Day 4

Alright so today was a crazy day! ups and downs for sure-- felt really sick to my stomach after making the switch from percocet to vicodin, so eventually just stopped taking it. Had taken two excedrin around 2, and then around 9 took two tylenol extra strengths. We're trying that out for every 6 hours from here on out, i hate taking medicine as is, but need something for the pain so am trying to "Wean" myself off as fast as possible!

We went to the cabin today and then to dinner, and I was still feeling fine, we picked coco up from the groomer, and OH MY GOSH! it is not the same dog! I'll post pictures, all I can say is that i'm holding the pictures from yesterdays post near and dear to my heart ;)

Mom's heading back to Maine tomorrow morning, i'm so thankful that she's been able to take time off and be here, and I think i'm heading to Dad's tomorrow and staying until Wednesday when they leave for a work trip. I'm debating work next week because of not being able to drive and still feeling sick from things, we'll see what it comes down to. I think i could manage a few hours a day, but I just get worn out real fast and fall asleep at teh drop of a pin after moving around for a bit. Below are going to be some pictures, beware, they're not nearly as cute ;)

Day 2 & 3

hey everyone! still trying to figure this thing out.. i posted something and then it wasn't there at the end!

Things are going much better than expected.. was out of the house for about 4 hours yesterday, and then about 3 hours today. we've moved from taking pain medicine every 4 hours to taking every 6.. which is a big step! I've somewhat mastered the crutches, but during the excursion to the mall/petsmart today i discovered that i will not be shopping for the next 6 weeks.
I'm discovering all of the downsides of crutches: bruises on the hands, arms, and sides. Having to worry about what fabric your shirt is so you know if it's going to rub against your skin and make a rash or not, etc. not fun.. i could do without them!
Not much else is going on, the pain isn't really horrible, just something you get used to! I'm going to post some pictures of coco up -- she's getting a haircut tomorrow -- but it's given me something to do while sitting on the couch! Hope you all are doing well and I'll post more tomorrow!

Katie

Day One

alright, so i slept well last night, have been in the same position on the couch for the past 12 hours, besides bathroom runs and trying to do a little bit more. the nerve block has definitely worn off, and i can feel definite pain around where the suture should be. i'm beginning to realize that physical therapy will not be fun, even a little movement that hits the tendon is a terrible shock of pain. Around the time that i'm supposed to take my next dose of percocet, i start feeling bone aches and throbbing. if i lift my leg up by myself, it hurts a lot so i have to lift it with my arms.. just giving everyone an update of how things are - not trying to complain!

Called the nurse today to see what they did exactly in the surgery in order to make the groove, and she went to ask Dr. Lehman, all he said was that he removed a nodule, and did groove reconstruction. didn't get us much further than what we already knew, but i guess i'll figure it out on the 21st!

That's about it for now, i'm trying to stay up and get up as few times as possible so it doesn't hurt as bad, the only way i can describe it is like a screw being inside the skin, which is making the skin rub against the splint. that's the best description i can give you, I'm guessing it's swollen and that's why it's rubbing against the splint. we tried to put some ice on it, but the splint makes it so the cold does not get to my ankle.. no fun! And as for crutches, i'm getting along. have a bruise on my left arm from using them - but I bruise easily so it'll go away soon!

Marcye, Vince, Alex, Tyler, and Andrew came to visit today, and momma brought me flowers :) I've taken a few cat naps, and tried to lay in my bed and sleep, but wasn't nearly as comfortable as I am in the living room with my "bed" i set up at night.

once again, Thank you all for the thoughts and prayers!

Surgery

Alright, for some reason I just deleted my blog -- somehow! So this won't be as long of an entry describing yesterday, but I'll do the best I can.

I went in to get surgery because I have peroneal tendon subluxation.. My peroneal tendons were snapping over eachother, which will eventually cause tearing and many more side effects if I didn't get the surgery done. According to my Dr. they had to go in and do groove reconstruction by either "sanding" a groove into my fibula, or taking pieces of bone from higher up in my fibula and putting it down around the tendons so they didn't move. We aren't really sure which procedure he performed because he didn't tell mom, and he didn't tell the nurse when i called this morning, all he said was that he performed groove reconstruction. So we're kind of left in the dark on that, but maybe it's better not to know, right? ;)

We went in and had a urine sample, had to have antibiotic and then the anesthesiologits came in and talked to us and asked us if I would mind if he put a nerve block on my popliteal nerve which would help with post-op pain. Of course we said no, after i made sure i'd be asleep while he was doing it! He said he was going to give me the anesthesia through an IV and that was the end of it. After I put my cute lil blue hat on and my hospital socks, I was off to the OR. walking in there was extremely intimidating. They all say hi to you, yet you know they're all going to be cutting you open in about 10 minutes -weird! It was a bright blue floor, atleast 10 people in there, they get you to lay down and then they all start doing different things to you, until someone asks you what foot you're having surgery on, when they all freeze and look down at you. The last thing I remember was telling the anesthesiologist that my dad was an entomologist and then I woke up in the Recovery room.

When I woke up the nurse was by me telling me it's alright, you're just waking up. looked down, saw a huge tan thing on my foot, and realized my HR was at 113. Dozed off again and hten woke up when she asked me if it hurt, on a scale of 1 - 10 it was about a 5 and she ended up giving me three doses of pain meds through an IV and then I was wheeled off to the room where Mom and Sandy were. I can tell you one thing for sure, they don't tell you that when you're coming out of the anesthesia, you shake and shiver. uncontrollably. I started doing it in the recovery room, knew it was completely visible, but the nurse wasn't saying anything about it so I kind of just went with the flow. I got into the room with Mom and Sandy and they asked if I was cold, said no and then asked why I was shivering. I said i have no clue but I can't stop it. Sandy went and asked the nurse and she said it happens when you come out of the anesthesia and that I was not nearly as bad as some people - who almost shake off of the bed.

After awhile, we were on our way home. They dropped me off, and then went to go get my prescriptions for Percocet and Vicodin filled and some food. While they were gone, I felt like i was going to throw up so went into the bathroom and nothing happened so figured it was the Percocet I had taken at the hospital -- on an empty stomach. Grabbed a piece of bread and then I was good the rest of the night. I fell asleep around 1 am, and slept very well.

Below are some pictures of the splint/cast that I have on until august 21.