All Good Things Come to Those Who Wait

I forgot to mention a few good things that have also happened in the last week.

yes, I am wearing shorts you pervs.

I stood up sans boot for the first time! I only did this for a few seconds though. My balance is way off from favoring my left side for so long. That is not a cast you see. It's actually what they put on you before you get a cast. I can't tolerate wearing a regular sock yet, and this is thin and has zero elastic in in. It was definitely a weird feeling standing up on two feet. I do it a little bit each day to get used to it. It's nice to be able to stand up at the bathroom sink to brush my teeth instead of sitting on the toilet or tub ledge.

You can really see the size difference of my legs in this picture. I do a lot of leg exercises in physical therapy, and I am starting to get a little muscle tone back in my quad. I've actually started to do leg raises on my left side to start balancing my butt out. I'll be able to bounce a quarter off it come summer.

So what else happened? OH YEA.... Anyone who has had any sort of leg surgery or an ex-fix knows that pants are a tricky thing to wear. I spent the last 4 months in cut up pajama pants and pants with the snaps on the side. The day I stood up on my own, I decided to be extra ballsy and put some real pants on. JEANS, PEOPLE! I PUT ON REAL DENIM JEANS.

It felt different, that's for sure. I have to really strap the boot on tight to compensate for the extra bulk of the pant leg.

Now I am all caught up.

I will be getting measurements taken on Saturday at PT to see if the swelling has gone down. I see Dr. Arndt on the 22nd as well. Let's hope he sees some improvements!

Thanks for reading,
Vanna

Catch Up!

Ok ok ok. Every time I turn on the iPad, I see the Blogger app and realized I haven't written anything in over two months. My bad. It has been a CRAZY few months.

My doctor had warned me about pin-site infections, and so did my home nurse. I cleaned the sites as instructed, and kept my leg covered at all times outside of showering. It still got me though. One of the pin-sites got a nasty little infection. It was bothering me a bit one night, so I cleaned it again before I went to sleep. By the time I had woken up, it was red, puffy, and leaking god knows WHAT out of it. I could barely move my entire leg because of the pain. I made a call to my nurse to see if she would come check it out, but she told me to call Dr. A immediately, and that she would follow up. I thankfully did not need to go in and see him, and he just sent a prescription over to Walgreens for me. Augmentin was a bitch. They were huge horse pills that made me very ill. I still can't even look at blue Gatorade without remembering projectile vomiting blue. Two weeks of pills later, the infected site finally started looking and feeling better.

This was just in time to take an emergency trip to Florida with my sister to take care of some family business. I don't recommend flying with an ex-fix. First off, we had to fly Spirit because the trip was booked 4 days before we left. They had next to no leg room and the seats were uncomfortably close. The cabin pressure left my foot swollen for the entire time I was in Florida, which left me bed-ridden.

my poor swollen leg in Florida.

Oh, I almost forgot that right before I went to Florida, I had another follow up visit with Dr. A. I had some X-rays taken and everything looked great. He said the infection site was healing nicely and that I shouldn't have any more issues with it. I also got to set my ex-fix removal surgery! MARCH 19th! (spoiler alert...) What a relief to have an end date in sight!

So now let's fast forward. Since that appointment I have:
Gone to Florida
Spent countless hours apartment hunting, and found a place for my boyfriend and I to live
Had my ex-fix taken off, my bone spurs shaved down, and my ankle scoped
Helped my sister's boyfriend propose to her
Had the most excruciating post-op visit to have my boot put on
Went to my first Chicago Blackhawks game
Started physical therapy (I'm actually starting week THREE today)
...and most importantly............shaved my leg!


My removal surgery was out-patient so I was in and out and home before I knew it. I still cried like a baby before surgery though! At least I am consistent. Thankfully the anesthesiologist gave me a bit of Versed before I went to the OR so I wasn't screaming again. I remember him staring at me waiting for it to kick in and then telling him I was floating. When I woke up from surgery I finally got those damn Teddy Grahams that I didn't get the first time around!! I took some time to recover before they told me to get out. They sent me packing with a prescription for more Norco and more Augmentin. Yay..... :-/

Taken a day or two before my removal. Look at that dry skin!

Post-surgery Teddy Grahams! Look how excited I am!!

NO MORE RAGE CAGE!

A week and change later, I was back at the doctor's office to have my dressings removed. Dr. A had been on vacation since my surgery so his office was PACKED. My sister and I got to see a kid from juvie come in shackles and an orange jumpsuit to have a cast taken off. That was pretty funny. What WASN'T funny was my appointment. To start, having to look at bloody bandages is disgusting. Even my sister was sick. Then Dr. Arndt comes in and just starts bending my ankle every which way he wants. After 3 months of not moving it...I can't even describe the pain. I was screaming and crying and sweating like crazy. Then I had to have my stitches removed from the scope sites. Then I had to have my boot fitted. I was so sick and light-headed after my hour long appointment that I had to take a wheel chair out. It was awful.

the boot

so much velcro!

So like I said earlier, I am starting week THREE of PT today. I do a lot of range of motion exercises and stretching in my sessions. My therapist also gives me foot massages to help the swelling in my foot/ankle/leg. The best part of therapy is this machine that flows ice cold water through a wrap around my foot. It's called the Game Ready. It is very relaxing. I highly recommend Athletico for PT if you are in the Chicago-land area! Everyone at my office is super friendly.

We are all caught up now. I'm going to end with some pictures of life, PT, and my foot.

post ex-fix removal. nice and swollen. The really dark mark in the bottom right pic was the hole that was infected.

Freeze&Squeeze/Game Ready

Beardo and I at the Hawks game

Taken before they lost. We both need hair cuts.