So close!

In 5 days I will have my cast removed FOREVER!!!!  I am ready!  I thought this week back at work would make me feel better because I would get out of the house.  Honestly, it was nice to get out everyday, ALL day, but it was hard at the same time.  Getting ready to go into work in the morning with a cast and crutches is difficult.  Somedays I just felt I looked like a slob.  Its hard to do your hair, find something to wear, and get ready for the day hopping on one leg and holding onto crutches.  But I am almost there.

My leg is ready to be free.  I haven't been taking much Tylenol at all (I am sure my liver is enjoying that!).  My cast is getting looser and I am wiggling my foot around more and more.  The other day on my way into work it was raining out.  They just waxed the floors in the hall outside of my office.  When I came around the corner, my crutch slipped and I started to fall.  It was in slow motion, I was thinking... I could fall and look like a fool and I haven't even made it to my office yet, or I can catch myself with the bad leg.  So I caught myself with my bad leg.  I just was standing there, my one crutch on my right side doing nothing, the other on the floor.  I kind of feel against the wall too and have a huge bruise on my arm.  BUT, it didn't hurt!  Then I kept going thinking I slipped in a puddle so I just kept going, and slipped again and had to catch myself with my bad leg for the second time in under 30 seconds.  It was the combination of bottoms of the crutches being wet and the shiny waxed floors.  But it was fine and my leg didn't hurt.

I have even noticed when I sleep, I have been sleeping normal again.  Up until the past week, I have been sleeping on my back with my leg elevated on the special pillow.  Now I sleep on my stomach and side, and it almost feels like normal.  When my incision hits the side of the cast it isn't tender or sore.  One gross thing though is I can tell there is a lot of dead skin on the bottom of my foot.  That is going to be gross when the cast comes off.  The hairy leg is going to be cute too.  8 weeks without being shaved!

This weekend I am taking it easy.  My first week back at work really tired me out.  In the end it was good to be back.  I only had one minor breakdown :).  When I work, I crave Diet Coke.  I need it or some form of caffeine for the second have of the day.  Luckily we have a coke machine right next to the elevator.  Well on my second day back, the coke machine disappeared!  They must have taken it out for repair or something.  So I was really bummed about that.  Then on Friday, I was running late and looking for what to pack for lunch.  All we had was PB&J, which I normally really like, but after 5 days in a row it gets old.  So while my husband was driving me into work, I had a minor breakdown and was crying because I can't make it over to where the Food Market is on campus, and they took the coke machine away, and I am having PB&J for the 5th day in a row and have no form of caffeine to get me to the end of the day.  He ran out and got me a wonderful sandwich and 2 Diet Cokes, what a great guy!  Hopefully that was the last breakdown I have due to this surgery!

Back at Work!

Today is my second day back at work.  I am doing pretty well I think.  After 6 weeks of doing nothing, I was a little worried.  Luckily it is still the summer time so there aren't many students on campus to assist.  But there is plenty of desk work.  I have my chair at the highest setting and have my leg either propped up on my desk or next to me on a chair.  This weird position though is making my lower back hurt, so I don't know how long I can sit like this.  I might just have to give in and let my foot dangle a bit.  I am getting around fine at work.  I use a bag to carry anything I need.  Tomorrow I might venture over to the building next door for lunch.  It will probably be the furthest distance I have traveled on crutches.  I wonder if I will make it :).

After work yesterday I could tell everything was really swollen.  So I elevated my leg for the rest of the evening.  There wasn't any pain though, just swelling.  I only have a little over a week until I have my cast removed and I am able to walk again!  Its a little scary thinking they just take the cast off and tell me to walk.  I am very curious as to how I will do.

Coming down the home stretch!

Staying busy...

In 13 days I will be rid of this cast and hopefully walking again!  Today was a busy day for me.  I started a new book "The Help", so far I can't set it down, highly recommend.  I sat outside in the sun for a bit and read.  Then I managed to make pickles, with a little bit of my husbands help, but I pretty much did all of the work.  We have a garden and this year have had so many cucumbers.  So I made about 8 big jars of pickles!  Then I proceeded to make zucchini bread.  Wow, now I am very tired and my toes are very swollen.  I will need to keep my feet up for the remainder of the evening and take it slow.  But I was so proud of being able to do all of that and not feel like crap!

20 More Days to Go...

Earlier this week I got a little bored and decided to paint my cast.  I must say I am please with how it turned out.  My painting skills really only involve flowers, so I painted some flowers on it.  I get a new cast on Monday, and I will probably paint that one too.  It just adds a little something I suppose.

