If there's one good thing about having a messed up ankle, is going to physical therapy. Yeah, it sounds a lil dumb, but for some reason, its such a morale booster for me. I'll be honest, I get really moody about being a gimp: Not being able simple things like walking, standing in the shower, being able to get up and get seconds for dinner, doing the laundry yourself, stuff like that. And then I think about the stuff that I've missed out or going to miss out on (snowboarding at Mammoth, Ducks/Redwings game in a suite, meeting up with old friends at a restaurant or club, etc.) So it bums me out, but then again I try to make some good out of it. But just attending P.T. just makes me feel better, I guess because the therapist knows what I'm going through and is actually trying to make to fix me up. And plus, the ankle massage she gives me feels sooo freakin good. Then end the session laying down, icing the ankle and you just chill there listeing to music from KBIG (hehe they actually played B.B.D's "Poison" on the air, which was a lil odd, but I liked it.)

But yeah, its been bumming me out this week. The sports doc said it'd take 4-6 weeks to heal. And this week, is now my 6th week and I'm still on stupid crutches. I've already booked my flight to Tahoe this Easter and it looked like I wasn't gonna be able to snowboard then either. First Mammoth, now Tahoe. And it just blows how it keeps snowing on the mountains, with more to come.

Well, the therapist wants me to be walking by Monday, which I found out I can sorta do. It's still difficult putting weight on my ankle, but I'll work on it throughout this week. So while everyone is snowboarding, I'll be doing my excercises and trying to walk around the cabin. So things are starting to look promising. Even though it sucks that I can't snowboard, I think it will just be worth it being around good company, and that's one thing not to be bummed about.

Anyhow, here's to remember one of the greatest NCAA Basketball games ever...


GO BRUINS!!!

I started my first session of physical therapy today, which I admit was a lil scary but yet a little exciting. I guess just knowing the fact that the worse of my ankle is behind, I can move on and build strength on it so I can walk again. It was cool, the therapist actually was massaging my ankle just to get it relaxed and to get the fluids going. It felt pretty good, especially at the top where it almost felt like she was massaging out a knot. She showed me some excercises and some methods of putting weight on it. I guess a lot of it is mental, because I'm so guarded and cautious with my ankle. So she just told me to relax more so I can gain more confidence with it. She told me I should be walking in two weeks, which is perfect timing for Mammoth.

However, that means I wont be boarding at Mammoth which freakin blows. But at least I'll be able to walk around and not be hobbling in crutches like in San Francisco. So Tommy, you can officially use my snowboard for the weekend. I'll just chill at the cabin and probably hide Sherwin's luggage so he can freak out a little bit. (I doubt Sherwin knows my blog so keep it on the DL, please! hehe j/k!)

But Karen and I booked our flight to Reno/Tahoe for Easter weekend, so I'll probably be able to snowboard then. I don't see why not. The therapist said that it would take at least 2 months to get it healed, but I should be well enough to board then. I would be totally bummed if I didn't.

So for now, I'll do all I can to get this ankle well. Next physical therapy session is next Monday and I hope to have a lot of progress by then.

Congrats to Cicely, Jay, and Jovan for completing the L.A. Marathon this past weekend. I don't even remember the last time I've even ran a mile. It kinda makes me a lil intimidated to run the Disney Marathon in September, even though its half the distance at 13 miles. Hmmm...maybe I should run it and also schedule an appointment at a spa and just get a freakin massage the day after. Yeah, that sounds good. And then if I get all sore and ache too much, I can punch Sherwin in the face cuz he told me to sign up. Yeah...even better!! hehe, just kiddin Sherwin! (or "Sher-winnie" like Belle says!) Again, congrats!

Happy Birthday to my dad and grandfather!!

A couple of quick posts about the weekend before I forget...(which I originally did, but whatever...)

Thanks to Lou, Belle, Ryan, Sherwin, Jeff, and Karen for this past weekend, and helping me hobble around with my crutches, pushing me in a wheelchair, helping me get up and walk, etc. It got really depressing at times just sitting there and not being able to do what you guys were doing, but I'm just really happy and grateful that you guys helped me out this weekend.

