Here's My Story

5 weeks after surgery was the orthopedic's advised date for the right leg to partially bear weight. Right off the bat at the lobby, the therapist asked me to start my "graduation", to which I asked for my graduation hat 😂 By the end of the session, I could walk almost normally, using only a crutch for minimal support. I had to relearn to walk: I walked awkwardly and the foot tired quickly. There was an entire new group of exercises, saved for two from previous one (3 sets each per session, 2 sessions daily): Prone lying (Face down), bring heel towards the buttock. Elastic band ties both feet to provide resistance. 10x/set. In high sitting position, extend the leg halfway and relax for 5x, at the end of each 5th rep can hold for 10 secs. Do for both legs. Elastic band ties both feet to provide resistance. 5x/set. Shins on pillow with knees just at the top edge of the pillow. Sit as low as possible above the heels, rise up using glute muscles. 10x/set.  Bridge pose. Hold a...

I really wanted to press a vassal's claim on the Kingdom of Africa, within the Byzantine Empire, because that kingdom would bridge my disconnected realm. I landed two possible claimants after successfully won a holy war. I wanted this bridge before the campaign ended. The problem was that I would, theoretically, trigger a war against the world since the 4 defensive pacts against me encompassed almost the whole world. The question, though, in practice, would they come to assist Byzantine? How about those who were in defensive pacts against Byzantine? To me, after Byzantine, the ruler with the largest army in those defensive pacts, who would likely to bother to turn up, would be the Pope. So a golden opportunity arose when my vassal Polish king, aided by another vassal king, declared war on Pope (damn pope regularly getting hold of bishoprics within my realm) and they were winning. Empire of Bulgaria was at war with someone else and the neighbours bordering my eastern border were als...

It was a good thing I checked their website : there was a RM 120 discount for new patient and so I made appointment via the website, instead of calling them. Here's something interesting: it's actually cheaper to go to the hospital's rehabilitation centre (RM 170 vs RM 120-160 depending on severity/intensity). The orthopedic, after hearing that I wanted somewhere nearer to home, recomended a centre (also 4.9 rating on Google) that turns out to be about 20-30 minutes away. I still went to Relive because of the distance. The first session lasted an hour. I did found out beforehand that each session lasts about 45-60 minutes, compared to the hospital's 75 minutes. Another interesting difference. The session, as expected, included time for the therapist to get the history of my knee injury etc. She was surprised at how weak my right leg was despite the exercise I had been doing. In the process I discovered how I could replicate the movement that caused pain in the knee (in...

I nearly landed the heir to the Kingdom of Georgia (who readily accepted the invitation to come to my court) with a barony but I forgot that he needed at least a county so that I could grant him one of my titular kingdom title. Coincidentally, I could imprison one of my weakest vassal king for 'righteous' reason i.e. I discovered his plot. As expected, he rebelled (had about 34% chance to imprison). I won but couldn't revoke his kingdom title because there was being contested by another vassal king. Fortunately, I could revoke one of his counties. Granted that county and then a titular kingdom title to the Georgian heir. To guarantee that I would get a vassal King of Georgia, I plotted to kill the current king. Unfortunately, the King of Georgia was pressing his claim on the Empire of Bulgaria and my new count also had a weak claim on that empire. If he gets the empire, that would be his primary title and he would be an independent ruler, bringing along whatever titles and ...

Recently I lamented the loss of a public sports facility that was regularly used by a couple of schools to train. "So what? Kampung schools don't have access to such facility either," a friend retorted. What? Hold on. So, are you saying that since there are starving people in Africa, it's ok for you to starve too? The next time someone try to dissuade you from fighting for something better because many others don't have that thing, ask them that question.

Some good news: The cramping/pulling pain in the right calf returned but I quickly identified its cause: I flexed my foot too much when exercising my legs. Once I made sure I flexed it normally, the pain went away permanently. I could bend my leg fully without any pain. No longer wake up in the middle of night with stomach discomfort. Think it was caused by gas but I don't know how it goes away. Maybe because the length of the exercises increased? Doctor said that overall my recovery progress is good. There's a physio rehab centre nearby (5 minutes drive) with 4.9 rating on Google. Going to try that instead of driving 40-45mins to the hospital, so that Ban can go home during the physio session. Some not-so-good news There's some pain in the knee when I bent my leg upward to the side. Because of the above, the doctor postponed partial weight bearing period for another 2 weeks i.e. that leg still cannot bear weights.

This is an example of one of the ways I got kingdom: created out of demense that my vassals warred for. I then, if I remember, tried to vassalise the remaining rulers, if possible, before granting it to the vassal that has the most land in the de jure kingdom.   Probably the easiest victory ever: my armies hadn't even crossed into enemy's territory. The Tsar of Bulgaria was losing badly to one of my vassals.   So won my first direct war against Byzantine in this campaign but I later regretted pressing for this claim because I couldn't transfer him to any of my vassals. Grrr.

I was at war with the Byzantine revolt when suddenly I was informed that that war ended because casus belli was no longer vaild. That went way faster than expected.  I checked who won and from the history tab, seems like the revolt won. It was then I noticed the emperor wasn't in a defensive pact against me. So, I looked through whether there was any claim I could press that would worth my time and effort to war against an empire that had long border with mine and had the second largest army after mine, although a long way behind though.   I settled on pressing a claim on a duchy for a count and that net us 3 counties. The most profitable of all claims.   Throughout my now 1,350 hours of playing Crusader Kings II, there was only one other time I was at war with a Hindu ruler: it was during a crusade called by the Pope. A crazy target, I recalled, because there was no Christian anywhere near India. We were decimated lol.  This time, it was me who initiate it...

After a couple of weeks using crutches and walker, I have newfound respect of my dad and others with impaired mobility, needing to using walking aids. I doubt I truly understand the difficulties they face but I think I have better understanding now. The changes I have to make are: Time management, simply because it's slower for me to walk. Chairs placed in bathroom, kitchen and the table we often used to eat at. All these so that I can be as independent as possible. Improvisation such as Placing body wash, shampoo and phone next to where I shower. ASUS Zenphone 8 is waterproof :) Place my towel on the walker, which is next to where I shower. Place chair roughly in the middle of kitchen so that I can just steady myself by holding counter to stand up to reach out for nearly anything in the kitchen. Small kitchen, ya. Have my breakfast, and later fruits in the afternoon and night, in the kitchen so that I don't need help to bring the food to the "dining" table. Unfortuna...

My biggest problem was, strangely, not my right knee. It was my right calf: cramping/pulling pain that didn't go away. Massage and ice pack provided only temporary relief. It was a dull pain that intensified if I pressed the calf or when I flexed/pointed my foot. My concern was blood clot but fortunately it was missing two other symptoms: swelling and redness/change in skin colour. Upon a friend's advice (who is an anaesthetist), I called the orthopedic clinic. His nurse assured me that it was quite normal for the calf to feel the pulling pain after knee surgery. Fortunately, five days after surgery, the pain in the calf went away. Yay! Another unexpected side effect was the swelling of my right ankle and foot. Apparently this is common after arthroscopic knee surgery. That's one thing I'm disappointed in hospitals in general: their staff rarely prepare patients for even the common effects post surgery/medicine. Haiz. I arranged the physiotherapy session to be on the sa...