Cast away...

Today, was a full day.  Woke up at quarter after five - with the alarm set for seven thirty.  I had a nine o'clock appointment for my routine bloodwork, so we had some time to kill at home - but that's what cheerios are for.

Leaving the house requires a little gymnastics to get from the scooter inside to the scooter outside and down three steps.  Weight bearing is easy to take for granted.  We stopped for a cheese & egg breakfast sandwich at Timmies - because it was hours since first breakfast - and made it to the appointment ten minutes early.  It only took a couple of needle prods to get the required sample and it we were off to Grand River Hospital in Kitchener.

I sat in the back of the car with my funky leg stretched out on the seat. A bit awkward, but I had experienced a fair bit of discomfort on the drive home from Kitchener three weeks ago, so I wanted to avoid it this time.

The drive was relatively uneventful - besides truckers crowding our lane.  We arrived with plenty of time to spare, which suits us introverts just fine.

The technician had to fight me a bit because the cast cutting tool vibrated and tickled like... um... like something very ticklish indeed.  (creative writing classes paid off)

It was interesting seeing all the layers peeled off my foot.  The blue fiberglass carcass, followed by cotton, more cotton, gauze, more gauze, and then the bare incisions held closed by a dozen staples each.  The technician was not impressed by Dr Stevens' cast handiwork but assured me that he was good at "cutting".

Dr Snider was in charge of the fracture clinic today so he inspected the foot and the healing progress.  He declared everything to be on track and called for a three week follow up for the next cast to be removed. Sept 10.

I was offered my choice of colour and quickly narrowed it down to orange and lime green.  Orange won out because I married a half Dutchie or whatever the reason.

The technician, was very adept at assembling the new cast.  First gauze hosiery.  Yeah, hosiery.  Then lots of layers of cotton.  Then the hot and wet fiberglass wrap, which took under five minutes to cool, harden and dry.  Very neat.  Apparently St Mary's Hospital doesn't have fiberglass cast technology, so if I have my next surgery there I'll be downgraded to plaster.  We'll see how that plays out.

I learned that the looseness of the first cast was due to muscle loss - after only three weeks.  Doh!  Looks like I have more gym visits in my future.

I decided to try sitting in the front with a pillow on the floor on the way home and it worked out well.  We stopped at Costco for a Montreal Smoked Meat sammage - yummy.  Then we caused a run in between two cars fighting for the handicap parking spot we were vacating.  The car that just arrived snuck into the spot before we could do anything about it.  Argh.  Evil sucks.

Anyway, we got home and spent the evening documenting our day and laughing at the comments on Facebook   Thank you, Mr Betterley.

Home alone

I've reached another milestone in my convalescence journey.  Tomorrow, my cast will be removed and the foot will be inspected.  I'll get to see the surgeon's handiwork for the first time.  They'll remove the staples / sutures (I'm not sure which were used) and recast the foot.  Hopefully this time the cast will be smaller and lighter.  I'm expecting another three plus weeks in the new cast.

I have a few questions for tomorrow, including how long before I can comfortably let my foot dangle instead of keeping it elevated.

I've been working from my bed for a couple of weeks now and haven't always been as productive as I'd like.  Thankfully, my work folks have found a way for me to participate in meetings - thanks Andrew.  Calling in to a speaker phone worked rather poorly.

Today, my wife is enjoying Watermelon Fest at church.  She deserves some time of celebration - she has given so much already in taking care of me.  "In sickness and health" sounds mundane but it is such a blessing when it is lived out.  

I love you Krista.

Outing

Thank you to Anne Enns Quiring for mentioning the use of a knee scooter for greater mobility. I hadn't heard of this sort of device and neither had my occupational therapist or either of the suppliers of assistive devices in town. But one of them did some hunting and found a scooter in a sister location. I've been using it for a few days now and I'm feeling more mobile than I was with the rollator walker I've been using.

Image from www.footankle.com

This morning my wife and I decided to go to church together. It was the first time out of the house for me in twelve days. The toughest, most awkward part of the ordeal was getting out of the house (and back in later), but it went reasonably well. This scooter packs up quite well too - an added bonus.

We made it to church and were overwhelmed by the excitement with which we were greeted. I feel very blessed. I did tire from dangling the foot in the church pew so I retired to the foyer, planted myself in a chair and put the foot up on the scooter.

The outing went so well, we decided to get my hair cut before coming home. I feel five degrees cooler now than with the shaggy mane I was sporting.

This afternoon, we had a nice visit from my co-worker, Teresa. Thanks for dropping by. I've been away from the office for more than two weeks before but somehow this feels longer already. It's different working from home semi-productively, aware that I could be much more helpful in the office. And there's enough drama in our office for a TV show. You've seen "The Office"? We've got them beat, as I'm sure the comments section of this blog will bear out.

All in the mind?

I've wanted to write a personal blog for many years and I've always bailed out when I realized that there is so much to be said that anything I do say will feel out of context without the full story.  But I think I need to do this as personal therapy, so here goes...

Photo by Femke Photography

Tonight, my wife is editing some photos for a wedding she photographed recently, and she made a comment about a decision the couple had made, and how it had made her job as a photographer more difficult, especially not knowing of the decision in advance. It got me thinking about our wedding and how disappointed I was that I couldn't really enjoy it. Bro-Tip: for all you husbands out there, be careful how you broach the subject about being disappointed in your wedding.

I'll back up a little, for some context, at this point. I'd had cortisone shots in both ankles a few days before the wedding.  I'd known I'd be standing a lot during the wedding, and walking a lot on our honeymoon and I didn't want to have to limit my standing or walking too much during this time.  Hence the cortisone shots. And yet, I found myself budgeting the time on my feet.  I sat outside the church while waiting for the bride. I walked in at the appointed time and sat down at my first opportunity.  We had decided to sit together during the sermon, so this wasn't a surprise.  Each time I had to get up for a part of the ceremony, I thought about the most economical way to get seated again. So, when the minister rushed us through the rose ceremony where we give flowers to each other's mother, I didn't fight it - I rushed through it and sat down. Even though I was nowhere near my pain threshold yet. My head was not at the wedding at all.

July 31, 2012

I'm now nine days into the convalescence period of the triple fusion surgery on my right foot. "Triple arthrodesis" for the nerds out there. I've had a lot of time to ponder what life might be like after both feet are surgically fixed and completely healed. The estimate is that within ten months of surgery, I will be completely pain free in my feet. I have no real concept of what that will be like.  I haven't been pain free for more than three decades. Am I mentally prepared for that amount of freedom? Will my mind refuse to believe it and insist on remaining crippled?

Well, that's all for tonight. Let's see if I can bring myself to continue the blog...