Day 43: First PT

My first PT appointment wasn't too painful. A lot of questions, a bit of examination, and just a few exercises to get my foot moving. But honestly only my toes got to move, my ankle wasn't really doing anything yet.

Tape Stitches Gone!

I did learn that in the opinion of my physical therapist I could drive wearing the boot. However, I decided to stick with my doctor's advice. He had told me that I could drive, but if I got in a car accident I would be found at fault because I was in a boot. With the luck we've had the past six months (heck who am I kidding??? The streak has been more like a decade, not 6 months!) I decided to play it safe and just not drive while I was wearing the boot.

Day 36: Weight Bearing with crutches!!!

You would NOT believe what freedom comes from just being able to put your foot down and bear weight on it!

It had been an uneventful week really. I had progressed to bringing my injured leg into the shower and washing it! (Oh blessed loofah sponge! You are Heaven sent!) There were A LOT of tape stitches back there so they weren't falling off any time soon no matter how hard I scrubbed. 

Bright and early on the morning of the 36th day, I got to start bearing weight, and just like that it felt as if I had hit the summit of this long, long journey. Until you have to do it,  you just don't get how hard using only one leg can be.  Just being able to put my foot down when getting up out of a chair was sweet, sweet freedom. It felt a little like winning the lottery! I had made it through the non-weight bearing phase! Can I get a hallelujah?

Day 29: Bye-bye cast!

So after seeing him literally twice a week the first two weeks after surgery, I made it through my doctor's ENTIRE vacation without any problems. My visits though literally started and ended his vaca. I was his last appointment before leaving for vacation and his first appointment after his return. I guarantee I was happier to be there bright and early the Monday after his vaca than he was. I was so anxious to have my cast removed I could hardly contain myself.

While I had only been in this specific cast for 10 days, it had been three weeks of casting and I was ready for some freedom!

 It was time to say goodbye to my pretty pink cast.

The cast came off with very little drama. Stitch removal was a bit intense. I guess cuz an ankle is so wrinkly and creased some if the stitches were pretty deep in there. I toughed it out because nothing was dampening my joy on cast removal day!

He inspected my incision, gave it a thumbs up, slapped some tape stitches over it, and sent me on my way with these instructions:

*3 days... before getting it wet. Then just let tape stitches come off naturally.

*Non-weight bearing for one more week. Then start bearing weight with crutches.

*A week after that start PT.

*A week after starting PT start taking out the wedges once every two weeks.

*Come back in 6 weeks.

That was it! I practically FLOATED out of his office I was so excited!

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 17: Post-op Appointment

My long-awaited post-op appointment involved x-rays (everything looked great), inspection of my incision (I had a hematoma that bled pretty bad), and re-wrapping the whole thing back up in the plaster splint/cast.

The doctor said everything was on schedule. I needed to return in two weeks for another check-in.

We hit rush hour on the way home, so I was miserable by the time I got back in my recliner. So. Much. Pain.

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.