Wow, long time...

So, things have really, really gone well with my ankle. I am now about 41/2 months post surgery. My ankle/foot only occasionally aches a bit, but never more than a 4-6. I am wearing my lace-up brace only when doing things like walking my dog or doing yard work. Not wearing heels yet, but I have several pair of nice sandals that have only a very low wedge type heel that I can manage nicely.

I am still in physical therapy...now doing more generalized strengthening and conditioning, with attention still being paid to my ankle, which the doctor said is good. One recent development is that I have been having pain in my LEFT hip (not the side of this surgery) which radiates down my leg. That freaks me out a bit because it reminds me too much of pain associated with the spinal fusion I had a few years back. Doctor Cullen said I have some bursitis there plus the PTs have been working with that hip. I am taking a generic for Voltarin and hope it gets better. If not, back to Doctor Cullen in a couple of months and he'll see what's up.

in the meantime, I am LOVING spending time with my grandson and now can carry him around and run around with him to my heart's content!!!! I am so grateful for such a great surgical experience and recovery!

Almost 6 weeks...

So, tomorrow would be six weeks out from surgery. All is going very well, I think!

I only have significant pain when getting up and walking after sitting for a time, and/or if I do a LOT of standing/walking. Minimal swelling is evident, though there is some in both my knee and my ankle. I am wearing my lace-up brace all the time like a good girl!

I drove for the first time yesterday and that is no problem at all and adds a great deal of freedom, of course!! Also I had my first physical therapy session today..just passive range of motion and stretching, but it was good and challenging. Pain only got up to about a 5 or 6. I will go 2 times per week for a while, but I think I am doing quite well. He even said I can take my dog for walks, as long as there are no big hills involved.

So, all in all a very good report!

Well, hello there, foot!

Well, hello, foot!!!

Wahoo! Got my cast off today!

It's been right at 5 weeks since my surgery, and three with the cast on. This past week, well on Wed., I have had a good bit of pain in my ankle as well as dealing with where the cast has been putting pressure on my shin.

I went today expecting that the doc was going to put me in a walking boot for 4 weeks as he has been saying all along. But, as he has been doing all along, he cut back on things and just put me back in my lace-up ankle brace!!! I need to wear it all the time, even to bed, and can start PT ASAP. The other awesome thing is that I can resume driving some time next week!!!

Trust me, the first thing I did when I came home was get in a hot bubble bath and scrub some of the dead skin off my leg and foot. There is still more, but for now I feel 2000 percent better! Oh, and I have a nice little knot on my shin from the cast. I am assuming that will go away...

Here are some pics of my "coming out" party!

some of the awesome signatures from my kids' choir and other friends!

signed by the awesome Holly T.

Preparing to remove the cast

Mostly this vibrating saw TICKLED!!!

I felt like a lobster at a fancy dinner. See the pliers she has??

Top half of the shell is off!

Peeling back the layers...

Not bad, I think! 

I like Dr Cullen and all, but it's time for his signature to be GONE!

So

I did not expect to get to wear shoes, so I had to wear a stockinette and my  cast shoe and walk VERY carefully!

So, now I just have to learn how to walk again! Right now it hurts a good bit to put any weight on my fore-foot. PT here I come!

Three weeks post-surgery

Well, my week with Doug gone is almost over and things have gone really well, all things considering. Thanks goodness the doc did not require me to be NWB this week! That would have been really, really hard.

As it is, I have not had to make my own dinner a single night! I am so blessed to have friends and family!

I have been up and walking a good bit and always afterwards I feel pretty uncomfortable. Everything from the knee feeling stiff and sore to numb/tingling foot to pain in the ankle and shin. One night a couple of nights ago, I woke up to terrible itching under the cast, and I think there was some swelling. I ended up putting the ice pack over the cast to cool things down, which did the trick and I was finally able to sleep again.

Last night I did go to church and lead rehearsals and I was really, really tired and sore after. No long term ill-effect, though, as I slept really well last night (with one pain pill). I plan to lead on Sunday as usual, which means a lot of time on my feet, but I think it will be fine....

Recovery is going way better than I had feared, and at most the pain level gets up to maybe a 6. Usually it's very low to negligible....

walking is tough!

So, I did not sleep much on Friday night after getting my cast on, and I think it was because I was so excited with the prospect of walking on it....will it hurt, etc....

