Sept 3: Yeah, yeah, yeah: more drama
It could be a LOT worse. Conversely, it could be a lot better as well....
So things are going along nicely, getting more and more excited about the trip. The woman who was staying the extra days with me in Turkey was coming up with spiffy (although expensive) travel ideas and I was trying to rein her in with the recognition that I was going to be fairly tired by then. I'd just bought some clothes to round out what I had already (unfortunately, needing new things since I've kept rounded out...), making big use of the Border's going out of business sale to get more books, etc. And then there was last Thursday at work....
One of those things done hundreds, if not thousands, of times: I got up from my chair to cross over the room to the patient on the table, but this time I didn't lift my left foot up quite high enough and it whacked into the end of the treadmill, audible to the other two people in the room. It didn't really hurt that badly, but a few hours later it was hugely swollen. Cancelled going to yoga, stayed on the couch with ice for a few hours, but then wanted to move things around in the basement in case there was flooding from Irene, which was due to hit on Saturday. The foot started hurting more and more, and by bedtime I had to face it: more was wrong than just a bad bruise.
Last Friday I woke, went on my butt downstairs and got the boot cast and a cane. Called for an emergency appointment at the podiatrist who had seen me in 2009 with the stress fractures. Xray showed a fracture at the base (end closer to ankle) of the 4th metatarsal. The doctor remarked, "This would look a whole lot worse on an MRI", which, of course, can't be done with the large amount of metal in my chest. We agreed that this needed to be treated aggressively: same foot, same area as before, known thin bones (osteopenia), prolonged healing (over two years) from the stress fractures. I said a week out from work, she looked at me sternly and said minimum two, probably three. Then she threatened me with any weight on the foot displacing the fracture, especially with my history, and then needing surgery. Not only is any surgery terrifying with coumadin, but this would probably need pinning, which means open wounds = higher possibility of infection getting into bloodstream >>> infection on mechanical valve &....let's not go there.
"What about the trip?", already knowing the answer. She made a face and said "Eight weeks before leaving, probably. Six weeks, probably not. Five weeks, your history, no way." I was crying in the car while calling the office manager I'd be out for 2-3 weeks. All from not lifting my foot up another inch. (In my defense, I'd told the bosses 2 years ago after new equipment that the room arrangement was bad and someone was going to get hurt, but they didn't want to change anything.) Just when I was feeling so much better and stronger, celebrating my survival and then another whammo. Who's your favorite whack-a-mole?
Surprisingly, my being upset only lasted 1-2 hours. Having a direct comparison, I'm SO much better off than when this happened two and a half years ago. The benefit of the same foot was already having the boot cast: in three sizes, all of which had to be paid for out-of-pocket. Last time it took months before the stress fractures were diagnosed, so it was not treated as aggressively by the doctors or me. That certainly added onto the recovery time since during the initial healing time I was still bearing weight on it. So not only is it better that it was immediately diagnosed and the fracture seen on X-ray, but the body actually responds with more cellular activity to a break through the bone than a stress fracture which, since it's internal to the bone doesn't alert the body's healing system. I also know far more people in the area for support than I did before, and my overall health is dramatically better: big difference between being a year and a half out from three heart surgeries and being four years out.
Does this mean it isn't upsetting? Of course not. But, in the larger scheme of things it isn't horrible. In my world of comparing problems: it ain't another heart surgery.
Losing out on the trip--somewhat bigger deal. This was a one-shot trip with the history professor as he moves towards retirement, and it's rare to have a Greece-Turkey trip that isn't done by sea, which means you miss out on all the great stuff inland. And since Ken knows the archaeologists working on the Parthenon there was a really good chance of getting inside, which almost no one manages. However, this was placing a major strain on my finances, which makes me very nervous. Of course I have trip insurance, so hopefully I'll only be out ~$500, of which $320 was for the insurance. The rest was books and some early travel purchases, which can be used another time. And I hadn't even opened the clothes that I ordered, so can easily be returned.
So I'm actually fairly prosaic. It sucks, wish it hadn't have happened, but it does have some significant benefits financially long-term. And seeing the sights in Turkey in those additional four days was getting pretty expensive, there will probably be another tour that will cost less. And maybe I'll have someone to travel with?
It's been eight days at home now, and if there's one thing I've got down to a science it's recuperating at home. Lots of books, got some dvds at Border's sale, already had some, treating myself to some more on eBay, currently getting free HBO/Cinemax, computer, phone, huge stacks of medical and other magazines that need to be read (Vanity Fair, National Geo, Archeology, Smithsonian...SUCH a history nerd!).
