Yo Mom…you missed my heel!

First of all….Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Achilles gimps ;)- although I like getting together with family and eating turkey…my favorite holiday is tomorrow.  Unfortunately, I will be standing in line for over an hour on crutches

Ok…so at my 2 week post op my surgeon said everything was looking well.  He gave me the boot and told be to stay off the foot for two more weeks.  He told me to make an appointment for two weeks and at that point he would get me weight bearing and we would ‘move quickly to full weight bearing’.  Apparently his idea of quickly and mine are completely different.  I’m at 25% for two weeks at which point I have another appointment.  At that point he will move me to 50% for another week and then 75% for one more week.  That means by the time I’m walking (and starting physical therapy) I will be 8 weeks out of surgery.

He also denied my request for any type of ‘workout’.  He said ‘no’ to the recumbent bike because it would put too much stress on my Achilles, and although he would let me swim, I have a small section of my incision that is not completely healed so he doesn’t want me to have my ankle ’soaking’ in water.  It took me 4 1/2 months to lose 8 pounds (I am 40 pounds overweight) and I have now gained it all back plus 1.  I have never been good at dieting, and I’m afraid that I will have to go shopping for an entire new wardrobe by the time this ordeal is over.  I was so good about laughing things off and taking everything in stride for the first 4 weeks, but now I’ve become a horrible crabb ass and I feel like breaking into tears every time I think about 4 more weeks on crutches (and no visits to the YMCA).

Deanne (aka DREAMS)

Today I am officially 1 weeks away from PWB!!!  At my last appointment my surgeon said there is no reason why he didn’t foresee me going to PWB as tolerated at my November 25th appointment- I feel like a kid waiting for Christmas not knowing what exactly to expect, but knowing it’s going to be a good feeling.   I also am a bit nervous not knowing what my exact condition will be for Black Friday….we like to consider ourselves BF professionals so waiting until next week to really plan out is a bit bothersome…but I’m hoping to at least be able to balance well enough to grab items off the shelf.  Before that though  I have a few adventures to work my way through on crutches.  Our one-act team made it to the state theatre festival so I will spend the next three days attending performances and workshops and the next two nights in a hotel room (oh yeah….and three hours on a bus to get there).

I have been sleeping without the boot for two weeks now and I feel like I’m getting much better sleep than the first week with the splint on.   This may sound weird, but I can’t wait to start physical therapy- I just feel like if I could do something….anything…to work my way towards recovery.

I guess the fact that I haven’t posted in a while is a tribute to the fact that things have just been the same old same old.  Just out of curiosity….has anyone else noticed having ‘walking’ dreams.  At first I would wake up in a panic thinking I was re-injuring my Achilles….now I’m use to them, but they still come every other day or so.

I also finding myself  ‘forgetting’ about my situation every once in a while.  Monday I ran through McDonalds to grab a 32 ounce soda.  I pulled into the parking lot only to realize that there was no way I was getting the soda into the building.  The soda sat in my van all day…and I ended up buying a few cans out of the soda machine on my way in.

Deanne (aka DREAMS)

So I am now two weeks and two days out from surgery.  It was much easier to be patient with keeping my foot up when things hurt.  At first everything hurt, then somewhere around the time that I moved from a splint to a boot (day 10) I had calf pain for a few days.  Now other then some random incision pain I feel quite good.  The problem is that I still have two weeks until I can bear any weight.  I understand that there is less of a chance that I over stretch the tendon if I wait…but I just want to be doing something.

Ok…positives….I’m getting pretty damn good on these crutches, and I have finally got to the point where I can almost sleep through the night.  I have a few questions for all of you out there.

I’m just over two weeks post op and my incision is still oozing reddish/yellowish stuff mainly in one spot…not a lot  , but is it something I should be concerned about?  Did anyone notice a need to go to the bathroom more often.   I find myself getting up in the middle of the night (something I haven’t done since I was pregnant- and no that is not a possibility).  I was wondering if it had something to do with sitting around a lot more, or possibly the ibuprofen I’m taking once or twice a day (more for my back and shoulders than my ankle).  Also, I’m told that at my next appointment (in two weeks) I’ll be able to weight bear as tolerated…anyone have experience with how long it usually takes to go from there to crutchless?  I also am hoping that this needing to sleep a lot more thing is a phase.  I am use to going to bed between 10:30 and 11 and getting up at 5 to grade papers.  Lately I have been falling asleep by 9 and having a hard time getting up before 5:10….ugh.