So Saturday morning, I took my first tentative steps and discovered that the "freedom" the doc gave me to walk on it is not all that great. First, it's about three inches (with the "cast shoe" on the bottom....which is an essential thing to use!) higher, necessitating wearing a heel of some sort on my left foot (fine, since I have REALLY been missing wearing cute shoes!) or standing on my toes with me left foot or limping like some kind of character out of a really bad horror film. Second, the bottom of the cast is very rounded, making my gait incredibly awkward. Third, when I walk there is a lot of pressure on one particular place on my shin bone and that is rapidly becoming very, very painful. Also, any sort of extended walking makes the ankle hurt some. not bad, but some.

Wah, wah, wah. I know. I will get over it. But I think that when I am getting ready to go somewhere that requires walking long distances, I will probably take the crutches. At least for a time.

Yesterday was a pretty long and boring day, as Doug went down to work at Daniel and Mackenzie's and I stayed here in case I could help out another friends who I thought might need some company. I mostly rested and then did get up at times to do things like make the bed, sweep the floor (finally!!!!), wash and put away clothes....but I had to sit often because getting around, though great that I do not have crutches and thus have my hands free, is (as I already said before) pretty painful and tiring.

Waiting now on a ride to church, which will be great! More later!

Cast on and good news!

So, yesterday was probably the most uncomfortable I have been...much more swelling than before. Duly noted: keep the leg up as much as possible.

This morning was my doc visit to remove the surgical dressing, look at the incision and remove stitches (no staples...I thought there would be staples, but no, thank goodness!!) and get my new cast on. There were a couple of very pleasant surprises and one not so fun thing...

The med tech, who is very, very nice, removed the surgical dressing and cleaned everything up. My leg felt like leather to me and is pretty atrophied already. My ankle was not that swollen at all, though my toes were. The ankle and foot were also pretty red, not "bruised", just very red. She and Dr Cullen said it was ok, though. MAN if felt good to rub (and even scratch just a little, though I tried not to) the skin that I had not been able to get to! There were definite indentations in my skin where folds of padding had been, and that is where the worst itching had been.

Dr. Cullen himself put the new cast on...a spiffy black one. My kids will be able to sign it with a silver marker. Given the choices of white (would look awful pretty fast, I think) , "cammo", hot pink, day-glo orange, and navy blue, black seemed the best option. The warmth from the fiberglass curing actually felt great on my poor skin! And the best news ever: Dr. Cullen said that after just 24 hours, I can start WALKING WITHOUT CRUTCHES!!!!!!!! Not that I need to be up very much, but I feel much, much better about being able to deal with Doug being gone without having to use crutches. Wahoo!!

The one bad thing was when he extended (not that bad) and then bent my knee. The bending hurt like hell and I cried a little. I am going to be doing leg extensions (using the cast as a leg weight) a LOT to try and work that knee out. MAN, that hurt!! Generally, all was good, though. I think taking this Sunday off leading is a must, and then hopefully I will be good with the walking and can lead next week, though I will probably sit in the choir loft with my leg up in between all songs (instead of in a chair with my leg down). No big deal!

Now my goal is to get someone to drive to get a pedicure....I will pay for them to have one too!!! Hmmmmm....  Oh, and don't look at the pics if you are hinky about a little blood and stuff. It's not too bad, though.

So, here are pics of the process. Thanks, Doug, for taking them even though I know you would have preferred not to even really watch! :)

ok, so maybe....

I did do a little too much too early.

Though I would definitely do it all again!

Yesterday, I did go to church for dinner and then to lead the kids' and adult choir rehearsals. It was so great to see everyone and to hear them all sing. Doug helped me get situated with a pillow on a stool on which I could rest my leg, so it was all good. It did not  hurt or anything, but my leg/foot started feeling like it was swelling some towards the end of the evening. Then, I did not sleep very well (did not take anything, or feel I needed to) last night. So today I am taking it a little easier and trying to ice my knee as much as I can. It's pretty swollen today and the knee and ankle both are a bit more uncomfortable than they have been. I did take some advil today, and it's certainly manageable! It certainly confirms that I am not ready to lead on Sunday, though...

So today I have worked to get everything ready for Sunday and I think i have that done. Doug will go in for Praise Team rehearsal and get it all on the computer. Things would be much more problematic (all over the place) without him!

What a day!

So, it's been another couple of days since I wrote here. It's Tuesday and last I wrote was Sunday morning!

