11 posts tagged “health”

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Today,  after One hundred and fourteen  (114) days .....   that's 16.285 weeks,

my foot was freed  -..............  almost!

This is my latest footwear accessory:  An ankle brace which I will wear for 6 weeks.  I will have to wear joggers to work - though obviously I won't be jogging anywhere for some time:

But tonight, when I got home from the Doctor's,  just for a short time, it was really wonderful to free the foot and "slip" it into the gorgeous shoes Jillie  painted for me - I'm looking forward to actually walking in them one day:

 

My assistant rang me early this morning to say that there was nowhere closer than 2 miles from her polling place to park and that the line was 3 blocks long - and that was still nearly an hour before the poll opened.  At that rate she estimated she would not be at work until lunch time.   As I had PT (physio) first thing this morning I told her I would let her go at 2.30pm today so she could vote on the way home.  I do expect to see an "I voted" sticker tomorrow or I will assume she spent the afternoon in the movies!  

In my PT waiting room there is a very large sign asking people to Please Turn off Cell Phones.  My quiet reading time was interrupted when the phone of a guy sitting absolutely dead opposite this sign went off with some really hideous ring tone. 

He answered in a really loud voice and began giving advice to someone about online dating sites.  As his conversation progressed I started hoping that they would not call me in for my session until he had finished his conversation!   Apparently he joined eHarmony after discovering that whatever previous one he was a member of was full of conservative, Christian women!  (I nearly laughed out loud ).  He was unbelievably sexist.  He began discussing some friend of his who met a woman, named Lea,  he said "he told Lea that if she wanted to have a relationship with him then she had to obey his rules.  So far she has been very obedient". (now I've gone from wanting to laugh to wanting to slap him).  

He told his caller that his fiancee was having PT for "something stupid she has done".

When the poor woman came out at the end of her session I wanted to shout at her to run away.  This guy was no catch in the looks, manners or any other department that I could see.

 

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First Physio today  - Ouch!! 

So far physical therapy doesn't seem much fun. 

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What a beautiful day today.  The manservant vacuumed throughout the house and then served me coffee and a cinnamon bun on our sunny deck -  all before 10am.

I did a lot yesterday -  that traipse down, and back up, the back steps with full body weight on the foot plus a few laps of the house with just a walking stick.   I felt that I achieved a lot and was pretty pleased with myself - until I went to bed.  When I took the boot off I saw that I had bruising all around my ankle!!  An uncomfortable night followed with my foot aching and feeling as though it had an extra block of wood, to the one I already have, on it.  So, it was decided I would have an easier day today. 

As I sat out in the sun I thought about how healing it can be to one's spirit.  I thought about taking the evil boot off and sunning my foot but decided the neighbourhood had enough scary sights without me adding to it.  

We have friends coming over soon for a few late afternoon drinks -  the evenings are still nice enough to sit outside and I'm really looking forward to some wine and nibbles.

On the ride to work the other morning I saw someone jogging in the park and I thought "I wish I could run"   
LOL -  I haven't  willingly  run in 30 years!! 

I have to learn to walk again yet .....  I will have ups and downs in the progress and must remind myself to not try to run before I can walk!

Probably for awhile my life will be a little like a set of escalators - every up day will have a corresponding down day...

  I took this photo in the Queen Victoria Building in Sydney, Australia.

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Got this in an email .....  I would substitute the Oreos with Aussie Tim Tams ...

 

CALMNESS IN OUR LIVES

I am passing this on to you because it definitely works, and we could

   all use a little more calmness in our lives. By following simple advice

   heard on the Dr. Phil show, you too can find inner peace. Dr Phil

   proclaimed, "The way to achieve inner peace is to finish all the things

   you have started and have never finished."

So, I looked around my house

   to see all the things I started and hadn't finished, and before leaving

   the house this morning, I finished off a bottle of White Zinfandel, a

   bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream, a package of Oreos, the remainder of my

   old Prozac prescription, the rest of the cheesecake, some Doritos, and 

   a  box of chocolates. You have no idea how good I feel right now.

 

 

 

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What a terrible night's sleep I had last night.  The clunky piece of wood-foot, which is now nailed onto my twig-leg, did not like its freedom from the cast.  I could not get it comfortable.  It does not "bend" at the ankle so it won't "flop" comfortably.

When the cast came off yesterday my leg reminded me of this landscape.  It was dirty, arid, scaley and had a zig-zag scar through it! 

I took this photo at Haleakala on the island of Maui.

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I was so excited about getting the cast off this morning that I was at the doctor's 20 minutes before my appointment! 

Off came the cast and wow!  Does my leg look like a stick!  Jeez!  The calf was the size of my ankle!   Gave me a laugh to see it looking this way when it would normally be described as  "sturdy".

