Today is my 2 week anniversary… Woo-hoo…
Tomorrow is my 1st follow up, and that I’m actually happy for. Means the possibility of giving myself a quick foot, ankle, and calf massage before getting a new cast.
So I have been working from home for a week, but today I went into the office for the first time since my surgery 1 week and 6 days ago.
Catching up with everyone got extremely tiring… There was talk about bringing in food to “celebrate” my return, but it didn’t happened. We have a fairly close group of people, so I’m sure it will happened soon. In retrospect, it might have been better today, as we all could have caught up while eating, and then started working. As it was, it just meant a lot of talking. Which don’t get me wrong, was nice after the majority of the past week I only talked to my dogs, but it meant I didn’t really start working until about lunch. Which then meant I didn’t leave until about 5:45.
Pain-wise I was fine until about 3:30, but then it hit in a big way.
By the time I got home all I wanted to do was lay down… which I did on the couch until it was time to go to bed.
Through most of the day I thought I’d break from the plan of only coming in on Tuesday and Thursday, and go in again tomorrow, but by the time I left I was thinking about working from home tomorrow, and now as I write this I’m thinking “don’t be a hero, work from home”. Thursday is a big day at work as we have a few major meetings. If I push it tomorrow, who knows what I’ll be like on Thursday, so it makes sense to work from home tomorrow.
With that decision, I’m wrapping this up and calling it a night.
I’m giving in and going out tonight… My beloved Colorado Avalanche are playing the Minnesota Wild in game 6 of the 1st round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Avs are up 3 games to 2, and neither team has won on the road. Tonight’s game is in MN, but the Avs are opening up the Pepsi Center to fans to watch the game.
Can’t afford to see a live playoff game, but this is free.
See ya all later, go Avs!
It was a very good game, but the outcome wasn’t the best.
I was out for about 5 hours, no pain meds, no beers, very little elevation, and I was able to handle it pretty good.
I did learn one very important thing tonight… It doesn’t matter how good you are on crutches (I’ve been called a crutch ninja), do not try to go down a crowded escalator… I made it safely, but I almost had to turn in my ninja card.
This weekend was pretty nice, at least for me. I was pretty much a bum. On Saturday I stayed in bed until 2 pm, and Sunday the couch was my friend. I only left the house twice… Once for a late lunch on Saturday, and then Sunday breakfast at Village Inn with my daughter.
my recovery, while still in the beginning stages is wearing on my daughter. She’s 17, and feels that life is boring. And with the way I’m laid up, I can’t argue with her. The difference is I like boring.
A little background…
I’ve been battling depression for a few years now. In attempt to kick start me, my daughter asked her mother to move back to CO from NY. The agreement we made was that she’d like in my house, but pay rent until she found a place of her own. We’ve been divorced for 12+ years and I have custody of my daughter. While not on great terms, I thought it was a good idea as things were getting tense with my daughter (part due to age, and part due to my depression). The thought was a few months and my ex would be out on her own, with my daughter splitting time between us.
That was 9 months ago, and for the last several months it has been “I’m moving out next month”.
Back in December, my ex-step daughter (my daughter’s 1/2 sister, and my ex’s 1st daughter from a previous marriage) also moved in.
It hasn’t been bad, but it hasn’t been good either.
And now that I’m laid up, they all have been helpful, but not fully. Sure they get me drinks, and help me migrate from the bedroom to the couch, but none of them truly understand how difficult this is for me. I know it’s difficult for them too, but it is not the same.
I’ve found out that one of the toughest things is feeding the 3 dogs. And now the youngest, but largest, just got neutered, so he can’t use the dog door due to his cone.
I just had a talk with my daughter that it was really important that she feed the dogs in the morning, and she said it depended of if she woke up on time for school. I explained how difficult feeding the dogs is, and all I could get was that she would try. Argh…
I tried to do 2 things today and failed.
While everyone was gone, I thought I would try to load the dishwasher. I quickly realized I couldn’t do this. I sorted the dirty dishes so loading would be easy, but that meant balancing on one foot for about 20 minutes before I gave up and crutch’ed it back to the couch.
Later I tried to get the clothes out of the dryer and hang up the shirts. After 6 tee shirts, I was done. Back to the couch.
I know they are trying, but just like I’m failing, so are they.
Been a few days since I’ve checked. Still doing ok, just tired of this no weight bearing crap. I know it is necessary, and I’m not going to just try to stand on my bad foot, but this sucks.
My 1st follow up is set for Thursday, 5/1. Getting my 1st cast off, but getting a new one on. I just hope I get a few minutes to rub (okay, gently) my left lower leg. I also hope I get approval for a knee scooter.
Been working from home all week, and other than the 2 days where I facilitated training webinar a, the week went well. The 2 days with the webinars were tough, very tough. But I know it was tough because of what I “did” or more importantly, what I had not done. I hadn’t elevated my foot.
To run the webinar, I’m not saying that I have to sit up, but it makes it a lot easier. The problem with sitting up is that means my foot is not elevated. Four hours (not counting any prep time or wrap up time) is too long not elevating. I know that, but I still did it twice.
when I over do it, my ankle does hurt, with the majority of the pain/aches being either on the bottom of my heel or in my calf.
The calf feels like a muscle pull, and I can massage it at least halfway decently by sticking my fingers inside my cast. The pain on the bottom of my heel seems strange. Is that normal, or has anyone else experienced that?