Sunday afternoon was indeed fun as Jack and Patty along with Ben and Jenn and Jackson came over and we had delicious homemade enchiladas for lunch! Later, after the kids left, Jack and Patty and Doug and I decided to go on a "grandparents" mission to purchase Jackson's birthday gift at Costco: a big old play structure! It will be so much fun to build and for him to use, I am sure. It was a beautiful day and we took the mini with the top down...I just propped my leg up on the dash. Wonderful!

Yesterday was Valentine's day and, according to our traditions going on 30-plus years, I was determined to make a red velvet cake for Doug. This I did, along with running a couple loads of laundry and folding some of it. I was pretty tired and a bit sore after but everything turned out nicely.

Today Marshall and little Gracie came for a visit in the morning and I then spent the rest of the day doing planning and development for work. Got a lot done, but there are some scheduling issues that have several of us quite stressed out. I am convinced that things will eventually work out, but I hate seeing others stressed out over someone else's failure to do their job properly. You just have to trust that all will be resolved to the good in the end, but that is much, much easier said than done when it's your own responsibility!

I have decided that I am going to go in tomorrow night to lead rehearsals. I am soooo excited to see everyone! I did not want to wait until Doug was gone next week for my first time back. This way he can help me get physically situated and I think that will make next week much easier. I almost have everything done for the service on Sunday already, and all the info sent in for the bulletin, so that should be fine. I may try to attend the 11:00 service on Sunday, but not lead it. I miss everyone so much!

All in all, recovery is going well. Pain is very managable...more discomfort associated with swelling and feeling that against the splint and dressing. There have been a few "twinges" today and last night, but nothing awful. All in all, I think my knee is more uncomfortable right now than my ankle. Of course, my ankle is well-protected and stable, and my knee probably is getting more stress because of the weight of the splint and dressing....

Quiet, quiet Sunday morning!

I guess I missed a couple of days...but it's been good.

Jennifer and Jackson came by again on Friday and brought us lunch, which of course was great. And THEN after Doug was finished working, we went on a "road trip"! I wanted to pick up something for all the kids for Valentines Day, so we went to Costco to get them some movie tickets and then to Target for cards and stuff for Jackson. I rode in the little motorized carts in both places. Felt like a cart NINJA at Costco...the motor is so very quiet that people just do NOT know you are coming up behind them, which is NOT a good thing. Those things do not stop very quickly, so I kept worrying about running someone over if they turned suddenly in front of me. No accidents, though, so that is good. Then Ben and Jenn and Jackson ended up meeting us at Target, so Jackson rode around in my lap. That was GREAT! He kept saying "EEEEEE" which is his word for "Wheeeeee", which is also what he says when riding in my car. :)
All around, a good time. It was pretty cold out, so my toes got fairly chilly. My foot and knee did not hurt that much more, though, at night, so I did manage to keep things elevated enough, I suppose.

Saturday Doug went to Daniel and Mackenzie's to work more on the encapsulation of the crawlspace project. I went along for the change of scenery. I spent the day on their couch reading and napping. I am NOT used to being so lazy and I cannot say I liked that. I liked being there, but not the enforced inactivity part. Saturday night we all met up at our house for a family dinner...all my kids and Jackson! Dinner was wonderful, and it was great having them there.

I can see how someone with mobility issues could become isolated and/or depressed. It's so easy for me to let myself feel "left out" in big group situations. Not that I usually talk all that much in big groups...I really do not. But my "role" is usually to be busy cooking or cleaning or playing with Jackson, and I could do none of that. So I just sat and listened to the conversations that others were having most of the time. In the "current events" category, I kinda suck right now because there is not a lot new going on with me and nobody wants to hear more about my ankle/knee! I do not mean any of this to complain: it was great having everyone here. Just an observation that I hope I will use in the future to be more empathetic towards those who might be feeling a bit isolated when, in reality, they are not.

Doug left early this morning (our usual time) to work sound for church. I heard him get up but did not even hear him leave. I have really been sleeping well, which is a blessing. We will see how it goes when I stop taking a pain pill at night! Also, how it is when Doug goes out of town in a week. I am frankly dreading that.  A bit later on, the Storeys and Ben and Jenn and Jackson are coming over to make enchiladas for lunch and I am very excited about that and about seeing them. AND it is a GORGEOUS day out....maybe I will go and sit on the deck or on the bench out front at some point.

