doctor to give me the heavier stuff back (after requesting lighter meds) especially for my PT sessions and nights. I have yet to get a full night's sleep.

I'm also going out to have blood drawn weekly for the Coumadin levels. Now, instead of being on the Coumadin regiment until August, I'm on it until December. Sigh. I'm going to look like a chunky junkie by the time December rolls around.

But the recovery hasn't been as horribly painful as in my imagination pre-surgery. It's not really easy and I have had the complications of the blood clot and the Baker's Cyst behind my knee. (Did I mention that?) That's behind my operated knee causing pain and limiting my range of motion to an extent. But it's not the stuff of my worst nightmares I had envisioned. It's just tiring, somewhat painful, and weird.

I want to thank everyone for hanging in.

OFF TOPIC: Knee/Me Update and TVS Post

Vampires beware! For some odd reason, I have no desire to use the phone in this photo I took before my surgery!

I finally got a new post published over on TV Squad -- it's about the first season of Big Brother and includes some YouTube videos.

Recovery is going along okay, I guess. I still get tired very easily and yet can't sleep well. I have good days and bad days. This past Friday I had the best day ever in physical therapy (range of motion up to 120, consistently able to go backwards full revolutions on the bike, only my operative leg used in total body machine to lift my weight for three sets of ten times).

Then I blew all my progress by going out with a friend on Saturday. We went to lunch sitting two hours, then shopping and such. I pushed my knee way too hard being on it for more than a few hours. It let me know by getting all swollen, hot to the touch, and stiff. I couldn't do my exercises well yesterday and continue to have problems today. Thankfully I don't have PT today. I'm down to two times a week starting this week trying to spread out the whopping 20 visits allowed by my insurance company.

I go to PT tomorrow, go out to have blood drawn for the Coumadin levels on Wednesday, to the orthopedic surgeon for my five week follow up on Thursday, then PT on Friday again.

I won't be dancing soon.

So You Think You Can Dance Discussion Post

Although I'm personally in the "So You Think You Can Walk" stage right now, this is a show I really enjoy.

I won't be blogging about it each episode, but I think it warrants a discussion post. I know I'm sure to add some thoughts in the comments section.

The link to this post will be added to the sidebar and I hope everyone who watches the show jumps in with their opinions!

The Mole Blog Meet Up Discussion Post

I don't watch The Mole (not sure why, just never got into it), but I know many of you do!

Here's your place to discuss the show with friends on the blog. Feel free to link articles, talk about the show or anything Mole!

Okay, that didn't quite rhyme, did it?

This post will be linked in the sidebar under the blog discussion post and may it be a great season!

The Bachelorette Meet Up

On the Bachelorette website on ABC.com there is a little screen and under it you can click on shorts to view. There is one called Diary of the Departed and is of some interest. It's the last words of the guys who leave each week. This week you can get one last glimpse of the Bitter Barber and Paul, the sweet, pillow lipped guy she let go last Monday night. I know, you can probably live without ever seeing the barber again, but you will chuckle to hear him still harping on Jeremy (Methinks he has a man crush and it's man-ifester-ing this way).

Tonight the boys get to race fast cars, wearing one piece jumpsuits. I think we liked the Ellen boxers better. And it looks like we may finally get to see the overplayed scene where she bawls out the guys while crying about how serious she is.

She rejects the kiss of one guy --ouch --and she goes on a solo date with Jesse, the long haired snowboard guy, so we can finally get more than a glimpse of what his appeal may be. It says a date may end with the most shocking outcome yet! Doesn't that make you want to tune in to see?

UPDATE - Image added, category label added, and I'll be linking this post to the sidebar momentarily! (Jackie)

Through the Boob Tube Darkly - A Post-Surgical Perspective

I wrote this post over a few days last weekend from notes I took in the hospital and during my first week or so at home. During that time, I was still taking pain meds on a very regular basis. Yes, the photo is my hospital room and IV.

I'm feeling much better today and no longer take the pain meds except when going to physical therapy. We're in a heat wave here, but I've had no reason to leave my apartment at all and I have the air conditioner on low. I'm feeling so good today that I came up with my own physical therapy! I put on a CD I have with old hits like "Wooly Bully" and "Louie Louie," cranked the volume, and danced or dance/walked my way around the apartment. I twisted a bit; I made a point of bending my knee and putting weight on it -- no walker (been folded all week), no crutch ... on my feet! Although the knee got very warm, it didn't hurt and still doesn't now a half-hour after I stopped acting like a lunatic. My cat wasn't thrilled, though.

Without further ado, here's the rather drug-induced post --

Before I get into my list of what my drug-induced mind has been either entertained or irked by, I have to spend a moment talking about hospital televisions. One day, you too could end up in the hospital and you'll remember my words of wisdom here.

First, it was a great 42 inch flat screen, better than my televisions here at home. Thank you. Oh, and I had a DVD player, too! Woohoo! But it's all downhill from there. What? No remotes? What's up with that? There I was, strictly bed-bound for four days before they let me get up and I don't have a darned remote at all for the DVD player? Not only that, but the DVD player was across the room from me! How about the remote for the television? It's not a real one! Hooked into the "call nurse," more pain meds thingee, and change bed positions doohickey, I had an on/off for the television and up/down controls for channel changing. No numerics, mind you. I was stuck going through the realm of channels to get at anything I wanted to watch.

So, hospitals, listen up. I was not there for comedy relief accidentally shooting myself up with more pain meds when I just wanted to watch The Late Show with David Letterman. I wasn't there to make a spectacle of myself contorting my bed into odd positions when I merely wanted to find anything other than an infomercial at 4:00 in the morning. And if you're thoughtful enough to have a DVD player there, put it where the patient can actually operate it. Real remotes are desperately needed. Feel free to search my belongings. Body search me on the way out since you've already shred any dignity and privacy I ever had. I won't steal the remote; I have plenty of my own. I won't mention that the on/off switch for the lights on the doohickey did nothing. Oops, I mentioned it.

