I just got done reading an interesting article on how to best heal a scar. Knowing what a doozy I have (it’s about 10 inches..I haven’t measured it), I thought it would be fun to write a post about foods that can help heal a scar. Personally, I like my tkr scar. It’s healed just fine. In part, I believe, is the fact I eat a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. There’s a reason I mention that. Anyways…

Vitamins that can benefit scar healing are high in antioxidants. The antioxidants are essential for healing of wounds. These include Vitamins C, E and A. I’ll talk about Vitamin C now, for no particular reason other than it’s fresh on my mind. Here goes…

Vitamin C is found in more vegetables than you probably imagine. It is found in dark leafy vegetables such as spinach, mustard greens, collard greens and various dark-colored lettuces (like red leaf). The vitamin is also found in winter squash, green peppers, broccoli, brussel sprouts (or mini-cabbages as some know them ) and cabbage varieties.

If you have a sweet tooth which fruit can satisfy, you’re in luck. Vitamin C is found in berries such as raspberries, blackberries, strawberries, marionberries, blueberries and huckleberries. Citrus fruits like oranges, grapefruit, lemons and limes are also rich in the vitamin. Mango, watermelon and pineapples are other sources that contain more than ample amounts to help in skin healing. Snacking on a mango..oohlala! Mixing some fresh fruit into plain yogurt…:)

I’m talking about the fresh varieties of fruits and vegetables. Personally, I’m not a fan of canned foods (other than the masses of canned tomatoes I use for my minestrone soup base). It’s nice to have some canned food on hand for emergency power outages or the like. In everyday eating, though…no. Nothing beats a freshly steamed pot of veggies and serving of protein.

Well, hope this helps others going through the same thing about wondering what’s best for their tkr scar healing. You are what you eat.

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Today is one of the best holidays around, in my opinion. Forget all the blood and gore…give me the carved pumpkins, pumpkin-based food and beautiful fall colors.

We can’t forget the costumes, either. Some are just a hoot! For the hockey fans among us…

A Zamboni rider at the Bruins game today was dressed up as an “accountant?”. He was wearing a black suit and tie, greased back hair and black-rimmed glasses. He was waving to the audience as he drove by. “That guy’s never gonna get a date,” was the announcer’s response. Only a hockey fan could appreciate seeing a Zamboni driver in suit and tie.

Another fan came to a game as Don Cherry, aka “Grapes”. He was at ScotiaBank place during HNIC. It was hilarious! The camera flashes over to him as he’s descending the stairs while waving at the audience. Him and his brightly, color-coordinated outfit. lol

Then there was Jonathan Toews dressed up as part of the “Dumb and Dumber” duo. He was in orange, complete with hat. “Apparently his concussion has come into play,” was the announcer comment. lol

We can’t forget all the fans dressed as Superman, Batman or some other super hero. Too cool.

This is one reason it’s so much fun watching hockey on Halloween.

Even if you don’t watch fun-filled hockey, have a great holiday!!

In an interview on the NHL Network today, Johnny Bower a retired NHL goaltending legend, gave his secret for getting rid of his scars and wrinkles….

“They sell this stuff called cocoa butter,” he said. Then, he went on to say how he had huge scars around his mouth area. (He received 45 stitches from when a puck hit him in the face. He played goalie before the mask was developed.) “Eddie Short said, “Hey..you’ve got a couple of bad scars there. Why don’t you try using cocoa butter?”

Bower went on to say, “I had never heard of that before and was kind of skeptical since no one liked Eddie Short.” He then tried the stuff and it worked. “My scars have disappeared and so have my wrinkles,” he said.

Bower was talking about something during this interview, then said…”I forgot what I was saying. Sometimes I forget my wife’s name.” Funny stuff.

Very cool interview from NHL Live! And the NHL Network. There’s a show on the NHL Network on Sunday titled “50 Years Behind the Mask”. It’s about the history of the goalie mask. Can’t wait!

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There was a recent comment about NHL executive suites and it reminded me of an episode on the NHL Network while this pre-season was underway.

It was during the games in Sweden. The Detroit Red Wings were playing the St. Louis Blues. Fun game to watch.

The camera shot to the arena’s executive suite area. It turns out that the team owner has a sauna in their suite. There is reflective glass surrounding the suite, so no one can see in. How cool is that?!

A thought in passing…..

Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, Luc Robitaille and Brian Leetch are all being inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame on November 9, 2009. Kudos!

