Injured On A Skateboard

Of all the times I ever thought about my ordination I never once thought I would be using a wheelchair and crutches. I guess it just goes to prove that you never know what is in store for us. This past Saturday January 24th was the end and the beginning of a long road for me. I have been in the seminary studying and praying to be a Catholic priest for over nine years. I am writing about it on this blog because my ATR made things a bit more interesting. There are several moments during the ordination where I needed to kneel, stand, and prostrate myself on the floor. At some moments I was being wheeled around on my wheelchair and other moments the chair was taken away and crutches were given to me so I could get up stairs. Throughout it all I had to altar servers standing next to me to give me support when I need to stand or kneel. It was an incredible day and one that my ATR was not able to diminish! I have added a picture of me blessing people from my wheelchair.

Tags: blessing, crutches, wheelchair

Well as my title proclaims I received my first cast this past Tuesday. Actually this is the first cast that I have ever had in my life. I’ve never broken a bone or did anything that would require one until now.  My cast has my foot pointed at a pretty large angle as you can see from the picture.

I’ll have this cast on until January 29th which will be 6 weeks from my surgery. I am pretty happy that I am over halfway through my non-weight bearing stage.

I was supposed to receive another cast after this one that was going to set the angle of my foot closer to 0 degrees in preparation for the CAM boot, but thankfully I won’t need it. I went to the website for the VACOped boot and downloaded their pdf and brought it into my docs office. He had never seen it before, but liked it and thought it would be a good option for me. I called VACOped’s Massachusetts office and they gave me a dealer here in LA. To make this fairly boring story a bit shorter, I’ll get fitted for the VACOped at my next doctors visit at the end of the month.

I guess this is another example of the benefits of being a pro-active patient.

Tags: cast, surgery, VACOped

Well I was expecting to get my stitches out on the 30th, but that did not happen. I spent about 2 1/2 hours at the docs office. While I was there they took off the splint that was put on at the time of my surgery. Here is what things looked like.

These pictures are two weeks post surgery. Before I had the splint removed I was a bit worried about some pain that I was having. I had a stinging sensation and it felt like something was poking me. Once I saw the scar though I was relieved to see no redness or swelling that would indicate an infection. My doc poked around the wound which was not painful and said that the pain was probably a result of things healing up and not to worry about it.

So this is how I am as I enter into 2009. Next Tuesday I go in to have my stitches removed and my first cast put on. The protocol my doctor is following is as follows: 6 weeks non-weight bearing, 6 weeks in a walking cast, and 6 weeks in a cam boot. I know that this isn’t as agressive as some, but I am fine with it. I am not so worried about healing fast, but rather healing well, and if that takes time then it takes time.

Tags: cast, infection, pain, picture, protocol, swelling