Just another Day

Yesterday wasn't as bad as it could have been. We managed to get in and out of the house/car without doing anymore damage to my ankle. I have a more solid cast on now so I'm not quite as worried about accidental pressure. We got to the medical center yesterday and into the waiting room when the front desk girl tells me that I was at the wrong office. They have 3 different locations which they neglected to tell me when I made the appointment. I got lots of sympathy from the old ladies waiting. One of the old men started telling Mike how to get to the other office. He said that it was less than 10 minutes away. His wife understood my pain and said, "but she already made it into the waiting room." That is the real battle at this point.

So we finally get to the correct appointment and we were in and out in less than an hour. The ortho surgeon told me what I knew he would, that he recommends surgery. He wanted to do it today but the swelling and bruising is so bad they have to wait a few more days. It's scheduled for Friday at 1:00. Mike will take off work and we have a 3 day weekend with MLK day on Monday so the timing is pretty good. I don't really feel like messing with a second opinion. He said all the right things.

He said that it will hopefully keep me from developing arthritis in it, will heal more quickly and correctly, and will actually be less painful in the long run. Of course the first 48 hours will be painful and difficult but after that there will be much less movement in the ankle. Right now every time I move I can feel the bones and ligaments popping and rubbing together. It is incredibly uncomfortable. He also said if all goes well I should be able to walk on it with a walking cast in 4 or 5 weeks. I won't be running any marathons this year but that can wait.

I got off the nasty Vicodin which wasn't allowing me to knit or do much of anything productive. I got a prescription for Darvacet which makes me sleepy but doesn't make my head feel like mush. I've only taken 3 today and I'll try to keep it that way tomorrow.

We've been trying different ways to get me around but so far the only thing that works in the house is my old reliable office chair. My couch is so low and without the strength I cannot pull myself up from it. I can scoot onto the chair and roll my self where I have to go. Mike has brought a few rentals in for me to try out but so far nothing has worked. The wheel chair was a real lifesaver yesterday getting me around town. Mike smashed his fingers in it when he was opening it up in front of the med center. He said it was twice as bad because he couldn't unleash the torrent of profanity he needed to because of the old lady brigade going into the building.

I went ahead and put my Etsy shop on vacation mode. I actually had a sale late last week but the buyer was very understanding. It's a Valentines gift so they are happy to wait until Mike can get it in the mail next week. I'll keep you up to date.

A Few More Days Of Hell

So I'm starting to adapt to my life as a temporary invalid. (Above is my foot in happier times this past summer on the farm.) My couch is my true domain for the time being. Mike is actually being a surprisingly good nurse. He is not the most patient man under most conditions but he is doing whatever needs to be done to get us through this situation. I am trying to stay positive but I had my first major meltdown this afternoon. I'd had a particularly rough bathroom trip, (I will spare you all the gory details). I lost it and started crying from the pain and the complete loss of dignity. Mike held my hand and comforted me for almost an hour.

I've only taken a few Vicodin today, only when I really needed them. I'm not at all crazy about how they make me feel so I really don't foresee a problem with getting off of them. It's like I'm fighting my way through cotton for the first few hours after I take one now. I can't form a coherent thought and I'm just in slow motion. It doesn't really put me to sleep either just a kind of hazy place. It does dull the pain, I just wish it didn't do the same to my brain.

We go to the orthopedic doctor tomorrow at 1 pm. Mike is going into work for the fist few hours and will then come home. I'm seriously dreading the transport process as much as what he might have to say to me. I have terrible upper body strength and pulling myself up and/or using crutches right now seems like an impossibility. Once I have a real cast on the ankle I'm hoping I will have more stability and confidence. Right now it has a splint and ace bandages wrapped around it. If I go down or put any accidental weight on it I could do some more damage. I do think the swelling has gone down so I hope he'll be able to tell me if I need surgery or not.

I have a friend who is a surgical nurse and she told me to try to avoid surgery if at all possible. I certainly will but if he says it is the only way for it to heal properly that is what I will have to do. If he seems at all uncertain I will probably go for a second opinion. I've had at least 4 people tell me the name of a good ortho Dr. so we shall see.

Some friends came over tonight and we watched the game and ate pizza. It was nice to have a bit of normalcy. She brought me a gift basket complete with yarn and stationary. This super sweet couple is planning their September wedding and so I offered to do some research for her on vendors and other wedding ideas. It will be something productive to do with my laptop as I recover. As I get a clearer head I will hopefully find some other ways to spend the weeks I will be off work doing something for the business. We shall see...

The Day From Hell

So we didn't get another snow day unfortunately for me. While I was scrapping my car off this morning I fell and fractured my ankle in two places. I drug myself through the snow to get to my purse and called Mike on my cell phone. He was thankfully off with a snow day and inside the house. It seemed like hours but I was probably only in the snow for less than 10 minutes. I'm still having flash backs of the helpless feeling I had as I laid there not knowing what to do . No one could see me from the road or if they could they didn't bother to stop and help. If I had been out there for much longer I quite possibly would have gotten frost bite, it was almost below freezing this morning.

He got me into my car and because it's my left leg we decided the quickest thing to do was for me to drive myself to the ER. The nurses said it was one of the first times they had seen someone with a fracture drive themselves to the hospital. The only other option was to call 911 and who knows how long that would have taken. When we got there it was already filling up with emergency situations because of the ice and cold. We were the first to get x-rays and got in and out in less than 3 hours which is pretty fast for this ER. I had to listen to a meth addict in the waiting room tell me about how she pulls her own teeth out with pliers but she couldn't get one this morning because it was in the back. I guess things could be worse.

Because it is fractured in two places I will probably have to have surgery to set it. That is going to be a total nightmare. My Mom will likely have to come up and help as Mike won't be able to take off to stay home with me that many days. I go in on Monday to see the ortho surgeon. I'm already dreading the getting in and out of the car.

Mike did go get me a fold up wheelchair which was only $150. Hopefully we'll be able to sell it on Craigslist when this is all over. It will help me get around the house easier and will hopefully allow me to go back to work in a few weeks. I can put it in my trunk and when I get there I can call security to come and help me get into the building. We'll see how long it takes to get to that point. With all the extra weight I'm dragging around right now it could take longer.

He also got a wireless router so that I can lay here on the couch and stay connected. This will definitely help keep me sane. I will have time to get a lot of knitting done. Thankfully my hobbies are pretty low impact so I can continue to do them unlike some people. I will really have to watch myself to make sure I don't end up in a major Depression.

The pain is really bad tonight but they gave me Vicodin which helps numb the pain somewhat. I'd really appreciate any positive thoughts or prayers if you do that sort of thing you could send my way. I've never asked before but I feel like I need it now more than ever.