Then, after nearly a week in the hospital, I went home sweet home. Home, where I know my cable stations, home where I have real remotes. Home, where I had set up everything convenient for limited mobility. Now, since I've been home, I've still been pretty heavily medicated. It's made for a long strange trip of television watching between the zombie state and the insomnia. Here are some of my observations from that state of mind, not in any particular order:

1. The Late Show with David Letterman - Reruns last week on my first almost full week home? Yeah, I know it was the end of May Sweeps, but sheesh, Dave ... it's bad enough you had Jack Hanna on for the same night as my surgery and I missed my favorite guest on the show. Oh, and the Stupid Pet Tricks were on the pathetic side this time around. Dave, you let me down.

2. Dexter - I don't have Showtime and was trying to catch the first season when they aired it on CBS. Due to writing up the Sunday night Big Brother review, I missed enough to make me buy the first season on DVD. Great show, can watch while medicated and I sometimes identify with Dexter. But I don't go around killing people for either good cause or bad. I have been known to kill bugs on the "he needed to die" basis, but I don't think that's a crime.

3. The Meerkats movie on Animal Planet - Whoa, too much background into the filming of the series. I fell asleep both times I tried to watch it. Hey, maybe that's the cure for my insomnia! I enjoyed the series and I'm looking forward to the new season, but this didn't do anything for me.

4. Raw Nature on Animal Planet - Oh, animals eating each other, always a diversion from life at home! This kept my interest, but I think my cat got too much into watching it. You know, I've heard tell of cats eating their deceased owners. Eep.

5. Old original series Law and Order on TNT - My interest in this show has waned over the past few years, but I like the older episodes with Benjamin Bratt. Whether it's poor memory or the drugs I've been on, I didn't even remember a few of these I watched. So it was like new entertainment for me.

6. The Andromeda Strain on A&E - Speaking of Benjamin Bratt ... he's still adorable these days! I know I have the book and I saw the original movie, but it's been decades. It didn't wow me, but I stayed awake through it.

7. Judge David Young - This is a judge show I haven't watched too often, so he's pretty fresh for me. I think some of his rulings seem to come from his heart and not the law, but that's what people get for wanting to go on TV instead of a real court with their foolishness.

8. Homicide: Life on the Street - As many times as I see this show, I still want to watch it again. I was ticked at the hospital for not having a cable company which included WGN. Now that I'm home, Kellerman killed Luther Mahoney. Cool.

9. Criminal Minds - This show has always been up against something else I watch and I never had the time to watch many recorded shows due to life constraints. Perfect, A&E is carrying it now. Fresh fodder for me.

10. The latest Optimum Online Triple Play commercial - This is so overplayed! I didn't like the rap one last year and this one is even more annoying. It sometimes plays three times within a half-hour on some stations. Gack. I just see that Optimum flour bag and start to cringe. I only enjoy the lawn guy winking. Make it stop. (And they're the company which doesn't carry WGN!)

11. The First 48 on A&E - Played at all hours in the middle of the night, nothing like a good murder or two to keep the TV zombie staring at the set.

12. So You Think You Can Dance - I don't watch Dancing With the Stars, but this show is a constant hit for me. But just wait until some of these dancers get some good years on those knees. They'll end up in a hospital without real remotes for the TV!

13. American Idol winner David Cook on The Early Show - Darn it. A crane fell and we only had one song while I'm sure there was to be two. Not that I'm cold-hearted, but here in the NYC area, all programming on all local stations carried the news until well past noon. Five hours of pretty much the same news shots with little or no real new news during that time. I was thankful noon came around and WGN with its Homicide comes out of Chicago.

14. Reruns of Home Improvement and Rosanne on either TVLand or Nick - I never really watched the former when it originally aired. So it's like mindless light fluff entertainment for me, grunt. As for Rosanne, watching it after so many years made me remember why I enjoyed the series in the first place.

15. Groomer Has It on Animal Planet - Although I'm getting tired of the same old formula for reality shows, I still got hooked on this one. They should groom more cats, though. And, as entertaining as Artist is, he's a weak groomer.

16. Forensic Files and The Investigators on truTV - More real murders. I think perhaps I have a twisted mind. I still think truTV is a dumb brand for the station, but they didn't ask me.

17. The Wire on DVD - Ah, now I have the time to go through the four seasons I own without much real life interference (day job) cutting into my viewing time. Come August, I'll have season five. Life is good. Well, maybe not for the corner boys, but I'm more of a stoop kind of gal.

18. Hell's Kitchen - Matt has to go. I think his presence makes my knee hurt more. Thus I have to take more pain meds. It's Matt's fault! (Update - he's gone and my knee feels better!)

19. The Smoking Gun Presents on truTV - Now, any reality TV blogger knows The Smoking Gun website. For years it was the source for dirt on reality contestants. So when I found this in my channel surfing, I watched. Leif Garret, Tonya Harding, Danny Bonaduce and other Z List celebs known for their stupidity judge the stupidity of others on video. Hmm ... if Darwin's Theory of natural selection were indeed correct, all of these people should be gone, right? That said, it made me laugh. Of course, it could be my medication.

20. Saturday Night Fever movie repeat this past Saturday - A blast from the past and I was surprised I watched it all the way through. "You hit my hair. I worked hours on it and you hit my hair." Oh, I should be dancing. But I don't think my orthopedic surgeon would approve.

21. Sunday Morning on CBS - Always a part of my Sunday morning routine, this brings a sense of normality to my bizarre life of late.

22. NYCTV25 from NYC.gov - This is a local cable station, but always interesting. From Cool in Your Code to the music to the events to Secrets of New York, it makes me want to get back to photo stomping around town. Yep, an incentive to recover!

23. Trauma: Life in the E.R. on Discovery/Health - Like I haven't had enough of hospitals, eh? Maybe this caught my attention because I'm grateful this was a planned surgery. I don't know.

24. Living Lohan - That's a half hour of my life I'll never get back. Even on medication, this is a waste of my valuable time. I could be dancing, y'know!

