#94 Getting back on track...

365 Blog Challenge: Post #94

So I haven't been a very dedicated blogger the past couple weeks.  Partially of it was exhaustion/illness due to exhaustion, and partially, I wanted to see what it would be like not to put so much pressure on myself to do things outside of work.  In life and work, I am a self motivator, but I am also a self-criticizer.  I should stop that, I know, but there's really only so much I can change so I have to find ways to deal with it, or get around it.  I find myself wondering how I would tolerate stress at work if I didn't put so much pressure on myself.  But, that's like denying me my natural instincts so, I continue on.  I thought maybe going easier on myself outside of work would help.  But then I am just missing doing the things I enjoy!

Anyways, the lack of blogging was a nice little break but I want to make my goal and now I am a good 15 posts behind!  So I'm getting back on it.

Also getting close to getting back on track for working out.  I finally was allowed to do the elliptical yesterday at physical therapy (yes, I'm still doing that.)  I'm a little sore today, but then again, was a little sore before I started yesterday.  But definitely building strength in my hips and legs which they tell me is important.  Wearing my orthotics is helpful too. (Oh yeah...those...).

Here's to getting back on track!

#69 Weigh in...

365 Blog Challenge: Post #69

I'm taking part in my work's "Healthy Lifestyle Incentive Challenge" which rewards me for meeting my activity and weight loss goals.  The program started in November and as mentioned before, I've lost over ten pounds (my goal was 6.)  The problem is I haven't been able to work out for 5-6 weeks due to my knee injury.  The only thing I can comfortably do at this point is walk, which I'm starting to do again.  Thankfully, the program is allowing me to just note my injury on my activity log, and I have moved up from the bronze level to the silver level of the program due to an 11 pound weight loss according to my weigh in from Monday!  I even won a very nice cooler from work for meeting my goal.  The next challenge?  5 more pounds by June 24th.  This is going to mean better portion control for me, at least while I'm not able to work out especially hard. (Walking is good, but usually not sufficient for me for significant loss. Man I wanna get on that ellipitical again!)  Scott and I are going to try to walk almost every day on our cruise.  And I better stop eating these Girl Scout Cookies...

I'll keep you all updated!

#68 The Lactose Problem...

365 Blog Challenge: Post #68

Ever hear women complaining how they can't get their husbands to go to the doctor? Yeah, me too. And it's true. I told Scott over a year ago to go see my GI doctor because of some abdominal discomfort he's been having...mmm...since I've known him. Finally last week, Scott decided to start listening to me, only to find out that he is pretty lactose intolerant, and he has been ordered not to eat dairy for 6 weeks. That is a tall order in general, but when we have our cruise coming up, Scott is pretty bummed. We had to send a "special needs" request to the cruise line in the hope that we can get him a lactose free diet. And since I had more time earlier this week, I went to Whole Foods to find some stuff that Scott can eat. We're talking about a guy here who loves CHEESE pizza and ice CREAM. This does not seem an easy task, but the MD told Scott it takes about 6 weeks to get the lactose out of your system to see if you're feeling better. He's being a trooper. Let's hope that Royal Caribbean can provide some good soy cheese!

#65 Back in the saddle again...

365 Blog Challenge: Post #65

Today is the day ladies and gentlemen.  I have been okayed by my physical therapist to try riding the exercise bike.  After 3 weeks of stretching, balancing and strengthening exercises (apparently I have very weak hip flexors) I am hoping to get back into the world of exercise to maintain my weight loss.  Thus far, I have maintained my weight.  As for my muscle and tone, those things peaced out a few weeks ago.  So after a good days sleep, I will attempt to bike this evening.  Wish me luck!

#44 Injured Reserve Update

365 Blog Challenge: Post #44

Today I finally went to the doctor about my damn knee (which actually feels better though not normal after 2 weeks of no strenuous exercise.)  She confirmed my thoughts, that it's just a strain.  But she has assigned me to physical therapy (for 6 weeks!).  I am no stranger to PT.  When I injured my ankle a couple years ago, I spent months in PT due to my stupid loose joints and the need to very conservatively restrengthen my ankle.  (My podiatrist informs me that loose joints are genetic and indeed, I have a cousin who I have been told also has the loose joint problem).

Rascal Model 600F

I worry about my excessive PT at such a young age and am fairly certain that I will be immobile by my 50s.  Scott's cousin, Jon, reassures me that that's what Rascals are for.  Look out for me in a few years in my hot red ride!  Until then, PT it is.

Umm....WHAT?!?!?!

You probably can't read that...but its a letter telling me I got accepted to Columbia's BS/MS Entry to Practice program starting in May 2008!!!