The pain level is quite manageable. As I said, one pain pill at night and then either advil or Excedrine in the morning is all I am taking. I have been icing my knee (can't get to my ankle) on and off during the day. My arms and shoulders are a bit sore from the crutches, but nothing terrible at all. I am soooo tempted to remove the dressing to look at my ankle and leg. I will not do it, but I cannot wait to see what it looks like under there!

One week post-op

Well, I am definitely feeling much better than I was a week ago! I am glad to be this far down this road.

Today is the first day that I really have done no work. I finished a really good book, though! First time I have done a lot of recreational reading like that in a long time.

I had the idea that if Doug would put the dirty clothes in the laundry room, I could sort them and start a couple of loads, which I did. I find that my leg is a bit more uncomfortable today than it has been. If just feels hot and swollen and kind of sore at times. I really don't think that I have done that much more, but Doug thinks I have.

All I know is that I am going pretty stir crazy. Doug is upstairs working all day and generally after we eat, he heads down to work in the workshop for a while. I am so glad he has that and enjoys it, but this is the time of night I really wish for someone to talk to. I feel awkward calling people, though, because it's also generally the time that families get together or people who have been working get to relax. So, that is just something to deal with. Thank goodness for the internet, TV and good books!

Great friends brought dinner again and one of those friends, Ruth, came for a visit, which was fantastic.

So aside from a bit of discomfort, and a lot of stir-crazyness I am doing well. I slept fine last night after taking the pain meds, so I plan to do the same tonight.

Really good day!

So, I wrote my post about yesterday this morning. The rest of the day turned out very nicely! I spent time writing thank-you's for all the wonderful meals and treats we have been brought, and finishing up some work things for Doug to take tonight. Then Jennifer brought Jackson over, and they also brought some lunch stuff. It was so great to have them here for a while!! Jackson even spent time in my lap and also playing with his Granddaddy. Just could not be better!

After they left I had a relaxing afternoon finishing up the notes and work stuff and watching some movies/resting. Doug went to dinner and then rehearsal/inputting things in the computer and Ben and Jenn brought my dinner over a bit later. After Doug got home, I actually took a bath! The dry-cast thingey works well, but I feel like it should be longer. It just wants to roll down over my knee (which is still swollen) and I worry about it's constricting that area and causing some sort of issue with clots or something. I did not take a really long, relaxing bath, BUT I got myself into and out of the tub with no issues and feel so much better!

So now, my foot and ankle are starting to do a strange pins-and needles thing and it is a bit achy. I will definitely do the meds tonight. And the "pins and needles" is not the tingling you think about when your foot is asleep. It's the sensation that something is actually sticking me in the outside of my foot. Very localized and very strange. I hope it stops soon!

So here are some pictures from this day:

My sweet daughter-in law and grandson

Happy little boy!!!

Happy, happy Nanna!

He was very content for a bit and so was I.

keeping on...

Yesterday, day 5 post-op, was a good day. I can tell I am adjusting to the crutches, but my upper back still gets stff and sore by the end of the day. Probably more from being idle so much. Again, I was fine through the day with just advil and thought I would try only advil last night as well, but THAT did not work out. By the end of the day my ankle and knee were both throbbing uncomfortably (in spite of continued icing of the knee area) and sore. I gave up and took the pain meds around midnight. 

The skin under the post-op wrapping is all crinkled from the wrapping and swelling and certain areas are beginning to itch like crazy. I had bought a spray can of stuff to use for just this purpose, and have used it some. I hope it works better under casts, as it's pretty difficult to get the little flimsy plastic tube to go underneath the surgical gauze wrapping, right to the area that is uncomfortable without the tube popping off of the spray nozzle. Plus I am definitely trying to avoid spraying around the incision area which, of course, I have not seen but can pretty definitely feel under the wrapping. It's nothing unbearable and icing my knee tends to calm everything down. 

Ben and Jenn and Jackson came by for a brief un-planned visit last night and of course that was great. Jackson picked  up the crutches (one at a time) and tried to walk with them as I do. It was pretty funny. He climbed up with me a couple times to give me a hug and mostly played with his granddaddy, which was great. Also, several friends from church called to check on me and to chat yesterday, which was really nice and helped to pass the time. I finished the movie for Ben and did some other work stuff and watched some TV shows that we had recorded. 