So there you go. I feel a bit like the guy in A Clockwork Orange with his eyes forced open, a true TV zombie. Pardon me, it's 2 AM and I found Without a Trace.

June?

Nope, I didn't post that TV post last night. It will go up sometime over the weekend. When I posted yesterday, Sydney had posted an extensive look at June television which I think warrants some more attention as my post a bit usurped it.

Her post is here.

I also want to throw out kudos and huge thank yous to both Sydney and Zoetawny for all of their work in keeping the blog going! They both rock, as do all of you hanging in the comments!

In my physical therapy yesterday, I was up to 102 degrees bend. There is an issue with pain and swelling in the back of the knee. That's holding my bend back more than the actual knee or other issues at this time. My physical therapist has a few theories -- it could be blood clot related, or a Baker's cyst, or something wrong with the Popleitius (sp) muscle. Although I can feel the swelling and the back of the knee was hugely bruised post-op, the only time I have pain from it is when I push the bend of the knee. If it's still an issue when I next see my surgeon a week from Thursday, I'll have him check it out.

I'm Alive and ... Free, Free, Free at Last (sort of)

Look, look! I've been outside! Later tonight I plan to post a longer TV-related post I worked on for a few days, Unfortunately, my computer corner isn't as comfortable for my knee as I thought it would be. Stints of over ten or fifteen minutes get very uncomfortable. I find it hard to keep shifting positions and try to think at the same time. Of course, right now I'm not sure if I can walk and chew gum at the same time either!

That said, since the beginning of last weekend, I've deliberately been cutting down on the heavy duty pain meds. All this week, I've only taken them about an hour before my physical therapy appointments. Since I do have some pain outside of the appointments, I have to ask my doctor for some kind of lighter duty pain relief. I don't like the zombie feeling I get from the heavy stuff (though it's definitely needed for the physical therapy -- PAIN!).

But the big news is ... I'm walking with no walker, no crutches, no cane around my apartment! When I go out in the real world, I'm walking with a pretty even gait using one crutch. It's tiring, but not painful. Until I rebuild my quad and calf muscles, I'm going to rely on the one crutch for stability.

I've had out patient physical therapy twice so far this week and will head off my the third time after I get this posted. To get there, I've walked a block to the bus stop near my apartment and have taken a city bus two towns over to Scotch Plains and the therapist. Once in town there, it's a half block walk. I got there early yesterday and took some photos in the park and of the cannon in the street. Don't ask me why there's a cannon in the street, I do not know. In the cannon photo, I used layers to make only the flowers have color.

I know someone mentioned Roofus in comments, but I won't get that way for a while. That's about seven blocks in the opposite direction of anywhere I have to go right now. And, though I know I'm improving and feel stronger every day, my jaunts are still pretty limited and I'm only really going where I have to go.

But it is nice to actually get out of the apartment, feel my mind clearing a bit from the medication and the surgery itself. I'm starting to have more of an appetite, but think I may have lost nearly 20 pounds -- my clothes are all loose. That's a good thing, mind you. My range of motion is at a 92 degree bend now, up from 60 leaving the hospital. I can actually stand on just the operated leg, but not for long.

So that's the latest. Later on tonight I'll get that long written while a zombie TV-related post up.

Today's musical non-sequitur:
"I've been through the desert on a horse with no name
It felt good to be out of the rain
In the desert you can remember your name
'cause there ain't no one for to give you no pain."
- "Horse With No Name" - America

Proof SOMETHING is on in June....

OK folks -- we should be hearing from Jackie soon. I spoke to her today and the lilt was back in her voice... now the question is, when will the spring return to her step?

She has something written up that she will post. But it seems the way her desk is configured, it's hard to be comfortable while using the computer for long, so she has just not been on it... and frankly, after a double year of Big Brother, I think that is not such a bad forced rest. Glad to hear things are going well and we look forward to hearing from you Jackie!!!

Entertainment Weekly has devoted a whole issue to Summer TV and since we've been grappling with what that is exactly, I made up a nice little list for y'all to look over.

Weeds:  June 16 on Showtime at 10 PM (13 eps) Emmy winning, title speaks for self!

30 Days:  June 3 on FX at 10 PM (6 eps)  This is a FAVORITE of mine!! From Morgan Spurlock, the guy who did the movie Supersize me. Takes people from one walk of life and makes them spend 30 days doing something or being with people that are polar opposites, to challenge their thinking and grow their compassion, doing the audience the same service. A+!!!

Nashville Star, hosted by Billy Ray Cyrus (Orkmommy do you hear that?) on NBC, starting June 9th at 9:30 PM (9 eps) NBC rescued this from USA channel, this show's 6th season gets good reviews.

Celebrity Circus: NBC June 112, 9:30 PM (6 eps) Joey Fatone hosts an 8 wk boot camp and circus training with c list stars.  I'll watch, lol. 

Hopkins: ABC, June 16, 10 PM (6 eps) Puts the doc in documentary re: life at Baltimore's John's Hopkins Hospital.  Rise in female surgerons makes this the real life Grey's Anantomy.

MVP: SOAPnet, June 19, 11PM (1o eps) set in the bedrooms of fictional pro hockey players , steamy nighttime sudser is from Canada)... for Tom 's and Lars (not that you watch soaps)

Camp Rock: Starts June 20 on Disney Channel, 8 PM  ( new movie, probably like High School whatever that thing is that's sweeping the nation)

Army Wives: Lifetime, June 10, 10PM (19 eps) Life on an army base in S. Carolina, part deux. Endorsed by both presidential candidates... um.

Wipeout: ABC, June 24, 8PM. Described as a cross between MXC (huh?), Fear Factor and American's Funniest Home Videos. 24 contestants try to complete a series of physical challenges. Try is the operative word. 

The Bill Engvall Show: TBS June 12, 9 PM (10 eps).  A family sitcom, season 2, with surprise guests.  Trying to bring back Dick Van Dyke kind of comedy says Engvall.  

The Singing Office: TLC June 29, 9 PM  (9 eps).  Joey Fatone is BUSY, as host, joined by DWTS and Spice Girls Mel B as colleges from 16 co's battle for $50,000 singings. Could be funny.

