Last night, for the first time since September 2nd, I slept with my foot unencumbered by boot or brace or even Ace...
The doctor said I didn't have to sleep with a brace if I didn't want to--so I thought I'd try it.
I actually slept on my side. Both sides. It was so wonderful.
After months now of sleeping only on my back with my foot held high by pillows and enclosed by a night brace or, at the very least, an Ace bandage, I slept on my side, with my right leg and foot under the covers with my other leg and foot. It felt so good!!! Such joy for such a small thing.
I think I'll try it again tonight, too. This might be habit forming.
And this morning, upon awakening, I actually sat on my back chair and typed on my PC--with a keyboard! So much better than doing it with thumbs. Another joy.
So Sandy took me to the doctor on Tuesday for my first post-op appointment. I prayed so hard the night before and the morning of, "Please, please, let me walk again?"
I got my stitches out--and it hurt like @#$%! I thought she was making a new cut! There was blood even! I am such a baby and have a barely perceptible threshold of pain. It is so low.
So I was fitted with a new boot, too. It's smaller and more compact. The one I had from the ER was too large because nothing smaller would fit my swelling ankle.
It turns out, I still have 98% of my talus bone. Only small bone fragments were removed. The real problem was that my tendons and ligaments were mangled. The P.A. said they were dislocated and had to be formed around my bones and joints in the right places again. That's why my ankle was so swollen on the right side. Apparently they were all there and not where they were supposed to be. He said it could only be corrected by surgery.
I am so thankful for modern medicine. 100 years ago, I would have been left for lame and used a cane or crutches for the rest of my life. I am thankful for MRIs and Xrays and ortho surgeons who went to med school to learn how to fix me.
So, the prognosis is: 3 months on crutches and in boot, gradually putting weight on my foot until I can walk in the boot alone. Then, ditch the crutches and stay in the boot for another 3 months.
That's 6 months!!! By the time this is all over I will have given almost 3/4 of a year of my life to an 'unfortunate accident.' More like a freak accident--dumb ladder collapsing...
I have another appointment at the end of the month and we'll talk about PT. I can do some mild exercises until then, like flexing my foot and wiggling my toes. Honestly, I'm afraid to do anything--anything, I tell ya'!!!
I also realize I never gave enough credit to my good friend, Patty. She broke her leg right after her divorce. Her recovery was two years. And she had two young kids. Who am I to whine? (but I will anyway...) I hope I can learn life lessons like she did. I feel very selfish compared to her. I just pray every day that this will be over fast. I don't want to wish my life away, I just want to wish this pain and anguish and inconvenience away. I want my life back.
However, this IS my life right now. I have to live in the present, so I have to strive to do the best I can with what I have. I am so thankful that my son lives with me. He has been so helpful and solicitous. He's taken many days off to accommodate my appointments and surgery and when he gets home from work (at 9:00 p.m.) the first thing he says to me is, "Can I get you anything?" Most of the time I have a list. He has never complained.
Thank you, Father, for giving me good guardian angels so that I didn't break my arm--or my neck, for that matter. I'm grateful that my mother made the trip from Florida to be with me the second week. I really didn't know if I would need her here, but I did. I'm grateful for everyone who prayed for me. My mom said her Bible Study was all praying for me.
Prayer works.
I am on the mend.