Today, day 6, I plan to write thank-yous for Doug to take to church, and also record some data and music for him to take for rehearsal and for the service computer. One kind of sad thing is that Sarah and Karyn cannot come up tonight, but I completely understand why and will be fine. I am sorely tempted to try to go with Doug to dinner just to see everyone, but that would just be silly. I hope Doug and I can do some sort of errand or something some time soon...I will even ride in a motorized cart! We have already planned to go down to Tucker on Saturday to work on Daniel and Mackenzie's project and I will be able to at least sit on a different couch for a day. And then the kids are all coming over to cook dinner! So that will be a fun day! 

It's all going well, though. Really well. And all of this is making me appreciate being mobile and able-bodied and I hope to never take that for granted again!!!

First Monday post-surgery

Got through the day with only taking some advil at around 6:30 this morning, and have not experienced much discomfort at all. Just late today had some throbbing in my knee and foot, but have been elevating and icing it since and it feels better. I have not decided yet whether I will take anything tonight.

I managed to get a first run done of a slideshow for work and some worship planning/communications done for this week at church. Had an unexpected visit from my daughter, and it was wonderful to be able to spend time with her talking and relaxing and watching a movie.

It was kind of funny this evening, after Doug came down from work and went to the workshop for a while, the doorbell rang. He came up and it was some great friends bringing a delicious dinner and a beautiful plant. I think he had gotten some things confused and did not think anyone was bringing dinner, but it worked out perfectly. PLUS we had a nice visit with them.

Doug is working some more downstairs and I am watching lame TV and trying not to get antsy. But I would be doing the same thing even if I could walk right now, probably. Tomorrow's big adventure is hopefully to shower and wash my hair. That will feel great!

Super bowl Sunday...day 3 post-op

My grandson giving me my crutch...

Awoke with a bit of a headache and feeling woozy, so took a pain pill and the anti-nausea meds at around 6 and then slept a couple more hours. Doug went to church to run sound and I stayed and worked on videos and slept some. After he got home and we ate lunch, I took a shower! The first trial with the dry-cast pro was successful, though I think it will be less uncomfortable when my knee is less swollen and sore. It did perform as advertised, with all the air vacuumed out it clung tightly to my bandage and kept things dry (see the first two pics).

Dear friends brought food and stayed for a visit, and then later on Jenn and Jackson and then Ben came to fix "football food" and watch the super bowl. Jackson was very intrigued by my crutches and did try to get me to get up off the couch a couple of times, but never seemed upset or anything. He did encourage me to put my crutches up out of the way, though, as you can see in one of these pics. He also did climb up on the couch to give me a hug, which was great.

I only took one additional pain pill this afternoon and my discomfort is only at about a 3-4. So I am going to wait and take either one or two right when I go to bed. I want to get off of those as soon as I can.

dry-cast pro about to be put to the test

another view of the gizmo to keep the bandage dry...

My biggest issue right now is my upper back/chest which aches from the position I am sitting in, crutching, or all of the above. All will be better soon, though, I am sure. I can already tell that the swelling is going down in my foot and wiggling my toes does not hurt at all.

second post-op day

So, this is indeed really getting uncomfortable at times. Nights are the worst because lying on my back in one position all night kills it (my back , that is) . So I finally decided I could cheat enough with the big body pillow between my legs and having my R leg on top, of course. So I got a bit more sleep that way.

I think what I crave most of all is distraction! I have worked some on a movie project and also my daughter and her boy friend came by for a while to see me this morning. Great friends have brought dinner both nights.

The ankle itself feels pretty swollen and hurts on and off pretty badly. At times I feel as if I am holding my leg in an awkward position, and in reality it's just sitting there on the pillows. I am taking one of the two possible pain pills at 4 hour intervals (not 6) and saving the nausea meds for nights (and I do get kind of queazy at night). So far it's all manageable. Doug is currently out at the store getting wood or something, and when he gets back the bandages are coming off of my knee and I hope to try to take a shower with my shower cover over the lower leg wrap. So, that will be my big adventure for the day.

Moving on down this road!

edited to add: later that day my other kids also came to visit! So that made the day go much faster and be much better. I am so blessed!

It's done!

Right After surgery

Everything is good!