Kathy Griffin's D list:  Bravo, June 12, 9 PM (9 eps) 

The Mole: ABC, June 2, 10PM (10 eps) -- in case you didn't know.

In Plain Sight: USA, June 1, 10 PM ( 12 eps) Starring West Wing's Mary McCormack. She and her partner, Frederick Weller, relocate people in the witness protection program to New Mexico. Deals with what happens when you have to reinvent yourself. Sounds intriguing.

America's Got Talent: NBC, June 17, 9 PM (Eps TBD)

I Survived a Japanese Game Show: ABC, June 24, 9 PM Why should I try to explain with a title like that?  I'll tune in. Jackie, will you?

Ice Road Truckers: History Chanel, June 8, 9 PM (13 eps) Season 2 follows rigs hauling loads over frozen the Arctic Ocean.  Deadliest Catch meets Sue from Survivor?  Don't let me discourage you with my poor attempt at humor. This is the channels highest rated series (who knew?) 

Secret Diary of a Call Girl: Showtime, June 16, 10:30 PM (8 eps). Imported from the UK based on a real life call girl's blog. Billie Piper from Dt. Who stars.

My Boys: TBS, June 12, 9:30 PM (9 eps) This looked like a fun premise last year, but I only caught 1 half ep... if any of you watched it, would love to know what you thought!

Legally Blonde, the Musical: MTV, June 2, 10 PM (8 eps)  10 Broadway hopefuls vie for the starring role played by Reese Witherspoon. Hey, if I were dating Jake Gyllenhall, I'd be singing too.

Law and Order, Criminal Intent: USA, June 8, 9 PM (12 eps)

Tori and Dean, Home Sweet Hollywood: Oxygen, June 12, Time???

The A-List Awards, hosted by Kathy Griffin: Bravo, June 12 10 EST

Design Star: HGTV, June 8, 9PM EST

When We Left Earth - The Nasa Missions: Discovery, June 8, 9 EST The Nasa film vaults are opened, and with the intended quality of the Planet Earth series, we can live the epic adventures of the challenges and achievements of our space program... in HD.  

Will list what's on in July later in the week.

Another Week for Jackie's Knee

Today marks three weeks since Jackie went in to get her surgery. If it seems like it was much longer than that to me, how must it feel to her???  But three weeks is good.  REALLY good, because it's no longer one or two weeks, lol. Carnak says: Four will be much better, and by six weeks she should be just great.  Using that scale, today marks the the half-way point, and I believe that's something to celebrate!!!  Until then, Zoetawny came up with my favorite graphic so far, with the message of the moment.  ((((Thank you Z!))))

(I hope you can appreciate that I changed the color to match her frame. *cough*)

Tonight is So You Think You Can Dance and Top Chef.  

Thursday the new season of Last Comic Standing starts, though I don't know if there are many fans of it on Jackie's blog.  We are subsisting on the Bachelorette and now The Mole, Netflicks, and filling in the gaps with eps of the favorite shows we missed last season online... Ugly Betty, Greys, etc... until Big Brother starts.

I heard Rescue Me is not going to be summer fare, as usual.  Instead they are filming now for a double long season to begin next February (24 eps). In it's place this summer, they are doing ten  5-10 minute shorts once a week on FX starting June 24th, to keep the audience and get them through... cable really can do whatever it wants can't it? It's the new Wild West.

But that doesn't help us right now. If there's something else you're watching tonight and tomorrow that I missed, don't hold out on us. Please let us know in the comment area.   

The Mole and other stchuff

Many thanks to Zoetawny for another of her custom made graphics for Jackie... You Rock Z.

The much anticipated return of The Mole is also on tap tonight, at 10/9 central time on ABC.

For those who never saw it, it's being brought back after a few years off the air. I believe it had two seasons with regular people, then two with celebrities and it tanked. A shame because it has the potential to be smart and adrenaline filled. We are hoping they hit it this time and we have a little sumpin sumpin to keep our TAR/Survivor cravings fed. Both fingers crossed.

The Premise: 12 people embark on an international mission but one person, whose identity is unknown to all, tries to sabotage it. There will be clues to follow but you can't believe anything you hear or see... The whole show is centered around one burning question: WHO IS THE MOLE????

In other news:

*Universal Studios had a huge fire yesterday, buring many of the famous movie sets and up to 50,000 of the studios videos and movie reels.
* Yves St. Laurent passed away today. Bo Diddly did as well. Rest in Peace.
* Senator Kennedy's brain cancer was operated on today and it's said to be a success
* Yesterday Hillary Clinton won Puerto Rico... but is rumored to really be wrapping up the campaign.
* Jackie is hopefully feeling better by the day.
* What's happening in your neck of the woods?

Put your comments here about the Mole, whatever else you may be watching tonight (Bachelorette has it's own, exclusive post just below) or whatever's on your mind.

The Bachelorette

Here is a place for your comments about the third installment of Deanna and her remaining men. She's down to 11 suitors and so far, we're still interested.

Tonight, Deanna visits the Ellen DeGeneres Show with the guys, who will find a new way to answer that age-old question: Boxers or Briefs?

And the father we all like (is it Jason?) will get what looked in the previews like a one-on-one dinner date with Deanna. Will he finally reveal that he has a little boy? And what will her reaction be? We think we know, but what we don't know is if one of the other guys will tell her about it first, which would throw quite a different light on the evening.

A few of us will be live blogging as well.... it's a party at Jackie's every Monday night.

Update on Jackie

Uh-oh. I'm referring to myself in the third-person. That can't be a good thing. I want to thank Sydney and all of the commenters for this week's posts and all the activity. Tremendous! But me? Argh, I've been so out of it that I didn't realize last night was the Lost finale and I missed it. Grrr.

I apologize for my absence This is a hard recovery and it's tough to get through. It's definitely a major surgery. It's hard to explain how every little thing I do tires me so even though I still can't sleep more than three or four hours at a time.