When you're in a wheelchair and see a little bump coming up, don't let your girlfriend or boyfriend try to gain speed and momentum hoping it would carry over. Nope...that doesn't work, since I almost flew off the wheelchair right after we got off the plane in that tunnel thingamajig that leads to the terminal. Sheesh!! hehe, love you Karen!

When you're shopping at H&M, you MUST shop and buy what you can. Since its a store you rarely see visit, you must buy all you can. NO REGRETS. Unfortunately, I wish I bought more stuff, no matter how broke I'd be. Instead of only spending $50, I wish I spent at least $100. So that is the rule!!

Had a pretty great weekend up in the bay. It was the first time I've been in the San Francisco area in about 10 years. Everytime I go, its always to see family, not a trip to sight see or anything like that. So it was a fun time with friends again. My ankle's been bumming me out, but on a good note, I was one of the first one's to board since I was in a wheelchair at the airport, hehe!

Man, I knew it was cold, but geez it was really cold!! Below 40 degrees Friday night!! Man, it was crazy cuz during our descent, our plane got struck by lighting, and it happened in front of me. I was looking at the clouds out the window then saw a flash and a loud pop! It scared the living shit out of me...I thought I was going to experience something on Lost! But the flight crew just played it off, as if nothing major happened. WTF?? Well, supposedly the plane is designed somehow to protect it from lighting, even if it strkes. Good god it was crazy!!

Got to San Jose and met up for lunch with Jenn, Sherwin, and Jeff at the local mall. Then we went to Romeo's graduation which was pretty cool. Although, some of the speeches were boring in which only the faculty and students could only relate. That's when I started to doze off. Later that night, we met up with Romeo at his house for dinner then went to downtown San Jose to party it up. Unfortunately, the place double booked themselves the same night the Girls Gone Wild crew were filming. So we never got into the club. I was pretty uncomfortable with my crutches and standing in the cold rain, so Karen and I decided to head by while the others went off with Romeo and his classmates at a bar. Apparently, Romeo got really faded, but I didn't see him unfortunately. It kinda bummed me out that night back at the hotel cuz I couldn't party it up with my bro. I was proud of him graduating from school and I just felt sad I couldn't be there.

Well Saturday turned out a lil better. Fed our stomach's with some prime rib at Outback. Then we all headed up to San Francisco at night. Did some shopping at H&M which was cool. I wish I bought more stuff, but its hard shopping with crutches having to hold your shirts. Oh well. After that, we ate some Thai food and partied it up at some club Jen got us in for free. Lots a fun...everyone was pretty much faded and having a blast. Yes, everyone, including you Belle!! I couldn't dance or anything, so I just enjoyed my drinks at the booth and played photographer.

Sunday, met up with Janice and Romeo again for lunch and headed to his house for him to examine my knee and back. My knee has been stiff and I wasn't sure if I tore ligaments when I got injured. He did some tests and said that my knee is fine but saw how tense my back was. He sorta got my back a lil loose and just told me treat it with a hot pack. But I just felt relieved that my knee is okay and my back will get better soon. And plus, my knowing one of my best friends is now a doctor and getting answers from him just made me felt better.

Welp, that's that...headed to the airport and flew back home. No lighting this time, though.

I had a great time. We didn't spend a lot of time in the city, soI'd like to come back again and do more sight-seeing and exploring....hmmm maybe in the summer. Even though I was hobbling around in my crutches, there was no way I'd miss Romeo's graduation. We've come along way from him cutting my hair in high school, being roommates at UCI, then going through John's death, his mom's death, relationships, and now to his graduation.

Congratulations Dr. Romeo Dimaano!

Enjoy the pictures!

Okay quick post on a few things...

Saw the Sports Doctor today and he examined my foot. Pretty good news, as the swelling is slowly going down and i'll start on physical therapy soon. He said that it usually takes about 4-6 weeks to heal but I should be able to walk at least with one crutch soon. So that's gonna help. Gotta go back in a month for a check up to see if its fully healed. I'm hoping that with the help of physical therapy that it'll get better fast and maybe I might be able to snowboard at Mammoth. But we'll see.

Got the wheelchair for San Jose. That'll help out a lot. And its not one of them wheelchair's you'll see at a hospital...yunno the typical green looking ones with the wired spokes. This one's more black and actual modern looking. Thank you Auntie Nita for the help!