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Yesterday was the first chance in a while when I could watch a hockey game in its entirety. It was played at BC Center in Vancouver, British Columbia. The home team, Vancouver Canucks, was playing the visiting team – the Detroit Red Wings.

When the Canucks scored within the first 30 seconds of the game, I thought..”Oh oh”. Then, when they scored another goal within the next three minutes…my reaction was “What the blazes is going on here?!”

Then, the Wings scored. And, as soon as that would happen, the Canucks scored. It was a great game.

The only negative was when Ryan Johnson slammed into the boards and was taken off by stretcher to the hospital. Last I heard, he was conscious and talking. Initial reports claimed he did not suffer serious injury. The look of the play was definitely otherwise. The term “slammed” is an understatement. It was awful to see. He was going so fast into those boards, it was painful to watch him make impact.

The final score was 5-4, with the Red Wings winning. Finally, I may add. As much as I may say that the first half of the season doesn’t matter, it is kind of difficult seeing the Wings in such a low position on the totem pole. As of today (October 28, 2009), they are in 11th position. What’s up with that?!

Hi everyone,
Katie from Versus was kind enough to response to my previous blog post about the concerns regarding DirecTV and Versus. It is affecting my hockey viewing, so I wrote about it. Here’s her response:

It’s Katie and I work at VERSUS. I came across your blog and wanted to post a comment to ensure you had all the relevant information regarding VERSUS and DirecTV.

DirecTV chose to remove VERSUS from its lineup on September 1 and since then has been depriving millions of sports fans from seeing all of VERSUS’ marquee programming, including the start of the 2009/10 NHL regular season. Again, DirecTV dropped VERSUS, not the other way around.

DirecTV continues to claim that VERSUS is asking for a rate increase. It is simply not true. The fact is that VERSUS offered DirecTV the exact same deal they had before they dropped the network, which means that they can carry VERSUS at no additional cost and at the same level of distribution that they had in the past.

On the flip side, they demanded a deal that would place VERSUS on a tier, removing the channel from subscribers who were getting it at no additional cost. DirecTV would then force those subscribers to pay an additional fee to get access to VERSUS.

We are very frustrated that they have chosen to deny you, and millions of other NHL fans, access to VERSUS.

I hope this clarifies the situation for you. And please know that VERSUS is doing everything possible to get a deal worked out with DirecTV as quickly and as amicably as possible.
Katie Bradshaw

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What’s with NHL Live! broadcasting on DirectV? There is a small screen broadcasting the in-studio feed. Then, sideboards are flashing nonstop with current games and scores. The bottom bar (footer) is also flashing.

Whatever is printed on the in-studio broadcast is unreadable…it’s so small.

It’s not the least bit appealing. What’s going on?

And….Versus is continuously mentioned on the verbage. DirectTV and Versus are no longer.

What’s up?

A part of my childhood just died. Soupy Sales has passed away at the age of 83.
Every day before school, I’d watch him and his cheerful bunch of characters on WXYZ in Detroit. They were always so entertaining.

Soupy used to always get a pie shoved into his face. It cracked me up every time. We never knew who do the shoving, but we knew it was going to happen.

Some of his jokes were so stupid, they were funny. He used to do and say the stupidest things, but they were funny. I remember moaning and laughing at the same time. He was great.

For instance, this is an example of what his humor could be like. I found it on MSNBC and I brought back memories….”he would tell his tiny listeners to empty their mothers’ purse and mail him all the pieces of green paper bearing pictures of the presidents.” I don’t remember if I did that or not. Probably not since my mom had a 24-hour stranglehold over her purse. Anyways, he was suspended for a week because of that.

I remember always looking forward to him answering the door when someone knocked on it. We never knew who it was going to be. It was always such a delight to find out who the mystery guest was.

I remember Soupy doing a dance called “the Soupy Shuffle”. It’s strange how that’s not mentioned in articles I have read regarding his death. That was killer dance. It was a mini-version of the moonwalk. Only Soupy never grabbed his crotch.

I remember that ridiculously large bow tie he would wear over his sweater. It always brought a smile to my face. I loved watching that stupid tie bounce up and down as he did the Shuffle.

And Soupy’s expressions were priceless. They were entertaining by themselves. He’d tell a stupid joke and laugh at it himself while looking in the camera. He’d say something stupid and look in the camera with a bewildered look. It was great entertainment.

I remember his side kicks, two dogs with opposite personalities:
There was White Fang. This hand puppet (a large paw) couldn’t speak and would just grunt his answers to Soupy’s questions. I loved White Fang. He was always getting mad over nothing. He was introduced as the meanest dog in America. I remember his white fur was always in disarray.