For example, my home health care physical therapy visits ended yesterday. So, today I had to arrange for my out-patient physical therapy, dealing with both my insurance company and the PT place. It wiped me out. I promptly fell asleep for three hours.

Yesterday I had my last PT at home visit, had to organize all of my leave of absence and short term disability papers to bring to the doctor's office for my early evening post-op appointment. My friend Barbara brought me to and from the appointment. I managed to sit in the front seat of the car, something I couldn't do when she picked me up from the hospital. We also stopped at a store so I could refresh the juice, beverage, and bread department in my kitchen. I was up and at 'em and on the go from 8:30 in the morning until I gt home around 8:30 at night. I collapsed and fell asleep before 9. I was awake again before Letterman ended.

The knee itself is coming along well even if my energy levels are depleted. The staples came out yesterday and the doctor took x-rays. Both the doctor and my in-home physical therapist are thrilled with my progress. Before the staples came out yesterday, I could bend the knee 75 degrees. Upon leaving the hospital last week, it was only up to 60. I'm more pleased with the strength aspect -- I can see that improving daily. I do exercises three times a day which work on both strength and range of motion. (Then I conk out.)

Good news is that I don't have to pay $20 co-pay for my doctor visits anymore as I'm post-op. I go back in three weeks. The bad news is I have to pay a $20 co-pay each time at the physical therapist and that's three times a week. I know I need it and they have equipment I need to improve, but that co-pay wasn't that much the last time I went through PT. Sigh. My first PT appointment is Monday.

Then there's the Coumadin thing. That's for the blood clot and to prevent more from forming. Like Charlton Heston in Soylent Green yelling, "It's people! Soylent green is people!" -- I want to yell, "It's rat poison! They're making me take rat poison!" Until recent years, the drug (Warfarin) was indeed rat poison. It was the one which used to make the rats bleed internally and die. That's why I have to have blood drawn each week to test in case they need to modify mt dosage levels. I will be on the drug until mid-August.

So I can't get cut or bleed (or have to rush to the hospital) due to the Coumadin. I also have to let them know I'm on the drug. Possible side effects besides bleeding to death include gangrene and something called "purple toes syndrome." I don't dare have any infection or fever because the knee surgery can easily be infected. If that happens, they take out the knee, give you a spacer, then put another knee in within six months or so.

I've had an open scabbed sore on the back of my calf since the surgery. It was starting to look infected over the weekend. I thought of going to the ER, but instead bandaged it and put some Neosporin on it for a couple of days. While I know the Coumadin is slowing my healing, the therapists, visiting nurse, and doctor all thought it looked acceptable, so I guess I did the right thing.

My cat Scherzo (Skirts) has been a blessing through all of this. While she might not have liked being boarded, I couldn't have boarded my cat Teaser (who died in November). Teaser's health was too iffy and he stressed out too much. Skirts wasn't happy, but was physically fine upon returning home. Teaser also always was leaping on me and I don't think I could have handled that. Skirts has definitely grown closer to me since his death, but she still isn't a lap cat. She loves to curl up next to me, perhaps put her chin or her paw on my lap. That is comforting, but not painful.

Well, right now I know I've been in one position too long since my knee is screaming at me. I'm still on the walker although I can do crutches, too. I tried to use a cane in the apartment, but found it a bit unstable. I don't dare fall. But if I'm in one position too long, it definitely makes me get up and move. And ice it down.

I hope I caught all my typos in this and thank everyone once again! Below is my knee without its staples -- I gained a good half-inch of skin space!

LOST FINALE!!!

Tonight is the night... though not for me because I got too Lost waaaay back. For everyone who has no clue what's going on, but still watches, putting their faith in that there IS indeed a greater scheme/meaning/plan/order to it all, I have one question for you: Will things get clearer or will you be left with even more confusion and loose ends?

The word in TV Land is that there are many revelations that will come this evening, so you'll have to let us know if indeed you fans get some satisfaction on that front. So get settled in with your popcorn or cookies and your favorite libation and feel free to live blog during the hopefully amazing two hours.

Maybe Jackie will be peeking in!

The Morning After

After the Bachelorette that is...  I am just putting up a new post to chat about other TV shows and daily stuff for the next few days, so we can keep the Bachelorette comments on the last post. This will make it easier for Jackie to transfer all those comments to a sidebar link when the time comes. 

A big thank you to Delee who has started to list what's on in this interim period that seems kind of miscellaneous.  You can check back in the comments from last night to find her total listing.  

A few mentions: 

* Tonight is Hells Kitchen, Deadliest Catch and the Alsaka Experiment right after...

* Wed Oprah is rerunning her Dancing With The Stars Champion Show special. 

* Thursday is the 2 hour season finale of LOST!!!!  I'll put up a link for that when the time comes for you Losties.

Have a great day all!!! Short work week!

The Bachelotette

Howdy Folks -

Well, most of us thought we would not watch this round, but any who caught the first episode said they were hooked.  In the coming previews of this season they treated us to, it seemed like there is plenty of drama to look forward to over the next dozen weeks.  Until Jackie can set us up the normal Bachelorette Talk sidebar, I will post a place on Mondays for your comments!  

See you tonight!!!!!!

So You Think You Can Dance

Hi Jackie Fans-

Happy Memorial Day!  While many of you may be busy with BBQ's etc... Jackie knows the TV addicts among us would want a place to chat about the shows on tonight.  So this will be the place to talk about So You Think You Can Dance, on tonight at 8PMEST/7PM Central.  While Jackie may not be blogging this show once she recovers, in this short in-between period-- for her and TV -- she said I could go ahead and put up a place for y'all to talk about it.

Last year had probably the best group of talent (IMHO) thus far, and it really made it a pleasure (and sometimes a nail biter) to watch.  I hope they will be able to maintain those higher standards this season.  Here please tell what you thought of the audition process, if you have any favorites so far, and what you thought of tonight's two hour special.

(just heard from a commenter that tonight's show is a repeat of last week's auditions, and though I've looked on the website I can't tell... but just to give you a heads up).

