I have a lot to be thankful for this year, despite it being one of the most difficult and trying years of my life.
I am thankful for my health. Aside from my foot issues, I've been pretty healthy! I am pretty sure that it's because I haven't been at work, and that I've spent most of my time inside away from people.
I am thankful for my family. We don't always get along, but with the passing of my grandma, I think we have gotten a lot closer. Everyone rearranged their schedules for every surgery I've had. I have also had the chance to see my extended family a lot this year. We are always a loud, nutty bunch when we get together.
I am thankful for Aaron. He has to deal with me day in and day out. He drives me to all my doctor appointments. He takes me out when I'm going stir-crazy at home. He does his absolute best to keep me in good spirits. He's amazing, and I'm glad we get to spend every day together. I will love him forever.
I am thankful for Bobbie, Toni, and Teri. We are on group text chat every day. I think we all keep each other from going bat-shit crazy. I'm a stay at home cripple, Bobbie is a stay at home mom to two (and sometimes four) kids, Toni is a student down in Arkansas, and Teri works all day. It honestly feels like we are just sitting around drinking coffee and chatting all day. It's even better when we can all be in the same place at the same time.
I think that covers the important stuff. I hope you all have a very happy thanksgiving!
I had my 6 week post-op appointment on Nov 1st, and what a happy day it was! Dr. Senall said everything looked GREAT!! I thought I would be getting my second cast, but things were progressing so well that Dr. S. put me in an air boot. I am still non weight bearing for the next few weeks, but at least I can wash and shave my little leg. Seriously... It's so thin I can feel my tibia and fibula.
I did, unfortunately, have to pull out two halves of stitches that they missed at my first follow up appointment. I'll allow it...it was a pretty gross mess.
The scar!
Boots and boots and all the boots. I'll be going as robocop for halloween next year
It's so weird to be in the least amount of pain I've been in for the last few years, but like I said, I haven't started weight bearing yet.
Outside of my foot issues, it's been a busy few weeks since my last blog post. I saw Bon Jovi with my mom for the third time this year (Tampa, once. Chicago, twice). It was an AMAZING show. The band has never disappointed us. Since the show ran very late, I decided to stay the night at her house instead of Aaron coming to pick me up at the United Center at 11pm. I am very glad I did because little did I know, that next morning would the last time I would see one of my best friends in the world, my dog Pepsi. My mom came home from work that night and found Pepsi in an indescribable amount of pain, sprawled out in the floor, and unable to move. My mom told me that she just new it was time to put her down. Pepsi was 15 years old. She had a very good life...we spoiled her rotten. It's still really sad, but each day gets easier.
The best in the world. I will always miss you Pepsi!
Halloween was pretty weak. It's one of my favorite holidays, and the cast and crutches made my costume choices very limited. Since Aaron and I loved The Book of Mormon musical, we dressed as Mormon missionaries. Very simple costume for a small house party at a friends house.
Hello, would you like to change religions, I have a free book written by JESUS
We went to our first Blackhawks game of the season on an extreme whim last week. I had a friend text me at 10 minutes to game time that tickets on stubhub were 10$ each. We ended up buying tickets and booked it over to the UC. We missed about half the first period, but the game was great, and the hawks won!
He's the best.
HAWKS WIN! HAWKS WIN!
That's it for today! My next appointment is in December, and I will hopefully be walking by then!
Some pre-op photos and one of me on a lot of drugs
Weeks one and two have come and gone since my ankle fusion. Aaron and I started off the day bright (dark) and early by leaving the house at 4am since I had a 5am check-in time. Once I was checked in, we moved to our pre op room so I could put my sweet hospital gown and socks on. Aaron's sister Rachel is a nurse at the hospital, so she came down to visit us before her shift was over. She works on the teeny tiny babies, otherwise I would have requested her to be my nurse.
I met with 100 different people who all looked the same in their scrubs. The anesthesiologist came and explained the nerve block to me. He said I had to be awake for it so that I could tell them if I was in any pain (aka if they hit the nerve). I had one injection near my sciatic nerve and one near my femoral nerve. I honestly don't remember having it done, or even leaving my pre-op room. Yay drugs, right?!
I was in recovery for quite some time since they were waiting for a room to open up. Unfortunately for me, there was some miscommunication between two nurses and Aaron. One told me that she called him and left a message so that he could sit with me, and when he called back, another told him no. So I sat there alone and in and out of sleep for what felt like hours. I couldn't even call him myself because he had all my belongings. I finally made it up to my room. I remember the guy who moved me telling me how pretty my toenails here painted. I tried to tell him that I wish I chose a more "autumn color" but I don't think he understood what I meant.
Aaron met me in my room at some point. He did some work on a video, and I did some work on catching up some zzz's. I was STARVING and nauseous at the same time. I was a clear liquid diet until the nausea passed, so I had some delicious chicken broth for lunch. Honestly, after all the food I had at the hospital, the broth was the only hot and tasty thing I ate. I did eventually switch to veggie broth after a recommendation from a nurse that it had more flavor.
My mom came by after work while Aaron went to have dinner with his sister, and my sister came by shortly after that. We chatted and watched TV, and my sister showed my this ridiculous video. If you want to know what the fox says, watch it.
I was only supposed to stay over one night, but due to the insane amount of pain I was in and the fever I couldn't break, I ended up staying two nights. I left Saturday afternoon and stayed at my moms until Sunday. Since then, I've just been hanging out in bed/on the couch. I play Lego Harry Potter on the xbox for half the day, and watch TV the other half. I'm thankful that all of my favorite television shows started up last week.
I spend a lot of time snuggled in my blankie.
Some times I nap backwards on my ottoman.
On the 4th, Aaron and I headed to the burbs to get my foot unwrapped and casted. I was (of course) hysterical getting my stitches out. I am pretty sure I counted 12 snips and pulls, but the lady that put my cast on pulled one more out. Aaron said the bandages were pretty nasty. I couldn't look. After the stitches were taken out, I had steri-strips put on and was sent to x-ray. I wish I would have taken a picture of what the inside of my foot looks like now. I have 6 screws and a plate!
Before xray, and getting my cast.
The cast is not as bad as I anticipated, but it's only been less than 24 hours. Talk to me in a month when I get my next one. Dr. Senall was very optimistic when he saw my films. He said I will get my next cast in about 4 weeks, and after another 4 weeks we might try a walking boot. WOO!
In non-foot related news, I got to see the Stanley Cup twice in two weeks. There was a photo-op at Millennium Park the day before my surgery, so I waited in line for about 3 hours. Thankfully I had nice line neighbors and my Kindle to keep me occupied. The second time, I happened to catch something on Twitter about the cup being at a restaurant down the street from our apartment. Aaron has never seen the cup before, so I treated him to a nice dinner, and we got to have our picture taken professionally with the cup.