Things are still going well.  I noticed I no longer have to take Tylenol every 4-6 hours, I just take it now before bed and if I feel any pain during the day.  Yesterday I had a minor breakdown.  My husband has had class all week and has been busy.  I went to get something for lunch and everything I wanted either we didn't have or it was too hard for me to make.  Then there was something I wanted to clean up and couldn't.  It just becomes frustrating.  I have done a few things to try and make myself more independent.  I just get so sick of asking my husband to do everything, I feel like a nagging wife.  He doesn't mind, but I miss being able to do the simple things.  So here are some things I have managed to do with crutches!

Vacuum - With a dog and a cat, the hair piles up!  I managed to push the sweeper down to the room, sit on the bed, and vacuum the floor.  It was great, I felt so good after being able to do it.  

Laundry - Our washer is upstairs, but the dryer is downstairs in the basement.  Our basement is old and grungy and the stairs are scary.  In the summer I like to hang the clothes up outside, but I am not even going to attempt that with crutches.  I have my husband bring the clothes downstairs, and then I can put them in the washer.  I ordered a drying rack so I can hang the clothes up to dry in our living room.  I can fold too.

Easy things to make for food - My husband will leave a bowl filled with cereal for me out on counter in our kitchen.  It is right next to the fridge, so I can easily get milk and fill up the bowl.  It is a low counter so I can sit right there and eat!  I have also managed to make things like PB&J, sandwiches, and salads. The other day I even make brownies!  

I really miss being able to simply walk and do something or drive and get something.  But, today I realized I only have 20 days until the cast comes off.  I am currently 34 days post op or something.  I have one more week at home and then I am able to go back to work, so the worst is definitely over with!  

4 Weeks Down!

Four weeks ago today I had my surgery.  It is amazing how fast the time has gone.  It is nice to know that four weeks are behind me, but also frustrating to know I still have four more weeks of this.  However, next week I go back in for a new cast and I believe they will release me from this inactive state I am stuck in and will let me to move around more.  I intend on going back to work on August 2nd (2 weeks).  I have a feeling once I start back up at work the remaining 2 weeks will go even faster.

Yesterday I realized how much the internet occupies my days.  The other day I found myself not even being able to close my laptop while watching a movie.  Or sometimes I watch a movie online and surf the internet at the same time.  I hope this surgery doesn't make my brain turn to mush.  The first few weeks I was really good about reading.  I was reading about a book a day.  Now I am reading a book a week.  I find myself checking facebook every 10 minutes and being annoyed that no one has changed their status or added anything of interest.  Ebay has been a good friend.  My recent purchases have been Nintendo games for $2.  TIP: Do not keep your credit card by your bedside when being laid up for a few weeks.  Not good.  I have found that I justify my purchases because I feel bad making my husband go and get things for me, so just order it online of course!  Here is a list of my most frequented websites...

Facebook, Kayak.com, hotmail, gmail (no idea why I have so many emails), cnn.com, netflix, blogger.com, ebay, steepandcheap.com, amazon.com, weather.com. 

My laptop has been a huge lifesaver for this recovery time.  However, I wonder if I would be doing more productive things with my time if I didn't have it.  Maybe I will make a goal tomorrow to only check my computer 5 times, and have a time limit of 10 minutes each time.  I will let you know how it goes.  The video below cracked me up and I felt is very true.

Health Insurance!

I do not understand Health Insurance.  Why do they have to make things so complicated?  In my mind, if you are insured, you should be covered, that simple.  Unfortunately it is not that simple and I am convinced that Health Insurance companies are the devil and do not care about one's heath at all and instead only care about making money.

Currently I am still on my graduate student health plan.  Prior to even visiting my surgeon I checked to see if he was in-network.  Of course with my luck he was not.  So I asked the podiatrist I saw to refer me to another specialist in hopes that I could find one that was in-network.  He did and of course that specialist was also out-of-network.  After several phone calls to my insurance company, I was told it would be ok because my policy states that if there I can not find a doctor within a 50 mile radius that the doctor I see will be treated as in-network.  So great, right?  In the midst of all of this, my insurance company informs be that foot operations are not covered and they use the phrase "subluxation of the foot".  Well this confused me as well because I had "subluxation of the peroneal tendons".  The foot and ankle are relatively close and I feared that for some reason this would not be covered now.  No one at the insurance company wanted to confirm that the foot and ankle are separate and not to worry until I called one day at the doctors office prior to getting x-rays demanding a clear answer.  A nice woman told me the feet and ankle are separate and not to worry.  Great!