Happy Memorial Day Weekend

I hope everyone is enjoying the first holiday weekend heading into the summer season! Despite my lack of posting, I am indeed alive. I am having some concentration issues due to pain and pain medication, so I'll probably be a bit quiet for a time. But I am okay. Thank you everyone for the notes and comments.

American Idol Finale

I'm not feeling so hot, but thought you guys might like a place to make comments about the finale. Enjoy!

Not for the Squeamish

Tiny Staples in my knee make them give me pills to make me happy ... to the tune of Tiny Bubbles.

Although I'm home shockingly early, I still have a rough road ahead. The knee replacement surgery is one of the most painful surgeries you can have done and has a hard rehab process as well. Between the constant pain and the pills, it's hard to hold onto a train of thought.

I have the added issue of being on the Coumadin regimen -- visiting nurses will come one day a week to draw blood. That whole clotting ordeal is potentially life-threatening. Even the medication is life-threatening. An in-home physical therapist will come three times a week. My insurance company covers those visits in full for up to 40 visits.

Due to the Coumadin, I'm supposed to eat a balanced diet (but no big amounts of green leafy vegetables and absolutely NO cranberries or cranberry juice.) Guess what's in my stocked pantry? Thankfully, I have plenty of other juices and veggies available. This will go on through 8/15.

The problem is that I have little to no appetite.

The emails at the hospital were a big hit with me. Whenever I saw a volunteer standing at the door timidly saying my name while holding a sheath of paper, I smiled no matter the pain. I brought them all home but haven't tallied them yet.

Why did I come home so early? Well, the original hospital stay itself was supposed to be three days, then into rehab. Rehab itself started on the day of the surgery when they had me stand up with a walker and go sit in a chair. Rehab stopped the second day when they gave me the ultrasound test and found the blood clot in my surgery knee. The only reason I was slated to go to a rehab facility is because I live alone and they were worried about me being able to fend for myself. You actually only get an hour or so of rehab a day at those places. Meanwhile I developed a horrible case of diarrhea from the stool softeners they were giving me to combat the expected constipation from the pain meds. I also became violently sick to my stomach.

No buts about it, I wanted to be able to get up and go to the bathroom! I was sick of waiting for bedpans, the humiliation, waiting for them to come and remove bedpans and all. I wanted BATHROOM. The doctor told me I could, and that was that. I started using the walker Sunday night, getting in and out of the bed and chair unassisted. I sat in bed doing ankle pumps, quad sets, and leg lifts (sometimes less than a half inch, but it counts).

Part of the recovery issue with the knee replacement is that you lose your ACL tendon, your quad muscle is cut, and lots of other nerves and tendons are ruined and have to be rebuilt. As a result, you can't make that 500 pound leg do what you want in addition to pain issues. By Monday, I was scooching it along the bed using the other leg, sometimes using a sheet as a lasso to move it, and when sitting on the bed, I managed to be able to swing it up to the bed (then scooch it in place from there). I think that's what made my OS (orthopedic surgeon) offer me the option of going home. While my other knee surgeries were a walk in the park compared to this, a lot of the techniques and rehab are the same albeit more extreme.

When I met up with the actual rehab people before my discharge, they had me climbing stairs and stuff. They measured my ROM (Range of Motion). I have 0 degrees extension (it will lay flat, good) and 60 degrees bend. I know I didn't push the bend to the point of agony -- I think I may have another ten degrees in there. They were surprised how well I did without any formal PT sessions. But I'm not surprised. I don't think the doctor is all that surprised, either. Both he and his partner said I shouldn't have been mobile based on the condition of my knee pre-op. Yet I walked a mile a day and was on my feet sometimes 7 hours a day.

My personal goal for the ROM is 130 degrees, but that won't come for a while. The swelling and staples hinder it right now in addition to having to build it all back up. It's going to be rough -- the surgery takes a lot out of you in addition to decrepit knees. My sleeping pattern is shot. I've been typing this for about three hours stopping in between sentences.

I really want to thank Zoetawny and Sydney for working on the blog in my absence and for their calls to me. Between them, the emails and cards ... I felt very loved. (An oddly welcomed feeling!) My brother called daily and is planning to come down and visit for a day. My friend Barbara went above and beyond getting me to the hospital on time, visiting me, calling me, dropping by with DVDs, cookies, Coca-Cola, chips, and KFC in addition to picking me up, getting my prescriptions, my bread, milk, eggs, and cat.

Speaking of the cat ... when I called there they told me she was okay healthwise, but not a happy cat. Another call there garnered the information that everyone thinks she's such a beautiful cat but she only likes Debbie. Heh. Since getting home, she has explored the apartment apparently to make sure I didn't move in any other cats. If I'm in bed, she's curled up purring. If she's alone sometimes she just lets out a cry. I talk to her and she quiets down. She's a bit unsure about the walker.

More eventually.

A big thanks to Zoetawny for this adorable graphic.  Just wanted to get it up so Jackie sees it first thing when she turns the computer on, whenever that may be.  

Home Alive

I'm home and alive. Thank you everyone for the emails and letters.

Must collapse now. More soon

The Show WILL Go On!!!!

We interrupt this program for some breaking news. 

Sing along with me: "It's a beautiful daaaaay!" (U2).  

Are you sitting down? 

I have to tell you that Jackie is not going to rehab today after all.... 

SHE'S GOING HOME!!!  That's right. When she told me I thought she'd just hit her morphine pump and was delusional... then I realized, she doesn't have a morphine pump.  Her ride is coming in about 30 minutes and she's swinging by the store for milk, bread and eggs and then they pick up the cat.  By this evening, she will be settling in to her own couch, in her own PJ's, with the kitty curled up nearby.  No annoying roommates, hospital gowns, hideously bright lights or nurses waking her up in the middle of the night!

What a difference from yesterday!  She had not even really been on her feet as of early afternoon.  I guess the associate doc came in after we hung up, did the test for the clot and it had dissapated.  And then they let her get up using a walker and apparently she really impressed them with being able to put her full weight on the leg and get around a bit on her own.  They also measured the bend in the knee -- and this is without having ANY PT or even getting up to sit in a chair since Wednesday morning -- to be 60 degrees. My husband got back 90 degrees and they said that was amazing. Jackie has a goal of 130 degrees, of course, lol!  If anybody's going to do it, she will.