I can’t wait to be one of the posters doling out all of the news about great strides and progress.

Deanne (aka DREAMS)

I went for my 1st post op on Wednesday excited to get rid of the splint.  During my pre-op appointment the surgeon indicated that PWB would be permitted somewhere between 1-3 weeks after my post-op depending on the extent of the damage when he got in.  The good news was that the surgery went well, but the bad news was that he wanted to err on the side of caution and have me wait 3 weeks longer until I put any weight on the tendon.  He indicated that his concern was that he didn’t want me to over stretch the tendon especially considering the fact that I was young and very active.  I was slightly disappointed, but perked up a little when he indicated that in all likelihood he would give me the green light to put as much weight on it as I could tolerate at my next appointment (the day before Thanksgiving….yeah).

I didn’t have a lot of time to even think about it because I had a long week ahead of me.  We had tickets that night to see the touring performance of Rent…and I was too excited to let anything bother me.  My cousin, who was on crutches last fall for a broken ankle, warned me to be ready for the stare down I would get while out in public….boy was she right.  It was almost like I was wearing a big neon sign that blinked “Give me a pity look”.  Nonetheless…the performance was phenomenal.

Yesterday our one-act cast participated in the sectional competition.  Much to our surprise, they were advanced to State competition.  We thought they had made good progress, but our Sectional is traditionally one of the hardest in the state to get through.  I was excited for them, and although I know it will be a tough 3 days on crutches,  I plan on making the most of it.  This morning, however, it dawned on me just how difficult two nights in a hotel room might be.  Here’s where I am looking for advice.  I know that the students will help me with my suitcase, and since I will have a room to myself I can use all of the pillows in the room to prop my foot up at night.  Here is my major concern - how do I manage to take a shower?  At home I have one of those little benches and a shower head that is removable.  Going two days without a shower is a bit disconcerting to me- especially because I know the days are going to be jam packed and I’m sure to do a lot of sweating.  I’m also a bit concerned about getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, and being able to move things around my hotel room.  Does anyone have experience with this?

Deanne (aka DREAMS)

One week post-op and I decided to head back to work.  It didn’t seem like that big of a deal- guidance was scheduled to show  all of my classes a computer program they have access to, so I figured I had a pretty easy day ahead of me.  I could touch base with my classes and see how far they got, and then I would have the rest of the hour to sit with my foot up and write lesson plans.  That said,  first hour I touched base with my class, we set a schedule, and we headed down to the computer lab…no guidance.  I called down to guidance…”we have you scheduled for tomorrow…oh…oops…we sent you the wrong date”.

So it was punt time (which, by the way, is easier to do with two feet on the ground).  I sucked it up and rolled around on my desk chair trying to salvage the rest of the day.  What it meant was a lot of trips down the elevator for copies, and very little time to put my foot up.  The end result is that it is now 4:40, and I am sitting up with a foot that feels like it is going to explode.  It doesn’t really hurt, but my foot feels a little like it did a few weeks before I gave birth when I was retaining so much water that my shoes didn’t fit.  In addition, my stitches have started to itch…a lot.  Has anyone had experience with this?  I have it up now and it seems to be getting better, but I don’t know if I should try taking some ibuprofen or acetaminophen (since I don’t have any pain).  I would try icing, but with the splint on that seems to do very little good.

I should say on a good note that I got through yesterday quite well.  I volunteered to work the beer stand at the Packer game, and I had a blast.  We parked about 6 blocks away because I didn’t want to pay for parking, so the trip into the stadium was a bit tiresome (but it really felt like an accomplishment).  I sat on a stool with my foot up taking money the entire game and really felt productive for the first time since the injury.  On the way out I only hobbled just over two blocks (far enough to clear the stadium traffic) then my cousin went to get the car and picked me up.

I just keep telling myself that every day is one day closer to walking.

Deanne (aka DREAMS)