Next thing I know, I am getting a letter in the mail asking me to state how the injury occurred, when it occurred, and where.  So I sent that information in.  Then I get a claim letter for the first doctors appointment with the surgeon and they did not treat it as in-network.  So I called my insurance company again probably for at least the 20th time.  They transferred me to someone else, who said I should have seen an orthopedic surgeon closer to home who was in-network.  After arguing for quite some time she finally looked up my call history and could see how many times I had called and saw that someone did in fact tell me it should be treated as in-network!  HA!  After that she waived her magic wand and said ok it will be treated as in-network and apologized.  Then she was extremely nice to me and I started to feel somewhat bad for being so bitchy on the phone.  Then she said she wasn't sure if the hospital would be treated as in-network.  I no longer felt bad for being bitchy.  I told her I didn't know I could control what hospital my doctor could preform surgery at.  She said I couldn't, so I then asked her why I would be responsible for paying that.  I am still waiting to hear the final answer on that one.

So my question is, why did they make it so complicated?  Prior to surgery, I was worried so much about the cost of all of this that I was in tears.  Its stressful enough knowing you have to have surgery and are going to be laid up for 8 weeks, why can't insurance companies make things easier for you instead of more complicated?

I am hoping when I start my new job my insurance will be much better and not as difficult to work with. This was pretty ridiculous.  I honestly think health insurance should be a right and not a privilege.  I am lucky in that my insurance is going to be footing the majority of the bill.  But I still feel the need to bitch about this experience because it was so irritating.

Monday will be my half-way point!  Almost done!

A Day at the Beach!

My cast was already too lose after the second day, so we had to go back to the doctor's office this week to get another cast put on.  The hassle of it all is that my doctor's office is over two hours away!  However, there are many lovely beaches around Portland, and I love the beach, and my husband loves to surf.  There happened to be good waves that day, so we got our stuff together and spent a day at the beach!

We visited Popham Beach, which is my favorite beach in Maine.  They have beach wheelchairs, so my husband was able to push me out to the beach.  I plopped down in a beach chair and my husband used a laundry basket and two pillows to keep my leg elevated.  It was perfect!  It did get a little warm and I was jealous of everyone able to go swimming in the ocean, but it was still wonderful to get out and get some sun and enjoy the beautiful ocean.

After the beach we went to my doctor's office and I got a new cast.  It is much tighter and more of my toes are sticking out now.  I might get adventurous today and give myself a pedicure.  The incision wound still looked good and they said everything looked great.  I have been a little paranoid about getting a blood clot.  I read someone's blog who got a blood clot and have been worried about it since.  I asked the nurse who was putting my cast on what to look for in case I do get one.  She said most people have them and don't realize it.  However, she said she has worked there for over four years and has only seen 2 patients get blood clots.  She said both patients were being noncompliant and were walking on their cast when they were suppose to be non-weight bearing!  Goes to show you how important it is to follow the doctor's orders.

In two weeks I will go back to get a new cast put on, and hopefully they will release me so I will be able to get out of the house more and go back to work!

Also, I have a new tip to share in regards to showering/bathing.  I have started taking baths.  I have found it is really easy to sit on the edge of the tub, then with my back facing the other side of the tub I reach my arms back to the opposite side of the tub and just lower myself in.  Unfortunately, I can't sit back and relax because our tub is facing a wall, therefore I am not able to hang my leg over the right side of the tub.  But it is nice just to be able to do it.  I don't see myself attempting to shower.  The idea of taking a shower with crutches doesn't sound so great, plus I am not very graceful, so I can easily foresee me slipping and falling.  The tub is great though!

3 Weeks Down!!!!

Tomorrow will be 3 weeks or 21 Days (sounds better) since my surgery.  I am still on bed rest, and keep my leg elevated for the majority of the day.  The doctor told me at my last visit that if I keep up the good work and keep it elevated I will be released and will able to go to work and move around more.  I am able to get up and down the stairs much more easily and spend more time downstairs than up somedays.  My toes still turn blue and it becomes painful if I am up on my feet too long, but everyday the pain and swelling is less.  It is amazing how much better the cast feels in comparison to the splint.  It is so much lighter and makes crutching around much easier.  However, my cast is already very loose.  I was told this would happen in a few weeks time.  But I called the day after I got my cast because I could stick my hand down my cast where my calf is (great for itching).  I was afraid it might be too loose and I am terrified of hurting my ankle or getting an infection.  The nurse I spoke with told me to go through the weekend to see how it felt.  She said a loose cast can become irritating to the skin and it can be bad if it rubs against the incision.  So Monday I will probably go down for a new cast which sucks because its a 2+ hour drive.  So we are thinking about going to the beach in the morning since we will be driving all the way down to Portland Maine.  There is a beach with sand wheelchairs and I am thinking if I keep my foot elevated the whole time, the beach and sun will do me good?  I am probably a little deficient in Vitamin D since I have been indoors so much the past 3 weeks.  What do you think?  If we go I will let you know how it goes.

