Bathing: J would secure a trashbag over my leg with a rubber band at the knee. He had to put it on and take it off for me because I no longer had flexibility in that leg (guess what, when you can't move your ankle, your calf and hamstring freeze up too!). He had to do the same for my underwear and pants fyi. Anyway, I'd get in the tub with one leg up (I had to face backward, with my head at the faucet, so I had surface big enough to rest by cast). I'd support myself with one hand on the bottom of the tub, hold the lufa with the other, J would squirt it with Dr. Bronner's, and I'd suds up. A broken ankle certainly takes all the joy out of bathing. Meanwhile, my left glute was on its way to becoming the strongest glute you ever did encounter.
Drugs: BIZARRE SHIT. As the side effects literature warns, I had vivid nightmares, not just at night, but the second I closed my eyes - which was often. I was afraid to sleep, I was too fucking tired to stay awake. Each day blended with each night. Sometimes my dreams scared me so much that I made J hold my hand as I dozed off, just to ground me in some kind of familiarity. He obliged with a smile because he's incredible. Also the Oxy made my body twitch like 12 times as I fell asleep - sometimes whole-body, sometimes localized - SOMETIMES in my sad outchy ankle which quite frankly killed. For the second week I was switched from Oxycodone to it's weaker - but still quite sassy - little sister, Hydrocodone. The dosage was lighter and I was pleased.
me, feeling/looking the worst I've ever felt/looked
Food: Overall, food was not part of this whole thing - everything nauseated me. I could tolerate cucumbers, strawberries, some soups, toast, tea...and a few other things that I can't remember (I can't remember most things). Weight began to fall off of me (silver lining?).
Sleep: I was on my back with my leg propped up every night. I fantasized about turning onto my side like a dude in prison fantasizes about getting laid - J and I hadn't spooned in what felt like decades. He was also scared that he'd move in the middle of the night and pull the covers over my cast in a painful way, so I slept on top of the covers under my own blanket. I set several alarms every night for meds, and kept gluten-free crackers on my nightstand so I wouldn't be medicating on an empty stomach. I woke up every morning with soggy crackers stuck in my molars - beginning another blurry day that would soon become night.
So happy I found your blog! I fractured (pilon) my ankle in three places coming up on three months ago. It's interesting to compare our experiences! The extreme pain after the nerve block wore off..brought me to a dark place. Or my like my poor husband, he was like a deer in the headlights type of confused about what he should do! Thanks for the good Friday night read!
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy you found the blog too!! As we both know, you've probably got a lot of time to kill :) Good luck healing, be patient with yourself!
DeleteHi again; I love your writing. I'm British, and live in southern Spain. Fascinated that you were told to elevate your leg 23 hours....or told anything at all. But of course, you are in the States. Here, they sent me home day after surgery with some anti-coagulant to inject into my stomach every 24 hours (I like learning new stuff but hey), no guidance at all about elevating anything, least of all my spirits, and the usual Spanish laissez-faire attitude about 'elf n'safety. Lucky if they remember to take the stitches out in 2 weeks! I guess you must be almost back to fitness now as your posts were a while ago? Hope so, and thanks again for making this do-able.
ReplyDeleteThat. Sounds fucking. Insane. Have you checked out my ebook? Maybe you can fill in the healing gaps yourself with it - whatever they're not telling/showing you, you may be able to do yourself. I'd say now I'm pretty much back to normal now, but not 100% - more like 95%? And I think it will be that way forever. But I'm totally functional and able to do what I want to do on my ankle/leg. You'll get there!! Have patience with yourself!!
DeleteThanks so much for posting your blog. I am only 3 weeks post op and stumbled across your you tube videos and thoroughly enjoyed them. I'm hoping my mood swings will die down as my husband is trying to duck them lol. Thanks so much. You have no idea how much you are helping me along.
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad you've enjoyed the blog and videos. The mood swings will go down eventually - flowers and chocolate might make them pass faster :)
DeleteI love your blog, I broke my ankle 5 weeks ago. I'm still in the non weightbearing stage and it sucks. However, finding your blogs has given me comfort, it made me laugh and got me out of the broken ankle blues. I'm looking forward to putting this behinde alread.
ReplyDeleteSheina - I'm so glad in made you laugh and got you out of the broken ankle blues. Because those blues SUCK. They're definitely only temporary. 5 weeks is still so early in the process - yes, you have a long way to go - but guess what...you're gonna rock it. Have patience with yourself, you can heal, it just takes time.
DeleteI fractured my ankle in 2 spots yesterday and just found out that I need surgery. My surgery date is Monday. I'm so scared as this is my first break/hospital experience/surgery too. Did you end up buying anything to help in terms of household things like raised toilet seats and such? Going pee is a nightmare so far. -Sarah
ReplyDeleteHmmm, the only household thing I bought was a shower chair, once I was able to get my leg wet (before that point I was taking baths with my leg propped up)
DeleteSweet :) Thanks for responding. Your blog is really helping me and you are all kinds of awesome! I know I'm in for a long recovery. One more question... my job told me that I'll lose my insurance if I don't come back to work in March. Realistically do you think 2 weeks is enough time to feel OK with either a wheelchair or knee scooter to work post-surgery? -Sarah
DeleteTwo weeks wouldn't have been realistic for me, but everybody's different of course. At 2 weeks I still felt really weak and weird.
DeleteI'm so happy I found your blog. I just got surgery on July 12, 2016 and the anesthesia that they put on my leg just wear off ;( did you have problem getting to the bathroom the first few days? I feel everytime I try to get up I feel like my stitches are going to pop and I feel like I'm bleeding as well. Did you feel the same?
ReplyDeleteyes getting to the bathroom was definitely tough!
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ReplyDeleteMihal--Thank goodness for you. It's such a relief to know that other have gone through this process and come out whole on the back end. Broke my ankle in 3 places on Sept. 30th. Like you, I am missing yoga something fierce. Weight is falling off me and my left calf is a slack animal I do not recognize. When I am feeling low, I read this blog of yours and feel so much better. Thank you for creating this!
ReplyDeleteOh what a lovely note!! Ugh, sorry you're going through it - and yes, the yoga thing BLOWS. Your pathetic little calf will come back I promise - did you see my calf exercise video on youtube? You're probs still a little ways out from doing it, but it'll be there waiting for you when you're ready :)
DeleteFinding your blog is so amazing. I broke my ankle in two places and tore a ligament. Funny enough it was a thursday walking to my uber and had surgery the next day. Never had surgery before and was someine who stayed clear of hospitals til this happened. Im 1week post op now and reading it has helped me be less anxious about whats to come. What i wasnt ready for was the lucid dreaming and the odd twitches you mentioned id doze off on the couch and wake up in a panic where i felt like i was falling and needed to catch myself. Thank you for it and the hints of humour make all this less scary.
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