There was Black Fang. Black Fang was so syrupy sweet he sometimes got me sick. He was a wimp in my opinion. I was always curious to see what he was going to say that day. Black Fang was known as the nicest dog in America. I used to love when Black Fang and White Fang would meet up. They’d fight to the end. It was so entertaining.

I liked Soupy better than Captain Kangaroo. Captain Kangaroo could be a such a wimp at times. Soupy wasn’t a wimp.

Soupy was better than Kukla, Fran & Olly (other kids’ characters) too. Those three characters were a bore, in my opinion. Soupy wasn’t boring in the least.

I am very saddened by the death of my beloved Soupy Sales. He was a definite bright spot in my childhood.

It’s hard to believe it’s been that long. Anyways, I thought it would be a good idea to give an update regarding the ongoing saga of my tkr.

I have been very fortunate in that I have not had any complications, infections or negative results from my total knee replacement. When I read stories about those who have these concerns, I definitely count my blessings.

Findings:
When I sit for an extended amount of time, like 15 minutes, my knee gets stiff. It takes a few seconds to stand up and get ready to move.

Stairs are not the least bit fun. There is no pain in my joint (cause I don’t have a joint…:)) so that I can climb stairs more easily than prior to my tkr. However, I usually take stairs one at a time due to my “good” knee being sensitive.

Going downstairs is a bite. This is when I’m glad someone discovered and invented railings.

I have difficulty with stairs that are deeper than the standard six-inch height. I need to find something to hold on to in order to make the ascent. Sometimes that’s not a pretty picture. Or, maybe someone should video it and put the clip on YouTube. It could be labeled, “Climbing the Nontraditional Step After A TKR”.

Speaking of my “good” knee, it has started to making crunching sounds when doing elevational walking (going uphill or climbing stairs). It mildly swells up after exercising.
That’s a further “no comment” on my part.

My tkr still swells up after a bout of riding my stationary bike or walking. The swelling is above my knee cap. It’s not a pretty picture, either, but could be much worse.

While stretching my knee during my exercise bike workout, it can still be painful at certain points. I just keep plugging along.

My nerve alongside my outer leg still lets me know it’s there. The pain level is much better than earlier, though. Plus, the duration is less.

My tkr leg has settled upon a length. During the earlier stages of my tkr recuperation, my leg length would change throughout the week. Some days, when the swelling was greater, my leg would be shorter. Other days, when there was not so much swelling, my leg would be longer. It was very strange. And, it made it extremely difficult to determine what amount of shoe lift I needed. (My tkr leg has been shorter than my “regular” leg for 34 years due to my fractured femur).

It stings a bit when a 40-100 pound large dog smacks its strong tail against my knee. Nothing personal, Sadie and Molly.

Let’s see…
I can get into a number of poses without pain. Touching my toes is no big deal anymore. Stretching my hamstrings is not painful. That’s a HUGE relief.

I can stand up for longer periods of time than ever before without experiencing any discomfort. Nice.

As I work on my balance, it is improving daily. Standing on one leg can be accomplished easier than ever before. Nice.

When I do not exercise daily, I feel unhealthy. Hence, I exercise to feel good. It’s nice being able to exercise without biting my lip or secretly cursing. Oh wait.. I still do that sometimes.

I do isometrics throughout the day and it helps improve my blood circulation and muscle strengthening. Plus, there’s no pain now.

My tkr does not click anymore. It luckily only did that a handful of times throughout my recuperation.

Most importantly……I can perform daily activities without pain. That is worth more than words can describe.

There’s probably more, but I’ll come back when I think of them. Hope this helps others going through the same thing.

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NHL Live! (broadcast on the NHL Network and XM/Sirius Radio) is usually an informative show, but the other day an idea was presented that sounded great. Billy Jaffe, former NHL player and current New York Islanders commentator, mentioned a way to get others interested in the sport of hockey.

First, the team would sell a “beginner’s package” consisting of three games in three different sections of the arena. The first game would have the fan seated in the middle section of seats. That way, they could get a feel for the game while feeling part of the action.

The second game would be in the lower seat section. Sitting here would allow the fan to really get into the game while hearing the players and “smelling the blood”.

The third game would have the fan sitting in the upper section, or..”nose bleed seats”. This would give the fan an overall view of the game while allowing them to see how everything ties together.

The beginning fan would be accompanied on each of these three games by an experienced hockey fan, or an expert in the sport.

Doesn’t that sound like a great way to get someone introduced to the sport of ice hockey? I think so.

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