Day 146: Three parties

Well.... we had THREE parties to attend. I promise you we are NOT that popular. It just so happened that it was a popular party day.

I had been nervous about this day ever since we received our third party invitation.  How would I manage to NOT overdo with that much partying? Would I be able to elevate? Would I set myself back again? Mostly, how would I live 8 entire hours without my beloved packages of frozen vegetables... (it's what the cool kids use for ice packs... actually maybe it's what the cheapskates use... either way.)

Well I'm happy to report I made it through all three parties (and an unplanned trip to Wal-Mart to replace the flowers I bought too early.... yes Cori, you were right) and am not even that worse for the wear.

My swelling is a little worse than it normally is in the a.m.,  and my foot is aching a little. I'm also pretty stiff when I walk, BUT I'm very hopeful that a day of taking it easy will get me right back on track.

You may be asking yourself... "Well how did she do all that partying without totally overdoing?" It's a four part answer:

1. Humility... Most importantly I slayed my pride. I let John drop me off... I used the electric scooter cart at Walmart... I accepted an arm to help me hobble.

2. Elevation.... I put my foot up whenever I could. When my foot gave me the throbbing "you're going to be sorry" signal,  up it went!

3. Ice... The very SECOND I got home I was on ice. In fact we stopped home before our final party of the day, and I iced then too.

4. Rest... I'm taking it EASY today.  Hannah woke up sick (prolly just too much party food) so we're staying home from church too which will give me even more time to recover.

Baby steps... I'm getting better (and wiser) every day.

Day 126: Stepping in poo

Yesterday was trick-or-treat at the campground.  The VERY first thing that happened was I stepped in a pile of poo with my Bledsoe Achilles boot. It was such a perfect metaphor of my life.  Whenever possible, I seem to step in a huge pile of poo, both literally and figuratively.

Because I'm in the midst of this flare up/setback and because the campground bans golf carts at trick-or-treat due to irresponsible drinkers, I was sentenced to man the candy bowl at the campsite. Even that, sitting at the campsite handing out candy, was strenuous for this bum foot. I spent the drive home lying on the floor of the minivan with my feet up on the back seat in search of some relief.

Lying on the floor of the minivan

Elevation at its finest

At least the view was good

By the time I got home and unwrapped my foot I could tell the swelling was noticeably better.  The pain is a little better too, but I am remaining committed to my rest-this-Achilles-TOTALLY-until-my-doctor-appointment course of action.  So... the boot stays on today. Praying this does some more good...

Day 125: Hello darkness my old friend

The downward slide continues. Now in addition to awkward swelling, I've added some significant pain when walking.  I am SUPER discouraged.  The Jami mindset does not make allowances for backward steps 😢 I see the doctor on Tuesday for my next follow up appointment so I'll get his opinion then,  but for now I'm taking some HUGE steps backward to give my foot some rest. It's not an innovative concept,  but I'm praying it will help RICE.

1. Rest... Hello darkness my old friend.... I put the boot back on to give my Achilles a rest. Gosh, I did NOT miss this thing!

2. Ice... Continuing my ice obsession. Upped my game by buying 4 more packs of frozen peas. Ice is pretty much my best friend right now. 

3. Compression... at PT they advised I wrap it with an ace bandage to squeeze the inflammation out... I've got that going on inside my boot.

4. Elevation... as often as possible I've got this foot up.  But I do NOT like being back to doing nothing for myself.

Stay tuned.... I'll update after my doctor appointment Tuesday.

Day 123: Battery Pack Bandaid

It was Tuesday... I promise you,  I remembered the Walmart debacle. Before I left the house,  I said to John,  "A quick trip to Aldi won't overdo, will it?" It would.... ohhhhhh it would.

In the second-to-last aisle, I realized it. Before I got to the register,  I text John, "Foot not doing well." When I collapsed into the driver's seat, I nearly cried.... I overdid again.

This time, though, I got a nice little booby prize for overdoing.... by the next day,  a lump of localized swelling had developed right over my Achilles. It made my ankle look kind of deformed. It hurt... some, but not too bad. I was icing and elevating like a madman,  but by this morning it wasn't really changing.  I rescheduled my PT to get an opinion from the head therapist. 

Good news: he doesn't think I damaged it...  bad news: I seem to have a bit of tendinitis flaring up. We took it easy wth exercises (I didn't have much choice cuz I was in a bunch of pain) then they sent me home with this George Jetson like bandaid.... it has some kind of anti-inflammatory medicine in it and a battery too... for 14 hours it will be delivering medicine to my tendon in the hopes of reducing the inflammation.

Jami always has to have a lesson... a takeaway to make the pain worthwhile... but honestly I'm struggling to get my bearings here... I think for now my takeaway is: save my steps for the good stuff (going to church, parties,  the campground) and leave the mundane (Walmart, Aldi, Pick N Save) in the hands of my CAPABLE assistants.

Sigh... signing off for the night... praying this high tech bandaid does it's magic.

Day 113: Overdid

Well.... I got cocky.... and the results were pretty disastrous..... or at least pretty painful. Yesterday at the pool, it was like I was just back to normal. So in my ultimate wisdom I decided I was ready for more. I went to Walmart all by myself. I shunned the embarrassing little handicapped person scooter, opting to just lean on my cart as needed.