Oh...totally forgot to blog about this....but believe it or not...I actually watched Rent on DVD a couple of weekends ago, and actually sorta liked it. I guess I got a better understanding on what the hell was going on. There's still some stupid parts, but its a musical, of course its going to be stupid.

But what made me appreciate it more was actually the special features, and the whole making of Rent. I didn't know that Jonathan Larson (the creator, writer, etc.) past away of some heart condition the night before the show opened in New York. And he was just a typical person...he was a waiter at a New York diner and quit because he wanted to concentrate in producing Rent. So he never saw an actual run of the show he created. And basically, the story of Rent is his life and what he was living before he passed away. And to know, that the show opened up in such a small theater, maybe a 100 seat theater if anything, and to become so successful that it had to move to Broadway, I thought was a big accomplishment, especially to an artist like him. To start from scratch, yunno, no money, struggling, and making it big with something you've created is just fuckin awesome.

So in the end, I did like the movie, and now have a huge appreciation for it. Although I don't swear by it, how those fuckin' Rent-heads think its the best musical ever, it's an okay musical. I have some friends that are close to being Rent-heads (some that try to deny it), which kinda bugs, but whatever. Would I pay to watch it?...I've never had and probably never will.

Okay gotta take a shower...prolly wont blog till we get back from San Jose where we will see Mr. Romeo Dimaano turn into Dr. Romeo Dimaano before our very own eyes. Very exciting!

Lay-ers! (in that cute Keira Knightly/Parminder Nagra/Bend It Like Beckham British kind of way.

Haven't updated in almost two weeks. Most of the reason is because my ankle has been bumming me, especially this week. For the first time, I felt like I was really on a low.

Went to the doc's on Monday hoping to find some answers, but didn't get much. He flexed my ankle to which I felt no pain, but when asked to walk, I couldn't. He feared I might've suffered a hairline fracture, esp since my toes couldn't touch the ground while standing up. So he told me to get x-rays (finally!) the following day, and sorta got good news. X-rays didn't reveal any fracture, dislocation, just high tissues swelling. So that was good. Then another set back...

Wednesday, while watching Lost, I had trouble breathing. Everytime I'd inhale, my chest and back started to hurt. It got really painful after I took a shower, so bad that it got me to tears. Karen wanted me to take me to the ER, but I wanted to see if I could sleep it off instead. The next morning, I still had trouble breathing, so I went to Irvine Med and they diagnosed me with back spasms. Good god, taking x-rays of my back couldn't have been more painful. The entire time, I was screaming, because my back was so tense that when he'd lay me down I'd be in pain. The nurse gave me this shot of something which pretty much made me drowsy and I knocked out the entire day. The doc also gave me some Vicodin and a drug to relax my muscles. Friday, I had another spasm attack, to which Joe walked in when he came home from lunch. Dude, it was freakin painful I was literally crying. Image a bad leg cramp, probably 10 times worse in your back. And whenever you inhale to breathe, it gets worse. That's what it felt like. But right now, my back is still tense, however I haven't gotten any spasm attacks. The doc at the ER said its probably from using the crutches and using other muscles to compensate for my ankle.

So hopefully, I'll be getting a wheelchair this week so I wont have to risk any more back spasms. My ankle is feeling better, I can put a lil more weight on it when I stand up. But I'll find out more answers on Wednesday when I see a different doc again. I'm just frustrated that I didn't get an x-ray in the first place. Because of all this mess, Karen and I are gonna be changing doctors. Cuz this is freakin ridiculous.

And I know it sounds selfish, but I just hate hearing what other people have been doing lately (snowboarding, going out, etc.) I guess like what Belle said, to a certain extent, why must people showcase every single thing they do? I guess I'm just jealous that I can't do simple things that other people can do. I apologize if I'm sounding like a selfish prick, but it just sucks in my case. And its just frustrating that the doctor says, "you should be fine in a week or two," when its almost been a month, and I still can't walk. But seriously, for you all reading this, I still love you and I'm not directly mad at you! =) Just sucks being a gimp. I'm praying in two weeks, I'll be completely healed! And I know a lot of people have it worse, but its just been frustrating on my part.

Well, I'm looking forward to next weekend going up to San Jose. It'll give me a chance just to get away for once and clear my mind a lil, hanging out with some friends.