I wish that ice would help, but due to the cast, it seems to have minimal impact.
Sleeping has been okay, but I’m glad it’s the weekend so I can sleep in… Actually go to bed early AND sleep in.
Well that is it for now, unless I feel like adding more later.
Back working today, not in the office, but at home.
Started about 7 and wrapped up about 5:30, which included a nice nap in the afternoon.
I develop training programs for the cable TV industry, so I’m lucky that I can work from home when needed, plus lucky to have a boss that knows me and my work ethics to let me work from home for the next two weeks as needed.
Work was fairly easy as I attended a few calls and worked on my laptop. The hardest part was working off of my laptop screen as opposed to the large dual monitors at the office.
Also no pain meds needed or taken today.
Got out of the house again today; Easter brunch at my mother’s, plus a few errands. Probably only about 5 hours out, but that was about all I could handle.
In addition to brunch, I borrowed a toilet lifter/raise, or what ever it’s called. Getting up from or sitting down (on a toilet or otherwise) has been challenging. I’m sure it is for most people, but adding in the fact that my left knee (opposite my injured Achilles) has been worked on 5 times (4 scopes with an ACL reconstruction mixed in) raises the difficulty. I’ve actually been worried that all the extra stress on my left knee will not be good in the future. Not sure of any options though, other than making sure that I stand up correctly.
So far it hasn’t been the pain, but rather the fatigue that gets to me. I wasn’t expecting that. I was thinking/expecting the pain would be a lot worse, but it has been completely manageable. I’m taking my Percocet, but I’m not even needing to take the minimum amount (1 or 2 pills every 4 to 6 hours). Today I took one before heading out, and then another at the 5 hour mark… Or one before I headed out and one when I was done.
I’ve also been sleeping pretty well. I have sleep apnea, and use a cpap machine, and really haven’t had any issues since the injury sleeping.
The fatigue is a bit concerning, but right now I’m going to say it’s probably normal. I guess I would rather be tired than in pain.
Tomorrow will be an interesting day, as I’ll be returning to work, at least sort of as I’ll be working from home. The plan is for me to work all week from home, then 3days from home next week with 2 in the office. So with that, even though it is a bit early, I’m going to go to bed.
I hope everyone had a nice Easter. I’m just glad it’s over.
Got out of the house today.
Started by taking a “bath”. My tub is set up so that I can sit in the tub and have my splinted leg hang over the edge. Not as relaxing as a real bath or shower, but it was nice.
Went to my daughter’s basketball scrimmage, then took 2 of my daughters to lunch at a favorite hole in the wall Mexican restaurant.
Then home and a nap. Hard to believe how tiring the simple things are.
The b-ball game was fun, but it seems like people play ” let’s see how close to the guy’s elevated leg we can get”. I know it’s not true, but have others noticed that too? After the 3rd near miss and one painful bump, I put one of my crutches in the way to make it even more obvious to stay away.
I wish I could take my splint off so I could ice it, or really just feel the coolness of the ice. I can/do ice it, but I can’t feel it too much.
Think that’s it for now, but getting out was nice.
One thing I’m worried about is that my injury occurred while playing softball. I was playing softball in an effort to combat depression. I’m on depression meds, but I wanted to do something other than just the meds. You see I’ve played sports my whole life and have been generally happy.
My depression leads back about 7 years or so to my 2nd divorce, and increased after my 5th knee surgery (scope & clean up of partial ACL tear, followed by ACL reconstruction, followed by 3 more scopes to clean it up… Over a 20 year period).
I haven’t played softball since the last scope about 5 years ago. And really haven’t done much of any sports-related activities since.
Last fall I ran a 5k race with my daughter, and felt pretty good doing it, even though I really did not prep for it. That told me it was time to play softball again. I found a 50 and over league that was not rec ball, but not full on competitive either. It sounded like a very good step for me. The one negative was that the league played triple-headers, but only about 1 weekend a month.
And now that potential depression fighter is gone. And other than the month of no weight bearing, my biggest fear is the depression.
My depression is not where I want to hurt myself or others, but to be honest, I do not know if I would avoid something that would/could cause me harm. For example, if a car turned quickly in front of me, would I avoid it? I don’t know…
My fear is that by taking away what I had hoped to use to combat the depression (softball), and because of the “rehab” for an Achilles’ tendon is not just long, but also very little/none for the 1st month, where/what will happen with my depression?
If I was getting to the breaking point (not sure I was there or not), where am I going to be as the rehab progresses?
Slept though the night, so that is good.
I woke up about 6, in time to see my daughter leave for school. She’s a junior in high school and has been a tremendous help so far.
Took a pain pill and went back to sleep until my other daughter started getting ready for work about 9. She helped me migrate from the bedroom to the living room. In all it took about an hour for me to transition to the couch.
Now it’s time to start looking forward… I know, be patient. But life does need to move on.
Because of what I do for a living (Curriculum Developer, that really manages training development for Charter Communications), I can work from home when needed. And it’s needed now.
The plan right now is for me to rest the remainer of the week and weekend, then work from home all of next week, and then the following week, plan on going into the office 2 days (if possible) and working from home the other 3.
Agressive? Maybe, but my work is one of my passions, and while stressful at times, it is my escape as well. I love what I do, and it makes me feel better. So returning in this fashion I think allows me to heal both physically and mentally.