Connected again with VFCC (Valley Forge Christian College) and had the nicest girl over last night and today helping out, all done at minimal cost. I've sent Tabitha to my Mom's: too much to deal with and too much going back and forth in the house to separate her, clean out the litter boxes more than daily, and she peed again the other night leading me to have to strip bed, wash and re-make the next day, meaning on my foot for too long. Mom's agreed to keep Tabitha for the duration, at least five weeks, and my hope is that she will be so happy being an only cat that her bladder will completely heal and she won't have the problem. She's a very good guest, has been at Mom's before, and while Mom claims to perfectly happy without a cat she may not mind if Tabitha's staying there stretches out a bit....
My biggest concern now is that the surface over the break is exquisitely tender. It's not that the pain is all that bad, it isn't, but it's definitely swollen over the known break and what I suspect may be an additional crack in fifth metatarsal. Chances are it's a bruised bone(s), especially with my blood so thin. There isn't anything else to do, time even more than rest takes care of that, but it doesn't feel much better after a week. Patience, I know. Now being even stricter about staying off foot: rolling office chair now upstairs, and I'm now the proud renter of a 'roll-a-bout', which is like a little wheelchair for the left lower leg (hard to describe, look up if you're really curious). It doesn't do corners well, a problem in this house, but it keeps all pressure off the foot and that's the key. I will not even be stepping out of the house for another week, then have three days in a row with stuff (doctor's appointment, blood drive, 9/11 service), but then another week at home before going back to work. At this point I'm figuring on just taking the vacation time as it's already scheduled and other people changed their schedules to accommodate. My office has a 'use it or lose it' policy, so it can't be rolled into another year. So then another two weeks of rest, which will be at the six and seven week marks when it still needs to be pampered.
Coping now with paperwork: workman's comp (although office manager insisted it would be short-term disability and a week lost before she saw the light) and the travel insurance stuff. Today, with help, I've consolidated: moved my computer and active office/paperwork over to the kitchen table, so several steps saved not going back and forth to the dining area and can still see TV.
My hope is this will be a boring and steady return to normal. Healing prayers and wishes, as always, appreciated.
Thanks for checking in, Laurie
So things are going along nicely, getting more and more excited about the trip. The woman who was staying the extra days with me in Turkey was coming up with spiffy (although expensive) travel ideas and I was trying to rein her in with the recognition that I was going to be fairly tired by then. I'd just bought some clothes to round out what I had already (unfortunately, needing new things since I've kept rounded out...), making big use of the Border's going out of business sale to get more books, etc. And then there was last Thursday at work....
One of those things done hundreds, if not thousands, of times: I got up from my chair to cross over the room to the patient on the table, but this time I didn't lift my left foot up quite high enough and it whacked into the end of the treadmill, audible to the other two people in the room. It didn't really hurt that badly, but a few hours later it was hugely swollen. Cancelled going to yoga, stayed on the couch with ice for a few hours, but then wanted to move things around in the basement in case there was flooding from Irene, which was due to hit on Saturday. The foot started hurting more and more, and by bedtime I had to face it: more was wrong than just a bad bruise.
Last Friday I woke, went on my butt downstairs and got the boot cast and a cane. Called for an emergency appointment at the podiatrist who had seen me in 2009 with the stress fractures. Xray showed a fracture at the base (end closer to ankle) of the 4th metatarsal. The doctor remarked, "This would look a whole lot worse on an MRI", which, of course, can't be done with the large amount of metal in my chest. We agreed that this needed to be treated aggressively: same foot, same area as before, known thin bones (osteopenia), prolonged healing (over two years) from the stress fractures. I said a week out from work, she looked at me sternly and said minimum two, probably three. Then she threatened me with any weight on the foot displacing the fracture, especially with my history, and then needing surgery. Not only is any surgery terrifying with coumadin, but this would probably need pinning, which means open wounds = higher possibility of infection getting into bloodstream >>> infection on mechanical valve &....let's not go there.
"What about the trip?", already knowing the answer. She made a face and said "Eight weeks before leaving, probably. Six weeks, probably not. Five weeks, your history, no way." I was crying in the car while calling the office manager I'd be out for 2-3 weeks. All from not lifting my foot up another inch. (In my defense, I'd told the bosses 2 years ago after new equipment that the room arrangement was bad and someone was going to get hurt, but they didn't want to change anything.) Just when I was feeling so much better and stronger, celebrating my survival and then another whammo. Who's your favorite whack-a-mole?