She's all set with food at home, made things in advance and arranged her computer and TV etc... so we can all rest easy.  I assume that she will be posting again in no time, and hopefully we'll get to see some pictures.  Thanks go to Jackie for allowing me to do a little bit in return for all the fun I've had over the last 3 years at this blog --and for all the wonderful people I've met. (But who do I hold responsible for the countless hours I've spent here as my to do list takes second place???).  I was just so relieved to know what was going on day to day, and was grateful to have a way to pass it on to others here who I know would have been feeling the same. Ms J, we'll all be waiting for that moment when we click on your blog and see your words again.

And now, the winner of the Guess Those Stitches Contest is...... LYNN1!!!!  I could not believe it when you guessed it exactly at 31.  Runners up are RBennie with 30 and Donna in AL with 32.  

Thanks everyone!  xxxox, Sydney

Well, I had a nice long talk with Jackie just now. Glad it was a good time. You never know if you'll catch someone groggy or sleeping or in the middle of tests...

I wanted to know if her knee looked like Frankenstein's.  She said a little... and then she counted the staples (which would be double if there were actual stitches). 

I asked if the scar was straight on top, curved or on the side. She said "The scar is kind of off. Looking straight down on it, it goes a little to the left, then back to center again". The swelling has gone down today. It wasn't very swollen to begin with and the leg  isn't all black and blue, which amazes us both.  I think that's a very good sign.  She managed to take a few pictures of it too. Wonder if we'll see any once she gets back home and can post again.

A friend came by with DVD's, and like Zoetawny said she watched Juno. Only problem is, there is no apparent remote for the DVD, so when the nurses inevitably interrupted in the middle to do silly things like take blood and her temp, she could not pause it. @@   And when it was over, she had to call the nurses in to take it out and return her set to normal TV.  I was chomping on the bit to hang up and call the nurses station and ask them to bring one in from another room, or help her look for it, but Jackie insisted I didn't.  DANG I shouldn't have asked her and just done it!  But I of course want to respect what makes her feel comfortable, so I asked.  Frustrated!!! 

Said pal also brought her cookies, which is always a good thing, but even more now,  as after 4 days that hospital food is starting to pale. From the sound of things, it started out without poor marks. Even the ice cream isn't making up for it.  Haagendaas it's not.  Maybe it's like ice milk. I told her if she gets to go to the rehab place near her house, she could order in from her neighborhood faves.  

As of yesterday, the blood clot was apparently getting a little better.  When I hung up at 1:30 PM EST she was still waiting for her doctor's partner (who was in on the surgery) to come by. Bet they'll wait til her primary doc sees her Monday AM to determine if she's ready to make the move.  

It seems even better now that she's going to a rehab facility, since she hasn't been able to do anything in these first several days. It's so critical to move in the first 24-48 hours after an operation like this, but she can't due to the clot.  I just hope they will give her extra attention so she can catch up.  After going through all this, you do want to get that 90 degree bend back and that takes commitment.  

So now, our Jackie quiz question: Guess how many staples Jackie has on the outside of her knee. The incision is about 8 inches long.  The person(s) who gets it right will have their name posted on the next blog entry! Thrilling prize, I know, but for now, that's all I got, lol.

Many thanks to Zoetawny for today's graphic!

Jackie Watch, Day Three

I've got news.  Is it good news or bad news,  you ask.  A little of both, and the bad news isn't horrible. I'm to make sure you all know that (so says Jackie). 

She may be delayed a day or two in moving on from the hospital because of a little blood clot they found.  The doctor said it's NOT the kind that can travel to dangerous places. He said it's not great but not the end of the world. They have her on blood thinners right now and the only consequence is that she could not go for PT today.  However, I was relieved to hear she had indeed stood up yesterday.  She said it was excruciating, even full of pain meds and the nerve block!  But, no surprise there when you think of what just happened to that poor leg of hers!

Apparently she does not have that little wheelie thing on the knee to keep it in motion (a CPM machine ). The doc said she could wiggle her feet and get up and down to sit. I asked if she was at least getting in a chair to eat but she said she is just in bed, and sits herself up by using the electric rise.  Hmmm...  I thought it was crucial to move in these first days, and that nurses would be in there helping her up, but maybe not til the clot clears. She gets the feeling from them it will clear in a day so let's rally our thoughts and prayers toward that being the case!

The good news is, it looks like Jackie may be able to go to a rehab facility that is literally a block from her apartment. Even if she has to stay there for 2 weeks at least psychologically she will feel like she is home, and will probably be able to order some favorite take out from her local haunts. I'm so hoping they can arrange that for her!

I told her you all were asking about her and writing in. She DID receive several e-mails, and you still have half a day to send one to her if you were thinking about it (see last post). 

We agreed she'd call me when she knows the rehab address, if she gets moved somehow before we talk again. It may not be until Monday. Until then, she's found her way to Animal Planet and was making the rounds on cable, trying to figure out which channel was what.  She brought along Step on a Crack by James Patterson to read. And she has made some notes in her journal, even though she was pretty drugged up.  I told her it will be funny to read back on it once she's free of meds and see what she's got.  

Sending an e-mail to Ms. J

The first morning with the new knee dawns!  Jackie may have been very sore this AM. Even colds seem to be worse in the morning and late at night.  But by now she's had to have had breakfast and maybe lunch, and I bet they've gotten her up to walk a few paces.  

If you'd like to send her an e-mail, as Zoetwany mentioned, they only deliver them to patients Monday-Friday. Since Jackie will most likely be leaving the hospital over the weekend --and she's not sure they have e-mail in rehab -- we have today and tomorrow if we'd like to send her an e-hello.  