After 79 days in casts my foot is pretty well "set" so that it would not move upwards or point downwards - it felt like a block of wood nailed to the end of my stick leg. 

On went the airboot with all its straps and the snazzy blue button to pump up the air and the little dial for decreasing the air - incase you over-inflate!

I took about 6 steps on my own before going "ouch" - I'm not sure that it actually hurt, more likely my little twig leg had had enough.  I am "walking" with my snazzy new boot on the ground but the crutches under my arms to take some of the weight.  I get to build up a bit each day - no rush said the doctor. 

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I am nearly at the end of the cast "adventure".   Sometimes the road to this last day has looked like this:  a very long road with no end in sight: 

I went into the first cast on July 18th.  I had surgery on Friday August 22nd and on Monday 25th they whacked me back into another cast.   I have had black casts, purple casts and a green cast.  Luckily none of these colours clashed terribly with my clothes.

Sometimes getting places with the cast and crutches has seemed like a trek over this:

But, I have managed to get to the other side - and with only a few falls.

Now, eleven weeks and two days later, today is the last day of the hard cast!   Tomorrow morning I will make the trip down the front steps and off to the doctor to have the cast removed and an airboot "installed".   In my mind I see myself getting into that airboot and just waltzing out of his office.  The reality is, that after that length of immobility and surgery, I will probably be hobbling out with the aid of the crutches.

What am I looking forward to .......  getting that poor leg washed and being able to sleep without being encased!!              Yippee - just one more big sleep to go!!!!!!

* Both photos were taken in Australia by me. The road is somewhere in the Northern Territory between Uluru and Alice Springs.  The "rock" is Uluru just after sunrise.  

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Rain!  The very word puts dread into a cast wearer.  

I listened to yesterday's forecast with dismay......  God, I was going to have to wear a plastic bag on my leg.  And, not some fancy designer plastic bag, but a garbage bag secured with a rubber band!

So ... yesterday afternoon in the office I wrapped my leg up beautifully and entertained many people as I hobbled off home:

The plastic bag is one thing but check out a close up of the stylish plastic & Velcro shoe:

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I know it's a cliche but  ... it really is amazing how much we take our limbs for granted until one of them is out of order. As I am right handed I imagine not having the use of my left arm would not be too inconvenient but as I need both legs to walk, any inclination towards right or left handedness doesn't matter except when it comes to steering the crutches!

Getting out of bed and ready for the taxi in the mornings presents a whole series of  problems but that's another story.  I have the taxi pull up at the fire hydrant outside our office building as that's closest to the entrance.  I am actually pretty good at getting out of the car and onto my crutches now, backpack on and plastic bag full of lunch and jacket in hand - which is just as well because I have only had a couple of drivers who even pretend that they might get out and help.  

The front doors to the building are unbelievably heavy and they open outwards - while this is handy for a speedy departure at 5pm, it takes a mammoth effort complete with huffing, puffing and sweating to actually get myself inside the building!!    

I have taken to standing pitifully on the footpath waiting for help!  I have no shame as I interrupt joggers, dog walkers and any other hapless person with my plaintive appeal to open the door.   

Our building has all the modern ADA cons like the low-down very large light switches, low door handles and lowered benches in the kitchens.

We have one handicapped stall in the bathroom but if necessary I can fit myself into the ordinary stalls - though I must say the rail in the handicapped stall is handy!   When I'm in a "normal" stall there is a lot of swaying around, hopping and balancing on my one good foot.   But the main problem occurs when I have to come out as the door opens inwards and me and my crutches have to struggle a bit between the toilet and the opening door.     I am the only  physically handicapped person of any sort in this office but I refuse to queue for a disabled toilet.

The handbasins are at some weird hip height ensuring the able bodied person exits with splashes around the groin area - it just can't be helped!  But I have a new problem...   I am 5'8" tall which means my armpits are sort of high and when they are balanced atop crutches my arms are too short to reach the taps!  I refuse to give up on cleaning my hands though - so I spend 10 minutes rubbing Purell into them and to the grips of my crutches.  And, then ruin the whole effort by opening the door with an unprotected hand because the paper towels are in the most ridiculous dispenser which is not only low  enough to reach from a chair but slanted at an angle where it is impossible to get them out unless you bend & struggle - and by now my toes are turning blue.

My other issue at work is the elevators. There are 4 elevators and you can be sure that the one which arrives for me is furthest from where-ever I am standing.  I then get 10 seconds to sprint into the lift before the doors shut threatening to either snap my crutches off in the forward advance or jam my plastered leg in the rear.

So ....  each day that I get to leave without being stuck in a toilet and with crutches intact and plaster not shattered is a good day!