Somebody Pinch Me......

......I must be dreaming....

This morning I woke up excited to see my surgeon.  My husband drove me to my 10:30 appointment and although the waiting room was packed like a can of sardines, we were seen right away.  We were led into the "cast/suture removal room"  as I like to call it, and were greeted by a lovely, cheerful technician named Julie.  Julie led me to my table where I sat and she began to remove my cast.  She was very gentle and extremely professional.  She warned me of drainage and assured me that it was totally normal and nothing to be alarmed about.  Although I fully expected to see drainage, I sure did appreciate the heads up anyway.  The inside of my cast was cleaner than I had anticipated, and the incision appeared much larger than I expected!  Wow...I wish I had not forgotten my camera, it was quite the spectacle with all those sutures poking out, almost like a giant centipede, or something.  As surprising as it was to me, for some reason it was beautiful in my eyes. 

Dr. Johnson, my surgeon, came in and I smiled from ear to ear.  When asked how I was doing I was thrilled to give my doctor a positive report.  He looked at the incision and said that it looked very good, he was pleased.  Dr. Johnson then did something that I didn't know was going to happen today.... he began moving my ankle back and forth, with quite a bit of pressure, I might add. It felt like, for lack of a better word, a miracle.  I immediately burst into tears of joy and turned to my husband and told him that this was one of the happiest moments of my life. To move my ankle around and to not experiencine any pain while doing so, is nothing short of amazing. It was surreal. You know how a good morning stretch feels? So satisfying... that's how my ankle felt.  It had its first morning feel good kind of strecth that it has had in years, and years, and years.  I am basking in happiness. 

My husband and I chatted with Dr. Johnson while a resident removed my sutures, under close supervision.  The resident appeared to do a good job, shaky hands and all!  I have an incision on the back of my leg also, which was made to accomodate the stretching of my achilles tendon.  There, I have dissolvable sutures, so the ends were snipped and the rest were left alone.  Then came the new cast, a pretty snazzy number, if you ask me.  Yes, well, I chose hot pink and lime green.  That's right, hot pink and lime green.  I am proud to be sporting a hot pink cast with lime green stripes.  It's fun, and I knew my daughters would LOVE it.  They think I'm the coolest. :)  My colorful fashion statement has already been inked, day one of 28.  Difficult to imagine what it will look like four weeks from now. 

My next appointment is in four weeks.  At that time I will have my cast removed and ex-rays will be taken.  I am anxious to know if all is healing well.  I will be given my walking boot and will gradually begin to put weight on my new ankle.  VERY curious to see how that goes. 

So for now, I am walking (crutching) on cloud nine.  Today was a very happy day.

My hope is that everyone in pain gets to have their happy day.....  then days, weeks, years,decades....

Thanks for reading!
~Suzanne

Easy Does It

It has been 12 days since my operation, and quite frankly, it feels longer than that.  I am extremely anxious to get moving but know I must not over do it.  When I do too much  around the house my ankle lets me know, in the form of throbbing. That's when I stack my pillows high and elevate.  Elevating my ankle is the single most important thing I've done to control any pain.  It only makes sense that if the ankle is hanging down, the blood rush is going to cause a lot of pressure and that pressure is going to bring on some discomfort.

I've been feeling new and unfamiliar pains from time to time, must be my body healing.  I was very worried the other day, as I took quite a spill.  My husband took a month off from work to care of me.  In addition to caring for me, and our children, he has been tackling several projects around the house.  He had the house pressure washed and I ventured outside to have a look the day before yesterday.  Upon reentering the house, I placed my crutches on the entryway rug and sure enough, as I should have known, it slipped out from under me and down I went....hard onto my front porch.  I was so frightened for my ankle and while the fall seemed to be in slow motion,  I did everything I could to protect my ankle, and landed flat on my back.  That was REALLY scary, I was shaking like a leaf, I really hope I didn't do any damage to my new implant.  After that I headed up to my bed.  Fortunately my back was okay which shocks me as I am very prone to back problems most likely due to my limp and all the favoring I've done for so many years.  I had a few aches and pains the next day, as if I had worked out at the gym...nothing too serious, thank goodness.  Lesson learned!  BE CAREFUL! 

Tomorrow is my first post-op appointment with my surgeon!  I'm so excited about it, I can't wait to hear what he has to say about how everything is healing thus far.  In addition, I get my sutures removed, and my brand spanking new fiber glass cast!  Woo hoo!  My kids have their sharpies ready, I can guarantee that the new cast will end up being quite the piece of artwork once they've let their creative juices flow on to my cast for four weeks!  :) 

Looking forward to getting out of the house tomorrow, will report back soon with my Dr's findings. 

Best,
Suzanne

Still Going Strong

Good day all!  I thought I would have a lot of complaining and venting to do on here, boy was I wrong.  Is a hammer going to drop?  This is just too good to be true. Granted, I do realize that once I begin to actually try to walk on my new ankle, the road will get rough. I'm ready for that.  For now, I have nothing negative to report other than the fact that I've got ants in my pants!  There's so much that I want to do, I feel ready to get back my busy life as usual.  Each time I try, I realize it's a no go with only one good foot. 

Yesterday I headed downstairs and enjoyed some beautiful weather outside on our deck.  First time since my surgery that I felt the wind in my face, it was divine. It did my body good to soak in some vitamin D for a change!  I stayed downstairs all day with my family, and it was hard to sit still.  I found myself wanting to do dishes and laundry and all the stuff that I normally can't stand.  Since when do I really WANT to clean the bathrooms?  Counting down the days until I get my walking boot...can not wait to find out if that boot is really made for walking...for now I'm excited about the 28th, when I'll get my new fiberglass cast.  I plan to get one of those cast covers so I can head into the shower.  To anyone awaiting their ankle replacement surgery, I highly recommend one. 