New York Happenings: Volume 14 (Quite frankly, I don't know how to write that in roman numerals)

Dearest friends and family,

The summer has come and gone and I am just about ready for that due to the fact that I have not worn sandals once this summer due to my stupid ankle except for at Jackie Harris's wedding in which I wore them for about an hour and then switched into the boot. Let's hope the fall brings cool weather, closed toe shoes and healed ankles.

For anyone still interested in my ankle news after all this time, here's the latest: I finally threw in the towel and gave up on my podiatrist who had given me 2 cortisol injections. While these helped, I knew they weren't addressing the problem as my ankle is still weak and I still have pain radiating up my leg and in my knee sometimes. Awesome. I needed to find someone who wouldn't dance around my constant sources of frustration with a needle full of drugs but would grab me by the ankle and say, "Look, your ligaments don't support your body in general, so having an injury on top of loose ligaments is taking all them ore time to heal." Which is exactly what my NEWEST podiatrist, Dr. Louis Galli told me. I was referred to him after I wrote my primary care doctor (only MD I trust in NY) to tell her of my frustrations and ask her advise. 3 months of sprained ankleness is just ridiculous. Dr. Galli is a foot and ankle specialist and works in dance medicine so he works with people with my loose ligament problem all the time. Good news is, I trust him. bad news is, more physical therapy which means more money which I don't really have. But it's worth it. I am starting with a new physical therapist on Wednesday who works with dancers and "knows about my kind of injury." I'll keep you updated. Month 4 of the ankle injury saga continues...

In other news, I have started class again and remember why I didn't like science classes to begin with: I HATE LABS. Honestly, lecture me all you want. Make me do the lab but explain it to me one on one without dozens of other people standing in front of me trying to see what you're doing. And for God's sake, give me a chair (my chemistry lab which is almost 3 hours does not have chairs in it..awesome for injured ankle girl.) BUT I am enjoying microbiology...can't say the same for Chemistry which is every Sunday from 9-3. I feel like i should be getting paid for being somewhere that long if I'm not enjoying myself. But I will push on!

I have also had 3 celebrity sitings since we last spoke..or should I say in the last week. The most exciting of which was Chris Noth (Mr. Big from Sex and the City) who was at the Bronx VA filming Law and Order Criminal Intent last week and who stopped to speak with my two coworkers and I even though they were invasively holding up camera phones and snapping his pick. I"m convinced he thought we were cute. For more info and pics, see the blog. I also saw the back of Dustin Hoffman's head (not too exciting) at 65th and Central Park West. And Scott and I saw Montel Williams (of talk show glory) walking out of AMC Loew's theater at 42nd and 8th on Saturday on our way to a play. He looked scruffy, but good.

Bizzaro land (aka New York City) has continued to fascinate me this month, especially this past weekend when I was standing at the corner of 95th and Broadway waiting for my friend Julia who was actually coming up 96th towards broadway but that's a whole other story. I noticed an older guy, 50s or 60s, walking a large poodle with a camera around his neck talking to 2 other guys. I basically just thought it was strange that some grey haired man with semi long hair was walking a poodle with a camera around his neck. This is why it stood out. My mind wandered else where until I saw the guy rushing back across 95th street, to the middle of the street and I looked over to see his poodle waiting patiently for him on the sidewalk. The guy picked up his camera as to take a picture of the poodle (so I thought) but then I realized he was taking a picture of little old me. I kind of tried to ignore this but it was hard when he came back, picked up the leash to his large poodle and snapped another picture of me standing there with a bewildered look on my face. The only explanation for this is that he thought I was Anna Paquin (or that is my conceded and hopeful explanation). Otherwise, I don't get it. I wasn't even looking cute. It was too hot. I had been sweating all day and I've been wearing tennis shoes for the past 3 months and just feel I can't look cute until the days I can don flats again.

So there you have it folks. August/September in the city. Looking forward to a visit from Jamie and Steve Held this weekend followed by a visit from Erin and Steve the next weekend. Can't wait to show them my little town. Happy September. Stay cool. Protect those ankles. Love, Lauren

p.s. Blog subscriptions are still available..and in fact will be available as long as I am writing the blog..but continue to email me if you'd like to subscribe and I'll set it all up. :)

Doctors are brilliant....

I loved this article from CNN.com about knowing when its time to fire your doctor. Funny thing is I experienced many of these things with each of the orthopedic surgeons I saw. All I have to say is: YOU'RE FIRED DR.HAAR!!