Surprisingly, my being upset only lasted 1-2 hours. Having a direct comparison, I'm SO much better off than when this happened two and a half years ago. The benefit of the same foot was already having the boot cast: in three sizes, all of which had to be paid for out-of-pocket. Last time it took months before the stress fractures were diagnosed, so it was not treated as aggressively by the doctors or me. That certainly added onto the recovery time since during the initial healing time I was still bearing weight on it. So not only is it better that it was immediately diagnosed and the fracture seen on X-ray, but the body actually responds with more cellular activity to a break through the bone than a stress fracture which, since it's internal to the bone doesn't alert the body's healing system. I also know far more people in the area for support than I did before, and my overall health is dramatically better: big difference between being a year and a half out from three heart surgeries and being four years out.
Does this mean it isn't upsetting? Of course not. But, in the larger scheme of things it isn't horrible. In my world of comparing problems: it ain't another heart surgery.
Losing out on the trip--somewhat bigger deal. This was a one-shot trip with the history professor as he moves towards retirement, and it's rare to have a Greece-Turkey trip that isn't done by sea, which means you miss out on all the great stuff inland. And since Ken knows the archaeologists working on the Parthenon there was a really good chance of getting inside, which almost no one manages. However, this was placing a major strain on my finances, which makes me very nervous. Of course I have trip insurance, so hopefully I'll only be out ~$500, of which $320 was for the insurance. The rest was books and some early travel purchases, which can be used another time. And I hadn't even opened the clothes that I ordered, so can easily be returned.
So I'm actually fairly prosaic. It sucks, wish it hadn't have happened, but it does have some significant benefits financially long-term. And seeing the sights in Turkey in those additional four days was getting pretty expensive, there will probably be another tour that will cost less. And maybe I'll have someone to travel with?
It's been eight days at home now, and if there's one thing I've got down to a science it's recuperating at home. Lots of books, got some dvds at Border's sale, already had some, treating myself to some more on eBay, currently getting free HBO/Cinemax, computer, phone, huge stacks of medical and other magazines that need to be read (Vanity Fair, National Geo, Archeology, Smithsonian...SUCH a history nerd!).
Connected again with VFCC (Valley Forge Christian College) and had the nicest girl over last night and today helping out, all done at minimal cost. I've sent Tabitha to my Mom's: too much to deal with and too much going back and forth in the house to separate her, clean out the litter boxes more than daily, and she peed again the other night leading me to have to strip bed, wash and re-make the next day, meaning on my foot for too long. Mom's agreed to keep Tabitha for the duration, at least five weeks, and my hope is that she will be so happy being an only cat that her bladder will completely heal and she won't have the problem. She's a very good guest, has been at Mom's before, and while Mom claims to perfectly happy without a cat she may not mind if Tabitha's staying there stretches out a bit....
My biggest concern now is that the surface over the break is exquisitely tender. It's not that the pain is all that bad, it isn't, but it's definitely swollen over the known break and what I suspect may be an additional crack in fifth metatarsal. Chances are it's a bruised bone(s), especially with my blood so thin. There isn't anything else to do, time even more than rest takes care of that, but it doesn't feel much better after a week. Patience, I know. Now being even stricter about staying off foot: rolling office chair now upstairs, and I'm now the proud renter of a 'roll-a-bout', which is like a little wheelchair for the left lower leg (hard to describe, look up if you're really curious). It doesn't do corners well, a problem in this house, but it keeps all pressure off the foot and that's the key. I will not even be stepping out of the house for another week, then have three days in a row with stuff (doctor's appointment, blood drive, 9/11 service), but then another week at home before going back to work. At this point I'm figuring on just taking the vacation time as it's already scheduled and other people changed their schedules to accommodate. My office has a 'use it or lose it' policy, so it can't be rolled into another year. So then another two weeks of rest, which will be at the six and seven week marks when it still needs to be pampered.
Coping now with paperwork: workman's comp (although office manager insisted it would be short-term disability and a week lost before she saw the light) and the travel insurance stuff. Today, with help, I've consolidated: moved my computer and active office/paperwork over to the kitchen table, so several steps saved not going back and forth to the dining area and can still see TV.
My hope is this will be a boring and steady return to normal. Healing prayers and wishes, as always, appreciated.
Thanks for checking in, Laurie
posted by Laurie @ 2:52 PM
1 Comments:
At 3:28 AM,
Anonymous said…
Laurie,
hey good to hear from you, was missing you! Sorry to hear about your foot and so close to your trip. that sucks. I am glad you will be able to get comp that will help at least some this time.
Maybe your mom and Tabitha will bond and stay together, maybe great for both of them!
although there will always be other trips, this one sounds so better suited to your interests, I am sorry you can make it. I am greatfull you did not break your foot over there though!
The only good thing with being bored maybe we'll hear from you more. [lol]
good luck, in my prayers.
Deneen
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