Okay... still on the Broken Train

Crafty-friend-blog-entry still to come. I can't ignore the 10 lb boot in the room...

I took a bad photo this week- too close to the screen.

But the good news- still on the mend. No changes in displacement from last week. Looks like next week I should be able to start using the leg again. I really, really hope so. Folks, when you do not use a muscle you lose the muscle. My muscles have been fighting it. They've been losing, but they have been complaining bitterly along the way. How? Cramps. Cramps to remind me that "Hello?!?!! We are still here!!!!" This past week I have been waking up in the middle of the night with my calf muscle knotted up so tightly that it makes me cry. I want so badly to stretch but if my leg starts the stretch process it goes into muscle lock.

Last Thursday I had a bout with food poinsoning. Could have been the flu- it has been spreading like wildfire here, but it only lasted for about 3 hours of being really, really sick, and then I was just feeling sick for the rest of the day. But I was sick. I'm not going into graphic details, but I also recommend not being sick if you ever have a broken leg. This also resulted in me crying. Too much of that lately! But since then, my balance has been off. Not great for crutches. Really not great for crutches on stairs. I've been staying upstairs all day, or downstairs all day. I've been avoiding the stairs as much as possible and I feel this is for the best. Someone is watching over me, though. No doubt about that!

Another thing... I thought I'd be gaining a few pounds as I basically am as active as a rock right now. But I haven't. I think it's because during the day when I am alone, it is a pain in the ass leg to get myself into the kitchen. Once I get there, it seems that everything I want is not something that one can carry while operating crutches. And while I have been standing in the kitchen and eating, it does makes me eat less. I'm also probably dehydrated for the same reason. I should be filling up containers and putting them in my little messenger bag and carrying them around, but I just don't. My own fault. I just think that I am pretty much done with this. Ready for the next phase. Really.

I am going fishing tomorrow! So looking forward to getting out and I am hoping to pull in a big baby. But mostly, I just want to get out. Three weeks is too long to be housebound. Looking forward to some Vitamin D!!! I'll probably be carried from car to boat and back, and placed in a nice chair while I fish, I'm fine with that. A day with Caden on the lake with a picnic lunch... perfection!

A Little Less Broken

In the continuing saaaa-gaaaa....

For those of you who follow me on Facebook, you've probably already seen this, so please bear with me. I think it's much more interesting to see bones that to see my distorted and discolored foot pix. But this was my x-ray, 9 days in...

2 views of my left leg

Dr. Beyer says I'm on the mend! He wants me back next week and then the week after that for additional x-rays to ensure the bone is staying where it should be and healing the way it should be. Got the "if things change you will need pins and screws" lecture again. Pretty much not going to let that happen. As much as it pains me- figuratively and literally- I'm keeping off of it as much as I can. Again, I am really thankful that I am able to work from home. I would have had to take a medical leave if not. 

A few more tips that I have collected in the past week... 

Lesson #9

Throw Rugs are NOT your Friend. 

Neither are clothes on the floor. Crutches dislike throw rugs and miscellaneous scattered clothing. Especially when both are in rooms of little boys. Racetracks and Legos aren't very crutch-friendly, either. Okay. Just stay out of the room of 7 year old boys.

Lesson #10

Socks are a Challenge. 

Invest in a good non-slip sock. You probably only need one for the good foot. If you need to have one on the bad foot it will probably need to be 3 sizes bigger than the good foot. And don't even think about trying to sockify the bad foot for a week or so after the break, unless you want to test your pain tolerance even further. Could lead to a good black out which may make you fall... that could be bad. Just sayin'.

Lesson #11

Patience is an 8 letter Word... 

... which means it is the equivalent of 2 four letter words. And I have used every four letter word in the past 10 days. Multiple times. I kind of have a reputation for being calm, cool and collected. In the past 10 days I have had many, many moments of not being any of those. I've been mad, depressed, crying, feeling guilty for feeling sorry for myself because when the dust settles, it's just a broken leg. I would never have thought that I'd fall apart like this. But I have. It is very, very frustrating to not be able to do anything without a heck of a lot of effort and to have to rely on other people so much. I am bored out of my mind- and there is so much that I could be doing to occupy my mind- but I'm just not in the right space at the moment. 

So... after one week the swelling has gone down a lot. A lot. The discoloration is really mostly mainly around the break site now, which is a gorgeous black, grey and purple. Two of my toes are a little grey looking from bruising, but  it's nicer than last week's green hue and it's not so hoof-like. Yay! I stopped with the pain meds last Thursday. Again, with the decrease in swelling the pain is much less. I get a shooting, pulsating  pain at the break site a few times a day but it is nothing I can't handle and it really doesn't last long. The rest of the time my leg actually feels good to the point that I forget that it is any different than the other... except for the knee high boot that feels like it weighs 10 lbs. Now that my foot is back to almost normal size, there is a lot of wiggle room in my boot, so I need to dig out the additional padding that they gave me. The boot is hot and not the most comfortable, but it is better than a cast! Even though I am only supposed to take it off for a "quick shower" (uhhh... not really sure how I am supposed to shower standing on one leg, so I maneuver myself in and out of the tub instead), I do sneak it off a couple of times a day to give it a breather when I have my leg propped up on the couch or when getting changed (duh). I don't leave the couch without it, though. After having my garbage-can-incident late last week when I almost fell over and had to put the bad foot down, I know that if I slip or bobble at all without the boot on, I'll be in a really bad place. Don't want to go there!