My first mistake was in grossly underestimating how long I would be walking around Walmart. I started a timer to count it as exercise. I figured I might get in almost 30 minutes. When I got back to the minivan, the timer said 1 hour and 16 minutes. 😨

My second mistake was in thinking that because I could walk from my chair to the pool I was ready to walk around the entirety of Walmart. I. was. not. ready. 😣

The problem, as I explained it over and over again to those who glared at me because I overdid it, is that you don't really know you are in the process of overdoing it. You can't know until you've overdone it. That verb tense right there is my entire struggle right now.

These tragic mistakes set me back several days. I had to really up my icing game and sit my big butt back in my recliner more often. But I learned a valuable lesson:  one hour of walking is a no no.

Day 108: Demoted back to the recliner

So on Monday, I graduated myself to an office chair🎉🎉🎉,  but by Wednesday I was demoted back down to a recliner ☹

My foot has to be elevated or the swelling is UNREAL by end of day.  Also when I'm in the recliner I ice more often.

So I've given up my dreams of an office chair for now. Recliner all the way baby!

Day 100: My own plan

So much of my day is spent on my rear end working at a computer. I decided that even if I leave my boot off all day long, I wouldn't spend more than a couple hours actually walking anyways. So the second day, I developed my own plan.

When I get up in the morning, I take off the boot. When I walk around, I wear two shoes. When I'm sitting at my desk (still in my recliner with my foot elevated), I take the shoes off and for the first 10 to 15 minutes of sitting there, I have ice on my Achilles.

As the day draws to an end, I just pay close attention to how my leg is feeling. If it is feeling fatigued or at all painful then I pop that boot back on. I'm also sleeping in the boot still to keep my foot in a good position all night long.

Day 19: A pretty pink cast for my birthday

Since Wednesday, my pain had been escalating.  It was my BIRTHDAY, and I was MISERABLE. I couldn't get comfortable.  My foot felt like it was going to swell right out of the splint/cast thingy. I was CONSTANTLY using ice on the back of my knee, and I was flat on my back with my leg up on the wall at the head of my bed most of the day. Nothing brought me relief!

I reluctantly called the doctor again. I felt like such a stalker. The nurse assured me that Dr. Fischer would want to check me AGAIN and make sure I was doing okay. So I begrudgingly scheduled an appointment, ON MY BIRTHDAY.  ☹

Everything looked GREAT he said.  But for a reason I didn't really understand, he decided to put a full, real fiberglass cast on. (Thank you,  Jesus! This did the trick!)

I chose pink because... well it's PINK. My foot looked all deformed like a duck-billed platypus,  but I didn't CARE.  This felt SO much better!

duck-billed platypus

We headed home. It felt like my b-day was a TOTAL wash until Tiffany Wier showed up with a birthday cake that she SAID was made at Wal-Mart,  but I know that angels really made that cake in Heaven. (It was THAT good.) Then Christina and Matt brought their gorgeous lil girls by to cheer me up. So my birthday ended on a good note, and I got a pretty pink cast too.

Legs up the wall. The ULTIMATE in elevation!

Day 9: More pain meds

The next day I called the doctor about the pain.  Just to be sure my cast wasn't too tight, they wanted me to come in to get checked out.  They unwrapped the whole cast contraption, said the stiches looked great, then wrapped me up with more padding this time.

The doctor attributed my extreme pain to how extensive the injury and its repair were and prescribed a second pain reliever to be taken in conjunction with the first. That did the trick, and I was finally able to sleep a little at night.

I still wasn't ready to go back to work that day or the next.  It ended up I was off work three days total: the day of surgery and then two more days recovering. Because I work from home, I was able to return to work on the third day after my surgery by simply pulling my recliner over to my desk so I could work with my foot elevated. Ice is my best friend. 

Day 8: The Surgery

Monday, May 22, I arrived bright and EARLY for my surgery. There were the usual Kastner debacles: check-in was MESSED up, they couldn’t verify my doctor’s privileges at this hospital… You know, the kinda stuff that ALWAYS seems to happen to John and Jami. However, after a few delays, I was on my way to the OR. I remember being wheeled in, my doctor greeting me just outside the OR, and then nothing until I woke up. After the surgery I through, this was a piece of cake! I don’t feel ANYTHING at all. This is gonna be NO problem.  (The anesthesia just hadn’t worn off.)

Post-op

When he came to talk to John in the waiting area, my doctor told John that this was “the worst damage” he had ever seen. He even pulled out his cell phone and TOOK PICTURES to share with his doctor buddies. (Avert you eyes if you get easily queasy.)

My Achilles was basically shredded, non-existent, barely even there. He also said that he “had to shave a lot more” off my heel bone than he thought he would have to. Basically, in true Jami fashion, I made my doctor’s leader board for AWFUL injuries.

I got home, crawled up the stairs, and got myself situated in the recliner I would basically live in for the next three months. Still I wasn’t in much pain. My worst complaint was the itchy, sore throat from the intubation, until bedtime. 

The view from my recliner

A little before bedtime, the anesthesia wore off. I was using my pain meds as instructed yet STILL I did not sleep ONE wink that night.  I would literally take a pill and about 30 minutes later get a bit of relief. I would just start to doze off and then 45 minutes later I would jolt awake in INTENSE pain and sit there waiting for the next 2 hours and 45 minutes to pass before I could take a pain pill. It was MISERABLE.

As instructed,  I kept my leg elevated most of the day. I also lived and died by an ice pack on the back of my knee.