My view from my chair at home

So, after my last post...you know, the one where I said I was all prepared and everything was taken care of? Well, that day (the day before surgery) the doc's office called right at 5:00pm to tell me that she had not been successful in securing approval of the surgery from my insurance. So my coveted "first thing in the morning" slot got moved back to 1:00 pm, and even then she did not now for sure that she would be able to get approval. I got all of this news literally minutes before heading out to dinner and to leading kids' and adult choirs in rehearsal. I was so upset! As soon as we got to church, though, our Pastor found us and prayed with us and I felt so much better. The evening's activities went well, after all.

since we did not need to get up at pre-dark-thirty, we stayed up until about midnight. Surprisingly, I was able to get some sleep. Doc's office called around 9 to say be in by 11! The big down side to the day was that I had a migraine all day and could take nothing for it. My nurse was finally going to see if she could get an order for some, but then they were ready to take me back and I was going to get lots of drugs any way... It really helped and meant a lot that Pastor Eddie and John, two of my co-workers came to visit and pray with us before surgery. Thanks so much, guys!!!

Surgery went well, reportedly. It was certainly faster than anticipated! He scoped the knee and removed some torn cartilage; scoped the ankle and the joint looked good; and then did the Brostrom (tightening the lateral ligaments in my ankle. Everyone there was really nice. I chatted with the folks in the operating room while they strapped me down to the table, and the last thing I remember was telling the anesthesiologist that it would be cool to watch, and then he said that sometimes people tried doing that (with a spinal instead of general anesthesia), but that they always wanted to be put to sleep. And then, there I went!

Unfortunately, the headache was still there when I woke up. I was nauseated all evening...every time a moved at all. But was able to time things out (thanks to Doug) where I think I kept the pain meds and anti-nausea meds down at least for a time. Then he set alarms and woke me at appropriate intervals all night to keep the dosage up.

This morning the ankle is throbbing pretty badly. I am not sure it was elevated enough during the night. Headache is pretty much gone, though, thank the Lord! But I have had coffee, oatmeal and OJ and got myself dressed! Now I think I will stretch out in this recliner and dose/watch some TV. What a way to take a vacation!!

Oh, and dear friends from our church brought dinner last night. Doug said it was great and maybe I will get some for lunch today.  :) We are so blessed with wonderful friends!!!

Day before surgery

So, it's pretty much here. I guess the need to have some control over my environment is pretty well peaked and hopefully will be satisfied for a time, as I will have little enough of that in the next few weeks!

Last night was a treat: Doug, Sarah and I went to see "Bring it On: the Musical", which is a new production at the Alliance Theatre. It was fabulous and so much fun! What a great "last hurrah" for a while! :)

Feet before surgery. The right one is the "target" for tomorrow.

My right ankle before surgery.  Wow, the perspective makes my calf look HUGE!

I hope to remember to take the camera with me to the surgery center tomorrow to kind of document the thing. No gross pics...Doug would pass out. Unless I can get the doc to take some, which (in my opinion) would be pretty cool...

Yesterday I went and had a lovely pedicure and manicure. I kept thinking I wished I could somehow capture the sensation of having that wonderful stuff on my skin, followed by the warm damp towel and the massage of my foot. That felt wonderful!! No polish allowed, of course. They said I could come back and they would work on my left foot and then paint the toenails on both feet...that will be much later.

I had a meeting for work yesterday afternoon and then spent today implementing the plans we discussed yesterday. I surely do hope I got all of it in...I think I did. Also got home financial stuff organized, bills paid, filed and such. Washed up all the dirty clothes and put them away. Did last minute grocery shopping. Collected books and work materials and movies for a basket which is beside the recliner where I expect to spend much of my days so I have stuff to do.

We are off to dinner and then rehearsals in a bit. I hope I sleep tonight at least a little. Up early, though!!

what a great day!

So today was the last Sunday for a while where I will be able to lead music and participate in the Praise Team. I figure it will be at least 3 Sundays before I will be able to walk up and down stairs without being too disruptive, and also able to stand or sit with my leg down for any length of time.  It was  a fabulous day, though. BEAUTIFUL early spring-like weather, great worship, wonderful people. I got to drive my car with the top down, got to lead one of my very favorite worship songs (HALLELUJAH, ANYHOW!!), and to hear the Youth Choir in rehearsal. I have lots of movie clips downloaded on my computer just waiting to be converted to MP4 and edited into some projects for dinner theatre. 

I found a really great post on a discussion site which was all about coping strategies for being non-weightbearing after foot surgery.  Here is the link to that post, hopefully:

http://www.healthboards.com/boards/showthread.php?t=737812

Another thing I hope to do is to take some pictures of my foot/let along the way. Gotta pass the time some how, right??

