Catching Up!

I have been neglecting my blog lately -- but for good reasons I promise! I have been very busy now that it is warmer out and now that I am starting to see some great progress.

I have been doing my PT exercises religiously and I have been going on a lot of walks. I have also been doing my exercise bike and blasting music to get me through the workouts! I can feel myself getting stronger and more confident with my crippled body!

My friend and I decided we would do a 5k walk to raise money for victims of domestic violence. It was so much fun and so rewarding: raising money for a good cause and being able to walk 3.1 miles almost a year after my accident.

Ouch!

I really thought my leg hurt before… but I was wrong. It really, really hurts now! I suppose it is the pain of walking around on a leg that has 10 holes in it! Hopefully they will fill in quickly. Plus once I start therapy, it will strengthen my leg muscles and give me more mobility. I can’t believe I am going to have to do PT again… this feels like two steps back. But I know that I will be much stronger in 10 weeks and ready for Summer to start!! I plan on taking full advantage of the outdoors this Summer since I literally spent all of last Summer indoors.

Check out the holes!

No More Office Supplies!!

I got my cast off today and the staples out!! Twenty one staples to be exact! I am now walking in a boot and will be doing PT to get back to "normal". My surgeon expects my ankle to be healed in about 10 weeks. I can handle that!

Two More Days!!

In 2 days I will be getting my cast off and my stitches out…actually they might be staples… not sure. I shoved my little arm down in my cast Saturday because my leg was itching SO badly! And I think I felt staples and not stitches. I could be wrong though… the thought of staples is kinda icky to me! You would think after everything I have been through and seen, nothing would be icky… not true! I still get grossed out even after seeing my leg bend in an area that it was not meant to and being able to see my bone through skin. Still get icked out!

This weekend, my husband participated in a drift event and I was outside all day long. I am pretty proud of myself for being able to crutch around that much and for standing almost the entire day! Go me!! I paid for it on Sunday though… it was a lazy day to recoup and rest my sore muscles.

It was worth it to see my husband do so well and to have so much fun!

Second Ankle Surgery

Yesterday I had my second ankle surgery at Atlanta Medical Center and I had 10 screws and a metal plate removed. The surgery was pretty short compared to the others I have had and I woke up less groggy then I normally feel due to anesthesia. I thought I was going to be okay but when I was getting ready to leave I felt very nauseated. The recovery nurse had me smell rubbing alcohol and that helped! Who knew?! We got home safely and I was able to use my crutches to get inside (crutches are SO easy when you are not recovering from a broken back!!).

Unfortunately the nausea came back and I got sick twice -- once throwing up on my poor cat Pumpkin. She was not amused!

I have to wear my bandages/cast for 2 weeks and then I will go in to see the surgeon, get x-rays, and get my stitches out. During these 2 weeks I will be walking with crutches. After that I will probably have to wear a cam walker which I already own from the first surgery. It helps you walk without crutches or a cane and distributes your weight. I am hoping that recovery from this is not too long and that I will be back to normal soon. I am in SO MUCH more pain then I ever thought I would be. I think I was being too optimistic! They have me taking hydrocodone this time which is some sort of oxycodone but it has no Tylenol ingredients which are supposed to be bad for your liver.

I plan on taking it easy the rest of the week and will be back to work on Monday.

Pre Admission

I have my pre admission on Monday at 1:30 and for some reason am nervous about it?! I guess because I am not totally sure what all they will be doing at that time. From what I understand, it will be the following:

· Temperature
· Pulse
· Blood Pressure
· Height/Weight Check
· Blood work
· Possibly a chest x-ray

I also have to discuss my prior surgeries and any medications I am on. Hopefully this process won’t take too long because Atlanta Medical Center is where I have had all my trauma surgeries. I think that I will be meeting with my surgeon as well as the anesthesiologist to talk about the procedure however I am not totally sure.

I don’t know why I am getting so nervous about this?!? I need to just relax and keep in mind that a.) this surgery is going to make me feel a lot better and b.) this surgery is the easiest of all my surgeries to date. I mean… if I can recover from having half my body opened up to repair my vertebrae, I can recover from this. Stay positive!

Good-ish News!

I saw one of my surgeons today (who would ever think I would be saying "one of my surgeons"??!) and I got some pretty good news. I got x-rays of my ankle and the outer bones in my leg have almost grown back together. I was kind of freaking out while I was looking at the x-rays and waiting for Dr. Keating to come in and tell me what he thought. He felt that my bones should have already grown back together... so I immediately thought that meant I would have to continue to wait patiently for my last surgery. BUT... to my surprise he said that it was healed "good enough" for surgery (wtf does that mean exactly though... when it comes to me being able to walk normally and feel less pain... I need something more definite then good enough!?!)!! So I am now waiting for his receptionist to call me back with the date. We are shooting for late February/early March. I just want it over with so that I can get myself totally healthy! And maybe, just maybe, get some closure on this.