Speaking of recommendations, I get a lot of use out of my knee walker when I go downstairs, it's easy to glide around from place to place.  I leave my crutches upstairs, go down the stairs on my bottom and then hop on my knee walker.  If you don't have one, I recommend that you get one and practice on it before your surgery.  Once I have my new cast I plan to put a shower seat in the shower so I can sit and enjoy the rain.  One thing that I wish I had that I do not, is a walker.  I was offered one in the hospital by the physical therapist, and felt uncomfortable with it when I took it for test drive.  I decided not to bring it home, which was a mistake.  It would have been very helpful, especially when using the bathroom. The walker would have helped with sitting down and getting up.  You get my drift.  So if you get your hands on a walker, don't let go like I did.



Bye for now, enjoy this beautiful day!
~Suzanne

Wow! I feel GOOD!

I never expected to feel this good just six days after surgery!  I have stopped all medications and any pain that I experience is minimal.  I promised my surgeon that I would keep my "toes above the nose" for two weeks so I took up residence in our guest room upstairs, the room with he best TV, of course, and a very comfortable bed.
My wonderful husband has been taking excellent care of me, and my young daughters have been very helpful as well.  Beautiful too see how my family pulls together when times get tough, I am truly blessed.

The long and short of it is, I'm just taking it easy.  My husband helps me with leg exercises and I wiggle my toes as often as I can.  I managed to get myself into the tub on my own which felt liberating, needed help getting out though, one step at a time...
I'm not used to relaxing this much and relying on others, I get fidgety.  Last night I made my way down the stairs on my bottom, which I was used to doing prior to my ankle replacement.  Trust me, I've had lots of practice.  My family was so happy to see me downstairs so we all sat together in the greatroom for a few hours.  Life is getting back to normal already, I couldn't be happier.  Getting back up those stairs was a workout, whew, I need to get back in shape!  Looking forward to my walking boot so I can hit the gym.  Speaking of boots and casts, the one I have now is actually rather comfortable as it allows for swelling since it's soft on the front.  It is big and bulky, however, and feels very heavy.  On the 28th I will get my fiberglass cast which should lighten the load a bit. 

So far, this experience is far better than I ever expected it to be.  I wish the same for anyone out there awaiting an ankle replacement.

My New Ankle is Four Days Old

Surgery took place four days ago and let me tell you that so far, I feel a great deal better than I thought I would at this point.  Even though I know the road is still long I can't help but feel excited, happy, and RELIEVED.  I vaguely remember seeing and hearing my surgeon in the recovery room.  He showed me pictures of my new ankle which I could barely see through my happy tears, and told me that everything went great!  I think I tried to sit up and hug him, and then I thought.....ouch.  OUCH. 

I was given a nerve block prior to my general anethesia.  I understood that the nerve block would manage my pain for up to twelve hours, of course I was all for it.  The procedure itself was rather painful, and unfortunately for me, the block did not take at all.  I realized as I tried to hug my surgeon that I was in extreme pain.  I don't want to frighten anyone out there about the pain, because in the grand scheme of things, it all works itself out.  Here I am four days later feeling pretty darn good.  I'm uncomfortable from time to time, but I can manage it.  What is beautiful about this pain is that it is completely different from the pain I got to experience everyday for  several years before surgery.  That pain, thank goodness, is now gone. 

I'll check in here tomorrow to post more...my eyes are closing.  Good night all!

The Day after Tomorrow

I go in for surgery the day after tomorrow and I am terrified.  I am told that the operation will take four to five hours and the thought of being "under" that long terrifies me.  Fortunately, my husband will be home with me for a month to take care of the children and....me.  For the last five years I have lived with the unbearbale pain of arthristis due to a prior injury in 1994.  If you are reading this, you understand what I mean.  The ridiculous pain that no one else can know, unless they have crawled around in our shoes. 

On Tuesday, March 15th I will get my new ankle.  The STAR ankle.  Of course my goal is to gain somewhat of a normal life back.  I dream of becoming a person who can walk without looking like a freak of nature, like the Hunchback of Notre Dame.  I hope to walk without looking like a sidewinder, and I wish to fix our banisters once and for all as they have become quite loose from my hanging on for dear life everyday.   I'm aware that when I drag my foot I can look ridiculous at times.  The fact that people find the need to point it out and draw extra attention to my deficit is beyond me.  It boggles my mind.  But it's okay. 

If there is anyone out there who can not stand the pain of arthritis or whatever else might be causing your pain, YOU ARE NOT ALONE.  You can dump on me because I completely understand.  I understand what it is like to be young and vibrant but to not  be able to live that way.  I understand what it is like to not be able to play with your children, to walk down the block, to walk up or down the stairs, to go food shopping, to just get up and walk in general.  It's horrible, I know.

Whatever avenue you take to heal yourself, I wish you success and a pain free life.  My avenue begins the day after tomorrow, and I'll let you know how it goes.  I'm excited about the prospect of ending this nightmare of pain.  Having said that, what if it doesn't work?  I must erase that from my mind NOW.  It will work.....it will work......it will. 

Best wishes to anyone reading this.....  because I know you're in pain, I feel it. 

~Suzanne