Sometimes I get on these "Poor Me" kicks where I think about how much this sucks.  I will watch my husband walk around the house and be able to do things I cannot because I am on crutches.  But I recently have been thinking about all of the people who cannot walk for the rest of their lives, or who always have to rely on crutches or a cane.  I try to keep that in mind and remember that this is only temporary and in a few weeks I will be walking again and life will go back to normal.  I need to start realizing how fortunate I was to have insurance and to be able to have surgery to fix my problem so that I can be active again.  We just had a friend over who was telling me when he broke his leg he had a cast on his entire leg!  That would suck!

Today is my husbands and my first anniversary!  We were married last year in Camden, Maine.  Because I can't really go anywhere we have decided to stay home and we are going to cook some lobsters and have a nice dinner!  We had a lobster bake for our wedding, so I suggested starting a tradition of having lobster for every anniversary.  :)  Sounds like a wonderful tradition to start!

Staples Out! Split Off! Purple Cast On!!!

Today I went in for my first post op appointment.  It has been 18 days since my surgery.  Having the splint taken off felt so nice.  I was able to move my ankle around a bit and wiggle my toes.  The incision wound looked really good.  It was swollen but not too bad and there wasn't any bruising.  After having the splint taken off the nurse removed my surgical staples.  They look like real staples and weren't very comfortable to have removed.  Luckily my doctors office told me to take a percocet prior to coming in.  After the staples were taken out the nurse wiped off my leg and toes with rubbing alcohol.  She didn't clean around the incision.  I was surprised there wasn't more blood around the incision wound, there wasn't any really!  After that, I had x-rays taken and the doctor came in to see me.  Both the doctor and nurse told me how good everything looked!  They said they could tell I have been following orders and not over doing it.  I will go back in a few weeks and have another cast put on and then on August 12th, I will have my cast removed and will be able to walk!!!!!  Until then I will be on crutches and not allowed to put any weight on it.

The first photo is with staples, the second is with them removed.

It feels so great to have the splint off and the new cast on.  The fiberglass cast is so much lighter and less bulky.  Its really amazing.  I am still going to stay around the house and keep it elevated.  I am following my doctors orders.  I think that is so important.  I could see how tempting it would be to go out and do something right now, but I want to keep the swelling down and I want it to keep getting better!

16 Days Down!

So this begins my 16th day after surgery on my peroneal tendons.  I am doing much better and able to get around the house more.  Tylenol has been sufficient for my pain, and I have become a pro on crutches.  Tomorrow I go in for my first post op appointment.  I will have my staples removed and a new cast put on. I am really looking forward to seeing my incision wound and getting a new cast put on.  This splint it hot and heavy!

I waited until summer to have this surgery done.  It was kind of my only option.  It really sucks though :).  I live in Maine and it has been unseasonably warm.  Perfect weather to go to the beach or go swimming.  But I am stuck indoors which is hot!  So if you can choose when you want to have your surgery, I would do it during a season where you don't mind being inside.

My biggest complaint with my ankle is the swelling.  You really have to keep it elevated or it swells right up.  It feels like it is going to explode sometimes.  If I am on my feet for 5 minutes, it becomes extremely uncomfortable.  I am looking forward to that going away.

One other struggle with this surgery is how you lose your independence.  You really need someone around to help you get a bowl of cereal, or do certain things for you.  Luckily my husband is on break and he is around and very helpful.  But its nice to be able to do a few things by yourself, so here are my newest tips...

-Make sure you have a Nalgene water bottle.  These are easy to fill and you can hold it by the loop with you crutch back to bed or the couch.

-Have popsicles around!  I read this in someone else's blog and it has been a huge help!  It is a sweet treat that you can grab yourself and take with you.  Plus they just taste good.  I recently got Edy's Blueberry with Acai.  They taste really good and have antioxidants, which is important while you heal!

-Use a little backpack or shoulder strap bag.  This way you can take things with you around the house.  It is extremely helpful.

- Here is a picture of my splint.  Really looking forward to a cast.  You can see the foam pillow the hospital gave me.  It has been a lifesaver.  During the day I put another pillow on top to get more elevation.  If you doctor doesn't give you one of these, I recommend going out and finding something similar.  My leg never falls out while I am sleeping and I get more elevation than using a stack of bed pillows!