Lots to do in the three days before surgery:

-grocery shopping to stock up on things that Doug can cook

-washing sheets on all the beds

-spiffy up the house

-make sure the people taking my rehearsals have all they need

-get a PEDICURE

-staff meeting on Tuesday

-get info on the computer at church for next two Sundays (as much as possible)

-Doug and I need to figure out the best car for me to be able to get into after surgery to come home (need to be able to have leg up)

Oh, and Doug, Sarah and I are going to see a show at the Alliance on Tuesday. That should be fun! One more time to wear those boots....

So this is one of the things...

that I definitely was concerned about: having to stop taking any sort of aspirin or advil before the surgery. I have one of the nasty headaches this morning and cannot take anything for it. Well, tylenol, but that has never helped before . Guess I will give it a go, though.

Five days to go. Yesterday was my last Friday to keep Jackson by myself for what I must assume will be a couple months, at least. Probably more like 3, since I won't be able to drive until after I am out of the boot and have good ROM and strength in my ankle. It was a wonderful day! We grocery shopped, we ran around the house chasing each other, we baked a cake, we played frisbee in the yard with Reesie (he kept saying "Hi, deedee!"), we rolled around on the big exercise ball, we played trains, we sang, and we snuggled. It was glorious. I had a couple of moments when I got teary-eyed just thinking about how great it was. I showed him the crutches and walked around a little and he was not freaked out or anything, which was good.

We had the praise team over last night for calzones and rock band, which is something I have wanted to do for a while. It was a lot of fun and I think everyone enjoyed it. My knee and ankle were aching pretty good by the end of the evening, but I just kept thinking about how much I enjoyed having everyone over. I hope to do it again some time!

I keep thinking of goofy little things I need to do. Like get some sort of "back pack" that I can use in place of a purse while on crutches; like get at least one more set of pants that are large and stretchy and will fit over my splint and bandage and cast so we are not having to wash clothes every other day; and I know there are more things but I can't think of them right now. Obviously, I need a list!

So, here's to my last "active" weekend for a few weeks! The weather is supposed to be beautiful and I will indeed be driving with the top down!! Wahoo!

One week from now...

I will be probably eating a snack, drinking lots of water, and trying to figure out how in the world to get some sleep.

Things continue to move along well. I think I have almost all I need to cover the first two Sundays I am out, except I hope that the guy who works with me (leads music in the other service) comes through with material for my choir so they have a couple of weeks to prepare. Even if I have to take another Sunday or two off, I will still be doing all the planning and song selection and such...

Got my crutches from Jenn and Doug replaced all the pads and tips and adjusted the sizes, so I am good. I have had a lot of time with Jackson this week which has been great. I surely hope he is cool with all of this and that we still get to see him.

Oh, and our kids are planning to come over a little over a week after my surgery and make us dinner! So great!

Count down!!

Pre-op today!

So, it begins. 

Went today armed with my MRI images for my knee, a bit worried that somehow things had been mis-communicated and I would not see the doc at all or something. All for naught, though.

He said  my knee is not that bad, but that he did think that it is a good idea to go ahead and clean up some rough areas on the joint and remove any pieces of meniscus floating around. So again, a two-fer, of sorts.

I also talked to Dr Cullen to make sure that he knows that I want him to do all he needs to do to fix this ankle THIS go-round. No leaving tougher procedures for later if necessary. He still maintains that I do not need the osteotomy, even though he said back in the fall that I did. The recovery without the osteotomy is WAY easier, and that is cool. But, again, I think I have things in place as well as I ever will to be off for an extended time if needed. I don't' want to have to do this again!  I am, however, very good with the idea of not having him cut into the bones of my leg, so that is all to the good. Kind of funny, though: I asked him if I will be able to return to playing tennis without the osteotomy, and he said "yes, nobody sprains their ankle playing tennis". Which, of course, I did. But I will be wearing this brace, so that should be ok.

So, Doug and I will head out bright and early on Thursday Feb 3rd with a grumpy (no coffee) and nervous and probably sleep-deprived me to head to the surgery center by 6:00 am.  They will get IV started and draw pictures on my R leg and talk to us and I should be in the OR by 7:15 to start at 7:30---the first procedure of the day! Yay! I forgot to ask how long it would take, but I imagine less than a couple of hours. Probably closer to 1??

Dr Cullen will scope my knee as described above. Then he will scope my ankle to see if any areas need to be cleaned or scraped and, I imagine, to see the full extent of damage. Then he will make an incision on the outside of the ankle and proceed to cut and then shorten the two lateral ligaments. He'll staple me up and put me in a split and wrap me up. An hour of recovery and then off to home!