Speaking of doctors, I have been playing assistant to the psychiatrist who is the head of our department (the MIRECC) while his usual assistant is on vacation. However, he is also on vacation armed only with his blackberry so he calls at least once a day and sends me emails of documents to print out and fed ex to him. (Apparently the man can't take a REAL vacation). Yesterday, I received an email from him with a link to a document of some guidelines for a certain kind of research project. He asked me to print out the "main points" of this document. However, this document was 73 PAGES! Print out the main points...that would be our director in a nutshell...nut...shell...ahem....

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

There is a reason for this madness...

My stupid ankle problem has finally been given a name! (And I have been given a steroid injection to try to help it). Check out this article on sinus tarsi syndrome to understand why I've been in pain for the last 3 months:

Sinus Tarsi Syndrome

The most important lesson I've learned from this incident is that orthopedic surgeons are overrated....AND they dont give you enough time or attention to actually know what's wrong with you. Thank God for my old primary care doctor (Saint Pamela Cain) and my podiatrist!

A grand celebration...

On August 1st (my bday) my brave father (pictured here from his days in the Navy) turned in his last chemo pack (i.e. finished his chemotherapy for colon cancer) after 6 months worth of treatment. And tomorrow, he will turn 60. And tonight, we celebrated. Still in Mn, we were surprised by some Kansas family members and Chicago family members, and joined by other close friends to celebrate this wonderful week. I only wish I had some pictures to post! The party started off with a bang when Bruce Kluckholn's 6-month-old daughter, Sarah, spit up on my blue H&M dress. She was cute...so I let it slide. Between her, my cousins Haley and Ellie, and my sister's friend's daughter McKenna (who by the way has honestly been mistaken for Dora the Explorer...awesome), I had my fill of small children.

We were also graced with the presence of one of the best women in the entire world, Pam Cain, my MD before I moved to NY and neighbor and mother of my good friend Meredith. Pam, the most caring MD ever, took a good half an hour to examine my ankle and to tell me that its not getting better because I have such flat feet. Hot, I know. So she has given me a magical little pad to put in my shoes (which she assures me will fit in heels if need be) to lift up my arch and place my ankle in the right position. She also advised me to continue to wrap it with medical tape for the next 6 months. That's a long time. But if I get my healthy ankle back, I will be perfectly happy wrapping it every day.

I also got to see Emily Swanson (Emily- this is your shout out!) who was originally friends with my sister but I consider her my friend as well too. She witnessed 18-month-old McKenna going crazy for my new orange cell phone. I swear, this phone has a strange effect on small children as my 6-year-old and 9-year-old cousins asked me about 100 times if they could text my sister with it. I had to put my foot down (softly!!)

In the end, after McKenna's mom Jill accidentally dropped a frosting-filled cake plate on my dress (rough night for the dress) and McKenna pulled out my dad's bag of medications out from his computer desk (don't worry..stopped her before she could get that Chantix [an anti-smoking drug]) everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Especially my dad and mom who always seem to put on quite the party and my sister who's Happy 40th Birthday decorations were a hit (long story short...my Dad said he was celebrating his 20th anniversary of his 40th birthday because he is in denial that he's 60 years old). Another good night at the Bachnick house. Only thing missing was Scott who left Mn on Thursday. He was greatly missed by many, but especially yours truly.

Happy Sunday everyone. Let's hope this year is healthy and happy for all.

Minnesota vs. New York, Part I

Things Minnesota has that New York doesnt have:

1) Excellent customer service where ever you go in whatever industry (retail, resturant, you name it, nice people)
2) Doctors who actually give you the time of day
3) Ice Skating Dinosaurs....(see pic)



4) Affordable housing
5) Lake Calhoun
6) The Bachnick and Witebsky families
7) Yards (as in back yards, front yards, side yards, etc)
8) Caribou Coffee (and now Northern Lite Coolers...mmmm!!)
9) The new Guthrie Theater (HUGE AND AMAZING!!)
10) Minnesota Nice

Pipe Dreams....

There's nothing like a public emergency to welcome you to New York. My good friend from the University of Minnesota, Jamalyn, officially moved to New York on Monday for work. She has been staying with Scott and I for the last couple nights until she gets approval for an apartment on the upper east side. New York is a culture shock for many people when they move. Imagine Jamie's surprise when she exited a building near Grand Central Station yesterday afternoon and saw a mob of people running away from a large cloud of smoke in the street.....

Now imagine witnessing 9-11 in New York. I remember being afraid when I saw the buildings fall on TV that other places in the country were going to be hit. What if the hospital my mom was working in was hit? What if places in Minneapolis were hit? How scary! Imagine being in New York where they actually were hit, and feeling the fear that that city could be hit again at any time and having loved ones and friends or even just neighbors die in that event. Finally, imagine in the present, a large cloud of smoke and ash rising from a nearby street near Grand Central Station and the Empire State Building. What would you think had happened??

