Well, my follow up with my orthopedist is on Wednesday, and I'm mildly terrified. After my last follow up he seemed to think there was a chance he may release me for weight bearing after this next appointment - well, that day is almost here.
That may seem like great news - "woohoo, we may be free!" The problem is, it's a big MAYBE. The issue is that if 'maybe' becomes 'no-go', I'm screwed. The owner of the automatic truck I've been borrowing so I could drive needs his truck back. My own truck is a manual. I don't know anyone else who has an extra vehicle I can swap with I don't know if my work will be able to keep reimbursing my Lyft costs so I can get into the office.
Since "maybe" has two options, yes or no, and it's completely up in the air how that coin will land, and one of the two options leaves me in a lot of big pickles. Granted, that coin could fall the other way and life may finally move on, but as of right now I can't count on that and I'm mildly freaking out. I'm not usually one to freak out, but this has me freaking out.
Monday, February 27, 2017
Friday, February 24, 2017
As Time Goes On
The past couple weeks have been pretty routine - I've been in the office 3 days a week, just putting my leg up on my desk on a pillow, the hell with looking "professional." I've also been back at my part time job one weekend day a week.
Last week I started back to my chiropractor and a massage therapist. I also got going on the stationary bike. Overall, all of that seems to be helping, and my pain levels are definitely dimishing, although being the light sleeper I am it's just enough that as I'm falling asleep it'll bug me enough to keep me up - SO annoying, but one pain pill seems to be enough. Kind of annoying I need it to get to sleep, on the other hand, it's nice to have a few pain-free hours. I don't need anything else to stay/get back to sleep, just that initial falling asleep.
I'm feeling like I'm ready to think about walking on this thing, but I'm trying to be good until my appointment. I'm REALLY hoping for good news, I'm getting desperate for some reprieve, and sympathies seem from friends and work seem to have run their course, even for the most tolerant.
The swelling is becoming less and less of an issue, even when I don't elevate as much, so that's a good thing. I'm STILL dealing with that stupid fracture blister sore though! My doctor requested I keep it dry at my last visit, so I decided to give his advice a try - OMG, that was a bad idea. The wound got a nasty looking scab on it, started weeping again, and got BIGGER. Um, nope. I gave it a week, then I said the heck with that and went back to how I was treating it. In 12 hours, the nasty scab and stuff came off. Not quite a week after that I got some calcium alganate honey-infused dressings to see if I could get the wound to clean up. I've been using that for about 4 days now, and it looks like a nice, clean wound, although the edges don't seem to be creeping in like I would hope, but they've been sloughing off some thin pieces, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Overall though it looks WAY better. I have no idea why some doctors still think a moist wound will grow more bacteria when it's been proven over and over that is not the case....oh well, my doc is a great surgeon, but he's not a wound care specialist, so I'll go with my own research on this one.
Other than that, my toe-touch weight bearing has been fine, the bicycle has been good, as has beginning to stretch out the bigger muscle groups. The leg is feeling a little bit stronger, and has something that looks like it might turn into a muscle again someday. I'm still really hoping for some great news at my next visit and a chance to make it to the first race round of the year. Silly, maybe, but it would do SO much for my mental state (which is still pretty blah). We shall see. I have a busy weekend in front of me, followed by a couple work days plus an event, so it'll probably be here before I know it.
Last week I started back to my chiropractor and a massage therapist. I also got going on the stationary bike. Overall, all of that seems to be helping, and my pain levels are definitely dimishing, although being the light sleeper I am it's just enough that as I'm falling asleep it'll bug me enough to keep me up - SO annoying, but one pain pill seems to be enough. Kind of annoying I need it to get to sleep, on the other hand, it's nice to have a few pain-free hours. I don't need anything else to stay/get back to sleep, just that initial falling asleep.
I'm feeling like I'm ready to think about walking on this thing, but I'm trying to be good until my appointment. I'm REALLY hoping for good news, I'm getting desperate for some reprieve, and sympathies seem from friends and work seem to have run their course, even for the most tolerant.
The swelling is becoming less and less of an issue, even when I don't elevate as much, so that's a good thing. I'm STILL dealing with that stupid fracture blister sore though! My doctor requested I keep it dry at my last visit, so I decided to give his advice a try - OMG, that was a bad idea. The wound got a nasty looking scab on it, started weeping again, and got BIGGER. Um, nope. I gave it a week, then I said the heck with that and went back to how I was treating it. In 12 hours, the nasty scab and stuff came off. Not quite a week after that I got some calcium alganate honey-infused dressings to see if I could get the wound to clean up. I've been using that for about 4 days now, and it looks like a nice, clean wound, although the edges don't seem to be creeping in like I would hope, but they've been sloughing off some thin pieces, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Overall though it looks WAY better. I have no idea why some doctors still think a moist wound will grow more bacteria when it's been proven over and over that is not the case....oh well, my doc is a great surgeon, but he's not a wound care specialist, so I'll go with my own research on this one.