That's all for now, folks! My next blog entry I want to share a few cool things that artsy friends of mine have been doing while I have been feeling sorry for myself... :)

I'm Broken

What I have learned about having a broken leg after 3 days of having a broken leg:

If you click to make bigger it's easier to see, but the break is on the left side of the fibula.




Lesson #1

Don't hook your legs around the legs of a bar stool, even if you are wearing cute new shoes. 

There have been a few times in my life that  I have felt the scary sensation of starting to slide off a stool with my legs twined around the stool legs and thought to myself "Whew! I probably could have broken something if I actually fell!".  Let me confirm for you that this is indeed a very real probability.

Lesson #2

If you have an ER doctor that is yawning, acts like he doesn't see you and avoids eye contact, you probably (definitely) want a second opinion. 

While he was correct in the fact it was a break, he said it was horizontal and not vertical and that I could be healed in about 3 weeks. But to be fair, I obviously did wake him...

Lesson #3

When they say the 48 hours after breaking a bone is going to be the most painful time, believe it. 

Actually, mine was probably more like 52 hours, but when it happened I experienced the most intense urge to run around my bedroom screaming and crying because I didn't know what else to do. I jumped out of bed (as best as someone with a broken leg can), grabbed my crutches and crutched myself around the upper level of the house, crying. I decided against the screaming as I didn't think the boys would be too keen on that. They needed their sleep so they could look after me the next day, anyhow.

Lesson #4

Be very nice to your friends and family. Start now if you are currently a big meany. 

You never know when you are going to need them to carry you up and down the stairs, cook you wonderful meals, bake fresh cookies for you, bring you little white pills to make the explosions of pain a little duller... and insist that you lie down with your foot elevated higher than your head. See... it's a good thing I didn't do the screaming part mentioned in Lesson 3.

Lesson #4

If you don't currently practice yoga, you may want to give it a shot.

Tree pose is particularly helpful to practice balance on one leg. I think I would have broken my leg clean off by now, along with some cracked ribs and possibly a skull injury thrown in there from falling down the stairs without having the stabilized core that I have from yoga. Trust me- good balance is your friend.

Lesson #5

Invest in a small backpack, messenger bag or cute shoulder strap Coach bag. 

... because you cannot carry anything on crutches, unless you utilize your teeth. And no, Mom, I would never do that (except for 2 days ago when I carried two bags of ice into the living room so I could ice my leg...). A bag is especially helpful to carry your phone(s) around with you. I have three; a home phone, a work phone and my cell phone. When I am carrying just two of them, the third one will always ring from a different level of the house. I then feel obligated to crutch along like a tornado to answer a call from someone about lowering my mortgage interest rates. I have not been Happy Cat when I do answer these calls, so if you are one of those people who is trying to lower my mortgage rate you may want to reconsider calling me for the next 4- 12 weeks. Just sayin'. In your snazzy bag, carry all said phones, a pen and paper in case you need to send paper airplane notes to people who are not paying you enough attention and your wallet in case you get bored and start surfing and shopping online. You never know- you may find some cute things to decorate your boot or cast that you are starting at all day, every day, as you lie down with your foot elevated higher than your head.

*Special shout out to Tina who suggested investing in a CamelBack to put your coffee in because... hello! You can't carry a coffee cup around! Coffee through a tube is better than no coffee at all, and a CamelBack affords you the added bonus of keeping your back warm. Or you could use it as a heating pad in a pinch.

Lesson #6

Unless you have a bunch of sick time left and your company qualifies a broken leg as "sick", get a job that lets you work from home. 

While I had to edit the location of my home office, it is working- and I am still working. This helps me to feel like I am contributing more that just helping my loved ones get more exercise and hone their cooking skills while they take care of my sorry butt. Mmmm. Cooking. I'm hungry. I hope my own personal Iron Chef gets home soon... but I digress...

Lesson #7

When using crutches, you should be pressing them against your ribs and not leaning into your armpits. My bruised armpits couldn't agree more.

Special thanks to Clare for sharing this extremely valuable bit of info. Sorry she had to have a terrible car accident in which she broke both of her legs and multiple ribs and a bunch of other things... nothing funny about this one.

Lesson #8

Spent the time to find the RIGHT Most Wonderful Boyfriend/Husband/Significant Other in the World. 

Again, trust me. This will make all the difference as to whether this will be a terrible 3-12 week ride, or one that you can turn into humorous blog entries. Or entries that seem humorous to you because of the little white pain killers that probably do a little more than just dull the pain.

More lessons as I continue to learn them. Right now, I think I may work on my hockey skills as I lie down with my foot elevated higher than my head. Or maybe I'll take a nap. Or start knitting. Or register for the Chicago Marathon! Registration opened a half an hour ago! Bye!