Jamalyn reported that after the steam pipe blew up on 41st and Lexington Avenue yesterday, chaos ensued. The pipe, releasing steam that was up to 200 degrees, exploded with such force as to cause telephone lines to be knocked down and flipped over a tow truck. She said she had never seen anything like the crowd of people running down the street, some crying, some reporting that the Empire State Building had blown up. It reminds me a bit of my social psychology class where I learned about eye witnesses often being inaccurate, and large masses of people cause very suggesting behavior, people believe things that aren't true because so many other people believe it.

My poor friend! Poor New York. I am so thankful that it wasn't a terrorist attack as people feared and that it was just a tragic chance event that killed 1 and injured around 30 people. It really hit a sore nerve in some people.

ANKLE UPDATE:
In other, less world-related and less fascinating news, I have re-sprained my ankle according to my physical therapist. We are back at square one people. This is not pleasant and my limping is probably at the worst its been other than after I stopped wearing the boot. I won't find out about my MRI results until Friday, but I plan on being VERY conservative this time with this injury. NO unnecessary walking, constant elevation and ice multiple times a day. Please keep me in your thoughts and pray to your higher power (whether it be spiritual, humanist, etc) that it heals more completely this time. I am antsy to get back to working out and really don't want any more months lost to this stupid injury.

PS: A friend of mine who works at 39th and Madison just described an email she received from her office manager which included a reassuring message about using emergency masks when outside the building from emergency safety kits because of the small about of asbestos released into the air by the pipe yesterday (which by the way was from the 1920s). Totally comforting.

Minnesotans, Muffin-tops and MRIs...oh my!

It's a very funny thing to be walking down the street in New York and see a University of Minnesota t-shirt. It's an even funnier thing to see a familiar face in that shirt. Yesterday, while I was limping my way from Loehmann's (AMAZING outlet store) to Filene's basement in search of some jewelry for an upcoming wedding, I had this experience. I get super excited to see Minnesota apparel around the city so the maroon and gold U of Mn shirt caught my eye, but who would be wearing that shirt?? An old friend named Kyle who Scott and I were friends with the summer that we met. We all were in the play Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (Scott did the cowboy solo, Kyle did the calypso solo and I was the slutty wife of Potiphar...classic). While it took us a minute to remember each other's names, I learned that this old friend had been living in NY for 2 years and auditioning for shows, looking to make acting his career. I love it. Once I get a picture of the three of us, I will have to show you. We were some hot looking Egyptians.


I'd also like to make a clarification this morning. Scott thought that perhaps some people could take it the wrong way when I said I was sick of seeing the muffing tops of the girls in the Bronx. I must inform you that these muffin tops are not only a thing of the Bronx but are a universal tragedy that can occur anywhere. I just happen to see them the most often in the Bronx, though I'm not quite sure why.

I'd also like to clarify that while I rag on the Bronx a lot because it is so different from what I'm used to, there are many many friendly people who come from here. One, for example, is the assistant to the director of my department, Mary. She is a angel, putting up with the demands of an extremely difficult man, and still having a smile on her face whenever you talk to her. She's a great lady.

I hope everyone had a great weekend. Between the toothless man singing "Under the boardwalk" on the subway on Saturday night and my encounter with an old friend, I'd say mine was quite enjoyable. Unfortunately this evening will not be quite so much fun as I am finally going in to get an MRI on my ankle (which I am STILL having trouble with). This is very frustrating. I feel like after 2 months, including almost a month of physical therapy, this thing should be healed, or at least not painful anymore. And yes, a lot of walking is required in NY, but is that really enough to cause the same amount of pain 2 months later as after it happened? And does anyone know any good lawyers who can help me sue the city for this inconvenience due to their lack of side walk repairs? Have a good week all. I'll keep you updated on my silly ankle.

The Cost of a Sprained Ankle....

The Cost of a Sprained Ankle (at month 2)

A ripped off cliche by Lauren Bachnick

Cost of an Ace Bandage: Apx $5

Trip#1 to the podiatrist: $30

Walking boot given by the podiatrist:$36

Trip to the first orthopedist: $30

Trip #2 to the podiatrist $30

Trip to the second orthopedist: $30

Cost of a reuseable heat/ice pack: Apx $5

8 sessions of physical therapy at $20 a session: $160

Gaining back all the weight you lost in the last 5 months: priceless

There's some things money can't buy. For everything else, there your mediocre paycheck.

Touching, I know.