My appointment to remove the staples and then place my leg in a cast is on Feb 18th. That is a bit longer than he first said, 15 days. Then in a cast for about 4 weeks. I am thinking that being NWB (non-weight bearing) for 3-4 weeks will be problematic for work,  mostly for leading services. There are stairs all over the place and going down, in particular, will be a challenge. Much less going down them without being very disruptive. I will see how recovery is going with regard to the weight-bearing issue and see how nifty I am doing with the crutches before deciding if I should take an additional Sunday off besides the two I had planned for. Leading rehearsal should be way easier since there are no stairs involved.

The other thing I am concerned about is how Jackson will deal with this. We had a wonderful time this past weekend...I had him by myself all day on Friday and Friday evening and then we were together Saturday and some last night. I have so much fun running around with him and playing on the floor, etc. He loves grabbing my hand (not just me, but you know what I mean!) to take me where ever he wants to go. I am afraid he will be pretty frustrated with me when I cannot get up and go with him. Or, worse, afraid of the big splint and bandage and such. I just hope that does not happen! At least I am getting to spend lots of time with him this week.

So, just a few things to take care of in the 9 days or so remaining before surgery: stock up on foods Doug is comfy with cooking; clean up the house really well, get play lists ready for church, pick up my meds (pain and nausea), and get my crutches from Jennifer. I am also excited about the fact that the praise team is coming over here for calzones this Friday night! That will be fun! Then I think we are working at Daniel and Mackenzie's house on Saturday.

Adventures ahead! 

Around 3 weeks and counting

So, surgery is three weeks from tomorrow. Right now I am so glad that I did not plan this in January, since we are in our third day of enforced isolation due to a winter storm and resultant ice-covered roads. It would be awful to have scheduled this surgery  and planned for it only to have it postponed. And I am sure there are those out there to whom this exact thing has happened.

This time off has given me ample time to accomplish many items on my pre-surgery to-do list. I ordered a set of new tips and pads for my crutches (which I need to get back from Jennifer), a can of soothing spray for skin discomfort under casts, and a thingey to slip on over my cast so I can bathe/shower. I will let you know how that works out! I thought about also getting a leg-elevation pillow, but those are so expensive and I just don't know...but repeatedly piling and un-piling pillows seems a hassle. But what else am I gonna do?  :) I also cleaned out one of the freezers and will do the other when it's not like standing IN a freezer while working in the garage. IE, next week.

I am frankly a bit stir-crazy. We tried to go for a walk a couple of days ago, but walking on ice and in the snow seemed a bad idea. we may venture out this afternoon to run a couple of errands, though. We will see how driving the truck goes! All church activities are cancelled for tonight, so no rehearsals to plan and lead. I miss all my friends!

Oh, I did have my MRI last week on my knee. I will find out what the doc says about that at my pre-op appointment a bit later. I tried to look at them, but what do I know? MRIs are magic.

Nothing exciting, obviously.

Less than a month to go

So, one month from now I will be on the way to recovery!

I officially began my month of preparations yesterday...well, Sunday, really....by cleaning out and re-organizing our kitchen closet (former pantry) and our bathroom linen closet. The later was kind of ridiculous in that I threw away old prescription and over-the-counter medications, some out of date by a decade! But that closet is CLEAN and organized now! We are still experiencing some trash overload from Christmas as well as the cleaning spree, so I will wait until next week to begin cleaning out the freezers and the fridge.

Doug is already asking about what he is going to do about food while I am unable to cook and such. So I guess I need to come up with a list of things he can easily prepare, and  then stock up on those ingredients. Also, make and freeze some things.

Work-wise, I think things are in pretty good shape. Kids' music is purchased and I am EXCITED about it! I need to schedule out a rehearsal and recording plan, and then I can make detailed plans for the video while recovering. Also I will probably be doing some video editing for the HP, so that will be FUN! Between Ben and John, leading during worship should be covered, and I may only miss a couple of Sundays, one of which the HP will be doing the music. Susie will lead the kids' choir rehearsals, and once I have made the rehearsal schedule, she will be good to go.

I am pretty sure I am in denial about not being able to drive myself at all for around 3 months. That will be crazy-making at times, I am sure. At least I will be able to be productive and sit up and such. Poor Eddie! He is having a rough time recovering form his retina surgery. Ugh.

Had a great time seeing old dance company friends last night and catching up. Fun memories!