Other than that, my toe-touch weight bearing has been fine, the bicycle has been good, as has beginning to stretch out the bigger muscle groups. The leg is feeling a little bit stronger, and has something that looks like it might turn into a muscle again someday. I'm still really hoping for some great news at my next visit and a chance to make it to the first race round of the year. Silly, maybe, but it would do SO much for my mental state (which is still pretty blah). We shall see. I have a busy weekend in front of me, followed by a couple work days plus an event, so it'll probably be here before I know it.
Thursday, February 9, 2017
6 Weeks Post-Op Follow Up
This past Wednesday was my 6 week (more like 5 1/2 week) post-op follow up. I knew this was going to be the big on finding out whether things were moving along above average, normally, or poorly. I was apprehensive, and scared to here something like "indefinite, we'll see you in a month." I've been working hard to set myself up for the best outcome, but that doesn't always mean that's what you'll get.
I'm happy to report that things are progressing well. Overall, he felt like I was doing great, and he was pleased with where things were. The only outstanding concern is this stubborn blister sore that has hit a point where it's just stopped healing. I'm a little concerned it may have developed some slough over this part when it was still covered by the steri-strips (which I eventually pulled off because I could tell there was too much gross underneath them). It's a small wound, but it's not moving along. I may have to up the ante on that one.
Other than that, however, things were looking good. My ortho is of the opinion "wait until it's fully healed, then just move to full weight bearing," none of the progressive weight bearing some do. In his opinion, the risk of something going wrong in partial weight bearing far outweighs any benefit that might be gained. In my current case, I would have to agree with him - unless there are issues with something like a non-union or something, I agree that it's not worth the potential of severely/permanently messing things up.
So, my next appointment was set for 3 weeks out, when he seems to be under the impression there's a good chance I'll be looking at moving to weight bearing. I'm guessing there's going to be a steep re-learning curve going on, and it's probably going to hurt like a mother-f'er. but at least I'll be walking again - or attempting to LOL.
IF everything goes well, and I'm cleared to weight bear after the 1st, there's a good chance I'll shoot for making the first AFM round of the season - I'll be super slow, no doubt, and will probably only sign up for a couple/few classes because of that, but I think getting out there would do wonders for my soul at this point. This is something I'll have to play by ear, depending first on my report card in 3 weeks, but also on how quickly (or not) the leg starts standing up to things. If I can't ride the street bike, no way I'd attempt to race.
I also got cleared to begin using the stationary bike with no resistance, so hopefully that will help me build up some muscle again and get back into the swing of things that way, plus providing a little cardio again. If I can get back into the routine, I must admit I'm really looking forward to it!
Other than adding in the bike, and adding a little more work activity into my life, it's another 3 weeks of continuing what I've been doing - PT 2-3 times a day, working on getting some minor muscle work back in with my resistance bands, and I may see what my chiro can do as well. Keeping up on the supplements and starting to work on getting back to a healthier diet so I don't lose the weight loss I've managed!
I'm happy to report that things are progressing well. Overall, he felt like I was doing great, and he was pleased with where things were. The only outstanding concern is this stubborn blister sore that has hit a point where it's just stopped healing. I'm a little concerned it may have developed some slough over this part when it was still covered by the steri-strips (which I eventually pulled off because I could tell there was too much gross underneath them). It's a small wound, but it's not moving along. I may have to up the ante on that one.
Other than that, however, things were looking good. My ortho is of the opinion "wait until it's fully healed, then just move to full weight bearing," none of the progressive weight bearing some do. In his opinion, the risk of something going wrong in partial weight bearing far outweighs any benefit that might be gained. In my current case, I would have to agree with him - unless there are issues with something like a non-union or something, I agree that it's not worth the potential of severely/permanently messing things up.
So, my next appointment was set for 3 weeks out, when he seems to be under the impression there's a good chance I'll be looking at moving to weight bearing. I'm guessing there's going to be a steep re-learning curve going on, and it's probably going to hurt like a mother-f'er. but at least I'll be walking again - or attempting to LOL.
IF everything goes well, and I'm cleared to weight bear after the 1st, there's a good chance I'll shoot for making the first AFM round of the season - I'll be super slow, no doubt, and will probably only sign up for a couple/few classes because of that, but I think getting out there would do wonders for my soul at this point. This is something I'll have to play by ear, depending first on my report card in 3 weeks, but also on how quickly (or not) the leg starts standing up to things. If I can't ride the street bike, no way I'd attempt to race.
I also got cleared to begin using the stationary bike with no resistance, so hopefully that will help me build up some muscle again and get back into the swing of things that way, plus providing a little cardio again. If I can get back into the routine, I must admit I'm really looking forward to it!
Other than adding in the bike, and adding a little more work activity into my life, it's another 3 weeks of continuing what I've been doing - PT 2-3 times a day, working on getting some minor muscle work back in with my resistance bands, and I may see what my chiro can do as well. Keeping up on the supplements and starting to work on getting back to a healthier diet so I don't lose the weight loss I've managed!
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