The direct link to the e-mail page at Somerset is: 

http://www.somersetmedicalcenter.com/body.cfm?id=483

For some reason I had to hand copy that so if it doesn't work, Jackie listed the link to Somerset a few posts back.  Click on Patient Information in the center of the home page.  A menu will pop down. At the bottom you'll see "send gift or e-mail".  Click that and it will take you to the gift page... and on the right there's a link to "e-mail a patient".  Zoetawny said you don't need to know her room number, but you do need to put in her full name. If anyone doesn't know that, and doesn't want to look it up, just drop me a line at NwYrkRock@aol.com.

I guess you can also send a gift from the hospital shop (cookies?  ice cream (she likes chocolate)? flowers? magazines?), and that can be done through the same link or via phone: 908-685-2200, ext. 3362. 

I may wait til tomorrow to check on her... today might be a tough one.  My husband had this done last summer and I was with him 24/7 (the 3 nights in the hospital, then attended to him in those first two weeks once we were home).  I'm trying to go off what he went through to imagine where Jackie is at physically and mentally. The good news is that today is half over. Once she gets past day 3 it's all uphill!

Let Them Know I Lived

Well, I got through to her room, but it rang and rang.  Do I keep holding on wondering if she is struggling to reach for it, or calling a nurse to help get it, or is she hearing it at a distance in a deep sleep, wishing it would go away (like a GNAT!)? Maybe she's justs up for the first time in the ladies room and my ring is  making her nervous (well, probably not if the drugs are good, lol)...  or is she not even in the room? They do make you walk a little in the hall the first day.

After a dozen rings I hung up and talked them into letting me speak to the nurses station on her floor.  That was the ticket.  Apparently Jackie was not able to reach the phone so the nurse moved it closer.  A shot of adrenaline went through me as I waited to be transferred, because that meant she was OK!  YAY!!!

Jackie sounded very quiet, and she said she was foggy.  She had her dinner there waiting and was a trouper taking time to talk to me when she had to have been hurting. She was waiting for pain meds to come. There was ice cream on the tray, so I suggested that as a fall back.  :-)

She said she did have a nerve block and it wasn't pretty. I asked if her leg was all bandaged up or in one of those mechanical rotation devices (it's like a little ferris wheel for your knee to keep it moving at all times).  I smiled to myself as she said, "Let's see, let me lift up the sheet here and take a look."  I pictured her doing this.  She said "Well, there's bandages, Ew.  More bandages... and more bandages...  Ew, Ew."  Mind you, this was not delivered in a girlish squeal, but in full-on deadpan mode. Apparently she remains funny under any circumstances. They may take her knee, but they cannot damage her spirit!  

She added "My leg doesn't look humungous.  That surprises me."  It surprised me too. On the other leg there is one of those blood pressure thingys... it wraps around the leg from ankle to knee and inflates every few minutes to keep everything flowing. With pride (and perhaps a smirk... if only they had TV phones!) she told me, "I still have perfect blood pressure."

I asked if she had a TV.  "Yes," she said, brightening. "42 inches!"  A flat screen I asked?  "Yes, though I couldn't see it before. It took 5 hours for the nurses to bring my bag, and my bag had my glasses in it, so I could not see it all this time."  Ug, I just wished one of us lived closer and could be there right now.  We would have created a brouhaha if that's what it took to get it!

She accidentally pushed a button while readjusting the covers and I could hear that a nurse immediately appeared. Jackie apologized, saying it was a mistake. We both chuckled after, wondering where that kind of service was during the previous 5 hours.

I knew she needed to go but I made sure to tell her that everyone had written in today and was waiting for the next report with bated breath.  That all send their love and good wishes. Zoetawny, I let her know that you had tried to call her earlier as well.  Her response to all that and her last words before we hung up was, "Let them know I lived!"

I will call her again tomorrow.

THE BIG DAY!

Hello All - Sydney here, cub reporter on all things Jackie.

For anyone who might not know, today is the long awaited day of Jackie's knee surgery. I know just how many of you care and have her on your mind, as I do, and want details. Jackie's own post is just below this so please be sure to read it. I was hesitant to write so quickly as I didn't want to crunch it, but I also know how many of you are like me, wondering what's going on with her RIGHT NOW, this minute.

Jackie was due to arrive at the hospital by 6 AM today... She told me that she was going to do a final post before she left and all last night I kept checking. I looked one last time before I went to bed --1AM EST-- and still saw nothing so I was hoping she was asleep. If she was going to BE at the hospital by 6 she probably had to get up by around 4:00 or 4:30AM, depending on how long it takes to get ready and how far it is to get there.... and she ended up posting at 3:30AM! More evidence that she is indeed superwoman (soon to be the bionic woman). I have to admit, I'm not sure I'd be able to sleep much either.

Her surgery was scheduled for 7:30 AM so she'd be in there for about an hour. Let's all send her extra big love as she finishes up and comes out of anesthesia.

I will call her early this evening to see how she is, and post that here, so please check back. 

Off, Off, and Away!

I want to thank everyone for their well wishes, donations, and cards. In a about two hours I'm leaving for the hospital to have my life ripped apart ... er, my knee removed. Ack. I'm going for an operation.

I'll be at the Somerset Medical Center until Friday or Saturday, then off to a rehab hospital currently unknown. Sydney will be keeping touch with me and I've given her the ability to post updates.

Thanks again for everything and wish me a speedy come home!

Survivor Micronesia: Season Finale East Coast Updates

The show has started here on the east coast. I'll update this post as important events (immunity, boot, and such) happen.

My full show review will be posted over at TV Squad later tonight.

So far we're still in the season recap phase.

Amanda just won Immunity!

Natalie was voted out, not a huge surprise.

They're shocked that there will be another immunity challenge and final two, not the final three they had planned. The rites of passage come first.

Parvati is out of the final immunity challenge. Cirie drops hers and Amanda wins the final immunity challenge!

Amanda voted out Cirie. The final two are Amanda and Parvati.

Parvati won. Blech, not a good end of the season for me!

Sprint $100,000 winner is James. The other two highest votes were Amanda and Ozzy.

Survivor is going to Gabon, Africa.