Anxious!!!

I am very anxous this week because on Wednesday I have an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon to look at my ankle/leg. It will mark almost 7 months since the accident/surgery. I have to get another x-ray and am HOPING that the outer bone on my leg has grown together... please!! If so, we should be able to determine when I will have my last surgery. I just want to get this behind me so that I can somewhat move on ya know?!?!

As long as it doesn't look like this x-ray.... I will be happy!

100%

It has been 6 months and 3 days since my accident. Tomorrow I go to see my neurosurgeon that repaired my back. I am interested to see my new x-rays and to see what all he has to say. The first 3 months of recovery I could not lift anything heavier then a gallon of milk. Now I can lift up to 15 lbs. I think tomorrow he will increase that to 20 or 25 lbs. I wonder what else he will tell me I can do??

I want to ask him how all the metal in my back works. I am sure he explained it to me while I was in ICU however the morphine mixed with total hysteria = me not really remembering!

I am continuing to do my physical therapy and working hard to strengthen my core. I met a woman that broke her L2 vertebrae 3 years ago and she said that every day she feels back pain and weakness and that she knows she will never be at 100% again. I suppose I have to set a new standard in my mind for what 100% will be!

Cankle

My right leg hurts.... a lot. I hate it.

I kind of dream about cutting off my leg right below my knee. I know that sounds crazy, but some days I can't and don't wanna take the pain. I feel like it will never get better.... how can a bone not be grown back together after (almost!) 5 months??!

I know God is super busy, but if he could get to my prayers about this.... that would be great. Maybe He has smiled on me enough though and I am just being greedy....

Vanity

I was looking through some pictures on my computer and realized I am looking SO much better since my accident. The first picture was about 3 weeks after my accident. I hadn't been home long and really didn't feel like smiling but did! The middle picture is from early September (about 6 weeks after my accident). The last picture (clearly!!) is from Halloween.

Life is slowly getting back to normal!

Watch for Falling Decks!

This is my first attempt at "blogging" and I am a little nervous. I have decided that this will be my therapy because:

1. It is free!!
2. I am feeling a little post traumatic stress
3. I enjoy reading my friends' blogs

I guess I should start off with my story or my current situation. Right now I am on disability and unable to work. But, I am getting ahead of myself... it all started on June 26, 2009. It was a beautiful early Summer day. I was at a lake enjoying a fun day with coworkers and knew that I would be having even more fun later that day because it was my best friend's husband's birthday. What could go wrong on such a great day you ask? A collapsing deck, that's what. The birthday party was at my best friend's house and we were cooking out. Everyone was on the back deck of her home and then CRACK! it suddenly fell about 20 feet. I landed in the dirt and immediately knew that bones were not as they should be. I lifted (or tried to lift) my right leg and it was dangling in places that do not have joints. Not good. I also knew that something was wrong with my back and was worried because I could not feel all of my body parts.

The police/firemen/ambulance came and I was the first to be lifted out of the dirt. They put a neck brace on me and strapped me to a board and then onto a stretcher. Then it was off to a hospital with my best friend in the ambulance with me. She was next to me on the ground and also knew that something was amiss with her back. They told us they were taking us to a level 2 trauma center and that was further confirmation that things were not good. I am not sure if it was hysteria or what but I was cracking jokes all the way to the hospital. I was more worried with making my friend less upset then I was worried about myself. We arrived at the emergency room and things there are a bit of a blur. They were doing an ultrasound on me to make sure I had no internal injuries/bleeding and they set my right leg to try and sooth the swelling. Then I had to have a CT scan which was not as bad as I thought it would be. Once they set me up in my room, they told me that I was in the ICU... WHAT?! "Am I dieing??" was all I could mutter to the nurse! She assured me that I would be fine but that I was in critical condition. She told me that my right leg and ankle appeared to be broken in several places and that my back was also broken but they didn't know to what extent. I had an MRI the next day... worst time of my life! Never. Want. To. Do. That. Again. Then they confirmed that yes my back was broken and that it would require surgery. Then they whisked me off to have surgery on my ankle. They did that surgery first because every time they moved me, it would shake my leg and cause excruciating pain. Several days later I was able to have my back surgery. During that procedure, one of my lungs collapsed... I guess they were right, when it rains, it pours!

After 2 weeks in the hospital I was released. I came home and started a long process of rehabbing. I did physical therapy for a month and a half on my ankle. I have almost gained back all mobility. I had to wear a "turtle shell" brace to restrict movement in my back. I recently was able to stop wearing that and am now in physical therapy again to build up endurance, strength, and mobility. It has been almost 4 months since the accident and I have had my ups and downs. One would think instead of saying "Why me??" you would think "I am so lucky that I did not get more hurt!". Some days I think the latter and some days I think that it isn't fair that I was hurt more then anyone else on the deck and some people only got bruises (damn them!). But I do know one thing for sure, I will be a better person once I get through this!